Hezbollah

Hezbollah (Arabic for "Party of God") is a Shi'a terrorist organization and a political party[note 1] headquartered in Lebanon. Its foundation resulted from the 1982 Israeli intervention[1] in a Lebanese civil war[2] in which approximately twelve to nineteen thousand Lebanese lost their lives.[3] The original stated mission of Hezbollah involved putting an end to the illegal Israeli occupation of Lebanon.[4] The leaders of Hezbollah were greatly influenced by the chief architect of the Iranian revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini,[3] and the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution (also known as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards) of the Islamic Republic of Iran trained Hezbollah recruits. It is therefore sometimes considered a proxy of Iran.

The Hezbollah logo which thanks God for giving them the gun. Probably.
Party Like It's 632
Islam
Turning towards Mecca
v - t - e

Hezbollah is considered a terrorist organization by the United States,[5] the Netherlands, the United Kingdom,[6] Egypt,[7] Israel, Australia, Argentina, and Canada, in whole or only its paramilitary wing.[8]

According to its manifesto, its stated goals are:[9]

  • to put an end to colonialism by driving out Americans and the French from Lebanese soil
  • to bring those to justice who have committed crimes against both Muslims and Christians
  • formation of an Islamic government because only an Islamic government is capable of giving liberty and justice to all

From the inception of Hezbollah to the present day[10][11][12][13] the elimination of the state of Israel has been a primary goal for Hezbollah.

Social services

Hezbollah has organized a range of social service programmes including hospitals, news services, and educational institutions which cost hundreds of millions of dollars per year.[14] It also runs a so-called "Martyr's Institute" which provides basic living expenses to the families of fallen fighters.[15]

Attacks against military and civilian targets

Al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya or the "The Islamic Resistance" is the armed wing of Hezbollah. It organized the 1983 U.S. embassy bombing in Beirut which killed 200 U.S. Marines. Hezbollah is also accused by the Argentinian government of the 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, and the 1994 bombing of an Argentinian Jewish community center. However, these allegations were never been proved and the group's leadership denies any involvement in the attacks. The organization kidnapped two members of the Israeli Defense Forces in 2006, leading to a short war between Israel and Hezbollah on Lebanese soil.[16] Furthermore, not entirely unlike Hamas, Hezbollah has from time to time fired home-made rockets on civilian (and occasionally) military targets in Israel, though this appears to have largely died down in recent years.

Popularity and public support

Hezbollah is very popular among Lebanon's Shi'a Muslims, and unpopular among its Sunni Muslims.[17] In the Palestinian Territories it is widely regarded as an important resistance organization.[3] A survey conducted in 2006 among the resident of Gaza Strip and West Bank found 79.6% view Hezbollah as very good and 16.7% as good. Only a small minority of people, only 2.4%, considered this organization "bad".[18] However, opinion of Hezbollah fell in 2012 in light of their support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Many accuse Hezbollah of using anti-Israel rhetoric to disguise their real motives, which is to advance Iranian hegemony and Shi'a supremacy.[19] Hezbollah also runs in elections as a regular party in Lebanon with moderate support, currently (2015) holding 12 out of 128 seats in the parliament and 2 out of 30 seats in the cabinet.

Notes
  1. Is there a distinction?
gollark: Sure.
gollark: Yes.
gollark: (Note: some conditions apply. We may arbitrarily delete overly big repositories or just any at all.)
gollark: Did you know? All "based" individuals publish code on git.osmarks.net.
gollark: I see.

References
  1. See the Wikipedia article on 1982 Lebanon War.
  2. Who are Hezbollah? - "Hezbollah was conceived in 1982 by a group of Muslim clerics after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon."
  3. In Search of Hezbollah
  4. Who are Hezbollah?
  5. Department of State list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations
  6. Home Office Proscribed Terrorist Organisations. UK Home Office. (PDF) Archived on 16 July 2015 by the Wayback Machine.
  7. EGYPT: Cairo calls Hezbollah terrorist organization, Los Angeles Times
  8. "Recent EU Member State Action and Implication of the Designation"
  9. Hizbollah's manifesto English version
  10. Adam Shatz (29 April 2004). "In Search of Hezbollah". The New York Review of Books. Retrieved 14 August 2006.
  11. United Nations Document A/54/723 S/2000/55, citing Al Hayyat, 30 October 1999 Letter dated 25 January 2000 from the Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General https://web.archive.org/web/20070310192305/http://domino.un.org/unispal.NSF/fd807e46661e3689852570d00069e918/50862df07adbd884852569ad0054a527%21OpenDocument Accessed 17 August 2006
  12. The Brunswickan Online. "Hizbollah promises Israel a blood-filled new year, Iran calls for Israel's end". (Student newspaper)
  13. Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada Listed Entities – Hizballah https://web.archive.org/web/20061119150657/http://www.psepc.gc.ca/prg/ns/le/cle-en.asp Accessed 31 July 2006.
  14. The many hands and faces of Hezbollah
  15. 'The Best Guerrilla Force in the World'
  16. http://www.cfr.org/publication/9155/#6
  17. from Wayback Machine: Lebanese Public Opinion
  18. Palestinians Hold Hezbollah in High Regard
  19. Sunni Cleric Rises To Challenge Hezbollah In Lebanon
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