Hezbollah Chief Defiant at Huge Rally

The mood has shifted in Lebanon in the weeks since the war ended. Most politicians tried to maintain a facade of unity while the battle raged, but it evaporated within days of the cease-fire. With little more than the rubble cleared and makeshift bridges built, the extent of the damage has sunk in. The mood has sobered: While Israel may not have won, to many here the notion of victory is more ambiguous.

In subtle ways, Hezbollah's message has changed, too. At the rally Friday, the group's slogan about a coming victory -- "The Truthful Pledge" -- had become "Our Truthful Pledge." One of its professionally produced posters read, "America and its tools have been defeated." In a country used to reading between the lines, "tools" could mean allies both abroad and at home.

"If Hezbollah wanted to fight, in one hour it would take all of Lebanon," said Mahmoud Birjawi, a 35-year-old Lebanese expatriate who flew from Venezuela two days ago, in part to attend the rally. He scoffed at the idea of strife inside the country, memories of its 1975-90 war still vivid. But he added that "the future is for the resistance," the name Hezbollah uses for its militia.

As Birjawi waited with the crowd in the sun-drenched lot, supporters cheered and waved Hezbollah's yellow flags each time a taped recording of Nasrallah's speech was played. "This is our country," he said. "We defended this country."

A Hezbollah rally is many things: a show of force, of discipline, of empowerment and of the loyalty of its following. The group's followers have a mantra -- What Nasrallah says, he does -- and that credibility was on display even on the posters overhead. Four depicted battle scenes, reading, in order: "Our water," "Our air," "Our earth," "With fire, we defended." In the top left corner of two, "reconstruction" was written, acknowledging that pictures of a helicopter and ship exploding did not depict actual events.

To a degree unmatched in the Arab world, Hezbollah can mobilize supporters, who answer its call with almost martial precision.

"Every drop in the ocean counts," Ribai said.

Ribai and his family are from Tibnin, a southern village scarred by the fighting this summer. As with many Shiites from the poorer south, the 50-year-old emigrated to Liberia and Sierra Leone to earn money, then returned to Lebanon. He now lives in Beirut. At the rally, he was earnest, even retiring, doting on his three children -- ages 20, 19 and 9 -- who accompanied him.

"When Sayyid Hasan called everyone, I decided to come," he said, using an honorific. "I didn't think twice about it."

More pronounced than before the war, a cult of personality has grown up around Nasrallah. T-shirts in the crowd with his picture read, "Hero of the resistance." Some people wore miniature portraits of him as necklaces. As with many, Ribai talked of Nasrallah with a certain awe. Nasrallah's son, Ribai pointed out, had been killed fighting Israeli troops occupying southern Lebanon in 1997.

"Somebody who sacrificed his own son's life? He did everything he could for this country. He asks you to come celebrate this victory. Why would I think twice about it?" he said.

His daughter Zeinab, 20, leaned into the conversation. "He's one of us," she said.