Hezbollah
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| Hezbollah | |
|---|---|
 Hezbollah flag |
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| Leader | Hassan Nasrallah |
| Founded | 1982 – 1985 (officially) |
| Ideology | Islamism Islamic Socialism |
| Religion | Shi’a Islam |
| Nationality | Lebanese |
| Website | |
| Varies. See List of official sites. | |
Hezbollah[1] (Arabic: حزب الله ḥizbu-illāh(i),[2] literally “Party of God“) is a Shi’a Islamist political and paramilitary organisation based in Lebanon.[3] Hezbollah is also a major provider of social services,[4] operating schools, hospitals, and agricultural services for thousands of Lebanese Shi’a, and plays a significant role in Lebanese politics.[5] It is regarded as a resistance movement throughout much of the Arab and Muslim world.[3] Multiple countries, including Sunni Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan,[6] have condemned actions by Hezbollah, while Syria and Iran have generally been supportive of the organisation.[7] Most Europeans countries have refused to classify Hezbollah as a terrorist organization,[8] but the United States, Egypt,[9] Israel, Australia, and Canada regard it in whole or in part as such.[10]
Hezbollah first emerged in 1982 as a militia in response to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, also known as Operation Peace for Galilee, set on resisting the Israeli occupation of Lebanon during the Lebanese civil war.[3][11] Its leaders were inspired by Ayatollah Khomeini, and its forces were trained and organized by a contingent of Iranian Revolutionary Guards.[12] Hezbollah’s 1985 manifesto listed its four main goals as “Israel’s final departure from Lebanon as a prelude to its final obliteration,” ending “any imperialist power in Lebanon,” submission of the Phalangists to “just rule” and bringing them to trial for their crimes, and giving the people the chance to choose “with full freedom the system of government they want,” while we not hide our commitment to the rule of Islam.” [13][14][15] Hezbollah leaders have also made numerous statements calling for the destruction of Israel, which they refer to as a “Zionist entity… built on lands wrested from their owners.”[14][15]
Hezbollah, which started with only a small militia, has grown to an organization with seats in the Lebanese government, a radio and a satellite television-station, and programs for social development.[16] Hezbollah maintains strong support among Lebanon’s Shi’a population, and gained a surge of support from Lebanon’s broader population (Sunni, Christian, Druze) immediately following the 2006 Lebanon War,[17] and is able to mobilize demonstrations of hundreds of thousands.[18] Hezbollah alongside with some other groups began the 2006–2008 Lebanese political protests in opposition to the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.[19] A later dispute over Hezbollah preservation of its telecoms network led to clashes and Hezbollah-led opposition fighters seized control of several West Beirut neighborhoods from Future Movement militiamen loyal to Fouad Siniora. These areas were then handed over to the Lebanese Army.[20] A national unity government was formed in 2008, giving Hezbollah and its opposition allies control of eleven of thirty cabinets seats; effectively veto power.[5]
Hezbollah receives its financial support from the governments of Iran and Syria, as well as donations from Lebanese people and foreign Shi’as.[21][22] It has also gained significantly in military strength in the 2000s.[23] Despite a June 2008 certification by the United Nations that Israel had withdrawn from all Lebanese territory,[24] in August, Lebanon’s new Cabinet unanimously approved a draft policy statement which secures Hezbollah’s existence as an armed organization and guarantees its right to “liberate or recover occupied lands.” Since 1992, the organization has been headed by Hassan Nasrallah, its Secretary-General.
Hezbollah
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History
1980s
Ending Israel‘s occupation of Southern Lebanon was the primary focus of Hezbollah’s early activities.[11] Israel had become militarily involved in Lebanon in combat with the Palestine Liberation Organization, which had been invited into Lebanon after Black September in Jordan. Israel had been attacking the PLO in Southern Lebanon in the lead-up to the 1982 Lebanon War, and Israel had invaded and occupied Southern Lebanon and besieged Beirut.[25]
Hezbollah waged an asymmetrical guerrilla war against Israel using suicide attacks against the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and against Israeli targets outside of Lebanon.[26] Hezbollah is reputed to have been among the first Islamic resistance groups to use tactical suicide bombing, assassination, and capturing against foreign soldiers in the Middle East.[12] Hezbollah turned into a paramilitary organization and used missiles, Katyusha, and other type of rocket launchers and detonations of explosive charges[27][28] instead of capturing,[29][30] murders,[29] and hijackings.[31] At the end of the Lebanese Civil War in 1990, despite the Taif Agreement asking for the “disbanding of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias,” Syria, in control of Lebanon at that time, allowed Hezbollah to maintain their arsenal, and control the Shiite areas in Southern Lebanon along the border with Israel.[32]
After 1990
In the 1990s, Hezbollah transformed from a revolutionary group into a political one, in a process which is described as the Lebanonisation of Hezbollah. Unlike its uncompromising revolutionary stance in the 1980s, Hezbollah conveyed a lenient stance towards the Lebanese state.[33]
In 1992, Hezbollah decided to participate in elections, and Ali Khamenei, supreme leader of Iran, endorsed it. Former Hezbollah secretary general, Subhi al-Tufayli, contested this decision, which led to a schism in Hezbollah. Hezbollah won all twelve seats which were on its electoral list. At the end of that year, Hezbollah began to engage in dialog with Lebanese Christians. Hezbollah regards cultural, political, and religious freedoms in Lebanon as sanctified, although it does not extend these values to groups who have relations with Israel.[34]
In 1997, Hezbollah formed multi-confessional Lebanese Brigades to Fighting the Israeli Occupation, which was an attempt to revive national and secular resistance against Israel, which marks the Lebanonisation of resistance.[35]
Islamic Jihad Organization
Whether the Islamic Jihad Organization (IJO) was a nom de guerre used by Hezbollah or a separate organization, is disputed.
Hezbollah leaders reportedly admitted their involvement in IJO’s attacks and the nominal nature of “Islamic Jihad” – that it was merely a “telephone organization,”[36][37] and[38] whose name was “used by those involved to disguise their true identity.”[39][40][41][42][43]
A 2003 decision by an American court found IJO was the name used by Hezbollah for its attacks in Lebanon, and parts of the Middle East, and Europe.[44] Hezbollah also used another name, Islamic Resistance, or al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya, for its attacks against Israel.[45]
The names Islamic Jihad, Organization of the Oppressed on Earth and the Revolutionary Justice Organization are considered to be synonymous with Hezbollah by the United States,[46] Israel,[47] and Canada.[48]
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