Many are disturbedby the occupationof the Palestinianterritoriesormore recently by images of IsraelibombinginLebanon; somefearthey give grist to anti-Semites.
This was understandable, considering America's invasion of neighbouring Iraq, the bellicose tone of Mr Bush's administration, the sudden upsurge of anti-Syrian nationalism in Lebanon that chased Syria's long-ensconced supporters out of power in a country seen in Damascus as its backyard, and the far greater firepower of Israel, whose occupation of the Golan Heights has been a humiliating thorn in Syria's side since 1967.
"Nasrallah is calling the entire Lebanese entity into question, " said Mohamad Chatah, a former minister and adviser allied with the anti-Hezbollah, pro-Western opposition in Lebanon.