Hezbollah

For other uses, see Hezbollah (disambiguation).

Template:Infobox Social political party Hezbollah (Arabic: حزب الله ḥizbu-illāh(i), literally "Party of God") is a Shi'a Islamist political and paramilitary organisation based in Lebanon. Hezbollah is also a major provider of social services, which operate schools, hospitals, and agricultural services for thousands of Lebanese Shi'a, and plays a significant force in Lebanese politics. Many governments, including Arab ones, have condemned actions by Hezbollah while others have praised the party. Some western countries, including the United States, regard it in whole or in part as a terrorist organization.

Hezbollah first emerged as a militia in response to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, also known as Operation Peace for Galilee, in 1982, set on resisting the Israeli occupation of Lebanon during the Lebanese civil war. Its leaders were inspired by Ayatollah Khomeini. Hezbollah's 1985 manifesto listed its three main goals as "putting an end to any colonialist entity" in Lebanonand the establishment of an Islamic regime in Lebanon. Hezbollah leaders have also made numerous statements calling for the destruction of Israel.

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, and is able to mobilize demonstrations of hundreds of thousands. Hezbollah alongside with some other groups began the 2006–2008 Lebanese political protests in opposition to the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. 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.

Hezbollah receives its financial support from the governments of Iran and Syria, as well as donations from Lebanese people and foreign Shi'as. It has also gained significantly in military strength in the 2000s. Despite a June 2008 certification by the United Nations that Israel had withdrawn from all Lebanese territory, in August of that year, Lebanon's new Cabinet unanimously approved a draft policy statement which secures Hezbollah's existence as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."

History

Main article: History of Hezbollah

Map of southern Lebanon, featuring the Blue Line and Litani River, 2006.

1980s

Main article: South Lebanon conflict (1982–2000)

Ending Israel's occupation of Southern Lebanon was the primary focus of Hezbollah's early activities. 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.

Hezbollah waged an asymmetrical guerrilla war against Israel using suicide attacks against the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and against Israeli targets outside of Lebanon. 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. Hezbollah turned into a paramilitary organization and used missiles, Katyusha, and other type of rocket launchers and detonations of explosive charges instead of capturing, murders, hijackings, and bombings. Hezbollah has been subject to assassination and abduction by Israel as well. At the end of civil war in 1990, despite Taif Agreement asked "disbanding of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias," Syria, in control of Lebanon at that time allowed Hezbollah to maintain their arsenal, control the Shiite areas in Southern Lebanon along the border with Israel.

After 1990

In this decade Hezbollah transformed from a revolutionary group into political one, in a process which is described as Lebanonisation of Hezbollah. Unlike the uncompromising revolutionary stance in 1980s, Hezbollah conveyed a lenient stance towards the Lebanese state.

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 schism in Hezbollah. Hezbollah won of all of 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.

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.

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," and whose name was "used by those involved to disguise their true identity."

A 2003 decision by an American court named the organization as the name used by Hezbollah for its attacks in Lebanon, and parts of the Middle East, and Europe. Just as Hezbollah used another name Islamic Resistance, or al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya, for its attacks against Israel.

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 Israel and Canada.

Ideology

Main article: Hezbollah Ideology

On February 16, 1985, Sheik Ibrahim al-Amin issued Hezbollah's manifesto. Translated excerpts from Hezbollah's original 1985 manifesto read:

We are the sons of the umma (Muslim community) ...
... We are an ummah linked to the Muslims of the whole world by the solid doctrinal and religious connection of Islam, whose message God wanted to be fulfilled by the Seal of the Prophets, i.e., Prophet Muhammad. ... As for our culture, it is based on the Holy Quran, the Sunna and the legal rulings of the faqih who is our source of imitation...

Although Hezbollah originally aimed to transform Lebanon into a formal Faqihi Islamic republic, this goal has been abandoned. Since that time, Hezbollah has transformed from a revolutionary movement to a socio-political movement of Lebanese Shi'a and has accepted the multi-cultural situation of Lebanon.

Attitudes, statements, and actions concerning Israel and Zionism

See also: Hezbollah foreign relations

From the inception of Hezbollah to the present, the elimination of the State of Israel has been one of Hezbollah's primary goals. Some translations of Hezbollah's 1985 Arabic-language manifesto state that "our struggle will end only when this entity [Israel] is obliterated".

Israel's occupation of the Shebaa Farms, along with the presence of Lebanese prisoners in Israeli jails, is often cited as justification—and invoked as a pretext, according to many—for Hezbollah's continued hostilities against Israel even after Israel's verified withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000.

If they go from Shebaa, we won't stop fighting them. ... Our goal is to liberate the 1948 borders of Palestine, ... The Jews who survive this war of liberation can go back to Germany or wherever they came from. However, that the Jews who lived in Palestine before 1948 will be 'allowed to live as a minority and they will be cared for by the Muslim majority.'

— Hezbollah's spokesperson Hassan Ezzedin, about an Israeli withdrawal from Shebaa Farms

According to Joseph Alagha, Hezbollah's Deputy-General Na'im Qasim said during an interview on October 28, 2002 for the Daily Star that the struggle against Israel is a "core belief" of Hezbollah and "the central rationale of Hizbullah's existence".

In November 2009, Hezbollah pressured a private English-language school to drop excerpts from The Diary of Anne Frank after Hezbollah's Al-Manar television channel complained, asking how long Lebanon would "remain an open arena for the Zionist invasion of education"?

Attitudes and actions concerning Jews and Judaism

Main article: Ideology of Hezbollah § Attitudes, statements, and actions concerning Jews and Judaism

Hezbollah officials say that the group distinguishes between Judaism and Zionism. However, various anti-Semitic statements have been attributed to them, and their Secretary General, Hassan Nasrallah. Hezbollah accused Jews of deliberately spreading HIV and other diseases to Arabs throughout the Middle East. Al-Manar, the Hezbollah-owned and operated television station, was criticized in the West for airing "anti-Semitic propaganda" in the form of a television drama depicting a Jewish world domination conspiracy. Hezbollah also used anti-Semitic educational materials designed for 5-year-old scouts. The group has been accused by American analysts of engaging in Holocaust denial.

Organization

Organizational chart of Hezbollah, by Ahmad Nizar Hamzeh.

At the beginning many Hezbollah leaders have maintained that the movement was "not an organization, for its members carry no cards and bear no specific responsibilities," and that the movement does not have "a clearly defined organizational structure." Nowadays, as Hezbollah scholar Magnus Ranstorp reports, Hezbollah does indeed have a formal governing structure, and in keeping with the principle of Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists (velayat-e faqih), it "concentrate[s] ... all authority and powers" in its religious leaders, whose decisions then "flow from the ulama down the entire community."

The supreme decision-making bodies of the Hezbollah were divided between the Majlis al-Shura (Consultative Assembly) which was headed by 12 senior clerical members with responsibility for tactical decisions and supervision of overall Hizballah activity throughout Lebanon, and the Majlis al-Shura al-Karar (the Deciding Assembly), headed by Sheikh Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah and composed of eleven other clerics with responsibility for all strategic matters. Within the Majlis al-Shura, there existed seven specialized committees dealing with ideological, financial, military and political, judicial, informational and social affairs. In turn, the Majlis al-Shura and these seven committees were replicated in each of Hizballah's three main operational areas (the Beqaa, Beirut, and the South).

Since the Supreme Leader of Iran is the ultimate clerical authority, Hezbollah's leaders have appealed to him "for guidance and directives in cases when Hezbollah's collective leadership [was] too divided over issues and fail[ed] to reach a consensus." After the death of Iran's first Supreme Leader, Khomeini, Hezbollah's governing bodies developed a more "independent role" and appealed to Iran less often. Since the Second Lebanon War, however, Iran has restructured Hezbollah to limit the power of Hassan Nasrallah, and invested billions of dollars "rehabilitating" Hezbollah.

Structurally, Hezbollah does not distinguish between its political/social activities within Lebanon and its military/jihad activities against Israel. "Hezbollah has a single leadership," according to Naim Qassem, Hezbollah's second in command, "All political, social and jihad work is tied to the decisions of this leadership ... The same leadership that directs the parliamentary and government work also leads jihad actions in the struggle against Israel."

Funding

Main article: Funding of Hezbollah

See also: Islamic Resistance Support Organization

Hezbollah's financial support is a matter of controversy. Critics argue that it is, or has been, massively supported with tens of millions of dollars annually from the Islamic Republic of Iran. Hezbollah maintains that the main source of its income comes from donations by Muslims.

Lebanese Shi’ites often make zakat contributions directly after prayers and an additional donation in a Hezbollah donation box. Hezbollah also receives financial and political assistance, as well as weapons and training, from the Islamic Republic of Iran. The US estimates that Iran has been giving Hezbollah about US$60–100 million per year in financial assistance.

Hezbollah has relied extensively on funding from the Shi'ite Lebanese Diaspora in West Africa, the United States and, most importantly, the Triple Frontier, or tri-border area, along the junction of Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil. U.S. law enforcement officials identified an illegal multimillion-dollar cigarette-smuggling fundraising operation and drug smuggling.

Social services

Hezbollah also organizes extensive social development programs, running hospitals, news services, and educational facilities. Social services have a central role in the party's programs. Most experts believe that Hezbollah's social and health programs are worth hundreds of millions of dollars annually. The American think tank Council on Foreign Relations also said that Hezbollah "is a major provider of social services, operating schools, hospitals, and agricultural services for thousands of Lebanese Shiites."

Hezbollah organizes an extensive social development program and runs hospitals, news services, educational facilities, and encouragement of Nikah mut‘ah. Some of its established institutions are: Emdad committee for Islamic Charity, Hezbollah Central Press Office, Al Jarha Association, and Jihad Al Binaa Developmental Association. Jihad Al Binna's Reconstruction Campaign is responsible for numerous economic and infrastructure development projects in Lebanon. Hezbollah has set up a Martyr's Institute (Al-Shahid Social Association), which guarantees to provide living and education expenses for the families of fighters who die in battle. In March 2006, an IRIN news report of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs noted: "Hezbollah not only has armed and political wings - it also boasts an extensive social development program. Hezbollah currently operates at least four hospitals, twelve clinics, twelve schools and two agricultural centres that provide farmers with technical assistance and training. It also has an environmental department and an extensive social assistance program. Medical care is also cheaper than in most of the country's private hospitals and free for Hezbollah members".

According to CNN: "Hezbollah did everything that a government should do, from collecting the garbage to running hospitals and repairing schools." In July 2006, during the war with Israel, when there was no running water in Beirut, Hezbollah was arranging supplies around the city. "People here [in South Beirut] see Hezbollah as a political movement and a social service provider as much as it is a militia, in this traditionally poor and dispossessed Shiite community." Also, after the war it competed with the Lebanese government to reconstruct destroyed areas. According to analysts like American University Professor Judith Swain Harik, Jihad al-Binaa has won the initial battle of hearts and minds, in large part because they are the most experienced in Lebanon in the field of reconstruction.

Political activities

Main article: Hezbollah political activities

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

December 10, 2006 pro-Hezbollah rally in Beirut

Hezbollah alongside with Amal is one of two major political parties in Lebanon that represent the Shiite Muslims. It holds 14 of the 128 seats in Lebanon's Parliament and is a member of the Resistance and Development Bloc. According to Daniel L. Byman, it's "the most powerful single political movement in Lebanon."

Hezbollah, along with the Amal Movement, represents most of Lebanese Shi'a. However, unlike Amal, Hezbollah has not disarmed. Hezbollah participates in the Parliament of Lebanon. In the general election of 2005, it won 10.9% of parliamentary seats. The Resistance and Development Bloc, of which Hezbollah is a member, won all 23 seats in Southern Lebanon, and in total, 35 seats, or 27.3% of parliamentary seats nationwide. When municipal elections were held in the first half of 2004, Hezbollah won control of 21% of the municipalities.

Hezbollah has been one the main parties of March 8 Alliance since March 2005. Although Hezbollah had joined the new government in 2005, it remained staunchly opposed to the March 14 Alliance. In November 2006, Hezbollah, the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), and the Amal Movement jointly demanded the establishment of a "national unity government", in which they demanded early elections and one third of the Cabinet seats; effectively, veto power. When negotiations with the ruling coalition failed, five Cabinet Ministers from Hezbollah and Amal resigned their positions. On December 1, 2006, these groups began the 2006–2008 Lebanese political protests, an ongoing series of protests and sit-ins in opposition to the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. Finally, on May 7, 2008 Lebanon's 17-month long political crisis spiraled out of control. The fighting was sparked by a government move to shut down Hezbollah's telecommunication network and remove Beirut Airport's security chief over alleged ties to Hezbollah. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the government's decision to declare the group's military telecommunications network illegal was a "declaration of war" on the organization, and demanded that the government revoke it. Hezbollah-led opposition fighters seized control of several West Beirut neighborhoods from Future Movement militiamen loyal to the American-backed government, in street battles that left 11 dead and 30 wounded. The opposition-seized areas were then handed over to the Lebanese Army. The army also pledged to resolve the dispute and has reversed the decisions of the government by letting Hezbollah preserve its telecoms network and re-instating the airport's security chief. At the end, rival Lebanese leaders reached consensus over Doha Agreement on May 21, 2008, to end the 18-month political feud that exploded into fighting and nearly drove the country to a new civil war. On the basis of this agreement, Hezbollah and its opposition allies were effectively granted veto power in Lebanon's parliament. At the end of the conflicts, National unity government was formed by Fouad Siniora on July 11, 2008 and Hezbollah has one minister and controls eleven of thirty seats in the cabinet.

Hezbollah currently sits in the opposition March 8 alliance, though it has allies in the cabinet.

Media operations

Hezbollah operates a satellite television station, Al-Manar TV ("the Lighthouse") and a radio station al-Nour ("the Light"). Al-Manar broadcasts from Beirut, Lebanon. The station was launched by Hezbollah in 1991 with the help of Iranian funds. Al-Manar, self-proclaimed "Station of the Resistance" (qanat al-muqawama), is a key player in what Hezbollah calls its "psychological warfare against the Zionist enemy" and an integral part of Hezbollah's plan to spread its message to the entire Arab world.

Hezbollah's television station Al-Manar airs programming designed to inspire suicide attacks in Gaza, the West Bank, and Iraq. Al-Manar's transmission in France is prohibited due to promotion of Holocaust denial, a criminal offense in France. The United States lists Al-Manar television network as a terrorist organization.

Materials aimed at instilling principles of nationalism and Islam in children are an aspect of Hezbollah's media operations. The Hezbollah Central Internet Bureau released a video game in 2003 entitled Special Force, in which players conduct war on Israeli invaders, wherein the winner becomes a national hero on Earth and a martyr in Heaven.

Military activities

Main article: Hezbollah 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 groups, some of which may be little more than fronts for Hezbollah itself, including the Organization of the Oppressed, the Revolutionary Justice Organization, the Organization of Right Against Wrong, and Followers of the Prophet Muhammad.

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559 called for the disarmament of militia with the Taif agreement at the end of the Lebanese civil war. Hezbollah denounced, and protested against, the resolution. The 2006 military conflict with Israel has increased the controversy. Failure to disarm remains a violation of the resolution and agreement as well as subsequent United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701. Since then both Israel and Hezbollah have asserted that the organization has gained in military strength. A Lebanese public opinion poll taken in August 2006 shows that most of the Shia did not believe that Hezbollah should disarm after the 2006 Lebanon war, while the majority of Sunni, Druze and Christians believed that they should. The Lebanese cabinet, under president Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, guidelines state that Hezbollah enjoys the right to "liberate occupied lands." In 2009, a Hezbollah commander (speaking on condition of anonymity) said, "[W]e have far more rockets and missiles [now] than we did in 2006." There is speculation in the world press that Hezbollah is actively preparing for another war.

Suicide attacks and kidnappings

According to the American Council on Foreign Relations, "[i]n 2002, Singapore accused Hezbollah of recruiting Singaporeans in a failed 1990s plot to attack U.S. and Israeli ships in the Singapore Straits."

See also: Lebanon hostage crisis

1983: A smoke cloud rises from the bombed American barracks at Beirut International Airport, where over 200 U.S. marines were killed

Between 1982 and 1986, there were 36 suicide attacks in Lebanon directed against American, French and Israelis forces by 41 individuals with predominantly leftist political beliefs and of both major religions, killing 659. Hezbollah denies involvement in any attack, though it has been accused of some or all of these attacks: the April 1983 U.S. Embassy bombing (by the Islamic Jihad Organization), the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing (by the Islamic Jihad Organization), that killed more than 200 U.S. Marines at their barracks in Beirut and a spate of attacks on IDF troops and SLA militiamen in southern Lebanon. The period also saw the hijacking of TWA Flight 847 in 1985, and the Lebanon hostage crisis from 1982 to 1992. More recently, Hezbollah has been accused of the January 15, 2008, bombing of a U.S. Embassy vehicle in Beirut.

Outside of Lebanon, Hezbollah has been accused of the 1992 Israeli Embassy attack in Buenos Aires, killing 29, and the 1994 AMIA bombing of a Jewish cultural centre, killing 95, both in Argentina.

Nasrallah denied any participation in operations outside Lebanese and Israeli lands before 2008.

Conflict with Israel

South Lebanon conflict

Main article: South Lebanon conflict (1982–2000)

Hezbollah has been involved in several cases of armed conflict with Israel:

• During the 1982–2000 South Lebanon conflict, Hezbollah waged a guerrilla campaign against Israeli forces occupying Southern Lebanon. Israel withdrew in 2000 in accordance with 1978's United Nations Security Council Resolution 425. With the collapse of their supposed allies, the SLA, and the rapid advance of Hezbollah forces, they withdrew suddenly on May 24, 2000 six weeks before the announced 7 July date." Hezbollah held a victory parade, and its popularity in Lebanon rose. Hezbollah and many analysts considered this a victory for the movement, and since then its popularity has been boosted in Lebanon.
• On July 25, 1993, following Hezbollah's killing of seven Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon, Israel launched Operation Accountability (known in Lebanon as the Seven Day War), during which the IDF carried out their heaviest artillery and air attacks on targets in southern Lebanon since 1982. The aim of the operation was to eradicate the threat posed by Hezbollah and to force the civilian population north to Beirut so as to put pressure on the Lebanese Government to restrain Hezbollah. The fighting ended when an unwritten understanding was agreed to by the warring parties. Apparently, the 1993 understanding provided that Hezbollah combatants would not fire rockets at northern Israel, while Israel would not attack civilians or civilian targets in Lebanon.
• In April 1996, after continued Hezbollah rocket attacks on Israeli civilians, the Israeli armed forces launched Operation Grapes of Wrath, which was intended to wipe out Hezbollah's base in southern Lebanon. Over 100 Lebanese refugees were killed by the shelling of a UN base at Qana, in what the Israeli military said was a mistake. Finally, following several days of negotiations, the two sides signed the Grapes of Wrath Understandings on April 26, 1996. A cease-fire was agreed upon between Israel and Hezbollah, which would be effective on April 27, 1996. Both sides agreed that civilians should not be targeted, which meant that Hezbollah would be allowed to continue its military activities against IDF forces inside Lebanon.

2000 Hezbollah cross-border raid

Main article: 2000 Hezbollah cross-border raid

On October 7, 2000, three Israeli soldiers – Adi Avitan, Staff Sgt. Benyamin Avraham, and Staff Sgt. Omar Sawaidwere – were abducted by Hezbollah while patrolling the Israeli side of the Israeli-Lebanese border. The soldiers were killed either during the attack or in its immediate aftermath. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz has, however, said that Hezbollah abducted the soldiers and then killed them. The bodies of the slain soldiers were exchanged for Lebanese prisoners in 2004.

2006 Lebanon War

Hezbollah fighters launching Katyusha rockets in the 2006 Lebanon War

Main article: 2006 Lebanon War

The 2006 Lebanon War was a 34-day military conflict in Lebanon and northern Israel. The principal parties were Hezbollah paramilitary forces and the Israeli military. The conflict was precipitated by a cross-border raid by Hezbollah during which they kidnapped and killed Israeli soldiers. In a speech in July 2008, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah acknowledged that he had ordered the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers in order to free prisoners held in Israeli jails. The conflict began on July 12, 2006 when Hezbollah militants fired rockets at Israeli border towns as a diversion for an anti-tank missile attack on two armored Humvees patrolling the Israeli side of the border fence, killing three, injuring two, and seizing two Israeli soldiers.

Israel responded with massive airstrikes and artillery fire on targets in Lebanon that damaged Lebanese civilian infrastructure, including Beirut's Rafic Hariri International Airport (which Israel said that Hezbollah used to import weapons and supplies), an air and naval blockade, and a ground invasion of southern Lebanon. Hezbollah then launched more rockets into northern Israel and engaged the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in guerrilla warfare from hardened positions. The war continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect on August 14, 2006. Hezbollah was responsible for thousands of Katyusha rocket attacks against Israeli civilian towns and cities in northern Israel, which Hezbollah said were in retaliation for Israel's killing of civilians and targeting Lebanese infrastructure. According to The Guardian, "In the fighting 1,200 Lebanese and 158 Israelis were killed. Of the dead almost 1,000 Lebanese and 41 Israelis were civilians."

Armed strength

See also: Hezbollah armed strength

File:54949.jpg

Israeli photo of Hezbollah 220mm rocket launcher

Hezbollah has not revealed its armed strength. It has been estimated by Mustafa Alani, security director at the Dubai-based Gulf Research Centre, that Hezbollah's military force is made up of about 1,000 full-time Hezbollah members, along with a further 6,000-10,000 volunteers.

Hezbollah possesses the Katyusha-122 rocket, which has a range of 29 km (18 mi) and carries a 15-kg (33-lb) warhead. Hezbollah also possesses about 100 long-range missiles. They include the Iranian-made Fajr-3 and Fajr-5, the latter with a range of Template:Km to mi, enabling it to strike the Israeli port of Haifa, and the Zelzal-1, with an estimated Template:Km to mi range, which can reach Tel Aviv. Fajr-3 missiles have a range of Template:Km to mi and a 45-kg (99-lb) warhead, and Fajr-5 missiles, which extend to Template:Km to mi, also hold 45-kg (99-lb) warheads. It was reported that Hezbollah is in possession of Scud missiles that were provided to them by Syria. The reports were denied by Syria.

According to various reports, Hezbollah is armed with anti-tank guided missiles, namely, the Russian-made AT-3 Sagger, AT-4 Spigot, AT-5 Spandrel, AT-13 Saxhorn-2 'Metis-M', АТ-14 Spriggan 'Kornet'; Iranian-made Ra'ad (version of AT-3 Sagger), Towsan (version of AT-5 Spandrel), Toophan (version of BGM-71 TOW); and European-made MILAN missiles. These weapons have been used against IDF soldiers, causing many of the deaths during the 2006 Lebanon War. A small number of Saeghe-2s (Iranian-made version of M47 Dragon) were also used in the war.

For air defense, Hezbollah has anti-aircraft weapons that include the ZU-23 artillery and the man-portable, shoulder-fired SA-7 and SA-18 surface-to-air missile (SAM). One of the most effective weapons deployed by Hezbollah has been the C-802 anti-ship missile.

In April 2010 United States Secretary of Defense Robert Gates claimed that the Hezbollah has far more missiles and rockets then the majority of countries. He said that Syria and Iran are providing weapons to the organization. Israel also claims that Syria is providing the organization with these weapons. Syria has denied supplying these weapons and views these claims as an Israeli excuse for an attack.

Targeting policy

Hezbollah has not been involved in any suicide bombing since Israel withdrew from Lebanon. After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Hezbollah condemned Al Qaeda for targeting the civilian World Trade Center, but remained silent on the attack on the The Pentagon, neither favoring nor opposing the act. Hezbollah also denounced the Armed Islamic Group massacres in Algeria, Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya attacks on tourists in Egypt, and the murder of Nick Berg. In a 2006 interview with the Washington Post, Nasrallah condemned violence against American civilians.

Although Hezbollah has denounced certain attacks on civilians, some people accuse the organization of the bombing of an Argentine synagogue in 1994. Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman, Marcelo Martinez Burgos, and their "staff of some 45 people" said that Hezbollah and their contacts in Iran were responsible for the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural center in Argentina, in which "[e]ighty-five people were killed and more than 200 others injured." In June 2002, shortly after the Israeli government launched Operation Defensive Shield, Nasrallah gave a speech in which he defended and praised suicide bombings of Israeli targets by members of Palestinian groups for "creating a deterrence and equalizing fear." Nasrallah stated that "in occupied Palestine, there is no difference between a soldier and a civilian, for they are all invaders, occupiers and usurpers of the land."

Attacks on Hezbollah leaders

File:Imad Mughniyah.jpg

Imad Mughniyah, a senior Hezbollah member indicted in Argentina for his alleged role in the 1992 Israeli Embassy attack in Buenos Aires, was killed in 2008 by a car bomb.

Hezbollah has also been the target of bomb attacks and kidnappings. These include:

• In the 1985 Beirut car bombing, Hezbollah leader Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah was targeted, but the assassination attempt failed. It has been alleged that the CIA was responsible for this attack.

• On July 28, 1989, Israeli commandos kidnapped Sheikh Abdul Karim Obeid, the leader of Hezbollah. This action led to the adoption of UN Security Council resolution 638, which condemned all hostage takings by all sides.

• In 1992, Israeli helicopters attacked a motorcade in southern Lebanon, killing the Hezbollah leader Abbas al-Musawi, his wife, son, and four others.

• On February 12, 2008, Imad Mughnieh was killed by a car bomb in Damascus, Syria.

Foreign relations

Main article: Hezbollah foreign relations

Hezbollah has close relations with Iran. It also has ties with the leadership in Syria, specifically with President Hafez al-Assad (until his death in 2000) and his son and successor Bashar al-Assad. Although Hezbollah and Hamas are not organizationally linked, Hezbollah provides military training as well as financial and moral support to the Sunni Palestinian group. Furthermore, Hezbollah is a strong supporter of the ongoing Al-Aqsa Intifada. Whether there has been cooperation or any relationship between Hezbollah and al-Qaeda has been questioned. Hezbollah's leaders deny links to al-Qaeda, present or past. Also, some al-Qaeda leaders, like Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and Wahhabi clerics, consider Hezbollah to be apostate. But United States intelligence officials speculate that there has been contact between Hezbollah and low-level al-Qaeda figures who fled Afghanistan for Lebanon.

In an interview with the Associated Press Deputy Chief Sheikh Naim Qasim said Hezbollah would be highly prepared and ready "at any time" to counter any potential attacks by Israel; although he added that he does not expect a war with Israel, Hezbollah is preparing "as if it was happening tomorrow." He added that Israel's "devastating defeat" during the 2006 Lebanon war made Israel think twice about a future attack on Lebanon. In the interview he also ruled out negotiations with the United States unless there was a change in its policy in the Middle East. He said that "America is playing the role of troublemaker in the region."

Outside views

Public opinion

File:Hassan Nasrallah demo.jpg

Velayat-e Faqih adherents rally on July 29, 2006, in support of Hezbollah in Toronto, Canada, during the 2006 Lebanon war

In much of the Arab world, Hezbollah is seen as a legitimate resistance organization that has defended its land against an Israeli occupying force and has consistently stood up to the Israeli army.

According to a survey released by the "Beirut Center for Research and Information" on 26 July during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, 87 percent of Lebanese support Hezbollah's "retaliatory attacks on northern Israel", a rise of 29 percentage points from a similar poll conducted in February. More striking, however, was 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.

In a poll of Lebanese adults taken in 2004, 6% of respondents gave unqualified support to the statement "Hezbollah should be disarmed". 41% reported unqualified disagreement. A poll of Gaza Strip and West Bank residents indicated that 79.6% had "a very good view" of Hezbollah, and most of the remainder had a "good view". Polls of Jordanian adults in December 2005 and June 2006 showed that 63.9% and 63.3%, respectively, considered Hezbollah to be a legitimate resistance organization. In the December 2005 poll, only 6% of Jordanian adults considered Hezbollah to be terrorist.

A July 2006 USA Today/Gallup poll found that 83% of the 1,005 Americans polled blamed Hezbollah, at least in part, for the 2006 Lebanon War, compared to 66% who blamed Israel to some degree. Additionally, 76% disapproved of the military action Hezbollah took in Israel, compared to 38% who disapproved of Israel's military action in Lebanon. A poll in August 2006 by ABC News and the Washington Post found that 68% of the 1,002 Americans polled blamed Hezbollah, at least in part, for the civilian casualties in Lebanon during the 2006 Lebanon War, compared to 31% who blamed Israel to some degree. Another August 2006 poll by CNN showed that 69% of the 1,047 Americans polled believed that Hezbollah is unfriendly towards, or an enemy of, the United States.

Designation as a terrorist organization or resistance movement

Governments disagree on Hezbollah’s status as a legitimate political entity, a terrorist group, or both. Throughout most of the Arab and Muslim worlds, Hezbollah is referred to as a resistance movement. Hezbollah's violent acts are considered by some countries as terrorist attacks; other governments regard Hezbollah as resistance and engaged in national defense."

Countries below have officially listed Hezbollah in at least some part as a terrorist organization.

Australia	The Hezbollah External Security Organization
Canada	The entire organization Hezbollah
Israel	The entire organization Hezbollah
United Kingdom	Hezbollah's military wing only
United States	The entire organization Hezbollah

In 1999, Hezbollah was placed on the US State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. After Hezbollah's condemnation of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the USA, it was removed from the list, but it was later returned to the list. In 2002, US State Department official Christopher Ross was cited as explaining that while "the Hezbollah party and some of its members carried out terrorist acts in the past", "the acts that it carried out against the Israeli forces in South Lebanon were not terrorist acts."

The European Union does not list Hezbollah as a "terrorist organization"; it listed the deceased Imad Mugniyah, a senior member and founder of Hezbollah, as a terrorist. In addition, on March 10, 2005, the European Parliament passed a non-binding resolution recognizing "clear evidence" of "terrorist activities by Hezbollah" and urging the EU Council to brand Hezbollah a terrorist organization and EU governments to place Hezbollah on their terrorist blacklists, as the bloc did with the Palestinian Hamas group in 2003. The Council, however, has been reluctant to do this, because France, Spain, and Britain fear that such a move would further damage the prospects for Middle East peace talks. In the midst of the 2006 conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, Russia’s government declined to include Hezbollah in a newly released list of terrorist organizations, with Yuri Sapunov, the head of anti-terrorism for the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, saying that they list only organizations which represent "the greatest threat to the security of our country". 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 Quartet’s fourth member, the United Nations, does not maintain such a list, however, the United Nations has made repeated calls for Hezbollah to disarm and accused the group of destabilizing the region and causing harm to Lebanese civilians. Human rights organizations Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have accused Hezbollah of committing war crimes against Israeli civilians, in which in the same article, they also accused Israel of war crimes but against Lebanese civilians.

Some other countries have criticized Hezbollah, citing terrorist activities, without maintaining such a list. Argentine prosecutors hold Hezbollah and their financial supporters in Iran responsible for the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural center, described by the Associated Press as "the worst terrorist attack on Argentine soil", in which "[e]ighty-five people were killed and more than 200 others injured." On 24 February 2000, French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin condemned attacks by Hezbollah fighters on Israeli forces in south Lebanon, saying they are "terrorism" and not acts of resistance. "France condemns Hezbollah's attacks, and all types of terrorist attacks which may be carried out against soldiers, or possibly Israel's civilian population." On August 29, 2006, Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema differentiated the wings of Hezbollah: "Apart from their well-known terrorist activities, they also have political standing and are socially engaged." Germany does not maintain an independent national list of terrorist organizations, choosing instead to adopt the common EU list; however, German officials indicate that they would likely support a designation of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. While not maintaining a list as such, the Netherlands regard Hezbollah as terrorist discussing it as such in official reports of their general intelligence and security service and in official answers by the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

In contrast, supporters of Hezbollah justify Hezbollah's attacks against Israel on several grounds. Firstly, Hezbollah justifies its operations against Israel as reciprocal to Israeli operations against Lebanese civilians and as retaliation for Israel's occupation of Lebanese territory. Many of these attacks took place while Israel occupied the southern part of Lebanon and held it as a security zone in spite of United Nations Security Council Resolution 425. Although Israel withdrew from Lebanon in 2000, and their complete withdrawal was verified by the United Nations, Lebanon now considers the Shebaa farms—a 26-km² (10-mi²) piece of land captured by Israel from Syria in the 1967 war and considered by the UN to be disputed territory between Syria and Israel—to be Lebanese territory. Additionally, Hezbollah has identified three Lebanese prisoners held in Israeli jails who it wants released. Finally, Hezbollah and others among the Muslim world consider Israel to be an illegitimate state. For these reasons, many in the Arab world consider acts performed by Hezbollah against Israel to be justified as acts of defensive Jihad. Although some Arab states (Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia) have condemned Hezbollah's actions, saying that "the Arabs and Muslims can't afford to allow an irresponsible and adventurous organization like Hezbollah to drag the region to war" and calling it "dangerous adventurism," Hezbollah is regarded as a legitimate resistance movement throughout much of Lebanese society and the Arab and Muslim world. In August 2008, Lebanon's cabinet completed a policy statement which recognized "the right of Lebanon's people, army, and resistance to liberate the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms, Kafar Shuba Hills, and the Lebanese section of Ghajar village, and defend the country using all legal and possible means."

See also

• Hamas
• Fatah
• Israel-Lebanon conflict
• 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
• 2006–2007 Lebanese political protests
• 2008 conflict in Lebanon
• History of Lebanon
• Foreign relations of Lebanon
• Politics of Lebanon
• AMIA bombing
• United Nations Security Council Resolution 425
• United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701
• Al-Mahdi Scouts
• Operation Kept Promise
• Jihad Construction
• History of Terrorism

References

Books

• Joseph Alagha (2006). The Shifts in Hizbullah's Ideology: Religious Ideology, Political Ideology. Amsterdam University Press. ISBN 9053569103.

• Tom Diaz, Barbara Newman (2005). Lightning Out of Lebanon: Hezbollah Terrorists on American Soil. Presidio Press. ISBN 0-345-47568-2.

• Ahmad Nizar Hamzeh (2004). In The Path Of Hizbullah. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 0-8156-3053-0.

• Judith Palmer Harik (2006). Hezbollah: The Changing Face of Terrorism. I.B. Tauris. ISBN 1-845-110242.

• Hala Jaber (1997). Hezbollah. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-10834-6.

• Avi Jorisch (2004). Beacon of Hatred: Inside Hizballahs Al-Manar Television. Washington Institute for Near East Policy. ISBN 0-944029-88-4.

• Augustus Richard Norton (2000). Hizballah of Lebanon: Extremist Ideals vs. Mundane Politics. Council on Foreign Relations.

• Augustus Richard Norton (2007). Hezbollah: A Short History. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-13124-5.

• Qassem, Naim (2005). Hizbullah: The Story from Within. Saqi Books. ISBN 978-0863565175.

• Magnus Ranstorp (1996). Hizb'Allah in Lebanon: The Politics of the Western Hostage Crisis. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-16491-2.

• Amal Saad-Ghorayeb (2001). Hizbullah: Politics and Religion. Pluto Press. ISBN 0-7453-1793-6.

• Jamal Sankari (2005). Fadlallah: The Making of a Radical Shi'ite Leader. Saqi Books. ISBN 0-86356-596-4.

Articles

• Natalia Antelava (2006-06-02). "Inside Lebanese Hezbollah militia". British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2009-07-24.
• Adam Shatz (2004-04-29). "In Search of Hezbollah". The New York Review of Books. Retrieved 2007-10-27. (copy)
• Dahr Jamail (2006-07-20). "Hezbollah's transformation". Asia Times. Retrieved 2007-10-27.
• "Lebanon: Angus Reid Global Monitor". Angus Reid Global Monitor. 2005. Retrieved 2007-10-27. (full election results report)

External links

Official sites

• Islamic Resistance in Lebanon
• Promise For the Resistance Movement Support
• Hizbullah - the Party of God - List of links to official websites and documents

UN resolutions regarding Hezbollah

• UN Press Release SC/8181 UN, September 2, 2004
• Lebanon: Close Security Council vote backs free elections, urges foreign troop pullout UN, September 2, 2004

Other links

• Hezbollah: Financing Terror through Criminal Enterprise, Testimony of Matthew Levitt, Hearing of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, United States Senate
• Hizbullah's two republics by Mohammed Ben Jelloun, Al-Ahram, February 15–21, 2007
• Inside Hezbollah, short documentary and extensive information from Frontline/World on PBS.
• An Open Letter: The Hezbollah Program - Hezbollah's 1985 manifesto translated into English.
• Hizbullah - the 'Party of God' - fact file at Ynetnews