Palestinian artist brings Nasrallah to the masses

[bemildred]

RAMALLAH, West Bank - The life of a Palestinian portrait artist in the West Bank is seldom lucrative, but it’s certainly looking up for Waleed Ayyoub.

Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah has boosted the image of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the Lebanese guerrilla group’s leader, provoking a surge in demand for portraits among Palestinians.

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“Sheikh Nasrallah is now number one,” said Ayyoub, as he put the finishing touches to a portrait at his roadside easel in Ramallah, the main city in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Before the Lebanon conflict broke out on July 12, when Hezbollah seized two Israeli soldiers in a raid, Ayyoub might have been lucky to sell one or two portraits of Nasrallah a month. At a cost of $10 each, it wasn’t a big money spinner.

Khaleej Times

[furman]

1. kind of like how Bin Laden and Yasser Arafat are such popular icons?

Nasrallah is in good company :sarcasm:

[bemildred]

2. Hezbollah leader Nasrallah reaching `legendary' status

BEIRUT, Lebanon - In Bahrain, they sing songs about him. In Egypt, he's compared with their greatest modern hero. In distant Tunis, where an estimated 7,000 people marched peacefully to protest Israel's action, some of them held up his photograph.

In Muslim countries as different as Syria and Malaysia, they wave his picture like the national flag.

So far, Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, is the only person to emerge from the wreckage of Lebanon not only unbroken, but seemingly strengthened. As his Shiite Muslim militant group battles Israel's powerful military into an improbable fourth week, his stature in the Muslim world has never been greater.

In Washington and throughout the West, the rise of this charismatic, broadly popular Islamist is being watched closely. As his stature grows, his pronouncements will increasingly influence how the Muslim world views itself and its relationship with the West.

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/world/15182379.htm