Israel holds Nasrallah...

[darkangel199]

BEIRUT (AFP) - Nasrallah is a bad surname to have in Lebanon, as

Israel tries to break the militant group Hezbollah.

 

 

 

Fourteen-year-old Mohammed Hassan Nasrallah found out the hard way when Israeli airborne commandos seized his father and four other men in eastern Lebanon, even though they are unrelated to Hassan Nasrallah, the firebrand head of the Shiite Muslim movement.

 

Mohammed was asleep, together with his father, mother, brothers and sisters, when Israeli elite troops broke into his home on August 2, breaking the doors and shattering the windows of their home in Hay al-Osseira near the eastern city of Baalbek.

 

"They started shouting, they took us out one after the other and tied our hands behind our backs," he told an AFP correspondent in the Bekaa Valley.

 

Hay al-Osseira, located at the eastern entrance of Baalbek, a main Hezbollah stronghold, had been abandoned by its residents following Israeli bombardments.

 

But Mohammed's father, Hassan Diab Nasrallah, did not want to leave his grocery because he was afraid of thieves.

 

But Wednesday's night visitors did not want to steal canned food.

 

"About a dozen soldiers broke into the house. They put the women and children on one side without tying them up. They placed the men on the other side. I was with the men," Mohammed said.

 

Israel said 200 elite commando troops carried out the operation, the deepest ground incursion into Lebanon since the Jewish state launched its offensive on its northern neighbor on July 12 when Hezbollah captured two soldiers to secure a prisoner swap.

 

"They were shouting and mistreating us. My mother interfered and told them to have pity on the children and treat us nicely," Mohammed said.

 

But one of the Israelis responded: "Shut up or I will kill you," according to Mohammed, who said the serviceman also "fired shots over her head."

 

Mohammed was taken with his father Hassan Diab, 60, his brother Bilal, 28, the fiance of his sister Hassan al-Borgi, as well as neighbors Ahmad al-Awta, 60, and Mohammed Shakar, 50.

 

Escorted by a hundred soldiers, they walked for an hour and 20 minutes until they reached the helicopters which had landed in a field.

 

"All along the road, they were asking questions. They spoke fluent Arabic, some with an accent. They asked us if we were Hezbollah members, and if we were related to Nasrallah," Mohammed said.

 

The family name Nasrallah is common in Lebanon, both in Muslim and Christian communities.

 

But the Hezbollah chief is from the southern village of Bazurieh, and is not related to the Nasrallah family from the eastern Baalbek region.

 

The Israeli soldiers boarded the men on the helicopters, then one of them turned to Mohammed and kicked him, he said.

 

"They untied me, kicked me in the back and told me to go away," he said.

 

It was 2:20 am (2320 GMT) when the helicopters flew out of the region, with the captives whom the Jewish state said were Hezbollah members.

 

"I started running with my slippers. There was an armed drone which was firing around me. I was not hit, but I was injured by a flying piece of rock in my back. I hid in the first empty house that I saw," he said.

 

When the shots ceased around 6:00 am (0300 GMT), Mohammed left the hideout and rushed to his uncle's house in Baalbek. He found his mother, Um Bilal, who now only has one hope: that the International Committee for the Red Cross can give her news of her husband's whereabouts.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060803/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictlebanon_060803184155

 

Hmm, i could have sworn Israel just carpet bombed half a country for the same thing? well actually these people were not even soldiers. Talk about hypocrites...

[Pangloss]

Why are they hypocrits?

[darkangel199]

well, considering they snuck into the country and kidnapped these people i would say that's why. didnt they just get all riled up about their soldiers being kidnapped?

[Bettina]

well, considering they snuck into the country and kidnapped these people i would say that's why. didnt they just get all riled up about their soldiers being kidnapped?

 

There is a big difference between Israeli soldiers being kidnapped and terrorists being captured.

 

However...... If these people are innocent they should be returned and the soldiers should be held responsible if those innocents are harmed in any way.

 

Bettina

[Pangloss]

I see your point, darkangel, but it's pretty obvious that if the international community doesn't stand up to its side of the cease fire, which is exactly what's happening at the moment, then it can hardly expect Israel to sit still.

[darkangel199]

Bettina, they were not terrorist, just civilians.

 

And you're right, right now the UN is still being a joke. They should be in there to make sure both sides stick to their agreement...

[mooeypoo]

However...... If these people are innocent they should be returned and the soldiers should be held responsible if those innocents are harmed in any way.

 

There's a huge turmoil in Israel over this, people are demanding for the prime minister's resignation and a complete inspection of the entire situation (this, unfortunately, was not the only mistake Israel has made).

 

But to put it in a bit of a better context, Israel DID release those people after learning they weren't who they were looking for.

 

Yes, countries make mistakes. America still has a big base near cuba where they hold people without trials over suspected relation to terrorist groups, don't they? I am not justifying (FAAAR from it!) I am just saying that at LEAST Israel's action in releasing those people, AND the demand for a full scale investigation of the matter (and others) should also say what the people of Israel view as ethics.

 

The parents of casualties, btw, wrote a letter demanding the Prime Minister to resign. They wrote that they have sent their children to fight a just cause, that was handled by a mumbling government. Powerful letter.

 

 

 

~moo

[ParanoiA]

There's a huge turmoil in Israel over this' date=' people are demanding for the prime minister's resignation and a complete inspection of the entire situation (this, unfortunately, was not the only mistake Israel has made).

 

But to put it in a bit of a better context, Israel DID release those people after learning they weren't who they were looking for.

 

Yes, countries make mistakes. America still has a big base near cuba where they hold people without trials over suspected relation to terrorist groups, don't they? I am not justifying (FAAAR from it!) I am just saying that at LEAST Israel's action in releasing those people, AND the demand for a full scale investigation of the matter (and others) should also say what the people of Israel view as ethics.

 

The parents of casualties, btw, wrote a letter demanding the Prime Minister to resign. They wrote that they have sent their children to fight a just cause, that was handled by a mumbling government. Powerful letter.

 

 

 

~moo[/quote']

 

Good points. Too bad the Lebanese will never know that. This will go down as yet another recruitment incentive.

[mooeypoo]

Yes, that's because the Hizbullah (and actually, the palestinians aswell) has a fantastic realisation of PR, while Israel has the worst PR ever.

 

Its time Israel understands that PR is a critical endevour, and starts using it at LEAST as much as its enemies do.

 

 

~moo