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The Hezbollah (Template:Lang-ar Template:ArabDIN, meaning Party of God) is a Shi’a Islamic organization and political party in Lebanon, comprising a military and a civilian arm, whose primary stated goal is to defend Southern Lebanon against present or future Israeli occupation. The current Secretary-General of Hezbollah is Sheikh Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who has held the office since 1992.

The United States, Canada, and Israel consider Hezbollah a terrorist organization, but others, including the European Union and the United Nations, decline to share this view. Within Lebanon and the Muslim world, Hezbollah’s armed operations are widely regarded as legitimate resistance against Israel.

History

Main article: History of Hezbollah

Hezbollah was formed to combat the Israeli occupation following the 1982 invasion of Lebanon and opposes a Zionist agenda, also initially aiming to transform Lebanon into an Islamic republic. It was officially founded on the 16th of February, 1985 when Sheik Ibrahim al-Amin declared the group's manifesto. The publication of the manifesto was timed to coincide with the anniversary of Ragheb Harb's death.

It was largely formed with the aid of the Ayatollah Khomeini's followers in the early eighties to spread Shia revolution. Hezbollah views Israel as a whole as "an illegal usurper entity, which is based on falsehood, massacres, and illusions" , and follows a distinct version of Islamic Shia ideology developed by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of the Islamic Revolution in Iran.

Scholars differ as to when Hezbollah came to be a distinct entity. Some organizations list the official formation of the group as early as 1982 whereas Diaz and Newman maintain that Hezbollah remained an amalgamation of various violent Shi’a extremists until as late as 1985 . Regardless of when the name came into official use, a number of Shi’a groups were slowly assimilated into the organization, such as Islamic Jihad, Organization of the Oppressed on Earth and the Revolutionary Justice Organization . These designations are considered to be synonymous with Hezbollah by the US, Israel and Canada

Hezbollah's strength was enhanced by the dispatching of one thousand to fifteen hundred members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and the financial backing of Iran. It became the main politico-military force among the Shia community in Lebanon and the main arm of what became known later as the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon. Hezbollah follows a Shiite Islamist ideology shared by the leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, but it has abandoned its goal of establishing a fundamentalist Shiite state in Lebanon.

Operational history

Hezbollah is believed by the United States and some other countries’ intelligence agencies to have kidnapped (or captured) and tortured to death U.S. Marine Colonel William R. Higgins and the CIA station chief in Beirut, William Francis Buckley, and to have kidnapped around 30 other Westerners between 1982 and 1992, including U.S. journalist Terry Anderson, British journalist John McCarthy, the Archbishop of Canterbury's special envoy Terry Waite and Irish citizen Brian Keenan. Hezbollah was accused by the US government of being responsible for the April 1983 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut that killed 63; of being behind the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing, a suicide truck bombing that killed 241 U.S. marines in their barracks in Beirut in October 1983; of bombing the replacement U.S. Embassy in East Beirut on September 20, 1984, killing 20 Lebanese and two U.S. soldiers; and of carrying out the 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847 en route from Athens to Rome. These accusations are denied by Hezbollah.

  • The U.S. claims Hezbollah carried out two Argentine terrorist attacks in the early 1990s: the 1992 Israeli Embassy bombing in Buenos Aires, killing 29 people, and an attack two years later on a Jewish community center there, killing 85. Hezbollah denies these claims.
  • On October 7 2000, Hizbullah kidnapped (captured) three IDF soldiers from the Mt. Dov sector: Adi Avitan, Omer Soued and Binyamin Avraham .
  • On March 12 2002, In a Hizbullah shooting attack on the Shlomi-Metzuba route in northern Israel, Six Israelis civilians were killed.
  • On August 10 2003, a 16 year old Israeli boy was killed by shrapnel from an anti-aircraft shell fired by Hezbollah, and four others were wounded.
  • On April 7 2005, Two Israeli-Arabs from the village Rajar near the Israel-Lebanon border were kidnapped (captured) by Hezbollah operatives. They were later released.

Suicide attacks

Hezbollah is reputed to have been among the first Islamic resistance groups to use tactical suicide bombing in the Middle East, and early bombings attributed to the group (e.g. the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing) inspired other militant extremist groups to adopt the tactic for their own purposes. The Palestinian Sunni group Hamas is perhaps the most well-known of these copycats, and while Hezbollah has largely ended its own suicide bombing campaign, some claim it continues to help Hamas in planning and training for suicide missions to this day.

According to Robert Pape’s Dying to Win, Hezbollah conducted three distinct suicide bombing campaigns against forces it deemed to be occupying Lebanon:

  1. 1983–1984: 5 acts against the US and France, including these specific acts:
  2. 1982–1985: 11 acts against Israel.
  3. 1985–1986: 20 acts against Israel and the South Lebanon Army.

In addition to these campaigns, Pape documents six other isolated suicide attacks taken by Hezbollah between 1985 and 1999.

Upon Israel’s withdrawal from South Lebanon in 1990, according to Pape, the necessary conditions for Hezbollah’s continuing use of suicide attacks evaporated. Hezbollah has not directly participated in suicide bombings since 1999, its leaders evidently having renounced the tactic, at least for the time being (see #Stance on the use of terrorist tactics).

Ideology

Hezbollah's ideology is rooted in the Shi’a tradition of Islam, specifically in the concept of “Willayat Al-Faqih” put forth by Ayatollah Khomeini and other Islamic scholars in Iran. In an early August speech, Iranian Expediency Council Secretary Mohsen Rezai, and former commander of the Revolutionary Guards said, "Iran is a model and example for Hizbullah. The Iranian faith, tactics and experience are being put to practice in Lebanon... Hizbullah looks to Iran for tactics and moral , and we are proud that our experience other Muslim countries."

In a 1999 interview, Nasrallah outlined the group’s three “minimal demand: an withdrawal from South Lebanon and the Western Bqa’ Valley, a withdrawal from the Golan, and the return of the Palestinian refugees.” An additional objective is the freeing of prisoners held in Israeli jails, some of whom have been imprisoned for eighteen years.

Position on Israel

Hezbollah supports, in principle, the destruction of the state of Israel. Secretary-General Nasrallah’s official stance is that “Israel is an illegal usurper entity, which is based on falsehood, massacres, and illusions, and there is no chance for its survival.” The Age quotes him like so: "There is no solution to the conflict in this region except with the disappearance of Israel."

Nasrallah has a history of making anti-Semitic statements (most infamously “if they all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide”), but an anonymous page on Hezbollah's website marks a distinction between "Zionist ideology" and Judaism. It sees the rejection of Zionism as an attitude hold across "races, religions, and nationalities". It likens Zionism to "the concept of creating 'Israel' by the use of force and violence, by stealing the Arabs’ lands and killing Palestinians". "pposing the Zionists ideology is not opposing setting a home for Jews".

Notably, despite the rhetoric, Hezbollah appears to have neither the intention nor the capacity to invade Israel. Nasrallah stated that "at the end of the road no one can go to war on behalf of the Palestinians, even if that one is not in agreement with what the Palestinians agreed on." When asked whether he was prepared to live with a two-state settlement between Israel and Palestine, Nasrallah said he would not sabotage what is a Palestinian matter. He also clarified that outside of Lebanon, Hezbollah will act only in a defensive manner towards Israeli forces, and that Hezbollah's missiles were acquired to deter attacks on Lebanon."

Women’s rights

In keeping with Lebanon’s generally secular and egalitarian culture, Hezbollah recognizes and promotes women’s rights (in the mold of the Western liberal tradition) somewhat more strongly than do other groups associated with Islamic jihad, or for that matter than does Iran, Hezbollah’s self-proclaimed “model and example” (see Women in Muslim societies).

One member of the Hezbollah Political Council, speaking to an Online Journal correspondent in July 2006, claimed that “Hezbollah differs from many Islamic groups in our treatment of women. We believe women have the ability like men to participate in all parts of life.” The Online Journal correspondent writes,

From its founding in the 1980s, Hezbollah women have headed education, medical and social service organizations. Most recently Hezbollah nominated several women to run in the Lebanese elections. It named Wafa Hoteit as a chief of Al Noor Radio (also recently bombed), and promoted 37-year-old Rima Fakhry to its highest ruling body, the Hezbollah Political Council. Part of Fakhry's duties include interpreting Islamic feminism in Sharia law for the Committee for Political Analysis.

Hezbollah’s inclination towards secular, liberal values should not be overstated, however. For example, its official stance on homosexuality hews close to traditional religious teachings (see Gay rights in Lebanon: Politics).

Civilian activities

Lebanon’s majority Shi’a areas, where Hezbollah is most prominent

Hezbollah not only has armed and political wings but also organises an extensive social development programme. This civilian wing runs hospitals, news services, and educational facilities. Its Reconstruction Campaign ('Jihad al-Bina') is responsible for numerous economic and infrastructure development projects in Lebanon. The group currently operates at least four hospitals, 12 clinics, 12 schools, and two agricultural centres that provide farmers with technical assistance and training. It also has an environmental department and an extensive social assistance programme. Medical care provided through Hezbollah is also less expensive than in most of the country's private hospitals and free for Hezbollah members. Most experts believe that Hezbollah's social and health programmes are worth hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Hezbollah's funding is primarily attained through donations. It is widely thought that Hezbollah receives extensive financial help from Iran and Syria, although Iran denies this, and Hezbollah denies receiving aid from Syria.

Politics

Along with the Amal Movement, Hezbollah is one of the two main organizations representing the Shia community, Lebanon's largest religious bloc, but the only militant one (Amal is a political party).

Hezbollah's civilian wing participates in the Parliament of Lebanon.In 1992, it participated in Lebanese 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 14 seats nationwide (of 128 total), and an Amal-Hezbollah alliance won all 23 seats in Southern Lebanon. The bloc it forms with others, the Resistance and Development Bloc, took 27.3% of the seats (see Lebanese general election, 2005).

Hezbollah is a minority partner in the current Cabinet, holding two (and endorsing a third) cabinet positions in the Lebanese government of July 2005.

Mohamed Fneish was appointed Energy and Water Minister in the cabinet and has been quoted as saying "We are a political force that took part in the polls under the banner of defending the resistance and protecting Lebanon and got among the highest level of popular backing ... Hezbollah’s resistance (against Israel) does not in any way contradict its political role. If joining the government and parliament is a national duty, then so is defending the country.”

Social services

Hezbollah provides many social services in Lebanon. According to CNN: "Hezbollah did everything that a government should do, from collecting the garbage to running hospitals and repairing schools."

In 1996’s “The Electoral Program of Hizbullah,” the organization declared its wish to improve educational and health system. Then on May 2006 as UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs published: "Hezbollah not only has armed and political wings - it also boasts an extensive social development programme. The group currently operates at least four hospitals, 12 clinics, 12 schools and two agricultural centres that provide farmers with technical assistance and training. It also has an environmental department and an extensive social assistance programme. Medical care is also cheaper than in most of the country's private hospitals and free for Hezbollah members."

Now Hezbollah social service agencies provide health care and schooling for poor farmers. Even during the war with Israel during July 2006 when there is no running water in Beirut, Hezbollah is arranging supplies all around the city. "People here see Hezbollah as a political movement and a social service provider as much as it is a militia that delivers the goods for its followers, in this traditionally poor and dispossessed Shiite community."

Hezbollah also engages in organizing youths in the universities in other activities, such as promoting recycling on campus.

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"). Kabdat Alla ("The Fist of God") is the monthly magazine of Hezbollah's paramilitary wing.

Al Manar broadcasts news in Arabic, English, French and Hebrew and is widely watched both in Lebanon and in other Arab countries. Its transmission in France (even via satellite, not by any station based on French territory) is controversial. It has been accused of promoting religious and racial hatred (against Jews), which is a criminal offense in France. On December 13, 2004, the French Conseil d'État, acting on the request of the French TV authorities, issued an injunction to Eutelsat to cease the broadcasting of Al Manar in France.

The Hezbollah Central Internet Bureau in 2003 released a Video Game titled Special Force, intended to simulate Arab-Israeli conflicts from an Arab perspective.

Military activities

Hezbollah has a military branch known as Al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya ("The Islamic Resistance"), and is the possible sponsor of a number of lesser-known militant organizations, some of which may be little more than fronts for Hezbollah itself. These organizations include the Organization of the Oppressed, the Revolutionary Justice Organization, the Organization of Right Against Wrong, and Followers of the Prophet Muhammad..

The government of Lebanon has accepted Al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya as a legitimate resistance organisation. The Prime Minister of Lebanon said that "the continued presence of Israeli occupation of Lebanese lands in the Shebaa Farms region is what contributes to the presence of Hezbollah weapons. The international community must help us in (getting) an Israeli withdrawal from Shebaa Farms so we can solve the problem of Hezbollah's arms." .

UN Security Council Resolution 1559, calls for "the disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militia", echoing the Taif Agreement that ended the Lebanese Civil War, but does not explicitly include Hezbollah although Kofi Annan has advanced this interpretation. The Lebanese Government and Hezbollah dispute the application of this resolution to Hezbollah, referring to it as a "resistance movement" and not a militia. Hezbollah's deputy leader Naim Qassem has said that its forces might become a "reservist army" within the Lebanese army, though this suggestion is not universally supported within the organisation.

Armed strength

See also: Hezbollah rocket force

The strength of Hezbollah's forces are disputed, and has been variously estimated as "several thousand" and several thousand supporters and a few hundred devotee operatives. The International Institute for Strategic Studies estimates Hezbollah forces to 600-1000 active fighters (with 3,000 - 5,000 available and 10,000 reservists), 10,000 - 15,000 rockets of the Katyusha, Fajr-3 and Fajr-5 type. They also estimate a stockpile of 30 missiles of the Zelzal type. According to Haaretz Hezbollah is not a small guerrilla organization. Israel faces a trained, skilled, well-organized, highly motivated infantry that is equipped with the cream of the crop of modern weaponry from the arsenals of Syria, Iran, Russia and China, and which is very familiar with the territory on which it is fighting.

The military wing of Hezbollah is considered to be the most capable non-state armed group in the Middle East. "Islamic Resistance guerrillas are reckoned to be amongst the most dedicated, motivated and highly trained of their kind. Any Hezbollah member receiving military training is likely to do so at the hands of IRGC , either in southern Lebanon or in camps in Iran. The increasingly sophisticated methods used by IRGC members indicates that they are trained using Israeli and US military manuals; the emphasis of this training is on the tactics of attrition, mobility, intelligence gathering and night-time manoeuvres."

Intelligence capabilities

According to Israeli and American sources, Hezbollah has three units charged with intelligence operations.

One unit is responsible for intelligence activities against Israel, primarily by recruiting and running agents in order to gather information about Israeli military bases and other potential targets. It is claimed that this unit also gathers information on behalf of Iran , and is also known to conduct SIGINT operations against IDF communications .

Preventive Security is the organization's internal security formation, and is responsible for counter-intelligence and communication security, as well as operating its prisons and interrogation centers.

According to Michael Eisenstadt, of the pro-Israeli Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Hezbollah also has a unit called Unit 1800 which aids Palestinians engaged in their operations, by providing funding, direction, weapons, and bomb-building instructions.

Stance on the use of terrorist tactics

Hezbollah has disclaimed the use of some terrorist tactics, particularly those that result in the deaths of innocent people. For example, although the group first became known for pioneering the use of suicide bombings in the region, its clerics have never been entirely comfortable with the tactic, and it has not been directly involved in a suicide bombing since 1999.

After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Hezbollah condemned Al Qaeda for targeting the civilian World Trade Center, though it remained silent on the attack on the Pentagon, presumably considering it a legitimate military target. It denounced the Armed Islamic Group massacres in Algeria, Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya attacks on tourists in Egypt, and the murder of Nick Berg. Nasrallah, in a 2006 interview with the Washington Post, condemned violence against innocent civilians: “f there are American tourists, or intellectuals, doctors, or professors who have nothing to do with this war, they are innocent, even though they are Americans, and it is forbidden. It is not acceptable to harm them.”

In the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, however, Hezbollah’s targets have been largely civilian. It has aimed for communities in northern Israel, including Haifa, Nazareth, Kiryat Shmona, Afula, Hadera, and, reportedly, Tel Aviv. From the conflict’s start until August 6, 2006, civilians have accounted for approximately one-third of casualties inflicted by Hezbollah. (By contrast, the overwhelming majority of Lebanese casualties inflicted by the Israel Defense Force have been civilians.) Israel has attempted to differentiate itself from Hezbollah by claiming the guerilla group’s targeting of civilians is deliberate. (See Targeting of civilian areas in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict.)

Foreign and domestic relations

File:BND Hezbollah.jpg
The former President of the German intelligence service BND, August Hanning, during the press conference in Beirut, regarding the German negotiated prisoner exchange between Israel and Hezbollah. January 30, 2004 see also Elchanan Tenenbaum.

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 the United States. However, on April 2, 2004, Muqtada al-Sadr announced his intention to form chapters of Hezbollah and Hamas in Iraq. He is not known to have consulted Hezbollah or Hamas before making this statement.

It is widely believed that Hafez al-Assad, who was president of Syria from 1971 to 2000, 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, which it views as a terrorist organization. However, on March 3, 2005, United States President George W. Bush and his 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.

In an interview on Al-Arabiya TV in Dubai, former Hezbollah Secretary-General Subhi Al-Tufeili said Hezbollah definitely fosters its relations with the Syrians, but Hezbollah's real leadership is 'the rule of the jurisprudence'.

Those who consider Hezbollah to be a terrorist organization consider its sponsors (in particular Iran, Syria, and Lebanon) to stand in violation of UN Security Council Resolutions 1373 and 1566. Further, UN Security Council Resolution 1559 calls for "the disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias." Israel has lodged continual complaints about Hezbollah's actions.

Alleged links to al-Qaeda

United States intelligence officials and other observers believe there has been contact between Hezbollah and low-level al-Qaeda figures who fled Afghanistan for Lebanon. Some have suggested a broader alliance between Hezbollah, al-Qaeda, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

On the other hand, others point out that al-Qaeda’s Sunni Wahhabist ideology is largely incompatible with Hezbollah’s relatively liberal brand of Shia Islam; in fact, some Sunni leaders consider Hezbollah to be apostate. Al-Qaeda has demonstrated its distaste for Shi’as in suicide bombings and attacks on Shi’a civilian targets in Iraq. Hezbollah denies any ties to al-Qaeda, and many reliable sources report that there exists no evidence of a connection between Hezbollah and al-Qaeda. Zarqawi has issued an audio recording in which he called Hezbollah an “enemy of Sunnis” and a “shield” for Israel, for protecting Israel by preventing Palestinian attacks from Lebanon.

Nasrallah denies links to al-Qaeda, present or past, stating in a 2002 interview that the two organizations work in different areas and face different enemies. Hezbollah’s aim has been the “confrontation of the Zionist plan,” said Nasrallah, while bin Laden has focused on Afghanistan, Yugoslavia, Bosnia, and Chechnya. “So we are talking about two different areas and battles facing two completely different enemies. This was the reason why there wasn’t any contact.”

As part of a surge of intersectarian support for Lebanon’s Muslims during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda’s deputy leader, called for Muslims to rise up in a holy war against Zionists and join the fighting in Lebanon.

Relationship to Hamas and Palestinian resistance

According to CRS report for U.S. congress "Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, suggested that the Hezbollah operation might provide a way out of the crisis in Gaza because Israel had negotiated with Hezbollah indirectly in the past although it is refusing to negotiate with Hamas now. He said that the only way the soldiers would be returned would be through a prisoner exchange. Although Hezbollah and Hamas are not organizationally linked, Hezbollah has acted in some ways as a mentor or role model for Hamas, which has sought to emulate the Lebanese group’s political and media success. Hamas’s kidnaping of the Israeli soldier follows a different Hezbollah example. Hezbollah reportedly also has provided terrorist training for Hamas, and the two groups share the goal of driving Israel from occupied territories and ultimately from Israel proper; both maintain close ties with Iran."

According to an Israeli military source, Hezbollah assists Hamas with bomb production: "They know how to make them more concentrated, what kind of screw to use, how to pack more explosives into less space."

Nasrallah has declared his support for the ongoing al-Alqa intifada.

Hezbollah is also a known supporter of the Shi'ite Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, which fired a Hezbollah-provided Katyusha rocket at the Israeli city of Ashkelon in May, 2006.

Assistance from abroad

Hezbollah allegedly receives financial and political assistance, as well as weapons and training, from Iran. The US estimates that Iran was giving Hezbollah about $60-$100 million per year in financial assistance but that assistance declined as other funding was secured, primarily from South America .

Hezbollah is also believed by the United States and Israel to be tactically, financially, and militarily supported by Syria Hezbollah has also received Iranian-supplied weaponry, including 11,500 missiles already in place in southern Lebanon. Three thousand Hezbollah militants have undergone training in Iran, which included guerilla warfare, firing missiles and rocket artillery, operating unmanned drones, marine warfare and conventional war operations. Finally, 50 pilots have been trained in Iran in the past two years.

Mahmoud Ali Suleiman, the Hezbollah operative captured in August 2006 by the IDF for his role in the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12, admitted during his interrogation that he received weapons-training and religious instruction in Iran. He told his interrogators that he rode in a civilian car to Damascus, from where he flew to Iran. Other than the Russian-made Katyusha, Hezbollah's reported artillery cache is entirely Iranian-made.

On August 4 2006, Jane's Defense Weekly, a defense industry magazine, reported that Hezbollah asked Iran for "a constant supply of weapons to support its operations against Israel" in the Israel-Lebanon conflict. The report cited Western diplomatic sources as saying that Iranian authorities promised Hezbollah a steady supply of weapons `"for the next stage of the confrontation".

Iran long denied supplying Hezbollah with weapons despite persistent reports to the contrary However, "Mohtashami Pur, a one-time ambassador to Lebanon who currently holds the title of secretary-general of the 'Intifada conference,' told an Iranian newspaper that Iran transferred the missiles to the Shi'ite militia, adding that the organization has his country's blessing to use the weapons in defense of Lebanon". The Israel Defence Forces regard Hezbollah as virtually an arm of the Iranian armed forces; a senior Israeli defence official told Jane's Defence Weekly that "we should consider that what we are facing in Lebanon is not a militia but rather a special forces brigade of the Iranian Army."

Similar claims and denials regarding supply of weapons have been made with respect to Syria


The U.S. Treasury Department has also accused Hezbollah of raising funds by counterfeiting U.S. currency.

Money is also received from supporters abroad. Mohammed Hammoud was convicted in the United States for "violating a ban on material support of groups designated as terrorist organizations". The amount was USD 3,500, which Hammoud claimed was to "support Hezbollah's efforts to distribute books at schools and improve public water systems."

Hezbollah claims to raise most of its money from donations. "It's no secret that Hezbollah receives financial help from Iran, but not from Syria," said Hezbollah spokesman Hussein Nabulsi.

Designation as a legitimate political entity

Hezbollah is regarded by the Lebanese, Iranian and Syrian and some other Islamic governments as a legitimate resistance, a view common in the Arab and Muslim world. Throughout most of the Arab and Muslim worlds, Hezbollah is highly regarded as a legitimate resistance movement. According to a poll released by the "Beirut Center for Research and Information" on 26 July during 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, 87 percent of Lebanese support Hezbollah's fight with Israel, a rise of 29 percent on a similar poll conducted in February. More striking, however, is the level of support for Hezbollah's resistance from non-Shiite communities. Eighty percent of Christians polled supported Hezbollah along with 80 percent of Druze and 89 percent of Sunnis., while according to another poll, from July 2005, 74 percent of Christian Lebanese viewed Hezbollah as a resistance organization.

The UN’s Deputy Secretary-General, Mark Malloch Brown, contests characterisations of the Lebanese militia as a terrorist organisation in the mould of al-Qaeda. While acknowledging that “Hezbollah employs terrorist tactics,” he says that it is unhelpful to call it a terrorist organization; the United States and the international community, in his view, would do well to respect it as a legitimate political party..

Designation as a terrorist organization

Seven nations or supranational entities have deemed part or all of Hezbollah a terrorist organization:

List of entities designating Hezbollah as terrorist
Entity Type of Designation Reference
United States The organization Hezbollah in full.
Canada The organization Hezbollah in full
Israel The organization Hezbollah in full
United Kingdom The Hezbollah External Security Organization
Netherlands The Hezbollah External Security Organization
Australia The Hezbollah External Security Organization
European Union No organizational listing, but does list Hezbollah's senior intelligence officer - Imad Mugniyah.

In the midst of the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, Russia’s government declined to include Hezbollah in a newly-released list of terrorist organizations, a notable omission given Russia’s membership in the informal Middle East Quartet. They did, however, include other radical Islamic Shi'a groups such as the Islamic Jihad which has assimilated into Hezbollah, as well as al-Qaeda which is believed to be linked with Hezbollah. Prior to the release of the list, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov called "on Hezbollah to stop resorting to any terrorist methods including attacking neighboring states."

The EU, another member of the quartet, also declined to label Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. They do, however, list Hezbollah's senior intelligence officer Imad Mugniyah as a terrorist.

The Quartet’s fourth member, the United Nations, does not maintain such a list.

Although France has not officially listed Hezbollah as a terrorist group, the French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin has denounced the "terrorist attacks" of Hezbollah against Israel.

See also

Notes

  1. Other transliterations include Hizbullah (used by The Economist), Hizbollah, Hezballah, Hizballah, Hisbollah, and Hizb Allah (used by Al Jazeera).
  2. The stress is most commonly placed on the final syllable, as per the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. Hizb (party) is the Modern Standard Arabic pronunciation, and hezb is closer to Persian and Lebanese dialect. The name is derived from a Qur’anic ayat (verse) referring to those who belong to and follow the “party of God.”
  3. MSN Encarta. "Hezbollah (Full article requires registration)".
  4. "Hezbollah - Does Hezbollah play an active role in the Lebanese politics?". the Council on Foreign Relations(Independent organization). 2006-07-17. Retrieved 2006-07-28.
  5. ^ LEBANON: The many hands and faces of Hezbollah, irinnews.org
  6. Brandon, James (2006-07-12). "Factfile: Hezbollah". Al Jazeera.
  7. "EU won't label Hezbollah 'terrorist' group". United Press International. August 2, 2006.
  8. "EU not to place Hezbollah on terrorist list, for now: presidency". August 1, 2006.
  9. ^ Dahr Jamail (July 20, 2006). "Hezbollah's transformation". Asia Times Online. Retrieved August 7th, 2006. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  10. Wright, Robin (2006-07-13). "Options for U.S. Limited As Mideast Crises Spread". Washington Post. p. A19.
  11. "Secretary General of Hizbullah Discusses the New Israeli Government and Hizbullah's Struggle Against Israel". June 23, 1999. Retrieved 7th August, 2006. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  12. Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hizbullah
  13. GlobalSecurity.org, 2005
  14. Diaz & Newman, 2005, p. 55
  15. U.S Department of State (1999-10-01). "Background Information on Foreign Terrorist Organizations". Retrieved 2006-07-25.
  16. Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1996-04-11). "Hizbullah". Retrieved 2006-07-25.
  17. Canada Gazette (2003-02-12). "Canada Gazette Vol. 137, no 1". Retrieved 2006-07-25.
  18. ^ Nizar Abdel-Kader. "Iraq and the Future of Gulf Security Cooperation: A Lebanese perspective". Lebanese Army Magazine. Retrieved 2006-07-25.
  19. Third World Quarterly, Vol 14, No 2, 1993, reprinted at Al Mashriq Lebanon's Hizbullah: from Islamic revolution to parliamentary accommodation Accessed 2006-07-26
  20. 101st CONGRESS 1st Session H. CON. RES. 190 [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c101:H.CON.RES.190: Expressing the sense of the Congress over the reported murder of Lieutenant Colonel William Higgins and Hezbollah-sponsored terrorism.] Accessed 2006-07-26
  21. Telegraph, 2004/2/21
  22. Sites, Kevin (Scripps Howard News Services). "Hezbollah denies terrorist ties, increases role in government" 2006-01-15
  23. United States Department of State, April 2005.
  24. Rex A. Hudson, The Sociology and Psychology of Terrorism, 1999.
  25. Hezbollah again denies involvement in deadly Buenos Aires bombing BEIRUT, March 19 (AFP)
  26. Hezbollah website, citing BBC 2005-11-11 Hizbullah denies Argentina bomb Accessed July 26, 2006
  27. "On this day". BBC News. 1994-07-26. Retrieved 2006-07-26.
  28. "Israelis Held by the Hizbullah". Israel MFA. Jan 2004. Retrieved 2006-08-7. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  29. "Hizballah Terrorist Incidents Since May 2000". Jewish Virtual Library. August 4, 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-7. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  30. "Hizballah Terrorist Incidents Since May 2000". Jewish Virtual Library. August 4, 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-7. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  31. "Hizballah Terrorist Incidents Since May 2000". Jewish Virtual Library. August 4, 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-7. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  32. ^ Pape, Robert (2005). Dying to win: the strategic logic of suicide terrorism. Random House. ISBN 1400063175. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |loc= ignored (help) Specifically: "Suicide Terrorist Campaigns, 1980-2003", Appendix 1. (Page 253 of Australian paperback edition, published by Scribe Publications)
  33. ^ http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=countries&Area=iran&ID=SP123206
  34. http://www.roozonline.com/01newsstory/016885.shtml (Arabic)
  35. Thisreen (Syrian newspaper) June 21, 1999, reprinted by MEMRI Secretary General of Hizbullah Discusses the New Israeli Government and Hizbullah’s Struggle Against Israel Accessed July 30, 2006
  36. BBC, April 12, 2000, Israeli court frees Lebanese prisoners Accessed August 4, 2006
  37. Aljazeera.net July 13, 2006 Israeli strikes kill 40 in Lebanon Accessed August 4, 2006
  38. Private website, registered to Bassam Kantar, Beirut Lebanon (WHOIS search, August 4, 2006) Freedom for Samir Kuntar Accessed August 4, 2006
  39. The Brunswickan Online. "Hizbollah promises Israel a blood-filled new year, Iran calls for Israel's end". (Student newspaper)
  40. Institute for Counterterrorism (Israeli NGO) citing al-Safir (Beirut) February 16, 1985 The Hizballah Program Accessed July 31, 2006
  41. Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada Listed Entities - Hizballah Accessed July 31, 2006
  42. Thisreen (Syrian newspaper) June 21, 1999, reprinted by MEMRI Secretary General of Hizbullah Discusses the New Israeli Government and Hizbullah’s Struggle Against Israel Accessed July 30, 2006
  43. Little choice for a defiant Israel, by Andrew Markus, The Age, July 15, 2006
  44. See Hassan Nasrallah.
  45. The Truth Is Spoken: Anti-Zionists Are No Anti-Semitists... The Zionists ideology versus the Torah and Judaism, Archive search result page, labeled "Aljazeera, 1-1-2006."
  46. Hersh, Seymore (July 18, 2003). "The Syrian Bet". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2006-08-07.
  47. Shatz, Adam (april 29, 2004). "In Search of Hezbollah". The New York Review of Books. Retrieved 2006-08-07. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  48. Macvicar, Sheila (March 16, 2003). "Interview With Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah". CNN. Retrieved 2006-08-01. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  49. ^ http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_1007.shtml
  50. Sachs, Susan. The New York Times. Helping Hand of Hezbollah Emerging in South Lebanon. March 30, 2000.
  51. ^ Ted Koppel on NPR report: Lebanon's Hezbollah Ties. All Things Considered, July 13, 2006.
  52. ^ "Iran denies giving aid to Hizbullah", Jerusalem Post, July 28th, 2006
  53. Seelye, Kate (2005-04-01). "Lebanon's religious mix". PBS Frontline World. Retrieved 2006-07-28.
  54. McClathy Newspapers July 15th, 2006
  55. YaLibnan Wednesday, "Lineup of Lebanon's new Cabinet"; 20 July, 2005
  56. LebaneseBloggers, " The Lineup: Check the Name", 15 July, 2005
  57. Gulf Times (Reuters) Hezbollah seeks talks over arms
  58. JoMarie Fecci, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs: Despite End of Lebanon’s Long Civil War, Low-Level Conflict Continues Around Israeli-Occupied Zone'
  59. ^ CNN (2006-07-25). "Hezbollah's secret weapon". Retrieved 2006-07-25. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  60. Al Mashriq The Electoral Program of Hizbullah, 1996 Accessed 2006-07-25
  61. Washington Post, July 22, 2006 History repeats itself in new conflict? Not quite Accessed 2006-07-25
  62. NPR Hezbollah's Next Generation
  63. See:
  64. Memri.org
  65. US Department of State Background Information on Foreign Terrorist Organizations
  66. Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hizbullah
  67. Canada Gazette, v 137, no 1
  68. ^ "Hezbollah disarmament unclear". CNN. May 7, 2005. Retrieved August 5, 2006.
  69. "Israelis, Hezbollah Clash Again in Lebanon". AP. July 20, 2006. Retrieved August 7th, 2006. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  70. United Nations July 24, 2006 Press Encounter with the Secretary-General at the Security Council Stakeout Accessed August 5, 2006
  71. United Nations, October 17, 2005 Highlights of the Spokesman's Noon Briefing Accessed August 5, 2006
  72. United Nations, July 22, 2006 US and UN share broad long-range objectives on Middle East – Annan Accessed August 5, 2006
  73. United Nations, October 26, 2005 S/2005/673 Letter dated 26 October 2005 from the Secretary-General addressed to the President of the Security Council Accessed August 5, 2006
  74. Jane's Sentinel Eastern Mediterranean, issue no. 19, 2006
  75. "Background Information on Foreign Terrorist Organizations". U.S Department of State. 1999-10-08. Retrieved 2006-07-25.
  76. "Country Reports on Terrorism, 2004". U.S Department of State. 2005-04-01. Retrieved 2006-07-25.
  77. The International Institute For Strategic Studies (2006-07-21). "Agence France Presse - Lebanese army faces no-win situation". Retrieved 2006-08-01.
  78. Singh, Gajendra (2006-07-31). "Rice's New ME Birth pangs Deliver Daughter of the Mountain". Al Jazeerah. Retrieved 2006-08-07.
  79. Janes World Insurgency and Terrorism Group Profile: Hezbollah Accessed July 28, 2006
  80. Melman, Yossi (2006-07-21). "The Prying Game". Haaretz.
  81. Eisenstadt, Michael (2006-07-17). "Israeli Offensive Widens". Washington Post. Retrieved 20-08-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  82. “But all these theological somersaults suggest that religion may be as much a hurdle, which the perpetrators of ‘martyrdom operations’ need to overcome, as a motive for their violence. Hizbullah's clerics, for example, have always been squeamish about suicidal missions.” http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=2329785
  83. from section above
  84. ^ Wright, Robin. "Inside the Mind of Hezbollah". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2006-08-01.
  85. Hezbollah's condemnation of murder of civilians in Egypt and Algeria is described in Saad-Ghorayeb, p. 101.
  86. Usher, Sebastian. "Muted Arab reaction to Berg beheading". BBC News. Retrieved 2006-07-27.
  87. http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article1211295.ece
  88. Gettleman, Jeffrey (2004-04-05). "THE STRUGGLE FOR IRAQ: UNREST; A Young Radical's Anti-U.S. Wrath Is Unleashed". NY Times. Retrieved 2006-07-26.
  89. Video clip
  90. Security Council (Press Release) (2006-01-23). "SECURITY COUNCIL NOTES SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS IN LEBANON". Retrieved 2006-07-26.
  91. Mekel, Arye (2003-01-14). "The situation in the Middle East - Measures to eliminate international terrorism". General Assembly Security Council, United Nations. Retrieved 2006-07-26.
  92. See:
  93. 'Hezbollah-al Qaeda Ties Increase Danger in Lebanon'
  94. "The new front, An ominous alliance in Lebanon". The National Review. 2002-07-12. Retrieved 2002-07-12.
  95. "Qaeda and Hezbollah seen in alliance of terror". The Washtington Post/The International Herald Tribune. 2002-07-01. Retrieved 2002-07-01.
  96. "The Al-Qaida-Hizballah Connection". Institute for Counter-Terrorism at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya. 2006-02-26. Retrieved 2006-07-26.
  97. See:
  98. Jerusalem Post, August 5, 2006 Saudi religious leader blasts Hizbullah Accessed August 6, 2006
  99. Al Jazeera (2005-09-14). "Al-Zarqawi declares war on Iraqi Shia". Retrieved 2006-07-26.
  100. People's Daily (China) (2002-07-01). "Lebanon's Hezbollah Denies Link with Al-Qaeda". Retrieved 2006-07-26.
  101. Janes World Insurgency and Terrorism.Group Profile: Hizbullah Accessed July 28, 2006
  102. See:
  103. BBC News (2006-06-02). "'Zarqawi tape' urges Sunni unrest". Retrieved 2006-07-26.
  104. Al Jazeera "Hizbollah has no known links to Al-Qaida"
  105. Tehran, Washington, And Terror: No Agreement To Differ by A. W. Samii, Middle East Review of International Affairs, Volume 6, No. 3, September 2002 - citing Al-Majallah, March 24-30, 2002 and Al-Watan March 19, 2002
  106. CNN, July 27, 2006 Al Qaeda: War with Zionists is 'jihad' Accessed July 29, 2006
  107. CRS Report for Congress, July 21, 2006 Israel-Hamas-Hezbollah: The Current Conflict Accessed August 4, 2006
  108. Washington Post, August 18, 2002 Suicide Bombers Change Mideast's Military Balance Accessed August 4, 2006
  109. "Address of the Secretary-General of Hizbullah "Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah" at the Tehran Convention Supporting the Intifada (Palestinian Uprising)". Islamic Resistance in Lebanon. 2001-04-24. Retrieved 2006-07-27. {{cite web}}: horizontal tab character in |title= at position 73 (help)
  110. http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD122006
  111. "Israel-Hamas-Hezbollah: The Current Conflict" (PDF). CRS Report for Congress. July 21, 2006. Retrieved 7th August, 2006. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  112. "Hezbollah's Global Finance Network: The Triple Frontier". January, 2002. Retrieved 7th August, 2006. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  113. Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism (2006-04-28). "Country Reports on Terrorism: State Sponsors of Terror Overview". Retrieved 2006-07-17.
  114. http://switch3.castup.net/cunet/gm.asp?ai=214&ar=1132wmv&ak=null
  115. "Iran Provider of Hezbollah's Weaponry". Asharq Alawsat. July 16 2006. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  116. ^ "Missiles neutralizing Israeli tanks". 4th August, 2006. Retrieved 7th August, 2006. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  117. AFP via Yahoo! News, August 4, 2006 Iran to supply Hezbollah with surface-to-air missiles Accessed August 5, 2006
  118. Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism (2006-04-28). "Country Reports on Terrorism: State Sponsors of Terror Overview". Retrieved 2006-07-17.
  119. Video Clip
  120. Haaretz, August 5, 2006 Iranian official admits Tehran supplied missiles to Hezbollah Accesed August 5, 2006
  121. "Israel to counter Hizbullah forces", Jane's Defence Weekly, 26 July 2006
  122. Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism (2006-04-28). "Country Reports on Terrorism: State Sponsors of Terror Overview". Retrieved 2006-07-17.
  123. "Hezballah: Violence mixed with social mission". CNN. 2006-06-13. Retrieved 2006-06-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  124. US Treasury Department, June 10, 2004 Treasury Designates Islamic Extremist, Two Companies Supporting Hizballah in Tri-Border Area Accessed 2006-07-26
  125. Washington Post, June 22, 2002 N.C. Man Convicted Of Aiding Hezbollah Accessed August 6, 2006
  126. "Ahmadinejad: Palestinian movement motivated by Lebanese Hezbollah". P.I.R.I News Archive. 2006-01-20. Retrieved 2006-07-25.
  127. Kate Seelye (04-01-2005). "Hariri's assassination has united some sects and divided others". PBS. Retrieved 2006-07-25. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  128. "Hamas, Hezbollah Legitimate for Jordanians". Angus Reid Global Scan. 2006-07-14. Retrieved 2006-07-25.
  129. Blanford, Nicholas (2006-07-28). "Israeli strikes may boost Hizbullah base". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 2006-07-29.
  130. Globalcomment.com - Mohammed Zahid
  131. "No peace without Hezbollah, says Beirut". Sydney Morning Herald. 2006-08-04. Retrieved 2006-08-07.
  132. "U.N.'s Malloch Brown Questions Hezbollah's 'Terror' Designation". FOx News. Retrieved 2006-08-07.
  133. "U.N. boss: Hezbollah deserves U.S. respect". World Net Daily. 2006-08-03. Retrieved 2006-08-07.
  134. See:
  135. See:
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  137. "Proscribed terrorist groups". The Home Office Department, UK. 2005-10-14. Retrieved 2006-07-25. "Home Office"
  138. De Minister van Buitenlandse Zaken. "Beantwoording toezegging inzake de positie van Hezbollah" (in Dutch).
  139. "AIVD Annual Report 2004" (PDF). The Netherlands ministry of Home Affairs. Retrieved 2006-07-25.
  140. "Hizballah external security organisation listed". Archive for Daryl Williams Attorney-General for Australia. 2003-06-17. Retrieved 2006-07-25.
  141. European Union. "The EU's relations with Lebanon".
  142. "COUNCIL DECISION of 21 December 2005 implementing Article 2(3) of Regulation (EC) No 2580/2001 on specific restrictive measures directed against certain persons and entities with a view to combating terrorism and repealing Decision 2005/848/EC(2005/930/EC)" (PDF). Official Journal of the European Union.
  143. See:*"European parliament calls for putting an end to Hizbullah terrorist acts". ArabicNews.com. 2005-03-11. Retrieved 2006-07-16.
  144. "US view of Hezbollah 'unchanged'". BBC. 10 March, 2005. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  145. "Russia Outlaws 17 Terror Groups; Hamas, Hezbollah Not Included". MosNews. 2006-07-28. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  146. Haaretz (2006-07-15). "Russian defense minister says Hezbollah uses 'terrorist methods' - Haaretz - Israel News". Retrieved 2006-08-07.
  147. Washington Times (2006-08-02). "EU won't label Hezbollah 'terrorist' group". Retrieved 2006-08-07.
  148. EUbusiness.com (2006-08-01). "EU not to place Hezbollah on terrorist list, for now". Retrieved 2006-08-07. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  149. United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee Portal Accessed August 7, 2006
  150. The Adetocqueville Connection (2000-02-24). "FRANCE CONDEMNS LEBANESE HIZBOLLAH'S TERRORIST ATTACKS". Retrieved 2006-08-07.
  151. Jewish News Weekly of Northern California (2000-03-03). "j. - French premier pays high price for labeling Hezbollah 'terrorist'". Retrieved 2006-08-07.

Literature

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