Lebanon retreat led to Palestinian violence against Israel

Quotes from Hizballah:

"In Hizbullah, we learned the Israeli mentality, and it became clear that they are very cowardly... Israeli public opinion pressured its government and forced it to retreat." - Hizbullah leader Sheikh Nasrallah, Oct. 2000

"We have to find the way to be rid of this Zionist enemy. The practical solution came from Lebanon, in the merit of its courageous men... who relied on undefeatable weapons: the will to fight, against those who are afraid to fight and who love life." - Al Hayat al-Jadida, on Nov. 12, 2000

The film notes that just as Israel was concluding its retreat from Lebanon, on May 24, 2000, Al Hayat al-Jadida published a cartoon depicting an Israeli soldier being attacked by rockets on one side and an Arab boy throwing rocks on the other, and the caption: "The Katyushas are behind you, and the rocks are ahead of you; you can either retreat, or retreat." A poster-sized photo of scared Israeli soldiers was included with the daily paper.

Only two months after the withdrawal, Arafat made the decision to return to violence, and two months later, at the end of Sept. 2000, the Oslo War began. Palestinian spokesmen themselves emphasize that it was the withdrawal from Lebanon that sparked the violence: The newspaper Al-Ayam, for instance, wrote in Feb. 2004 that former Prime Minister Ehud Barak "decided to act unilaterally, retreating in defeat from southern Lebanon... The result was the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa intifada..."

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