hankyoreh

Sattar Kassem, Professor of Political Science at Al Najah University, Palestine

Hezbollah: The Terrorist

"The war in Lebanon is due to the terrorist behavior and actions of Hezbollah. One can see the terroristic bluntness of Hezbollah, which captured a couple of Israeli soldiers for the purpose of freeing Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners in Israeli jails. Why are these people in Israeli jails? Because they attacked Israeli targets. Why did they do so? Because the Israelis are angels descending from the heavens to spread love, peace, and fraternity in the world."

There is so much that Westerners need to learn about the situation in the Middle East. Does anybody in the West talk about the fact that there are more than 5 million Palestinian refugees who have been living under difficult conditions for about 60 years, and Israel does not allow them to return to their homes? Does anybody talk about the fact that Israel has been occupying Arab land for around 40 years, and, for any withdrawal to take place, it insists that its terms must be accepted by the Arabs?

Palestinians and Lebanese have been captured by the Israelis because they insist on their rights and have the will to resist. If Israel has the right to defend itself, the Arabs have the right to defend themselves, and if Israel has the justification to hold Arabs captive, the Arabs have the justification to hold Israelis captive.

Who on earth can say that Israel has the right to hold 9,000 Arabs as prisoners, while Hezbollah is breaching all human values in holding two Israelis? What makes it right for Israel to fight for the freedom of its soldiers? And what makes it wrong for Hezbollah to fight for the freedom of the men and women of the Arab resistance?

Hezbollah, which has been in a state of war with Israel, attacked a military target, killing a number of soldiers and capturing two. Since then, Israel has been destroying the Lebanese infrastructure and killing civilians. I know that I am asking questions of an ethical nature that hardly can find answers in a world that believes in power.

Israel argues that Hezbollah violated its sovereignty, but it gives no explanation for why it captures Palestinians and Lebanese, or kills them and destroys the houses over their heads. It certainly does so in ‘no man’s land.’

Hezbollah: The Arab Ranger

Hezbollah is an Islamic Lebanese party that adopts armed resistance against Israel. It belongs to the Shiite Islamic sect. Muslims are of two sects: the Sunni, which is the majority, and the Shiite, which is the minority. They differ on historical issues but not on issues concerning creed.

Lebanon is one of the four pieces into which Syria was fragmented by the British and the French Mandate through the League of Nations in 1922. These four pieces are Jordan, the smaller Syria of today, Lebanon, and Palestine, which was promised by the British to become the homeland of the Jews.

All Arab nations were against Israel at first, but with the efforts of the Arab regimes and the support of Western nations for Israel, many Arab nations such as Egypt and Jordan have recognized Israel and signed peace treaties with it. Because of this, many Arab writers describe this situation as the time of Arab defeat. The Arabs have been defeated several times by Israel, and the United states has been spreading its domination over most of the Arab countries.

At this time of defeat, some Arabs believe that they should not surrender, and should continue the fight against Israel until regaining Palestinian rights, the foremost of which is the return to Palestinian refugees their homes and property. Some Palestinian groups such as Hamas and Jihad believe so, as does Hezbollah of Lebanon. Some Arab and Muslim countries, such as Syria and Iran, still believe that victory is possible. These two countries logically ally with the resistance organizations.

Hezbollah was founded in the early 1980s with Iran’s help. It played a prominent role in defeating the American and French forces that poured into Lebanon after the defeat of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) by the Israelis in 1982. Hezbollah carried two attacks against the French and the American headquarters, destroying them and killing around 300 troops. The two countries fled immediately. Then, Hezbollah continued its attacks against the Israeli forces in Southern Lebanon until the Israelis were defeated in 2000. The Israelis fled Southern Lebanon and Hezbollah remained the dominant force in the area. Iran continued extending financial and military support to Hezbollah.

Israel still had Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners. Hezbollah vowed to free them through capturing Israeli soldiers and insisting on a prisoner exchange. It did just that in the year 2003, when three Israelis were captured, but the exchange was not completely satisfactory because it appeared that the Israeli prisoners were captured dead. Three prominent Lebanese prisoners and thousands of Palestinians remained in Israeli jails. Hezbollah tried to free them peacefully, but Israel refused. Finally, Hezbollah decided to capture Israeli soldiers to broker another exchange. That task was accomplished just two weeks ago.

Israel decided this time not to opt for a prisoner exchange but rather for war. Israel insists that the two captured soldiers should be released, Hezbollah should disarm, and the Lebanese army should take its place in southern Lebanon in an application of U.N. Security Council resolution 1559. This resolution was adopted by the council in 2005 so as to meet Israeli demands to dismantle the Hezbollah organization. Hezbollah refuses to implement the resolution, saying that it is imbalanced. It says that Israel still occupies Lebanese land in small farming areas, and still holds Lebanese prisoners.

Israel is testing its might right now, although it made the same test in 1996. It tried to dismantle Hezbollah in 1996 by force and launched very destructive attacks against Lebanon, but it finally conceded in accepting the existence of Hezbollah as fact.

Hezbollah believes that Israel is an aggressor and there is no way to make peace with it as long as it does not recognize Palestinian and Arab rights. The organization believes that the Arab regimes are puppets of the United States and most of them ally with Israel, and that is why the Arab states could not be part of any direct confrontation with Israel.

But can Hezbollah face Israel, which has a strong military arsenal and enjoys the full and unconditional support of the U.S.? We know that Hezbollah is well-equipped, well-organized, well-trained, and highly devoted. Israel’s destructive power is much more than that of Hezbollah, but Hezbollah depends on guerilla warfare, which proved to be effective against the Israeli army. Israel now is using its air force to inflict much destruction on the Lebanese infrastructure, but that does not mean that Hezbollah is crippled. Hezbollah is strong enough militarily, and has proven to be capable to respond by rocketing Israeli towns and cities. It says that it is following a military tactic that will surprise Israel.

I think that Israel is facing trouble, and it is involved in its most difficult war since its foundation in 1948. Lebanon will suffer a lot, but Hezbollah will remain there. I believe that Israel will finally stop its destructive expedition and come to the negotiating table.