Hizbullah ‘victory’ boosts extremists
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154525865707&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
At least 50 newborn babies in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have been named after Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah over the past month, sources in the Palestinian Authority Health Ministry told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.
The move is an indication of his growing popularity of Nasrallah among Palestinians and Arabs in general, many of whom hail him for merely daring to stand up to Israel. As the war nears its end, some moderate Arabs expressed fear that the widely-perceived conviction on the Arab street that Hizbullah had won would enhance the position of those who argue that Israel can be defeated or destroyed.
“Almost every day we have a case of parents asking to name their newborn babies after Nasrallah,” one source said. “This reminds me of the days when Palestinians used to name their children after Saddam Hussein because of the missile attacks on Israel during the Gulf War.”
Naming babies after Nasrallah is only one of the ways many Palestinians have been expressing their gratitude for the Shi’ite leader for firing thousands of rockets and missiles at Israel and for inflicting heavy casualties on the IDF. Nasrallah’s posters and the yellow flag of Hizbullah have flooded local markets. CDs containing new songs heaping praise on Nasrallah and Hizbullah are being sold on the streets of Palestinian cities for NIS 10.
