World View: Hamas Commemorates the Death of Helen Thomas

This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

• EU nations decide unanimously on sham condemnation of Hezbollah
• Hamas commemorates the death of Helen Thomas
• Howdy Doody may be for sale

EU nations decide unanimously on sham condemnation of Hezbollah

Hezbollah army saluting (EPA)

The fallout is continuing following the open support by Lebanon’sterrorist group Hezbollah fighting on the side of the regime ofSyria’s president Bashar al-Assad. The announcement of this support,made last month by Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, hastremendously polarized the entire Mideast along sectarian lines, andhas now driven the European Union, by a unanimous vote of the foreignministers of the 28 nations, to declare Hezbollah’s military arm aterrorist group.

The announcement supposedly means that Hezbollah can no longer raisemoney in Europe, assets can be frozen, and visas can be denied.However, the announcement is pretty much a sham, since it doesn’tapply to Hezbollah’s “political wing,” which is indistinguishable fromits military wing. According to a Hezbollah official:

“We don’t have a military wing and a political one.We don’t have Hezbollah on one hand and the resistance party onthe other. Every element of Hezbollah, from commanders to membersas well as our various capabilities, are in the service of theresistance and we have nothing but the resistance as apriority.”

So if you want to donate to a terrorist organization, then just donateto Hezbollah’s political wing, and your money will go right into theterrorist’s pockets.

Hezbollah was formed in 1982 to oppose Israel’s occupation of Lebanonat that time. The organization grew to be respected throughout theArab world because it’s a leader of the “resistance” to Israel’soccupation of the Palestinian homeland. Even many Europeans refusedto condemn Hezbollah until now, for exactly the same reason – theyadmired and supported Hezbollah’s “resistance” to Israel. Hezbollahbecame a tool in the wet dream of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iran’shardcore leadership to become the new leader of the entire Mideast,and Iran has poured money and weapons into Hezbollah’s hands, as wellas into Hamas’s hands.

Iran’s wet dream could never possibly have been realized, as I’ve beensaying for years, because there is no way that a Sunni group likeHamas or the Muslim Brotherhood would ever agree to be led by ShiaIran. But Iran, Hezbollah, and Bashar al-Assad’s Alawite/Shia factionin Syria formed what has been called a “Shia Crescent,” that wasadmired in the Mideast because of its resistance to Israel.

Hezbollah itself perpetrated acts that caused many in the Mideast tohate Hezbollah more than they hate Israel. A major game-changer wasthe 2005 assassination of Lebanon’s beloved former prime ministerRafiq Hariri, in which Syria and Hezbollah were implicated. (See “Massive Beirut explosion killing Rafiq Hariri puts Lebanon into state of shock” from2005.)

For many Arabs, Nasrallah’s announcement that Hezbollah would openlyfight on the side of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria was the laststraw. Al-Assad’s regime has, for over two years, targeted innocentSyrian women and children in their beds and dormitories, makingal-Assad himself a psychopath. Al-Assad’s attempts to exterminateSunni Syrians has caused a major split throughout the Mideast alongSunni/Shia sectarian lines, and then Nasrallah’s announcement madeHezbollah a hated enemy of almost all Sunni Arabs, even those whoopposed Israel.

Today, Hezbollah’s militias are far more powerful than Lebanon’s army,and Hezbollah is a powerful political force in Lebanon’s government.But Nasrallah’s announcement is also bringing sectarian violence intoLebanon itself, as we’ve been reporting in the last few weeks.Nonetheless, many of Lebanon’s politicians, both for and againstHezbollah, are opposed to Monday’s EU announcement because they fearthat it will mean the end of European funding to any of Lebanon’sprojects, and will not stop Hezbollah’s fund-raising at all. Daily Star (Beirut) and Al-Jazeera

Hamas commemorates the death of Helen Thomas

Lots of American reporters are mourning the loss of 92-year-old HelenThomas, who covered the White House for 49 years. But she will alsobe missed in Gaza, where Hamas mourned her death for her strongpro-Palestinian anti-Israel views. When asked in 2010 whether she hadany comments about Israel, she said, “Get the hell out of Palestine.Remember, the Palestinian people are occupied, and it’s their land.”She followed up by saying that all Jews should return to Germany andPoland, where they belonged. Ezzedeen AL-Qassam Brigades (Gaza)

Howdy Doody may be for sale

Howdy Doody puppet on display at Detroit Institute of Arts

The bankruptcy of Detroit, Michigan, is forcing the city to sell itsassets, and one of those assets is the collection of puppets in theDetroit Institute of Arts. It’s estimated that the original HowdyDoody marionette puppet, which was acquired in 2001, could sell atauction for $400,000-500,000, though that would hardly make a dent inthe city’s $18 billion debt. The Howdy Doody show, which was one ofmy own favorites, ran on NBC from 1947 to 1960, and in fact for oneshow I was in the Peanut Gallery. “Let’s give a rousing cheer, causeHowdy Doody’s here. It’s time to start the show, so kids let’s go!”CNN

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