The prevelant perception of Hizbullah in the "west" is of a militant,
armed terrorist organization bent on abduction and murder. While the
initial years of its emergence as a political movement in Lebanon were
turbulent and controvertial, The Party of God has matured to become an
important and pivotal force in Middle East politics in general and
Lebanese society in particular. Hizbullah has its immediate historic
roots in the social uprising of the Lebanese Shi'a community in the
late 1960's and early 70's that took its inspiration from the
charismatic Imam Musa Sadr who "disappeared" in Libya in 1978.
Sadr's Movement of the Deprived (Harakat al-Mahrumin) with it's
military wing and present-day political party, Amal soon became mired in the
convolutions of Lebanese politics and the 15-year civil war. The
Israeli invasion of 1982 provided the catalyst for Shiite radicalism.
Hizbullah emerged with the aim of expelling the occupants and
alleviating the social sufferings of the Shia community.
While Al Moqawama al Islamia (The Islamic Resistance) has
attracted much of world attention, the various other community
activities of Hizbullah are of equal if not greater importance at
home. It runs a range of philanthropic and commercial activities
including hospitals, medical centers,schools, orphanages,
rehabilitation centers for the handicapped, supermarkets, gas
stations, construction companies, a radio station (Nur) and
public service television station (Al Manar). Up until the
middle 1990's Hizbullah was also responsible for public services and
utilities in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
In the early days, Hizbullah gained much notoriety through the
kidnappings of several westerners by one of its fringe groups. But
what caused most political consternation were the quite spectacular
actions against various foreign occupants by its predecessors. The
bombing of the barracks of the US Marines and French headquarters in
1983 killed 300 soldiers of the Multinational Force that by then had
lost its semblance of neutrality of intervention in the punishing
Israeli siege and occupation of West Beirut. That humiliation led the
US to lose its nerve in trying to police the conflict which no longer
was restricted to an Israeli - Palestinian matter, with force. The
subsequent bombing of the "Israeli Defence Forces" headquarters in
Tyre with 75 soldiers lost took its toll on Israeli resolve and led to
it's retreat to the present
occupation zone in the south. The present activities of the
resistance in southern Lebanon continue to try both morale and
staying-will of the Israeli occupation whose losses in 1997 alone were
35 men. What is not commonly understood abroad is that the aim of the
resistance in southern Lebanon is not military activity against
northern Israel as carried on by the Palestinian guerillas of the 70's
and early 80's, but the liberation of occupied Lebanon.
The revolution against the Shah in Iran undoubtedly carried much
inspiration for the Shi'a community in Lebanon, but it's modern historic
roots go back to the Islamic revival at the centers of learning in
Najf, Iraq in the 1960's. Hizbullah's spiritual leader is Sheikh
Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah who remains somewhat distant from the
running of the party who's general secretary is Sheikh Sa'id Hassan
Nasrallah.
March 1998 / bl
