Some politics...

I was listening to NPR news, Thursday, at around 7ish, and they had a guest on air, who would help shed some light on Lebanon, Hezbollah, and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. I'm known to be a little naive at times, so I wonder if the slight sparkle of hope I felt was premature and well.... naive.

This is part of the conversation between the host(ess) and guest.
Just a side point- I was pretty impressed that an NPR radio host would ask such direct questions that demanded an answer to Hezbollah's actions, as I don't think NPR is especially known as pro-Israel, although I've never heard that it is necessarily anti, either)

Conversation between NPR show host and Julia Shekar of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, on NPR news:

NPR: What is the history of Hezbollah?

Julia: At the time of Israeli's occupation(?) of Lebanon, they had shipped the PLO out of the country, so a faction of [an Arab] party broke off and created Hezbollah as a resistance group to Israel. When the Lebanese government was formed, they all sat down and signed an agreement that none of the parties would bear arms. However, as they were signing, no one mentioned Hezbollah, as it was an unwritten and almost unspoken agreement that Hezbollah would continue to bear arms, as they were more of a resistance group than a political group. When Israel left Lebanon, many political groups in Lebanon wanted Hezbollah to disarm, but it was something that would not happen. Hezbollah, by that time, was too strong- politically and [in other ways]. They represented most of the poor Shiites who live in South Lebanon. They were already more of regional leaders than a small resistance group.

NPR: What does the Lebanese government think of Hezbollah?

J: The Lebanese government would like Hezbollah to disarm, but it doesn't seem like that will happen.

N: Do they condone the rocket attacks that Hezbollah has done to Israel before this war?

J: The Lebanese government never protested against it, but never condoned it either.

N: Is it true that Hezbollah has their military equipment all set up within civilian areas? That rockets are shot from within civilian areas?

J: Well, I don't know about their military operations, but I know that Hezbollah leaders, like Nasrallah (and others) live amongst the civilians, among families and businesses.

N: Do you think Hezbollah can ever be gotten rid of?

J: No, because although the Israelis were able to get rid of the PLO in Lebanon, by just shipping them off somewhere, Hezbollah leaders are from Lebanon, they are part of the government, so they would not be able to do that.

From this conversation, I was able to confirm my thoughts(?) that Lebanon does not care for Israel, does not want it to exist- to say the least...
But, what is my spark of hope I mentioned before?

Well, just the fact that the Lebanese government does not want Hezbollah to be able to bear arms. If they would not be able to bear arms, perhaps alot, if not most, of the attacks would cease in Israel. The attacks from Hezbollah, anyway.

But will it ever happen?

I don't think my naivete extends that far...