According to the Israeli daily Haaretz Prime Minister Olmert's office has produced a video about Kuntar "as part of a campaign to tarnish the image of the Lebanese guerilla group in light of the victory celebrations."

But who is unclear about Hezbollah at this point? Unless it is Ehud Olmert himself, who last week in Paris at the Mediterranean Summit sought a little face time with prospective "peace partner" Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. The Israeli Prime Minister who wants to illustrate the culture of death in Lebanon is pursuing peace with the state that equips the culture of death with weapons. Indeed, Israel has warned against regime change in Damascus because it fears a Sunni Islamist government next door - while it cuts deals with Shiite Islamists in Lebanon and is then aghast at their level of brutality.

Everyone else already knew about Hezbollah. The Arabs knew. Druze leader Walid Jumblatt and Sunni strongman Saad Hariri, both congratulated the Islamic resistance for freeing the prisoners - and this after Hezbollah tortured and executed their co-religionists just two months ago.

Maybe the campaign is directed toward the West. But the apologists in the academy and editorial rooms and foreign bureaus angling for professional advancement - i.e. access to Nasrallah and his captains - know. The same is true of the left-wing fellow travelers of the "resistance" who, unknown to some of their earnest colleagues, understand perfectly well that the Islamists do not share their "progressive" ideals. The tenured Nietzscheans and Foucauldians who seek a return to the blood, the magic, the violence, they certainly know. Those who know what Hezbollah is, know; and those who seem not to know, know even better.