WORLD / Background
Introduction of Hezbollah in Lebanon
(aljazeera.com)
Updated: 2006-07-13 14:43
Hezbollah (meaning Party of God) is a political and military party in
Lebanon founded in 1982 to fight the IsraelI occupation in southern
Lebanon. It is regarded by many in the Arab and Muslim world as a
legitimate militant Shia political party in Lebanon . In addition to its
military wing, Hezbollah maintains a civilian arm, which runs hospitals,
various news services, and eductional facilities.
Hezbollah has denounced some acts of terror, like the September 11
attacks and the murder of Nick Berg.
History
Origins
Hezbollah was formed from numerous other Lebanese Shia groups shortly
after Israel's 1982 invasion, largely fought in mainly Shia southern
Lebanon. The group was conceived by Iran, or at least was aided in its
inception by the arrival in Lebanon of 1,500 Islamic revolutionary guards
from Iran, three years after that country's own Islamic Revolution in
1979. Iran, as an Islamic republic remains a close ally, financial
backer, arms supplier and model for Hezbollah. Syria backs Hezbollah
morally and has also supplied it with money and arms, such as Katyusha
rockets.
One of the main objective of Hezbollah at the time was to spread the
Iranian Revolution. Since then, the party has publicly declared that it
will suspend its attempts to create an islamic state in Lebanon "because
the conditions are not met". It remained underground for a number of
years and did not make a public announcement of its existence till 1985,
until which time its earliest members operated under the auspices of the
"Lebanese National Resistance", an amalgam of forces united in their
opposition to the Israeli invasion.
Hezbollah during the Lebanese war (1982-1990)
After emerging during the civil war of the early 1980s, Hezbollah focused
on expelling Israeli and Western forces from Lebanon.
There may also have been (attempted) terrorist attacks against Hezbollah.
According to Bob Woodward's book Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA, the
CIA asked Elie Hobeika to kill Hezbollah's spiritual leader Fadlallah,
but asked for minimal bloodshed. The assassination attempt failed to kill
Fadlallah but more than 80 civilans died. The fiasco lead the CIA to
terminate its relationship with Elie Hobeika.
Conflict in South Lebanon
South Lebanon was occupied by Israel between 1982 and 2000. Hezbollah
fought a guerilla war against Israel and the South Lebanon Army. The
fighting culminated during Operation Grapes of Wrath in April 1996 when
Israel launched an assault and air-campaign against Hezbollah. The
campaign failed and resulted in the Israelis killing more than 100
civilians in one incident alone.
In May 2000, Israel withdrew its army from south Lebanon. This was widely
considered a victory for Hezbollah and boosted its popularity in Lebanon.
The move did not end the conflict because Hezbollah is still contesting
Israel's control of the Shebaa farms region.
Hezbollah's role in the Israeli withdrawal from southern gained the
organization respect in Lebanon, particularly among the country's Shia
community, which comprises 40% of Lebanon's three million citizens. The
President of Lebanon, Emile Lahoud, said: "For us Lebanese, and I can
tell you a majority of Lebanese, Hezbollah is a national resistance
movement. If it wasn't for them, we couldn't have liberated our land. And
because of that, we have big esteem for the Hezbollah movement."
Hezbollah after the Israeli withdrawal
In May 22, 2000, Israel withdrew from Lebanon to the UN-agreed Israeli
border, and their pullout was certified by the UN as complete. However,
Hezbollah says the Shebaa Farms, a 28 sq. km. area, which is still
occupied by Israel, to be Lebanese territory, and on that basis has
continued to attack Israeli forces in that area. The UN recognizes the
Shebaa farms as part of the Golan Heights, and thus occupied Syrian (and
not Lebanese) territory.
Israel continues to overfly Lebanese territory, eliciting condemnation
from the UN Secretary-General's representative in Lebanon. Hezbollah's
anti-aircraft fire has on some occasions landed within the northern
border region of Israel, inciting condemnation from the UN
Secretary-General. On November 7, 2004, Hezbollah responded to the
repeated Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace by flying an unmanned
drone aircraft over northern Israel.
Hezbollah abducted three IDF soldiers during an October 2000 attack in
Shebaa Farms, and sought to obtain the release of 14 Lebanese prisoners,
some of whom had been held since 1978. On January 25, 2004, Hezbollah and
Israel agreed on an exchange of prisoners. The prisoner swap was carried
out on January 29: 30 Lebanese and Arab prisoners, the remains of 60
Lebanese militants and civilians, 420 Palestinian prisoners, and maps
showing Israeli mines in South Lebanon were exchanged for an Israeli
businessman and army reserve colonel kidnapped in 2001 and the remains of
the three IOF (The Israeli Occupation Forces) soldiers mentioned above.
On July 19, 2004, a senior Hezbollah official, Ghaleb Awwali, was
assassinated in a car bombing in Beirut. Hezbollah blamed Israel; credit
was claimed. According to Al-Arabiya, unidentified Lebanese police also
identified the group as a cover for Israel. Israel alleges that Hezbollah
had been increasingly involved in training and arming Hamas. This claim
has been strengthened by Nasrallah's own words. In 2001 Jordan arrested
three Hezbollah members attempting to smuggle Katyusha rockets into the
West Bank. Nasrallah responded that "it is a duty to send arms to
Palestinians from any possible place." After Israel's assassination of
Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin Hezbollah attacked the IOF along the
Blue Line.
UN resolution 1559
On September 2, 2004 the UN Security Council adopted UN Security Council
Resolution 1559, authored by France and the U.S. in an uncommon show of
cooperation. Echoing the Taif Agreement, the resolution "calls upon all
remaining foreign forces to withdraw from Lebanon" and "for the
disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias."
Lebanon is currently in violation of Resolution 1559 over its refusal to
disband the military wing of Hezbollah.
On October 7, 2004 the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan reported to the
Security Council regarding the lack of compliance with Resolution 1559.
Mr. Annan concluded his report by saying: "It is time, 14 years after the
end of hostilities and four years after the Israeli withdrawal from
Lebanon, for all parties concerned to set aside the remaining vestiges of
the past. The withdrawal of foreign forces and the disbandment and
disarmament of militias would, with finality, end that sad chapter of
Lebanese history."
The January 20, 2005 UN Secretary-General's report on Lebanon states:
"The continually asserted position of the Government of Lebanon that the
Blue Line is not valid in the Shab'a farms area is not compatible with
Security Council resolutions. The Council has recognized the Blue Line as
valid for purposes of confirming Israel��s withdrawal pursuant to
resolution 425 (1978). The Government of Lebanon should heed the
Council��s repeated calls for the parties to respect the Blue Line in its
entirety."
On January 28, 2005 UN Security Council Resolution 1583 called upon the
Government of Lebanon to fully extend and exercise its sole and effective
authority throughout the south, including through the deployment of
sufficient numbers of Lebanese armed and security forces, to ensure a
calm environment throughout the area, including along the Blue Line, and
to exert control over the use of force on its territory and from it.
Hezbollah and the cedar revolution
After the assassination of Rafik Al Hariri in February 2005 Hezbollah
strongly supported Syria's presence through demonstrations. It opposed
the cedar revolution which resulted in Syria's withdrawal. However
Hezbollah won a number of representatives during the parliamentary
elections of May 2005 and managed to join the government in July 2005 in
the name of national unity. Hezbollah still holds a large quantity of
weapons and the subject remains extremely controversial in Lebanon.
Post-Lebanese election
After the 2005 elections, Hezbollah held 23 seats (up from eight
previously) in the 128-member Lebanese Parliament. It also participated
for the first time in the Lebanese government that was formed in July
2005. Hezbolla has two ministers in the government, and a third is
Hezbollah-endorsed. It is primarily active in the Bekaa Valley, the
southern suburbs of Beirut, and southern Lebanon. The group is headed by
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and is financed largely by Iran and Syria, though
it also raises funds itself through charities and commercial activities.
Political activities
Hezbollah is an active participant in the political life and processes of
Lebanon, and its scope of operation is far beyond its initial militant
one. In 1992, it participated in elections for the first time, winning 12
out of 128 seats in parliament. It won 10 seats in 1996, and 8 in 2000.
In the general election of 2005, it won 23 seats nationwide, and an
Amal-Hezbollah alliance won all 23 seats in Southern Lebanon. Since the
end of the Israeli occupation in southern Lebanon on May 22, 2000,
Hezbollah has been involved in activities like building schools, clinics,
and hospitals.
Foreign relations
Hezbollah claims that it forbids its fighters entry into Iraq for any
reason, and that no Hezbollah units or individual fighters have entered
Iraq to support any Iraqi faction fighting America.
Hezbollah has no known links to Al-Qaida. Though Hezbollah has a Shia
ideology, this does not exclude it from co-operation with Sunni groups.
However, Al-Qaida and the Taliban, which are respectively a Wahhabi and a
Deobandi group, have long histories of conflict with Shia groups and with
Iran in particular, Hezbollah's strongest backer. Hezbollah is closely
allied with Iran and has a complex relationship with Syria. Hezbollah is
strongly anti-Zionist and anti-Israeli.
It is widely believed that Hafez al-Assad and Hezbollah were closely
linked; this did not significantly affect his relations with the rest of
the world. Bashar al-Assad, his son and successor, has been subjected to
sanctions by the U.S. due to (among other things, such as occupying
Lebanon) his continued support for Hezbollah. However, on March 3, 2005,
the Bush administration stated that it would consider Hezbollah
legitimate if it disarmed, but also said that this did not represent a
change in their view of the organization, which is unlikely to do so.
Mundane
Ideology
The organization views an Islamic republic as the ideal and eventual form
of state. However, as their conception of an Islamic republic requires
the consent of the people, and Lebanon remains a religiously and
ideologically heterogeneous society, their political platform revolves
around more mundane issues. According to their published political
platform in 2003, Hezbollah says that it favors the introduction of an
Islamic government in Lebanon by peaceful democratic means. According to
the United States Department of State and reports submitted to Defense
Technical Information Center (among other United States agencies) as late
as 2001, the organization is seeking to create an fundamentalist
Iranian-style Islamic republic and removal of all non-Islamic influences.
Media operations
Hezbollah operates a satellite television station from Lebanon, Al-Manar
TV ("the Lighthouse") as well as a radio station, al-Nour ("the light").
Qubth Ut Alla ("The Fist of God") is the monthly magazine of Hezbollah's
paramilitary wing. They are watched widely by West Bank and Gazan
Palestinians as well as some Lebanese.
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