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Hezbollah
The Lebanon and the Palestinian Territories
Hezbollah is a band of militant Islamic extremists with close ties to Iran. It emerged in the Lebanon following the Israeli invasion of 1982, and operates more or less exclusively in that country and its neighbors. Its political wing currently holds fourteen seats in the Lebanese Parliament, granting it political legitimacy even though many nations still consider it a terrorist organization.
It initially focused on driving the Israelis from Lebanese territory, and by extension, other Western forces as well. It received considerable support from Ayatollah Khomeni’s government in Iran, which provided training, funding, and military equipment. Hezbollah’s espousal of radical Islamic teachings matches Iran’s official policy very closely, and it takes inspiration from the Iranian revolution which sept Khoemeni into power at the end of the 1970s.
It was among the first groups in the world to make use of suicide bombers, most spectacularly in the 1983 attack on the US Marine barracks in Beirut, which killed 241 servicemen and a number of civilians as well. Similar activities occurred throughout the 1980s and 1990s, including rocket attacks, kidnappings, assassinations, and an extended guerilla war against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon. Western governments generally hold Hezbollah responsible for the 1985 hijacking of TWA flight 847, though the organization repeatedly denied participation in the event.
A watershed moment for it came in 2000, when Israel withdrew its forces from southern Lebanon under pressure from Hezbollah attacks. The victory, though contested (Israel planned the withdrawal long in advance and merely accelerated the timetable under the wave of attacks), greatly increased its popularity in the Lebanon, which it translated into seats in the Lebanese Parliament. Conflict with Israel has continued, however, marked most dramatically by a month-long conflict with Israel in the summer of 2006. It continues to call for the destruction of the Jewish state and lend covert support to a number of Palestinian extremist groups, as well as the expulsion of American and other Western forces from the region.
Its membership numbers in the thousands (exact numbers are unknown), and it enjoys considerable support from the Lebanon’s Shiite population. Though it bases the bulk of its operations in southern Lebanon and northern Israel, the State Department believes the group has cells all over the world. Hezbollah possesses one of the most sophisticated organizations for a group of its type anywhere. Leadership centers on the Shura Council, consisting of seven members which divides activities into two basic branches. The military branch includes security forces, training facilities, and guerilla fighting units throughout southern Lebanon/northern Israel. Its political branch includes a Parliamentary council, social serves such as hospitals, and its own television station, Al-Manar.
Though the Western world considers it a terrorist organization, many Middle Easterners grant it legitimacy, viewing its members as resistance fighter against Israeli aggression. It receives support both from Iran and from the government of Syria, both of whom maintain close ties to the organization. As part of its shift from a guerilla organization to a more legitimate socio-political organization, it has modified some of its original philosophy. It acknowledges the multi-cultural make-up of the Lebanon and accepts democratic notions in principle. It remains fiercely opposed to Israel, however (though it claims to have nothing against Judaism as a culture), and continues to espouse the sort of radical Muslim doctrine advocated by its allies in Iran.
Activities often straddle the line between guerilla fighting and terrorist activities. It shows no compunctions about attacking civilian targets and conducting secretive bombing compaigns, but its actions against the Israeli army display the hallmarks of guerilla fighting against a superior enemy. Its equipment ranks among the most advanced for a group of its type, including rocket launchers and anti-aircraft missiles. It has no specific ties to al-Qaeda and condemned the attack of 9/11, but remains opposed to US interference in the Middle East and continues to target US personnel as supporters of Israel. Its designation as a terrorist organization remains tied to other political activities, and may shift depending on how it-and the Lebanon- evolves in the years to come.
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 Posted by: Izan-Oen Mon Feb 17, 2014 @ 03:29am
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