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Israeli flyers rain down on bemused Lebanese

Posted on: Tuesday, 18 July 2006, 06:52 CDT

By Lin Noueihed

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Israeli flyers are raining down on Lebanese -- some are cartoons mocking Hizbollah, others are warnings to stay away from the stronghold of the guerrilla group.

In a crude drawing, leaflets dropped by Israeli planes over Beirut depict Hizbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah as a cobra dancing to the tune of the flute-playing leaders of Iran, Syria and Palestinian group Hamas.

The cartoon shows two bombs near Nasrallah's head, while the foreign leaders sit cross-legged on a map of Lebanon.

Typed in Arabic and signed the "State of Israel," the flyers are part of attempts by Israel to turn the Lebanese against the guerrilla group it is fighting.

Other flyers warn residents that if they go near Hizbollah installations, under daily bombardment, it would be at their own risk. They warn against helping Hizbollah fighters engaged in "terrorism" against Israel.

Lebanon is already split between opponents of Hizbollah who blame the group for sparking an Israeli campaign by capturing two Israeli soldiers on Wednesday, and supporters of the group, who consider the Jewish state their greatest foe. But such caricatures appear to have little effect on people's opinion.

"The cartoon flyer is cute. Usually these are threats to destroy Beirut and since we are seeing people blown up on TV all the time, this seems like comic relief," said Nazha Merebi, a graphic designer.

"I didn't like the warnings to people to leave the south though, because where does Israel expect people to go when it has cut off the roads?"

Residents scared by strikes and Israeli warnings have fled but roads are unsafe. Over 200 civilians have been killed in Lebanon since the crisis began a week ago, including 20 who died when an Israeli missile struck their van as they fled a border village in line with Israeli warnings by loudspeaker.

LIKE CONFETTI

Lebanese are no strangers to grim warnings falling from the sky. Even before the 1975-1990 civil war, Israel dropped flyers warning people not to assist Palestinian guerrillas then attacking the Jewish state from southern Lebanon.

"It was 1969. I was 11 years old and going to school when we saw the flyers coming down and ran toward them," said Younes Audi, who grew up in southern Lebanon. "I remember they were sky blue and read: he who sows the wind reaps the storm."

Those who stayed in Beirut during the 1982 Israeli invasion recall similar flyers: "Expel the saboteurs from your country."

Thousands of pink and yellow flyers dropped from the air over the past week litter the streets of Lebanese cities like confetti, some sticking in trees or falling in the sea.

With the streets of the capital deserted, shops and offices closed and many fleeing to Syria, there are few passers-by to see the flyers anyway, but news of their content spreads fast.

"For your safety and because of our desire to avoid harm to those who are not implicated, you must not be present in the areas where Hizbollah is present or operates," one flyer read.

It urged the Lebanese people and army not to offer aid to Hizbollah. "Anyone who does is putting his life in danger."

"We all know from the experience of the past few days the massive strength of Israel and its readiness to use this power against the terrorist elements," read another flyer.

"The saying goes: those who sleep in graveyards have nightmares."

Source: REUTERS

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