Israel-based Greg Myre's Wednesday story, "Palestinians in Gaza Find Heroes in Hezbollah as it Inflicts Harm on a Common Foe," looks at Hezbollah from the admiring perspective of Palestinians in Gaza.
"In Gaza, where the fighting has dragged on for years, the Palestinians are once again taking a drubbing. About 150 Palestinians, including militants and civilians, have been killed in the fighting that erupted after militants tunneled into Israel on June 25, killing two soldiers and seizing another. On the Israeli side, one soldier has been killed since then, mistakenly by Israeli forces.
"But on the Lebanese front, Hezbollah has killed more than 50 Israelis, including more than 30 from the military. Hezbollah militants have inflicted significant casualties on Israeli ground forces in towns on the Lebanese side of the border and have been unleashing 100 or more rockets a day despite the intense Israeli aerial campaign to stop them. Hezbollah even hit an Israeli ship in the Mediterranean, killing four Israeli sailors.
"Hezbollah's achievements have turned Sheik Nasrallah into the face of anti-Israeli resistance, as Ahmad Abu Dayyah, who manages the P.L.O. Flag Shop, has seen in his sales. Even the poor are putting down their money for his poster. 'They feel very proud of this guy,' he said."
What's missing? The word "terrorist" doesn't appear in this story featuring members of Hamas proudly talking about the killing of Israeli soldiers and civilians by Hezbollah. Not even the paper's weasel-word "militia" is employed.
And Elaine Sciolino and Dan Bilefsky's report from Brussels ("European Union Supports French Plan, in Sign of Gap Between U.S. and Its Allies") suggests it's not quite accurate to label Hamas a terrorist group. Check out the tone and the scare quotes: "In another development, Finland's foreign minister, Erkki Tuomioja, whose country holds the European Union's rotating presidency, said the bloc would not add Hezbollah to its list of terrorist organizations. The European Union, like the United States, has branded as 'terrorist' the Palestinian organization Hamas but has refused Washington's calls to add Hezbollah to its list."