Nasrallah`s popularity climbs

Source: AP, 25-9-2006
BINT JBAIL, Lebanon - Reem Haidar was so impressed by Hassan Nasrallah that she begged for one of the Hizbullah leader`s robes as a keepsake. Last week, her dream came true; his aides delivered one to her home in Beirut.
Nasrallah`s popularity among Lebanese has exploded into something approaching cult status - expanding well beyond the following he had prior to Hizbullah`s 34-day war with "Israel".
That could bolster Nasrallah`s position within Lebanese politics and make it difficult for international peacekeepers to control his guerrillas if they try to reassert their position along the "Israeli" border.
Nasrallah, a fiery orator who can whip audiences into a frenzy or move them to tears, has long been among the most popular Lebanese politicians. His appeal transcends both his Shiite community and Lebanon itself.
And by fighting the "Israeli" army last summer, Nasrallah won a following throughout the Arab and Muslim worlds. In Egypt, for example, the biggest and most succulent dates, widely sold during the holy month of Ramadan that began this week, have been nicknamed "Nasrallahs."
"His enemies want to take away the respect he commands by talking about idolizing him," chief Hizbullah spokesman Hussein Rahal said recently. "The love of the sayyed (an Arabic honorific) won the hearts of the people, so what can we do?"
But in Lebanon, many dispute Nasrallah`s claim to victory and are unhappy about his
Nasrallah`s crowd skills were on display Friday when he made his first public appearance since the war broke out July 12, addressing hundreds of thousands at Beirut`s bombed-out southern suburbs. He had no prepared notes and spoke in impeccable classical Arabic, breaking into the Lebanese vernacular only to deliver a jibe or make a point.
He electrified the crowd with a brief account of how he and his aides debated until the last moment whether he should appear in person, given "Israel's" past attempts to kill him.
"My heart, soul and mind would not allow me to speak to you from afar or from a screen," he said to thunderous applause.
There is perhaps no place in Lebanon where Nasrallah`s personality cult is stronger than in southern Lebanon, a Hizbullah stronghold that was hit the hardest by "Israel" during the war.
Across the region`s villages and towns, Nasrallah, who has led Hizbullah since 1992, stares down from thousands of portrait posters on light poles, store fronts, cars and homes.
"We wait for your signal," declares one poster bearing an image of Nasrallah imposed on a rocket.
South Lebanon`s mainly Shiite residents rarely criticize Nasrallah or Hizbullah in public and even the region`s scattered communities of Christians, Druse and Sunni Muslims are reluctant to do so.
"No one is saying that Nasrallah is infallible," said Hassan Fardous, a 38-year-old car mechanic from the Shiite village of Bint Jbail. "But he does so many good things that we can easily forgive him."