[Undertoad]

Originally Posted by tw

Why did those we now call Hezbollah welcome Israelis with flowers and rice?

And who welcomed whom this time? story



A Lebanese woman throws rice and rose petals at Lebanese soldiers after their arrival to the southern town of Marjayoun, Lebanon, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2006.

Abu Hussein Awad, a 58-year-old Shiite, claims the distinction of being the Lebanese civilian who lives closest to Israel. His house backs up against the Fatima Gate where Israeli troops withdrew in 2000, ending an 18-year occupation of south Lebanon.

"The army is good, I'm glad they're here," said Awad, who has lived here for 50 years - most of the time Israel has been in existence.

He was asked if he supported Hezbollah.

"I'm Lebanese. I don't like Hezbollah ... . I love Lebanon only - not America, not Iran and not Syria - just Lebanon," he said, listing the key backers of the combatants in the war.

The area of Lebanon's border with Israel was in ruins. In the towns of Adaisse and Taibeh, south and west of Kfar Kila respectively, it was difficult to find a building that was not blackened, pockmarked by artillery or flattened altogether.

Wreckage was strewn through the streets, but new Hezbollah flags flapped in the wind over piles
of rubble. In Kfar Kila, young men hung giant yellow banners above intersections. They read: "Rice, they will not see your new Mideast" and "The Great Lebanon has defeated the murderers." Both were signed, Hezbollah.