Lazy Sunday Reading Material

The must-read article of the day is Charles Levinson's reporting on Hezbollah supporters buying up land north of the Litani. I do have one complaint: the title refers to Hezbollah buying "frontier land to attack Israel," which suggests that Hezbollah is buying land on the Lebanon-Israeli border. Military fortifications and mass land purchases north of the Litani are still important, but they can't quite be considered on "frontier land." Here's the money quote, referring to Hezbollah-connected Shia businessman Ali Tajeddine:

"But his distinctive arc of land-buys around Hizbollah's new stronghold has triggered alarm among the district's Christian and Druze leaders, who say he is using Iranian funds to buy land from destitute villagers at up to four times the going rate. Druze sheikhs have responded by forbidding the sale of land to Shias and wealthy Christians have been asked to buy property in the area to stem the Shia tide."

The journalist, Charles Levinson, is no great fan of Hezbollah. However, that's not something that I hold against him.