Hezbollah will not recognize Israel (click for the story)

I posted my thoughts a few weeks ago about the tenative steps made by Britain and, to a lesser degree, the US toward opening communication with Lebanon's Hezbollah. I think this is, generally speaking, a wise direction to take--however, the Hezbollah leader Nasrallah is being counter-productive.

My main complaint against western officials who refuse to dialogue with groups like Hezbollah and Hamas is that, from where I'm standing, they don't always strike a balance between their ideals and practical reality. When groups we don't like are in power and making decisions that affect entire regions, we can't always afford to 'ignore them to death'--we have to confront them. Thus, I was encouraged to hear of prospective communication between London, Washington, and Hezbollah.

However, now it appears that Nasrallah is playing a very old, very unproductive game--the "I-want-to-ignite-Arab-unity-by-reviving-and-sustaining-a-shared-hatred-of-Israel." We've seen this game before--it is one of the main reasons for Yassir Arafat's eventual failure (my father, a Gazan, can attest to that).

It is very disheartening to know that Nasrallah is going to decline the opportunity to dialogue with the United States of America because he can't acknowlege that Israel exists. This is more than simply obstinate--it's a sort of forced dillusion that will only stunt any fragile progress that is being made in the so-called "peace process."

Oh, and you gotta love Nasrallah's nod to Iran--don't think it's random.