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ANALYSIS / It took 2 years, but Nasrallah kept promise to free Kuntar
By Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Israel, Hezbollah 

In April 2006, on the 27th anniversary of Samir Kuntar's imprisonment, Hassan Nasrallah promised "the prisoners will return to us very shortly."

It took two years until Kuntar was freed. Nasrallah's insistence on Israel releasing Kuntar, who wasn't a Hezbollah man but a member of the Palestine Liberation Front, was a test of Nasrallah's leadership. Even the return of his son's body, after he was killed by the IDF in 1997, didn't slow him down.

Nasrallah built up Kuntar into a symbol of his own credibility and his ability to deliver on promises to such an extent that he imposed his release on all of Lebanon. Praises were showered on Hezbollah, the Lebanese leadership was prominent at the reception for the freed prisoners and Lebanese and Hezbollah flags flew side by side. All this merged Kuntar, the symbol, with the leader who brought him home and the state whose politics Nasrallah dictates. Israel's insistence on not releasing Kuntar played into Nasrallah's hands, for he perceived, with his customary insight into Israeli public opinion, that Israel was providing him with a banner.
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Nasrallah is expected to release more details of the last negotiation round in the near future. But his approach to Kuntar's release is especially interesting. As a religious man he was expected to make use of the religious edict and ethnic context. But Nasrallah did the opposite. He refrained from using religious terms and is not attributing his last achievement to the Shi'ite community. He sees it as a triumph of Hezbollah and Lebanon - of the Christians, Shias, Syrians and Druze who support the resistance. This is a military, political - not ideological - victory, suitable to Lebanon which is trying to balance the power of religion with the political perks accorded its representatives.

Nasrallah is familiar with this game, knowing he can compensate for the limitations of his religious power with political achievements for his community and allies, even if they're not Shi'ite.

Thus Nasrallah yesterday forced Lebanon's Christian president, Sunni prime minister and political rivals to embrace "his" prisoners. For a moment it looked like Nasrallah was forcing his victory on the Lebanese leadership, for those who were embracing the prisoners would be unable to criticize the organization that led Lebanon into war. This Nasrallah technique is not new. In his pronouncements over the years, he has proved adept at weaving together all of Lebanon's political, religious and nationalist threads.

Nasrallah, 48, is a Shi'ite who studied in the holy city Najaf in Iraq for two years but was also a close associate of Sunni Rafik Hariri, Lebanon's prime minister who was murdered in 2005. He is allied with secular Syria and coordinates his religious ideology with Iran. While he is a political ally of Christian Michel Aoun, he speaks in Shi'ite terms in Beirut's southern neighborhood, home to the religious Shi'ite bastion. He enlists "Islamic resistance" to defend the homeland and its borders - terms that are ideologically contradictory to the idea of reestablishing the Muslim nation.

Palestinian nationalism is important to him up to the point it can erode his or Hezbollah's status. He cares about the Palestinians' suffering in Lebanon up to the point they ask for the right to work or buy property in Lebanon. Then Nasrallah joins the ranks of Lebanese politicians, who want the Palestinians out.

Like other fascist leaders, Nasrallah is a man of grand pomp and ceremony, in which the uniform, flag and weapons are the main props and setting. But how long will he be able to sustain Lebanon with the great exhibition he mounted yesterday, before he is required to explain what his next move will be following the negotiations between Israel and Syria? Will he allow Lebanon to open its own negotiations or will he stand by and watch Syria advance toward the enemy?

Related articles:
  • After swap, Israel fears Hezbollah will escalate tensions in North
  • ANALYSIS / In Lebanon, prisoner swap is Hezbollah victory (2006)
  • Abbas congratulates Kuntar's family for killer's release
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      1.   no comments 06:00  |  danielo pipos 17/07/08
      2.   Nasrallah is good for lebanon 06:06  |  bashar 17/07/08
      3.   What negotiations? 06:12  |  Lebanese 17/07/08
      4.   Nasrallah: man of the hour 06:24  |  Star of David 17/07/08
      5.   Kuntar looks well 06:31  |  Iman 17/07/08
      6.   The downside od assassination 07:06  |  Natallie Durson 17/07/08
      7.   Israel has lost all deterence 07:18  |  Jon 17/07/08
      8.   I couldn`t have done it without the help of Regev and Goldwasse 07:25  |  Binyamin DIssen 17/07/08
      9.   Nasrallah is more Palestiniane than Abbas 08:21  |  Refugee 17/07/08
      10.   He told you from the beginning , but who was listening !? 08:49  |  Bilal 17/07/08
      11.   force only language Israel understand 08:56  |  guldman 17/07/08
      12.   Sayyed Hassan the biggest arabic leader the world has seen 09:57  |  steven 17/07/08
      13.   EVEN THE PHALANGISTS OF LEBANON CAN ACCEPT HAZBOLLAH 10:13  |  indrajaya 17/07/08
      14.   # 6 fear born of wreckless will natallie; or of military power? 10:37  |  eric 17/07/08
      15.   Indrajaya & celebrations 10:56  |  The Judge 17/07/08
      16.   NATALIE DURSON 10:59  |  mike 17/07/08
      17.   #6, Durson, do not underestimate the IDF 11:33  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 17/07/08
      18.   Mike 16 Israel didn`t win against the Romans. 11:43  |  Michael 17/07/08
      19.   mike 11:45  |  Natallie Durson 17/07/08
      20.   Kohn 11:50  |  Natallie Durson 17/07/08
      21.   Michael, sorry mate 11:59  |  Star of David 17/07/08
      22.   Lebanosn vs what-so-called-israel 12:01  |  Imad 17/07/08
      23.   Lebanon vs what-so-called-israel 12:02  |  Imad 17/07/08
      24.   Durston can`t come up with much.. 12:02  |  The Judge 17/07/08
      25.   My condolence 12:20  |  Pepe 17/07/08
      26.   Give Lebanon to Syria 12:29  |  Tommy 17/07/08
      27.   Hizbollah will destroy Lebanon. 12:59  |  Stephen. 17/07/08
      28.   Good for Lebanon, Nasrallah the "RAT" 13:00  |  J. B. 17/07/08
      29.   # 21 star 13:01  |  Axel 17/07/08
      30.   ``Hizbulah victory`` 13:03  |  ari 17/07/08
      31.   21 Star of David, tell the Turks, Italians and Iraqis that! 13:22  |  Michael 17/07/08
      32.   ISRAEL: start implementing SHARIA to Moslem pows/terrorists 13:43  |  AliciaYasmeen 17/07/08
      33.   Durson, why is Nasrallah The Brave hidden with human shields?Why? 14:06  |  Marco 17/07/08
      34.   Michael UK 14:27  |  Star of David 17/07/08
      35.   Nassrallah: A leader in a Region with no Leaders 14:32  |  Sharif Hafez 17/07/08
      36.   Hi Axel 14:34  |  Samantha Tilley 17/07/08
      37.   OK, Nasrallah 14:35  |  Jeff Northridge 17/07/08
      38.   Haters of Lebanon & Hizballah 14:46  |  Nadine 17/07/08
      39.   To Iman 14:50  |  Observer 17/07/08
      40.   Nasralla`s Greatest Achievement 15:03  |  Avi 17/07/08
      41.   Close the Lebanese Chapter 15:06  |  Baz Mann 17/07/08
      42.   # 34 samantha 15:08  |  Axel 17/07/08
      43.   Observer: thank for reply but 15:10  |  Iman 17/07/08
      44.   Israel has a Savior 15:14  |  American Christian 17/07/08
      45.   Star of David # 33 Rome Still Exists 15:29  |  Jeff Northridge 17/07/08
      46.   #33 Star of David 15:41  |  Pegasus 17/07/08
      47.   Nasrallah 15:41  |  Ralph 17/07/08
      48.   Sorry Axel 15:44  |  Samantha Tilley 17/07/08
      49.   Alicia (31) hitting the nails head 15:45  |  Jew- and Bookburner 17/07/08
      50.   dear Jeff 15:55  |  Star of David 17/07/08
      51.   43 Jesus is not stupid - the true version of the story 15:56  |  Mike the American 17/07/08
      52.   Israeli IDF are the children killers - not hero Kuntar 16:01  |  Mike the American 17/07/08
      53.   # 47 sorry samantha 16:10  |  Axel 17/07/08
      54.   Baz Mann # 40 The Shebaa Farms 16:11  |  Jeff Northridge 17/07/08
      55.   Sharia for Muslim `militants` NOW 16:11  |  Joe Frazier 17/07/08
      56.   Jesus is not stupid 16:12  |  Christian 17/07/08
      57.   Kuntar should have been released in 2004 16:13  |  Tosefta 17/07/08
      58.   To Iman, again ... 16:28  |  Observer 17/07/08
      59.   American Mike: yup Israel exploded suicide bombs on schoolbuses 16:41  |  x-ray 17/07/08
      60.   American Mike: yup Israel exploded suicide bombs on schoolbuses 16:41  |  x-ray 17/07/08
      61.   American Mike: yup Israel exploded suicide bombs on schoolbuses 16:41  |  x-ray 17/07/08
      62.   American Mike: yup Israel exploded suicide bombs on schoolbuses 16:41  |  x-ray 17/07/08
      63.