Hizbullah mix of resistance, politics attracts supporters
Source; AFP, 09-05-2008
BEIRUT: Hizbullah is a potent mix of politics and firepower that wide enjoys popular support in Lebanon but is a bete noire for 'Israel' and is branded by the West as a (so-called) 'terrorist' outfit. Its leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, warned Thursday that the government's latest crackdown on the occupation-resistance group was tantamount to a "declaration of war" and warned his fighters could take up arms to defend their cause.
The group has made its mark through spectacular military operations against 'Israel', which occupied a swathe of land in South Lebanon between 1978 and 2000. The Jewish (Zionist) state still occupies a small area of Lebanon known as the (occupied) Shibaa Farms.
Since 'Israel's' 2006 war on Lebanon, Hizbullah has also become an even more influential political force, spearheading the Lebanese opposition which includes Muslim and Christian groups.
But its critics have claimed Hizbullah, which has wide popular support because of its social programs, has become a "state within a state" and a dangerous instrument for stirring turmoil.
It has been engaged with the National Lebanese Opposition in a campaign to force the government to share more power since late 2006 when its ministers quit the Western-backed Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, rendering the Cabinet unconstitutional without a the representation of a major confession, and a deadlock that has left the nation without a president since November.
Formed after 'Israel's' bloody 1982 invasion of Lebanon, Hizbullah has grown into a potent force and can mobilize hundreds of thousands of protesters for mass rallies.
Druze chief and US propped MP Walid Jumblatt has repeatedly accused Hizbullah of being a "state within a state" aiming to destabilize Lebanon.
But even pro-Western politicians have thus far rejected United Nations demands for disarming Hizbullah.
The military wing of Hizbullah, the Islamic Resistance, is widely lauded in Lebanon for its role in forcing 'Israel' in 2000 to leave most of the South.
The 2006 war, launched by 'Israel' after Hizbullah captured two 'Israeli' soldiers in a border raid, cost Lebanon more than 1,200 lives, mostly civilians, and caused $3.5 billion in damage. On the 'Israeli' side, close to 160 people were killed, mostly soldiers.
Nasrallah, whose group has acknowledged about 60 deaths in its ranks, has boasted that the movement now has at least 20,000 longer-range missiles.
After the 2005 elections, the movement formed alliances with the US backed (so-called) 'majority' government, enabling two Hizbullah ministers to enter the Cabinet for the first time.
But six ministers, including those from Hizbullah, later resigned and the opposition launched a sit-in protest against the government that has had a devastating effect on business in downtown Beirut.
Hizbullah is still regarded in the West as the chief suspect in the bombings and Western hostage-takings that shook Lebanon in the 1980s during the Civil War, and it figures on Washington's list of banned terror organizations.
The group's leaders have long denied a Hizbullah role in those events, blaming them on freelance operators.
The movement has never sought to impose the sort of Islamic dress and other restrictions enforced in Iran or Saudi Arabia on Lebanon's multi-faith society.
Hizbullah also operates an extensive network of welfare services among Lebanon's Shiite Muslim community; include running 14 schools for about 14,000 pupils in several parts of the country.
Its social activities were launched in 1987 through organizations such as its construction wing, Jihad al-Binaa, which since mid-2006 has worked on rebuilding projects after the war with 'Israel'. It also runs dozens of hospitals and clinics.
BEIRUT: Hizbullah is a potent mix of politics and firepower that wide enjoys popular support in Lebanon but is a bete noire for 'Israel' and is branded by the West as a (so-called) 'terrorist' outfit. Its leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, warned Thursday that the government's latest crackdown on the occupation-resistance group was tantamount to a "declaration of war" and warned his fighters could take up arms to defend their cause.
The group has made its mark through spectacular military operations against 'Israel', which occupied a swathe of land in South Lebanon between 1978 and 2000. The Jewish (Zionist) state still occupies a small area of Lebanon known as the (occupied) Shibaa Farms.
Since 'Israel's' 2006 war on Lebanon, Hizbullah has also become an even more influential political force, spearheading the Lebanese opposition which includes Muslim and Christian groups.
But its critics have claimed Hizbullah, which has wide popular support because of its social programs, has become a "state within a state" and a dangerous instrument for stirring turmoil.
It has been engaged with the National Lebanese Opposition in a campaign to force the government to share more power since late 2006 when its ministers quit the Western-backed Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, rendering the Cabinet unconstitutional without a the representation of a major confession, and a deadlock that has left the nation without a president since November.
Formed after 'Israel's' bloody 1982 invasion of Lebanon, Hizbullah has grown into a potent force and can mobilize hundreds of thousands of protesters for mass rallies.
Druze chief and US propped MP Walid Jumblatt has repeatedly accused Hizbullah of being a "state within a state" aiming to destabilize Lebanon.
But even pro-Western politicians have thus far rejected United Nations demands for disarming Hizbullah.
The military wing of Hizbullah, the Islamic Resistance, is widely lauded in Lebanon for its role in forcing 'Israel' in 2000 to leave most of the South.
The 2006 war, launched by 'Israel' after Hizbullah captured two 'Israeli' soldiers in a border raid, cost Lebanon more than 1,200 lives, mostly civilians, and caused $3.5 billion in damage. On the 'Israeli' side, close to 160 people were killed, mostly soldiers.
Nasrallah, whose group has acknowledged about 60 deaths in its ranks, has boasted that the movement now has at least 20,000 longer-range missiles.
After the 2005 elections, the movement formed alliances with the US backed (so-called) 'majority' government, enabling two Hizbullah ministers to enter the Cabinet for the first time.
But six ministers, including those from Hizbullah, later resigned and the opposition launched a sit-in protest against the government that has had a devastating effect on business in downtown Beirut.
Hizbullah is still regarded in the West as the chief suspect in the bombings and Western hostage-takings that shook Lebanon in the 1980s during the Civil War, and it figures on Washington's list of banned terror organizations.
The group's leaders have long denied a Hizbullah role in those events, blaming them on freelance operators.
The movement has never sought to impose the sort of Islamic dress and other restrictions enforced in Iran or Saudi Arabia on Lebanon's multi-faith society.
Hizbullah also operates an extensive network of welfare services among Lebanon's Shiite Muslim community; include running 14 schools for about 14,000 pupils in several parts of the country.
Its social activities were launched in 1987 through organizations such as its construction wing, Jihad al-Binaa, which since mid-2006 has worked on rebuilding projects after the war with 'Israel'. It also runs dozens of hospitals and clinics.
