Hezbollah (original) (raw)

This article is about the Hezbollah based in Lebanon. For an article about the unrelated Hezbollah in Turkey, see Hezbollah (Turkey).

The neutrality of this article is disputed.

Hezbollah (Arabic ‮حزب الله‬, meaning Party of God; also written as Hizbullah or Hizbollah) is a militant Shia political party in Lebanon. Hezbollah began as a guerrilla fighting group against the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon and maintains an active militia, known as the Islamic Resistance.

Hezbollah is listed as a terrorist organization by the Government of The United States of America. [1]

The civilian arm of Hezbollah maintains hospitals, schools, orphanages, and other projects to help Southern Lebanese. Hezbollah is primarily active in the Bekaa Valley, the southern suburbs of Beirut, and southern Lebanon. American officials consider Hezbollah one of the most dangerous groups in the world (Hezbollah has killed, over the past 20 years, more than 300 Americans).

He group is headed by Sheik Hassan Nasrallah.

History

Hezbollah was formed from numerous other Lebanese Shia groups shortly after Israel's 1982 invasion of the southern, Shia region of Lebanon. It's organization was greatly aided by the arrival of 1,500 Revolutionary Guards from Iran, only three years after Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iran, as an Islamic republic--especially a Shia one--remains a close ally, influence, and model for Hezbollah.

Combat in Southern Lebanon

Until the Israeli withdrawal, Hezbollah fought Israel's occupation forces. The Israelis used tank shelling, helicopter bombing, missile fire, and heavy machine guns on targets in southern Lebanon. The Hezbollah have responded with low intensity warfare tactics, including bombing of military and political targets.

It is known or suspected to have been involved in numerous attacks on American targets in Lebanon during the 1980's, including the suicide truck bombing of the U.S. Embassy and US Marine barracks in Beirut in October 1983 and the United States embassy annex in Beirut in September 1984. American forces were at the time engaged in fighting against Hezbollah, both viewing the others party as the aggressor. Elements of the group have been linked to involvement in kidnapping and detention of American and other Western hostages in Lebanon but the Hezbollah has never accepted responsibility for it. The group has also been accused of responsibility for the attack on the Israeli Embassy in Argentina in 1992 and the bombing of a Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires.

In 2000, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak withdrew from Lebanon to the UN-agreed Israeli border. The Shebaa Farms area, internationally recognized as Syrian territory, is still occupied by Israel, though Hezbollah regards it as occupied Lebanese territory. The UN recognizes the Shabaa Farms to stand outside of any legitimate Lebanese claim, though Shaaba Farms is used by Hezbollah as a pretext for their ongoing anti-Israeli campiagn. Hezbollah captured three Israeli soldiers and attacked Israeli forces near Shebaa Farms. Hezbollah has continued to shell the northern border region of Israel with mortars and Katyusha artillery rockets.

Entrance in political arena

Today, 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 now holds 8. Since the end of the Israeli occupation of Lebanon on May 24 2001, the Hezbollah has been involved in activities like building schools, clinics, hospitals and other needed services for their society.

United Nations list of alternate names

According to the United Nations, Hezbollah is also known as Islamic Jihad (Islamic Holy War), Islamic Jihad Organization, Islamic Jihad for the Liberation of Palestine, Ansar al-Allah (Followers of God), Al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyyah (Islamic Resistance), Organization of the Oppressed, Organization of the Oppressed on Earth, Revolutionary Justice Organization, Organization of Right Against Wrong, and Followers of the Prophet Muhammed). [source: United Nations Suppression of Terrorism Regulations (SCHEDULE 1), SOR/2001-360, Registration: 2 October, 2001][1]

Organization

Hezbollah is closely allied with, and often directed by, Iran and Syria but may have conducted operations that were not approved by Tehran or Damascus. Hezbollah is strongly anti-Zionist, anti-West, and anti-Israeli government. Some western media outlets sometimes associate the name 'Hezbollah' with 'terrorism', whereas other sources do not.

Hezbollah is claimed to be a right arm of Syria which allows it to attack Israel without being directly responsible to it. Although it is well known that Assad and Hezbollah are closely related, he managed to avoid international criticism, thus the USA is threatening Syria with economical sanction for their suppport of terrorism. Israel has bombed serveral Syrian targets in retaliation for terror attacks of Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah that Israel claims were sponsored by Syria. An Israeli official said that those attacks are a "message to Syria to stop sponsering terrorism".

However, some commentators believe that Hezbollah has grown in strength and that it is no longer a puppet of Assad. According to them, Hezbollah has a very strong reputation among the Arab world that allows it to defy the directions from Damascus and Tehran.

Ideology

The organization holds 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 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.

Al-Minar TV Network

Hezbollah is said to operate its own satellite television station from Lebanon. The station is called Al-Minar TV, meaning "the Lighthouse". The Israelis claim that Al-Minar is the mouthpiece of Hezbollah. [1]

See also

Anti-Israel movements | Arab-Israeli conflict |Axis of evil | Council on American-Islamic Relations | Dar al-Islam | Foreign relations of Iran | Foreign relations of Lebanon | History of Lebanon | Imad Mughniyeh |Islam |Islam as a political movement | Islamism | Katyusha | List of terrorist groups | Politics of Lebanon | Qassam rocket | Religious terrorism | Shebaa Farms | Special Force (computer game) | Terrorism | Terrorism against Israelis | War on Terrorism | William Francis Buckley |

Official site

United States Department of State

see also:

United States Department of State

Information