AP publishes a number of photos from Hezbollah's rally yesterday, apparently celebrating the fourth anniversary of their role in destroying southern Lebanon:
 |
| A Hezbollah supporter, holds a poster of Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallahduring a rally marking the fourth anniversary of the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, in Beirut's southern suburb, Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2010. Nasrallah praised the army for their "heroic" stand against Israel on Tuesday. He warned in a televised speech to thousands of supporters south of Beirut that his fighters would intervene if Israeli troops ever attack Lebanese forces again. |
Why are unveiled women so prominent at Hezbollah rallies?
In its first issue of 2007, the Lebanese weekly current affairs magazine Ash-Shiraa, in a story on the newly-initiated downtown sit-in that would eventually last for over 18 months, published a statistic showing that that while Hezbollah paid veiled – or muhajjabat –supporters $15 per day for attending the demonstration, those who agreed to go unveiled were paid a little over $33 or 50,000 LL.
Dr. Hilal Khashan, professor of political studies at the American University of Beirut (AUB), suspected that this unique privileging of unveiled women by a party that encourages the wearing of the hijab among its women followers was because it “wanted [them] to look like Christians.” The appearance of unveiled women would have helped make the protest look like a national movement rather than a sectarian one.
(h/t
Snapped Shot via tweet)
