Hezbollah Group Profile and Manifesto - Research Paper Example

?Yousef Bashir International Conflict and Negotiation 3400 October 9, “Terrorist” Group: Hezbollah Table of Contents Yousef Bashir International Conflict and Negotiation 3400 1 October 9, 2012 1 “Terrorist” Group: Hezbollah 1 1 Hezbollah/Party of Allah Definition 4 5 Foundation and Establishment 5 Describe The Context In Which Your Organization Was Created? 6 How Is Your Group Organized? 7 7 How is Your Group Financed? 8 What Is The Nature Of The Conflict Your Organization Is Engaged In? 9 What Types Of Tactics Does Your Group Use In The Conflict? 11 What are your Group’s Primary Grievances? 12 What Are Your Group’s Primary Goals and Are You Willing To Negotiate and Compromise? 13 What Does Your Group Make Of The “Terrorist” Label? 13 Works Cited 15 Hezbollah/Party of Allah Definition “If you are asking for my point of view, I would say that the Palestinians should go back to Palestine” Hassan Nasrallah. Hezbollah operates as a militia belonging to the Shiite group of Lebanon since the 1980s. The term ‘Hezbollah’ in Arab refer to the ‘Party of Allah’. The group has been based on a particular organizational structure with a mission to address political issues connected with the Arabian and Muslim world. Hezbollah was initially formed as a small group which grew into a political organization with a vision towards equality, defending the Lebanese nation from outside attacks along with obtaining equal rights from the Lebanese government (Harik 29). Hezbollah works towards pursuing social, political as well as military programs. History can stand witness to the heroic acts made by its honorable fighters to defend Lebanon from the Zionist occupation. The past record of the activities carried out by the organization affirms the heroic acts made by the honorable fighters of Hezbollah to defend Lebanon. Despite their vision to support public welfare in Arabian and Muslim countries, the group has been listed as one of the most active terrorist groups by various countries including the USA and the UK. The organization commands a stronghold on the Shi’a population, with the virtues of which, it has turned out to be a demonstrative mobilizing terrorist organization accompanied with an armed force of more than thousands. According to Hezbollah’s record, it can be observed that various revolutionary actions were carried out in accordance with its policies and legal judgments which again emphasized on addressing a particular socio-economic or cultural issue (Addis and Blanchard, “Hezbollah: Background and Issues for Congress”). According to the group, these actions were principally conducted in order to maintain the political agenda of Lebanon as balanced and organized in a democratic and understandable way. The mentioned actions further were intended to ensure the improvement of the Lebanese political situation so as to defend the Lebanese nation from any military attacks from within the national regions or from the neighboring countries. Foundation and Establishment Hezbollah was founded in 1982 through an intensified effort of the Iranian governmental system. During late 1970s, the war between Iran and Iraq, which took place on the basis of the differences and conflicts persisting within the two communities of Sunnis and Shiites, also posed an impact on Lebanon which instigated the establishment of Hezbollah in 1982. The group was supported by the contribution of mass young people from Bekka, who were in the pursuit of building a new political identity (Majed, “Hezbollah and the Shiite Community”). It was during 1992 that Hassan Nasrallah became Hezbollah’s Secretary General following the assassination of the prior leader Abbas al-Musawi, whose religious credentials and military experiences assisted the organization gain momentum towards the achievement of the defined objectives. Another most prominent leader associated with the group’s planning and operational executions was Imad Fayez Mugniyah(Council on Foreign Relations, “Hezbollah (a.k.a. Hizbollah, Hizbu'llah)”). Describe The Context In Which Your Organization Was Created? Hezbollah was known to be amongst the famous Shi’a militias to participate during the period of 1975-1990s when Lebanon was witnessing the brutality of civil war of Lebanon. It was owing to this reason that the group was able to gradually expand its operations to various foreign countries including Syria, Israel, and United States among others. The activities performed by the terrorist organization were accepted as a revolutionary movement originating from the initiation of the Lebanese civil war during the year 1975. Moreover, Israel’s invasions against the Palestinian militants in Lebanon during 1978 as well as the Iranian revolution in 1979 were supposed to be the major triggering events which further prompted Hezbollah to commence its Islamic revolutionary movement. In 1989, Hezbollah made advancements in the Lebanese political arena and captured 12 seats in the Parliament in alliance with the non-Shi’a militia groups during the first post-war legislative assembly of Lebanon (Osipova, “Hizballah’s Media Strategy: Creating a “Theater of Terror”). The occurrence of Lebanese civil war during the year 1975, the invasion of Israel in the 1978, the desertion of the Imam Musa Sadr in 1978 as well as the Iranian insurgency during 1979 were the central events which prompted political conflicts in Lebanon and triggered the initiation of Hezbollah. Till 1985, the Islamic Hezbollah party remained loosely organized and mostly secretive until it released its manifesto delineation as a militia which was religiously conservative as well as anti-imperialist (Addis and Blanchard, “Hezbollah: Background and Issues for Congress”). How Is Your Group Organized? Hezbollah strictly pursues Islamic Shi’a spirituality being strongly influenced by the aspirations of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, one of the prominent leaders of Iran’s revolution. Hezbollah was directed as well as guided by the major leaders of Iranian Revolution who also instigated the fight against Israel and Zionism which later became a major goal for Hezbollah. The Islamic revolutionary party employed various strategies in order to spread their mission and roles by conducting hostage-taking activities which included hijacks, kidnappings as well as suicide bombings (Harik 20). As can be observed with reference to the operations executed by the group, Hezbollah has always involved a clear organizational structure. In the present day context, the party possesses an official governing constitution and maintains the standard of “Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists” which implies that its religious leaders are bestowed with internal authority and decision-making power. The top decision making divisions of Hezbollah are categorized into two major bodies, namely, Majlis al-Shura which is structured with 12 superior secretarial members and the Majlis al-Shura al-Karar which is known as the major deciding body of the organization. The Majlis al-Shura involves making technical decisions along with supervising all the activities conducted within Lebanon by the organization (Ranstorp 74). How is Your Group Financed? There are several details which can be observed with regard to the financial support received by Hezbollah to carry out its various revolutionary operations. Few of the studies in relation to Hezbollah clearly demonstrate that the organization received nearly $500 million every year from Iran on an average out of which, approximately $250 million of financial support was received by Hezbollah from Iran during the 1990s (The American-Israel Cooperative Enterprise, “Hezbollah: The Overview”). However, recent studies depict that the financial support of Hezbollah relies on the patrons of various nations including Iran and Syria. Moreover, the terrorist organization also seem to receive a substantial amount of financial support from the Lebanese people as well as Shi’a Diaspora from various regions of the world (Osipova, “Hizballah’s Media Strategy: Creating a “Theater of Terror”). Hezbollah allegedly received an additional $22 million from the Iranian intelligence in order to provide support to Palestinian militant groups and funded many military operations against the State of Israel, Gaza as well as the West Bank. Furthermore, Iran was also accused of providing militant training programs to the terrorist groups including Hezbollah, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Moreover, Hezbollah have also been witnessed to make use of money wiring institutions such as Western Union in order to transfer, alter black money into white as well increase the amount of funds received for its purpose of secrecy. For instance, Hezbollah transfers its financial support to the Palestinian militant groups through Western Union. In a number of cases, the members of Hezbollah were found to operate through the Western Union branches and share the profit amount with Hezbollah which certainly assures the organizational alliances, but simultaneously disregards any assumption that Western Union might be operationally or formally aligned with the group’s functions. In addition, the tri-border region of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay is considered to be one of the major funding regions for the organization. According to the analysis of U.S. Naval War College, it was estimated that Hezbollah collected at least $10 million per year in order to run its various Islamic revolutionary operations (Levitt, “Hezbollah: Financing Terror through Criminal Enterprise”). Moreover, it was even identified that Hezbollah collected a huge portion of its financial support by smuggling arms internationally as well as exchanging counterfeit goods in various regions including Greater Middle Eastern, North and Latin American along with Southeast Asian regions (Osipova, “Hizballah’s Media Strategy: Creating a “Theater of Terror”). What Is The Nature Of The Conflict Your Organization Is Engaged In? Although Hezbollah has been running its Islamic revolutionary operations for quite a few years, the establishment the group can be identified and defined in its manifesto shared with the public in 1985. The organization outlined its major objectives within the manifesto with which the movement would be involved in attempting to build an Islamic regime within Lebanon. Moreover, maintaining an effective confrontation in order to protect Lebanon from the foreign invaders, especially Israel, has also been considered as one of the major objectives of Hezbollah as mentioned within its manifesto. With reference to the manifesto and the various objectives of the organization, it can be stated that Hezbollah is committed to the development of civilization and it’s identification with the ‘Umma’ the greater Islamic society (Osipova, “Hizballah’s Media Strategy: Creating a “Theater of Terror”). The US Department of State found that Hezbollah was engaged in militant activities since the early days of its establishment was acting as the mastermind behind all its revolutionary movements. However, in several cases, Hezbollah did not declare its involvement in various terrorist attacks and suicide bombings that were conducted in certain regions. Considering the various activities of Hezbollah, it can be identified that the organization continuously followed its operations in a parallel phenomenon with regard to the military programs, political conflicts as well as social responsibilities where the group principally distinguishes itself as a confrontation movement against foreign invaders (Cordesman, “Lebanese Security and the Hezbollah”). In terms of domestic front, Hezbollah is known to play a major role similar to other confessional groups operating within Lebanon. The organization operates a large network of educational institutions, healthcare clinics, private businesses, youth programs, Media and TV programs (Al-Manar TV), and other security related activities in order to build a separate identity of the Shiite religion (Majed, “Hezbollah and the Shiite Community”). In addition, the organization also maintains strong conventional and unconventional military forces. It is in this context that the military capabilities of Hezbollah were demonstrated by launching a large number of rockets and missiles in a few of the most targeted countries of Israel (RAND Corporation, “Dangerous but Not Omnipotent”). What Types Of Tactics Does Your Group Use In The Conflict? Hezbollah is an Islamic revolutionary militant group which is supposed to be highly influenced by the policies and actions inspired by Quran and Sharia, especially those concerned with Jihad. In the context of various Islamic revolutionary operations, Hezbollah undertook certain major tactics to ensure its survival and was found to acquire a unique position in conventional militant groups, insurgencies as well as political parties. The political division of the organization is considered to be one of its major elements in order to conduct various revolutionary operations. The political reconciliation of Hezbollah was also observed as intended towards building a strong resistance power against foreign invaders with regard to Lebanon. It is worth mentioning in this regard that the Shi’ite or Sharia-based outlines provided an advantage to the organization in developing and ensuring trust among the Lebanese people regarding its mission and visionary justness. The organization made use of various opportunities for the purpose of reminding the Lebanese civilization that the movement did not intend to convert people into Shi’ite Islam, but was only concentrated on building national identity and unity (Townsend, “Hezbollah and Iran: The New Resistance Model and Why it will Fail”). According to the recent declaration, Hezbollah’s leaders expressed desires of the group to regurgitate the organizational position and deal with certain issues related to its movements. Recently, the Secretary General of Hezbollah, Al-Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah mentioned various key issues in relation to the objectives determined in the manifesto of 1985. These issues were further focused on Israel, United States as well as the international systems which were deemed to be against Lebanon, its policies and various Islamic regulations (Hamzeh 46). What are your Group’s Primary Grievances? The legitimacy structure of Hezbollah was generated with the ideology of protecting Lebanon from foreign occupiers, especially Israel. The movement developed its structure and ability to defend Lebanon from Israel and other foreign attackers confronting the major beliefs of the country. According to the observation on various analyses, it can be considered that the Israeli withdrawal from certain areas in southern Lebanon could prove beneficial in order to reduce the resistance of Hezbollah’s credentials minimizing the influences of historical grievances. With this perspective, it can be assumed that the organization would be left with no other alternative rather than to develop the domestic grievances within the Lebanese community. It is in this context that three major historical grievances can be identified as the main cause of such conflicts which indicates towards (1) the failure of Israel to serve Lebanon with a map of 140,000 mines left behind during the civil war, (2) the denial from returning the areas around the Litani River which was once retained by Israel, and (3) the pending freedom of three Lebanese prisoners (Addis and Blanchard, “Hezbollah: Background and Issues for Congress”). With due consideration towards identifying the primary grievance of Hezbollah, it can be observed that the continuous disregard of international support, increasing poverty level as well as betrayal by the other powerful territories can be measured to be the fundamental causes of the grievance for the organization. With the intention to eliminate these grievances, the Islamists need to actualize their potential role of beneficially addressing the needs of the society through an effective utilization of the country’s resources. Musa al-Sadr, one of the distinguished and veteran leaders of Lebanon assembled the Shi’a community within Lebanon during the period of 1960s and 1970s and was capable to identify the grievances and turn them into political interests (Norton 27). In the context of the organization’s historical grievances, Hezbollah repeatedly cites its arsenal and weapons against Israel. Moreover, the Sheba Farms which is a small area that become under the Israeli aggression. What Are Your Group’s Primary Goals and Are You Willing To Negotiate and Compromise? The creation of this Islamic revolutionary group is believed to be closely connected with the vicious assaults made by Israel, especially on the Palestinians during the period of civil war. However, as during the creation of the state of Israel, Lebanon was a place which provided refuge to the Palestinians, the Lebanese were also considered as a prominent foe of the country which caused the war between Lebanon and Israel. This also triggered the formation of various resistant groups of militants (Alagha 69). Correspondingly, its participation within the political environment as well as influencing the country’s governmental policies for the betterment of the country has also been considered to be a major objective of Hezbollah in its Islamic revolutionary movement (Berti, “Beyond the “Divine Victory”: New Challenges Facing Hizbollah”). What Does Your Group Make Of The “Terrorist” Label? Hezbollah believes that they have the right to carry out military actions in order to help defend Lebanon, the party and in order to spread the message related to greater movement against Israel and other western countries through suicide bombings, and hostage-takings. Hezbollah ensured its strengths and successes with the help of effective supports received from Iran and Syria It is in this context that Hezbollah conducted number of militant attacks in various countries all over the world, especially in Israel and other western countries which the leaders felt to oppose Islamic spiritual beliefs or the interests of Lebanese people at large (Lander, “Hezbollah: Organizational Analysis of an Insurgency”). In the 1980s, Hezbollah was involved with cases of kidnapping foreigners from the US and the organization also killed more than two hundred US Marine officials conducting truck bombings in Beirut in the year 1983 which was later accepted by the group. Moreover, the responsibilities for hijacking the TWA flight 847 in 1985, two major attacks on Jews in Argentina in 1990s, bombing the Israeli embassy in 1992 and bombing the Jewish community in 1994 were also taken by Hezbollah. However, the organization refused to take the responsibility among few of those attacks that are conducted in Israel and other countries (Council on Foreign Relations, “Hezbollah (a.k.a. Hizbollah, Hizbu'llah)”). Works Cited Addis, Casey. L. & Christopher, M., Blanchard. Hezbollah: Background and Issues for Congress. Congressional Research Service, (2011): 1-30. Print. Alagha, Joseph Elie. The Shifts in Hizbullah’s Ideology: Religious Ideology, Political Ideology, and Political Program. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2006. Print. Berti, Benedetta. Beyond the “Divine Victory”: New Challenges Facing Hizbollah. Strategic Assessment, 14.4 (2012): 103-114. Print. Council on Foreign Relations, Hezbollah (a.k.a. Hizbollah, Hizbu'llah), 2012. Web. 27 Sep. 2012. Cordesman, Anthony. H. Lebanese Security and the Hezbollah. Center for Strategic and International Studies Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy, 14 Jul. 2006. Web. 27 Sep. 2012. Harik, Judith, Palmer. Hezbollah: The Changing Face of Terrorism. United Kingdom: I.B.Tauris, 2005. Print. Hamzeh, Ahmad, Nizar. The Path of Hezbollah. United States: Syracuse University Press, 2004. Print Lander, Natasha. Hezbollah: Organizational Analysis of an Insurgency. Michigan Journal of Public Affairs 7 (2012): 1-12 Levitt, Mathew. Hezbollah: Financing Terror through Criminal Enterprise. Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 25 May 2005. Web. 28 Sep. 2012. Majed, Ziad. Hezbollah and the Shiite Community: From Political Confessionalization to Confessional Specialization. The Aspen Institute, Nov. 2010. Web. 27 Sep. 2012. Norton, Augustus, Richard. Hezbollah: A Short History. United States: Princeton University Press, 2009. Print. Osipova, Yelena. “Hizballah’s Media Strategy: Creating a “Theater of Terror.” Journal of International Service (2011): 83-102. Print. Ranstorp, Magnus. Hizb'allah in Lebanon: The Politics of the Western Hostage Crisis. London: Palgrave Macmillan. 1997. Print. RAND Corporation. Dangerous but Not Omnipotent. Monographs, 2009. Web. 27 Sep. 2012. The American-Israel Cooperative Enterprise. Hezbollah: The Overview. Terrorism, 2012. Web. 27 Sep. 2012. Townsend, Omid. Hezbollah and Iran: The New Resistance Model and Why it will Fail. Georgetown University, n.d. Web. 27 Sep. 2012. NOTE: titles of articles – newspaper or journal – are place in “quotes,” while titles of books and journals and newspapers are italicized. Also, mind the capitalization within titles. See: http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/resdoc5e/RES5e_ch08_s1-0011.html Read More