"Rah, rah, Hezbollah!"

Yesterday, supporters of Hezbollah held a pep rally in Washington D.C., and other cities around the country.

From The Washington Post:

Thousands of people came from across town, across the river or across the country to circle the White House yesterday in a passionate demonstration supporting Lebanon, the country at the center of the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Hundreds of red-white-and-green Lebanese flags bearing the country's emblematic cedar tree waved beneath Lafayette Square's canopy of elms as demonstrators demanded a cease-fire, many of them mourning their war-ravaged homeland.

"There are a lot of kids, a lot of women dying, and the amazing thing is no one is doing anything about it," said Hassan Alaouie, 42, who traveled with his wife and two children from Dearborn, Mich., to attend the rally. "This is the least we can do."

A demonstration condemning Hezbollah's tactics of using women and children and the elderly as human shields would have been something admirable and positive.

A passionate display of solidarity against the terrorists, the ones that intentionally store weapons and fire them from neighborhoods, schools, mosques, and hospitals would have been nice.

A rally to express outrage at Hezbollah and to hold the terrorist group responsible for the deaths of the Lebanese kids and women would have been appropriate.

Showing support for the Hezbollah cowards doesn't help the innocent Lebanese. It shows support for fanaticism.

...By Washington standards, yesterday's event did not equal protests that swelled with hundreds of thousands of participants. Organizers estimated "tens of thousands," but law enforcement officials, who no longer make official crowd counts, estimated the crowd at less than 10,000.

Organizers always exaggerate crowd size.

Less than "TEN" of thousands is more accurate than "tens."

...The primary organizer was the ANSWER coalition, a left-wing group that has sponsored numerous antiwar rallies that often attract socialists and anarchists. The National Council of Arab Americans and the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation also were sponsors.

I'm amazed that The Post actually pointed out what sort of group ANSWER is -- a bunch of socialists and anarchists.

It's very out of character for The Post.

Most of the people at the White House yesterday were Muslim families and students, who took breaks in the shade to feed children or bow toward Mecca for noon prayers.

"We came with seven buses from Ohio. We drove all night," said Julia Shearson, director of the Ohio chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, in Cleveland.

CAIR rears its ugly head again. Naturally, CAIR would be represented at the pro-Hezbollah rally.

Read about CAIR.

Read more here and here.

...Speakers decried the actions of Israel and the United States, which they described as an occupation, and proclaimed solidarity with the civilians caught in the crossfire of the conflicts in the Middle East.

The crowd grew most agitated when speakers denounced President Bush's references to Islam.

"Mr. Bush: Stop calling Islam 'Islamic fascism,' " said Esam Omesh, president of the Muslim American Society, prompting a massive roar from the crowd. He said there is no such thing, "just as there is no such thing as Christian fascism."

PRESIDENT Bush didn't call Islam per se fascist. He used the term "Islamic fascists" to single out the individuals plotting to blow up civilian airliners.

Omesh should be uncomfortable that Islam and fascism are connected.

Instead of telling Bush to stop using the term, he should demand that the terrorists stop exploiting Islam as a justification for their evil deeds.

But, noooooooo. Omesh was rallying to support Hezbollah.

By early afternoon, the march wound its way around the White House. As the marchers turned onto 15th Street NW, they encountered about two dozen counter-protesters.

"There is no other God but Jesus!" shouted one of the counter-protesters. He held a megaphone in one hand, a Bible in the other.

About 24 people counter-protested?

How did The Post's reporters even find them among the crowd?

It was silly, intolerant, and wrong of the counter-protesters to pit Jesus against Allah.

Protesting the ruthlessness of Hezbollah would have been an appropriate counter-protest.

The crowd shouted back: "Rah, rah, Hezbollah!" and "Long live Hezbollah!"

Syed Hussain, 19, of Columbia carried a neon green sign that read: "Hezbollah is not a terrorist organization."

"They're just defending themselves," Hussain said. "I hope this rally helps to show people that, so when they see us shouting 'Hezbollah,' they know what it means."

I'd like to ask Hussain:

What is Hezbollah, if not a terrorist organization?

Is it an army?

A social club?

A gathering of individuals that enjoys lobbing missiles into Israel and taking Israeli soldiers hostage and killing civilians?

Remember, Hezbollah is reponsible for killing 241 U.S. soldiers, mostly Marines, in 1983. They were in Beirut as peacekeepers; but Hezbollah targeted them for death.

Sorry, but that wasn't a defensive measure. That's NOT Hezbollah "defending themselves" and the Lebanese.
What? No room for the Israeli flag on that cross, Reverend? No concern for the Israelis? That's not very Christian.
The bottom line: Chanting "Long live Hezbollah!" is the same as saying "Continue to exploit innocent Lebanese women and children to advance an agenda of war and hate! Kill innocent Israeli women and children!"

"Rah, rah, Hezbollah!"