>> Shi'i community but cutting across denominational lines. Yet no
>> matter how courageous its fighters may be, no matter how many
>> schools and hospitals it runs, Hezbollah is essentially a right-
>> wing political movement....
>
> According to my interview with Rasha Salti <http://
> www.leftbusinessobserver.com/Radio.html#060810>, that's not quite
> true. She says they've adapted themselves to Lebanon's complex,
> cosmopolitan political culture and are not aggressively theocratic.
> She also says that as a secular democrat, she's not their biggest
> fan, but even she admires the way they kicked Israel's ass. It's
> not like they're about to take over the government & impose shariah.
A few days ago (before the cease-fire) I found in Le Monde a quote from a young communist lebanese living in the South saying roughly that Hezbollah was the only armed force in Lebanon that had not killed fellow citizens and that at this point he was ready to support them. I suspect that could not happen if they were "aggessively theocratic".
Jean-Christophe
(Rasha Sati's blog is at http://rashasalti.blogspot.com/ for those who don't have it.)