You can never be too sure with those evil zionist monsters. Keep up the fight, brothers.

The virulent hate espoused on these pages comes from those who advocate and justify Israel's murderous actions in Lebanon and the West Bank and Gaza. Ugly Americans (Israelis?) indeed.

Only the Maoists who write for and read Salon could believe that Hizbollah's "political" wing has nothing to do with the war which Hizbollah instigated. It is a little like saying, "Well, yes, the Gestapo were naughty boys , but why punish the German people and the government they put in power?" Of course, one's perspective is sharpened from where I am writing this, just south of the Lebanese-Israeli border. The Hizbollah crossed into Israel, killed 8 soldiers and kidnapped two. If the Israelis wanted just to kill Lebanese civilians, the casualties would have been far greater (G-d forbid). From what I see, the Israelis have been concentrating on Hizbollah command and control and the weapons being used, as well as preventing resupply by Iran and Syria. Are your writers too stupid to comprehend that Iran masterminded this war so they could continue to gull the witless Europeans while going nuclear? And it must gall Salon that your favourite demon, President Bush, has stood firm in refusing to impose a ceasefire which would reward the terrorists and their Iranian sponsors? Why not visit where I am, it might open your eyes to elementary political truth. Salaam Aleikhum, you all, Joel J. Sprayregen, usually of chicago IL.

This piece is so naive... Obviously, Mr Prothero has a very very superficial knowledge of south Lebanon (was it his first time there?) and of Hezbollah's duplicity. For good journalism on the same subject and of what is really happening in southern villages, please read NYT's "Christians Fleeing Lebanon Denounce Hezbollah" (by Sabrina Tavernise). There, you'll find out that terrorists doesn't have to stay away from civilians when it comes to an open confrontation with a regular army. On the contrary.

Simply not true, DZ. You state that I speak out of ignorance, but I don't - and I don't claim others are worse, I just point out the hypocricy of the children of the great colonists, murderers, rapists and slavers (Europeans and Americans) deriding Israel from the comfort of their bloodstained lands (having ethnically cleansed all who would stand in their way). I merely view the overblown rhetoric for what it is: Jew hatred - because when one can call israel the premier ethnic cleanser in all the world, as the Russians (for instance), invade and destroy Chechnya, then I have to wonder one's motives - it certainly is not a dissinterested observation of the events in the middle east. This is no pissing contest - we both agree that Israel is acting against her own self interests, but as Iraq slips into total chaos, at the hands of the Americans, as the Jinjaweed rape and murder their way across the Sudan, as the Russians brutalize the Chechians, I have to wonder why nothing seems to raise the ire of the left as Israel does -many in their designer kufiyyas as they march lockstep with those who celebrate suicide bombers, and when I distill it down, it sure smells like Jew hatred, because if you really claim to know the history of Israel, then I wonder why Sabra and Shatila carries more weight than the Arab riots of 1929 - 129 Jews murdered, 300 wounded. It seems that events, such as the murder of the Israeli olympic team in 1972, are completely overlooked or forgotten, but a Rachel Corrie, who imposed her own brand of whiteness-to-the-rescue and then died in a controversial accident (many say protecting a house built over tunnels used to smuggle weapons), is the subject of hero and literary worship.

It's Jew hatred, my friend, plain and simple, and you may feel comfortable by shouting the loudest, showing your non-jew "friends" that you're down with their pogrom - er, I mean program, but after israel is dust, they will turn on you as well.

If that sounds paranoid, I sure hope it is, but I merely rely on historical precident.

The Hezbollah fighter interviewed here is living with his ammunition in an apartment on the outskirts of Tyre. He claims that other fighters are hiding in farmhouses.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/syria/story/0,,1832931,00.html

So you make the statement that Hezbollah does not “hind among civilians”. Then you give some…not that much anecdotal evidence supporting your claim. OK. But then this question that came up: How does a guerrilla army maintain military bases on the border with Israel for many years, but still maintains guerrilla-fighting mode of operations (and therefore survives aerial bombardment)? The whole mode of Guerrilla fighting is to blend in with the environment – whether civilian population or deep jungles – and attack with hit-and-run. If Hezbollah does not hide with civilians, where do they hide? In caves? Sure, but Israel has had many years to scout and reconnoiter the mountains and hills of Lebanon. Your article did not answer this question and it’s a pretty obvious question.

>In the late 19th century an Irish-American group called the Fenian brotherhood was formed, which today would be called "terrorist". These people made military raids on Canada in at least five instances... If Canada had decided to retaliate against civilians the way Israel has, how would you feel?

Not a great analogy. If Canada were 100x more powerful than the US, I would feel pretty pissed off at the Fenian brotherhood for making my neighborhood into their base of operations.

It shouldn't be incumbent on Israel to either accept suicide bombs and rocket attacks or sacrifice it's soldiers in one on one geurrilla warfare until Hezbollah decides to take a break.

Until Hezbollah completely gives up the neighborhoods and decides to fight from military bases in the desert, the only other alternative for Israel is to consider anywhere it is possible for them to hide or get support as a legitimate target.

Jason

Prothero shall not argue with Israel, but with the UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland who accused Hizbullah of "cowardly blending" among Lebanese civilians and causing the deaths of hundreds during two weeks of cross-border violence with Israel.

Jan Egeland spoke with reporters at the Larnaca airport in Cyprus late Monday after a visit to Lebanon on his mission to coordinate an international aid effort. On Sunday he had toured the rubble of Beirut's southern suburbs, a once-teeming Shi'ite district where Hizbullah had its headquarters:

"Consistently, from the Hizbullah heartland, my message was that Hizbullah must stop this cowardly blending ... among women and children," he said. "I heard they were proud because they lost very few fighters and that it was the civilians bearing the brunt of this. I don't think anyone should be proud of having many more children and women dead than armed men."

No doubts that Egeland knows what he is talking about, unlike Prothero who is sucking his information from islamofascism publications. I am not sure he have ever heard expression "Geobbelse propaganda".