The Yoke of Zion
By Israel Shamir
August 6th, 2006
A small band of determined warriors takes on and fights off the mightiest army of the region: this is the stuff history is made of. Thermopylae, move over, Bint Jbeil is coming in! Bishop Philip of Antioch compared the levelling of this small Lebanese town with the destruction of Stalingrad, but these cities are also comparable by courage of their defenders. Seldom is a generation able to witness such a shining example of valour: for three long weeks a handful of Hezbollah warriors – two thousand by the most optimistic count – fought to standstill ten, twenty, thirty times more numerous Israeli troops. Forty years ago, Israelis defeated three armies in one week, but now the invader’s charm has worn off, or it has passed over to the vanquished. In today’s somewhat feminine victim-centred narrative, suffering attracts more attention than masculine gallantry. Thus Qana massacre has overshadowed a greater going-on, and that is the steadfast resistance of the Lebanese fighters. (…Full Article)
