Creepy Little Museum Or Tribute To A "Divine Victory"?

MayorBob.

Posted to Politics on Thu Aug 23, 2007 at 11:00:04 AM EST (promoted by port1080). RSS.

On the off chance that your world travels should find you in Beirut, Lebanon the militant Islamic group Hezbollah has a stop for your itinerary.  Located in Beirut's southern suburbs, it's been called a creepy new museum by some and a showcase of "divine victory" over the Israelis by others.  It is Hezbollah's latest testament to its claim of being on the front line against Israel; it's the Spider's Web.

The museum is all about Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.  Indeed, without him the Spider's Web wouldn't exist.  One reason for this is his 15-year leadership of the group.  Another reason is that he coined the term "spider's web" to describe a "feeble" Israel, capable of being broken.  It is a line Nasrallah continued to play up through this month.  Taking a look through the museum itself one finds exhibits of Israeli military equipment captured by Hezbollah forces during the many confrontations had between the two.  One also finds huge posters of the usual roster of evildoers, from Hezbollah's perspective, American and Israeli politicians with words the group believes they should eat.  One also finds the ubiquitous presence of Hassan Nasrallah.

Lebanon remains a broken political entity; a state which can barely provide peace and security within its own borders.  It's been beset with a succession of political assassinations for years.  A confrontation with a small, fundamentalist group in a refugee camp earlier this year brought the government to a standstill.  But it was the Hezbollah's war with Israel which cemented the group's claim of being a force to reckon.  The war didn't turn out well for all concerned.  Israel failed to achieve its stated objectives.  Lebanon perched on the edge of oblivion as a state.  And Hezbollah lost many of its young fighters.  But Nasrallah survived, with two Israeli soldiers still in custody and a barely concealed contempt for Israel and the US.  Although he's been condemned by the Lebanese government, fat chance of them disarming his group and he has the best set of allies in the neighborhood, the Iranians.

During the war, Hezbollah offered a guided tour of the battlefield in what one reporter called a "dog and pony show."  Now, according to Zvika Krieger, the dog and pony show has been encased in brick and mortar and is called the Spider's Web.  Because the museum provides "a professional and slickly curated collection of war paraphernalia" and shows only Hezbollah successes and triumphs, it's doubtful too many serious scholars will visit to study about the war.  However, the museum has attracted over 200,000 visitors in the month it's been open, so the legend and the word of Nasrallah continues to spread.  But, it's not all just stagnant displays of destroyed Israeli munitions or the proclamations of Nasrallah.  The gift shop is selling copies of  Special Force 2: Tale of the Truthful Pledge, a computer game allowing players "to shoot Israeli soldiers and blow up their tanks."