Who is Hizbullah? The party that welcomes outside aid but is no one's puppet!
"Israel" calls it a "terrorist" and "extremist" organization. George Bush says it is a tool of Iran, and claims it has "killed more Americans than any (so-called) 'terrorist' organization except al-Qaeda."
But the leaders of (some) governments trying to destroy Hizbullah are not the only ones condemning it. Both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have accused Hizbullah (in a very rare cases) of human rights violations, and Robert Fisk, the 鈥業ndependent' journalist who has helped expose some of the worst "Israeli" and U.S. crimes in the Middle East, says that Hizbullah "provoked the latest war" in Lebanon, and bears responsibility for "bringing catastrophe upon their coreligionists."
Meanwhile, however, Hizbullah has gained growing support in the Middle East, well beyond its base among Shia Muslims in Lebanon--for the simple reason that it is, in the words of Aijaz Ahmad, writing in Frontline magazine in India, "the only entity which has, through armed resistance, forced the 'Israelis' to relinquish any territory that the Jewish (Zionist) state has ever captured" (the main justification for earning it the so-called 'terrorist' label).
What kind of organization is Hizbullah, and how should the left view it?
HIZBULLAH CAME out of a Lebanon fractured by civil war.
The region of Lebanon has always contained various religious communities, but the French colonialists who dominated the area favored the Maronite Christians, who became the most powerful community once the state of Lebanon was formed.
According to the terms of a 1943 pact, Maronites were given the presidency, and Christians were allocated a majority of seats in the parliament. The post of prime minister was reserved for a Sunni Muslim, and Shia Muslims--soon to become the largest segment of the population--were left with the relatively powerless position of speaker of parliament.
The West and "Israel" backed certain Maronite leaders, prompting Muslim leaders to become increasingly influenced by Arab nationalism. These tensions were at the roots of Lebanon's civil war, which lasted more or less continuously from 1975 to 1990. "Israel" and the U.S. backed the right, grouped around the Christian.
In 1978, "Israel" seized a strip of territory in Southern Lebanon, and four years later, it launched a full-scale invasion--with the aim of installing a right-wing Christian government and driving out Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) fighters based in the country.
The U.S. sent Marines as part of an international force to oversee the withdrawal of the PLO--these "peacekeepers" began to intervene more and more openly on the side of the Lebanese right and "Israel's" occupying force.
Throughout this conflict, the group that suffered the most was the Shia--by then the most numerous religious community in Lebanon, comprising about 40 percent of the population, and by far the poorest, inhabiting the slums of Beirut's southern suburbs and the villages in southern Lebanon directly in the path of "Israeli" attacks and invasions.
By 1982, several Shia military groups emerged--many with funding and training from the new Islamic government in Iran, which took power after the 1979 Iranian Revolution and was seeking to project its influence in Lebanon amid the other rival forces of the civil war. The Iranian-backed groups, though only loosely connected, were known together as Hizbullah, meaning the "Party of God" in Arabic.
Shia militias engaged in several small but devastating attacks, including the bombing of the U.S. embassy, and a self-sacrifice truck bombing of the Marines barracks in October 1983 that killed 241 Marines. These attacks led Ronald Reagan to "cut and run"--and withdraw troops from Lebanon.
In 1985, Shia clerics declared the foundation of Hizbullah in an "Open Letter to the Downtrodden in Lebanon and the World."
Quickly, however, it became predominant in the military resistance to the "Israeli" occupation of Southern Lebanon. Hizbullah attacks did use self-sacrifice bombers, but increasingly into the 1990s, the balance shifted toward guerrilla operations directed at inflicting damage on the "Israeli" occupation force. Hizbullah is generally credited with forcing "Israel" to withdraw from Lebanon in 2000.
After 2000, Hizbullah continued to carry out military operations to pressure "Israel" to leave (occupied) Shibaa Farms--the last sliver of "Israeli"-occupied territory in Lebanon--defend against repeated "Israeli" incursions and provocations, and win freedom for Lebanese prisoners held by "Israel". Hizbullah's July 12 raid that captured two "Israeli" soldiers--which the "Israeli" government made the pretext for its war against Lebanon this summer--fits this pattern.
Unlike "Israel's" indiscriminate bombing campaign, Hizbullah primarily targeted "Israeli" military forces. A majority of "Israeli" casualties during the onslaught were soldiers, while the vast majority of Lebanese killed by "Israeli" missiles and bombs were civilian bystanders.
HIZBULLAH IS a political party that runs a network of schools, clinics and other services that many people rely on to fill the gap for what the Lebanese government doesn't provide. It also controls an array of businesses, including bakeries, banks, factories and an Islamic clothing line, as well as a satellite television station and a radio station.
Hizbullah organized relief efforts for southern Lebanon after the "Israeli" bombings of 1993 and 1996, and is currently paying for furniture and rent money to all whose homes were destroyed in this summer's assault.
Beginning in the early 1990s, Hizbullah decided to take part in mainstream politics, first winning election to the Lebanon's parliament in 1992. Currently, the organization has 12 members in parliament and two in the cabinet.
It leads a parliamentary bloc in which other forces, including secular parties and non-Muslim parties, are involved. The list of candidates for this alliance during the 2005 elections included not only Shiites, but Christians, Sunni Muslims and Druze.
Hizbullah gets aid and support--including military backing--from Iran and Syria. But it is not a puppet of these governments, as the Bush administration insisted.
While Iran had decisive influence during Hizbullah's early years, the organization has since developed its own elected council and command structure to make political and military decisions. According to a post-ceasefire report by the mainstream political analyst Anthony Cordesman, "No serving 'Israeli' official, intelligence officer or other military officer felt that the Hizbullah acted under the direction of Iran or Syria."
More generally, Hizbullah is viewed as a legitimate national resistance organization, among Shia and non-Shia, throughout much of Lebanese society. Even before this summer's war, a 2005 Center for Strategic Studies survey found that three-quarters of Lebanese Christians--the traditional base of the right--identified Hizbullah as a legitimate group in challenging "Israeli" aggression.
Some on the left focus on Hizbullah's commitment to Islamic fundamentalism to minimize its political importance--for example, a recent letter-writer to Socialist Worker who dismissed Hizbullah as "a movement partially analogous to our own fundamentalist right."
Hizbullah's Islamism need to be understood concretely. For example, though it accepts prejudices against women predominant in Islam (!?)--and Christianity, for that matter--Hizbullah's Shia ideology is not as reactionary as, for example, the Wahhabists of Afghanistan's Taliban and the rulers of Saudi Arabia. Thus, women lead many of Hizbullah's social service projects, although they are excluded from political (it is not accurate for there is one female as a member of Hizbullah's Politburo whose name is Rima Fakhry) and military leadership.
On the other hand, unlike its backers in the Iranian political establishment, Hizbullah does not have a goal to building of Islamic state--at least in Lebanon. Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah has said, "Lebanon is a pluralistic country. It is not an Islamic country."
This sheds light on why Hizbullah has been able to gain support beyond its Shia base--both within Lebanon and more broadly across the Middle East. Hizbullah's main appeal lies in its willingness to challenge "Israeli" aggression and U.S. imperialism.
By successfully preventing "Israel" from accomplishing its objectives in this summer's onslaught, Hizbullah has set an example of resistance that could inspire further struggles across the Middle East--potentially opening the way for a secular, left-wing alternative to take root and grow. How many died in lebanon only 40 israeli civilians died in the 33 day war and 200 israeli army. In lebanon more then 1500 civilians dead half were children what do you call that half of lebanon was destroyed and you ask about the missils hezballah launched oh how your logic u don't want to listen or understand so no use. Hezbollah is not a terrorist group for these points:
1- It helped Lebanon consecutive times during the war and THEY WON.
2- It helped Palestine and still is.
3- If it was a terrorist group, would it not be bombing Israel day and night. Will it not be killing every single person against them??
4- If it was a terrorist group, they why are they helping Lebanon being rebuilt.
5- Who said that Lebanon is 98% Hezbollah, that is a lie and not all followers of this group are Muslims in particular shi'at. I'm not, but I'm with the group, because they know WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT. and not like others just trying to seek for fame and blabbing mouths. They don't injure people, they dint want war. AND IF YOU KNOW POLITICS YOU BLABBING PEOPLE Israel wanted to start the war, by throwing a flame, but Hezbollah were more clever.
6- Israeli troops while they were interview, were ASTONISHED, because they never knew what this group can be, it is because they are PROTECTED BY GOD, unlike others.
7- Why do you report an ASKER, you see people, this is your tool, REPORT, because you don't know what to answer and how.
The Report thing is YOUR SAVIOR. But i know who my Savior is.
And by the way, YOU DONT LIKE THE QUESTION THEN DONT READ AND DONT ANSWER.
BYE BYE
PEACE Are you kidding me? They DO fire missles everyday into Israel. Report It
Why are you posting this CRAP in the Religious section... Go to the political section... REPORTED A bunch of well trained, well equipped, unscantined thugs who cross borders and kidnap people to extort tribute.
The only way to deal with people who do things like this is to rub them out of existance. I love it when I see Israeli troops mobilized into Palastine.
:) Get out of here you little sissy She is small but fierce. Hezbollah has done some terrorists acts, let's be serious. But at the same time I can understand your POV. It's just that I think both sides can take it too far sometimes. He's right I stopped reading your rant when you LIED, saying that you only target military installations. IF that is so, why did so many civilians die under your RANDOM rocket attack a few months ago?
You'll never convince anyone of your 'good intent' as long as you act like criminals. So save your breath. If you want people to read your questions, then keep them shorter. Much shorter. I started reading & gave up. Everyone knows that any organization with an AK-47 on its flag, has the best of intentions. Hezbollah is supposedly a terrorist organization group, most living in Lebanon, which supports this group. Hezbollah is involved in politics, but also many crimes. The US wants them to disarm, but they won't because their goal is to destroy Israel-made up of Jews. They don't like Jews and if they disarm they obviously can't fulfill their goal. Ur Islam and Muslim are full of it Israel did not target innocent civilians 98% Lebanon are Hezbollah and like any other Islam nation are raised to hate Jew Christan and Americans or none muslin instead using the word struggles use the word jihad aim personally waiting for Ur nation to Provoke the USA in to open war when we the people on our soil I'm lock and loaded and my blade is sharp and my sword let just say its thrust. my GOD TELL ME IN DEUTERONOMY 7 AS FALLOW EDS WHEN THE LORD UR GOD BRINGS U INTO THE LAND WHICH U GO TO POSSESS AND HAS CAST OUT MANY NATIONS BEFORE U THE HITTITES(WHICH IS UR GROUP) GIRGASSHITES AMERRITES CANAANITES PERIZZITES HIVITES JEBUSITES SEVEN NATIONS GREATER AND MIGHTIER THAN U AND WHEN UR LORD UR GOD DELIVERS THEM OVER TO U U SHALL CONQUER THEM AND UTTERLY DESTROYED THEM U SHALL MAKE NO COVENANT WITH THEM NOR SHOW NO MERCY TO THEM NOR GIVE UR SON AND DAUGHTER IN MARRIAGES WITH THEM .
So u see this very personal with many who fallow my LORD and God which God of Abraham Issac and Jacob so their no love lost i myself and u know the deal it all about a HOLLY WAR
REPENT OR HAVE UR PLACE IN LAKE OF FIRE WE KNOW FOR FACT UR GROUP RAISE FUND IN THE USA TO FUND UR JIHAD WE HAVE A SAYING IN AMERICA U CAN FOOL SUM OF THE PEOPLE MOST OF THE TIME BUT NOT ALL OF THEM |
