Ideology of Hezbollah

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The ideology of Hezbollah has been summarized as Shi'i radicalism.[1][2][3] Hezbollah was largely formed with the aid of the Ayatollah Khomeini's followers in the early 1980s in order to spread Islamic revolution[4] and follows a distinct version of Islamic Shi'a ideology (Valiyat al-faqih or Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists) developed by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of the "Islamic Revolution" in Iran.[5][6]

Contents

[edit] Manifesto

Hezbollah declared its existence on February 16, 1985 in "The Hizballah Program". This document[7] was read by spokesman Sheikh Ibrahim al-Amin at the al-Ouzai Mosque in west Beirut and simultaneously published in al-Safir as "The Hizballah Program, an open letter to all the Oppressed in Lebanon and the World," and a separate pamphlet that was first published in full in English in 1987.[8]

According to "The Hizballah Program" the principles of its ideology are: [9]

  • To expel Americans, the French and their allies definitely from Lebanon, putting an end to any colonialist entity on our land.
  • To submit the phalanges to a just power and bring them all to justice for the crimes they have perpetrated against Muslims and Christians.
  • To permit all the sons of our people to determine their future and to choose in all the liberty the form of government their desire. We call upon all of them to pick the option of Islamic government which alone is capable of guaranteeing justice and liberty for all. Only an Islamic regime can stop any future tentative attemps of imperialistic infiltration onto our country.

It listed the Ayatollah Khomeini as the leader whose "orders we obey;" called on Christians to "open your hearts to our call" and "embrace Islam" and noted that "Allah has ... made it intolerable for Muslims to particuate in ... a regime which is not predicated upon ... the Sharia"; explained that Israel is "the vanguard of the United States in our Islamic world." [9]

More broadly, current leader Sheikh Nasserallah has described Hizb'allah's ideology as having "two main axis: firstly, a belief in the rule by the just jurisconsult and adherence to Khomeini's leadership; and secondly, the continued need to struggle against the Israeli enemy." [10]

In the early 1990s, Hezbollah underwent what a number of observers have called a process of "Lebanonization," which is reflected in acceptance of a multiconfessional Lebanon, rapprochement with a variety of non-Islamist forces, participation in electoral politics, and an emphasis on providing for the social welfare of its Shi'a Lebanese constituency.[11] These tendency was expressed in religious as well as strategic terms:

Christians and Jews differ with Muslims concerning the interpretation of the unity of God and the personality of God. Despite that, the Qur'an commands: Turn to the principle of unity--the unity of God and the unity of mankind. We interpret this to mean that we can meet with Marxists on the common ground of standing up to the forces of international arrogance; we can meet nationalists, even secular nationalists, on the common ground of Arab causes, which are also Islamic causes. Islam recognizes the Other. ... So Islam does not negate the Other; it invites the Other to dialogue.[12]

[edit] Shi'a Islamism

Hezbollah's original 1985 manifesto reads:

We are the sons of the ummah (Muslim community) - the party of God (Hizb Allah) the vanguard of which was made victorious by God in Iran. There the vanguard succeeded to lay down the bases of a Muslim state which plays a central role in the world. We obey the orders of one leader, wise and just, that of our tutor and faqih (jurist) who fulfills all the necessary conditions: Ruhollah Musawi Khomeini....We are an umma linked to the Muslims of the whole world by the solid doctrinal and religious connection of Islam, whose message God wanted to be fulfilled by the Seal of the Prophets, i.e., Muhammad. Our behavior is dictated to us by legal principles laid down by the light of an overall political conception defined by the leading jurist....As for our culture, it is based on the Holy Koran, the Sunna and the legal rulings of the faqih who is our source of imitation.[13]

Hezbollah was largely formed with the aid of the Ayatollah Khomeini's followers in the early eighties in order to spread Islamic revolution[14] and follows a distinct version of Islamic Shi'a ideology (“Willayat Al-Faqih”) developed by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of the Islamic Revolution in Iran.[5] Iranian Expediency Council Secretary and former commander of the Revolutionary Guards Mohsen Rezai said in August 2006, "Iran is a model and example for Hizbullah. The Iranian faith, tactics and experience are being put to practice in Lebanon... Hizbullah looks to Iran for tactics and moral [support], and we are proud that our experience [serves] other Muslim countries."[15][16] Although Hezbollah originally aimed to transform Lebanon into an Islamic republic, that this goal has been abandoned according to Hezbollah's spiritual guide Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah[12] and some political analysts.[5][17] Doubts, however, remain.[18] Nasrallah has been quoted as saying, "We believe the requirement for an Islamic state is to have an overwhelming popular desire, and we're not talking about fifty percent plus one, but a large majority. And this is not available in Lebanon and probably never will be."[19] Although Hezbollah believes in one-person-one-vote system and disagree with the multi-confessional quotas under the Ta'if Accord, it does not intend to force a one-person-one-vote system onto the country’s Christians.[20]

[edit] Attitudes, statements, and actions concerning Israel

From the inception of Hezbollah to the present[21][22][23][24] the elimination of the state of Israel has been Hezbollah's primary goal. Its 1985 manifesto reportedly states "our struggle will end only when this entity [Israel] is obliterated. We recognize no treaty with it, no ceasefire, and no peace agreements."[9][25] Secretary-General Nasrallah’s has stated that "Israel is an illegal usurper entity, which is based on falsehood, massacres, and illusions,"[26] and considers that the elimination of Israel will bring peace in the Middle East: "There is no solution to the conflict in this region except with the disappearance of Israel."[27][28] In an interview with the Washington Post, Nasrallah said, "I am against any reconciliation with Israel. I do not even recognize the presence of a state that is called 'Israel.' I consider its presence both unjust and unlawful. That is why if Lebanon concludes a peace agreement with Israel and brings that accord to the Parliament our deputies will reject it; Hezbollah refuses any conciliation with Israel in principle. ... When a peace agreement is concluded between the Lebanese government and Israel, we would surely disagree with the Lebanese government about that, but we would not make any turmoil out of it."[29]

In a 1999 interview, Nasrallah outlined the group’s three "minimal demand[s]: an [Israeli] withdrawal from South Lebanon and the Western Bqa’ Valley, a withdrawal from the Golan, and the return of the Palestinian refugees.”[26] An additional objective is the freeing of prisoners held in Israeli jails,[30][31][5] some of whom have been imprisoned for eighteen years.[32]

Israel's occupation of the Shebaa Farms, along with the presence of Lebanese prisoners in Israeli jails, is often used as a pretext and stated as justification for the Hezbollah's continued hostilities against Israel even after Israel's verified withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000. Hezbollah's spokesperson Hassan Ezzedin, however, had this to said that

"the Hezbollah campaign to rid Shebaa of Israeli troops is a pretext for something larger. 'If they go from Shebaa, we will not stop fighting them," he told [the New Yorker]. 'Our goal is to liberate the 1948 borders of Palestine, ... The Jews who survive this war of liberation can go back to Germany or wherever they came from.' He added, however, that the Jews who lived in Palestine before 1948 will be 'allowed to live as a minority and they will be cared for by the Muslim majority.'"[33]

In 2002, according to the BBC, Hezbollah, "said publicly that it is ready to open a second front against Israel in support of the intifada."[17] In a 2003 interview, Nasrallah has answered questions concerning the establishment of a Palestinian state established alongside an Israeli state stating "that he would not sabotage what is finally a 'Palestinian matter.' But until such a settlement is reached, he will, he said, continue to encourage Palestinian suicide bombers."[34] In the same interview, Nasrallah stated that "at the end of the road no one can go to war on behalf of the Palestinians, even if that one is not in agreement with what the Palestinians agreed on," adding, "Of course, it would bother us that Jerusalem goes to Israel ... [but] let it happen. I would not say O.K. I would say nothing."[34] Similarly, in 2004, when asked whether he was prepared to live with a two-state settlement between Israel and Palestine, Nasrallah said he would not sabotage what is a Palestinian matter.[21] He also said that outside of Lebanon, Hezbollah will act only in a defensive manner towards Israeli forces, and that Hezbollah's missiles were acquired to deter attacks on Lebanon.[35]

In 2004 the Hezbollah-owned television station Al-Manar was banned in France on the grounds that it was inciting racial hatred. The court cited a 23 November 2004 broadcast in which a speaker accused Israel of deliberately disseminating AIDS in Arab nations.[36]

Hezbollah's desire for Israeli prisoners to be that could be exchanged with Israel led to Hezbollah's abduction of Israeli soldiers which triggered the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict.[37]

[edit] Attitudes, statements, and actions concerning the United States

During the years prior to its official founding, Hezbollah was held responsible or partially responsible for several attacks on Western (mostly American) targets and it has been blamed for killing many Americans.[38] Hezbollah has denied involvement in the attacks but its manifesto does claim

the whole world knows that whoever wishes to oppose the US, that arrogant superpower, cannot indulge in marginal acts which may make deviate from its major objective. We combat abomination and we shall tear out its very roots, its primary roots, which are the US.[9]

Hezbollah leader Fadlallah has told an interviewer:

We believe there is no difference between the United States and Israel; the latter is a mere extension of the former. The United States is ready to fight the whole world to defend Israel's existence and security. The two countries are working in complete harmony, and the United States is certainly not inclined to exert pressure on Israel. [39]

On its Al-Manar Television network, which is viewed by "an estimated 10-15 million people a day across the world," the United States is portrayed by an animated image of "the Statue of Liberty as a ghoul, her gown dripping blood, a knife instead of a torch in her raised hand. In Arabic the video ... concludes with the words: 'America owes blood to all of humanity.'"[40]

[edit] Attitudes, statements, and actions concerning Jews and Judaism

Hezbollah has declared that it distinguishes between Zionism and Judaism. Hezbollah MP Abdallah Qussayr stated that "Hezbollah has never been against religions. Hezbollah supports all religions, it supports interfaith dialogue, and it has no problem with any religion. Hezbollah considers Zionism to be the enemy, not the Jews as a people or a religion."[41] Hezbollah's official web site marks a distinction between "Zionist ideology" and Judaism. It likens Zionism to "the concept of creating 'Israel' by the use of force and violence, by stealing the Arabs’ lands and killing Palestinians."[42]

Others have attributed anti-Jewish statements to Hassan Nasrallah. Badih Chayban wrote an article in the Beirut-based Daily Star which quoted him as saying "if [Jews] all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide."[43][44] Charles Glass asserted that Wafa Hoteit, Hezbollah's spokeswoman, has denied that Nasrallah ever made the statement, and that the paper's managing editor has since called into question the accuracy of the quotation, as well as the honesty of the reporter.[45] Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, a Lebanese author and expert on Hezbollah, quoted Hassan Nasrallah as saying, "If we searched the entire world for a person more cowardly, despicable, weak and feeble in psyche, mind, ideology and religion, we would not find anyone like the Jew. Notice, I do not say the Israeli,"[46][47] and quotes Hezbollah's Deputy-General Shaykh Na'im Qasim as saying, "The history of Jews has proven that, regardless of the Zionist proposal, they are a people who are evil in their ideas."[48] Regarding the official public stance of Hezbollah as a whole, she argues that while Hezbollah, "tries to mask its anti-Judaism for public-relations reasons... a study of its language, spoken and written, reveals an underlying truth." In her book, Hezbollah: Politics & Religion, she states that Hezbollah "believes that Jews, by the nature of Judaism, possess fatal character flaws," and that "Hezbollah's Quranic reading of Jewish history has led its leaders to believe that Jewish theology is evil."[49][33]

[edit] Position on use of armed strength to achieve aims

Hezbollah's 1985 founding Manifesto reads:

"whatever touches or strikes the Muslims in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Philippines and elsewhere reverberates throughout the whole Muslim umma of which we are an integral part. ... No one can imagine the importance of our military potential as our military apparatus is not separate from our overall social fabric. Each of us is a fighting soldier. And when it becomes necessary to carry out the Holy War, each of us takes up his assignment in the fight in accordance with the injunctions of the Law, and that in the framework of the mission carried out under the tutelage of the Commanding Jurist."[50]

[edit] Women’s rights

In keeping with Lebanon’s generally secular and egalitarian culture, Hezbollah recognizes and promotes women’s rights somewhat more strongly than do other groups associated with Islamic jihad, or for that matter than does Iran, Hezbollah’s self-proclaimed "model and example."[15][51]

See also: Women in Muslim societies

One member of the Hezbollah Political Council, speaking to an Online Journal correspondent in July 2006, claimed that "Hezbollah differs from many Islamic groups in our treatment of women. We believe women have the ability like men to participate in all parts of life."[51] The Online Journal correspondent writes:

"From its founding in the 1980s, Hezbollah women have headed education, medical and social service organizations. Most recently Hezbollah nominated several women to run in the Lebanese elections. It named Wafa Hoteit as a chief of Al Noor Radio ..., and promoted 37-year-old Rima Fakhry to its highest ruling body, the Hezbollah Political Council. Part of Fakhry's duties include interpreting Islamic feminism in Sharia law for the Committee for Political Analysis."[51]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Barak, Oren. "Hizballah." The Continuum Political Encyclopedia of the Middle East. Ed. Avraham Sela. New York: Continuum, 2002. p. 350.
  2. ^ Rosenthal, Donna. The Israelis: Ordinary People in an Extraordinary Land. New York: Free Press, 2003. p. 15.
  3. ^ Collier, Robert. "Everyone casting suspicious eye on Iraq's Hezbollah." SFGate. 29 December 2003. 14 March 2008.
  4. ^ Wright, Robin (2006-07-13). Options for U.S. Limited As Mideast Crises Spread. Washington Post.
  5. ^ a b c d Jamail, Dahr (2006-07-20). Hezbollah's transformation. Asia Times. Retrieved on 2007-10-23.
  6. ^ Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1996-04-11). Hizbullah. Retrieved on 2006-08-17.
  7. ^ The Hizballah Program: An Open Letter [to the Downtrodden in Lebanon and the World]. Institute for Counterterrorism (1985-02-16). Retrieved on 2006-08-24.
  8. ^ See the appendix in A. R. Norton's Amal and the Shi'a: Struggle for the Soul of Lebanon University of Texas Press, 1987
  9. ^ a b c d An open letter, The Hizballah program
  10. ^ [source: Ettela'at, 13 February 1993. quoted in Ranstorp, Hizb'allah in Lebanon, (1997), p.48
  11. ^ Graham Usher, "Hizballah, Syria, and the Lebanese Elections," Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 26, No. 2. (Winter, 1997), pp. 59-67
  12. ^ a b Mahmoud Soueid, "Islamic Unity and Political Change. Interview with Shaykh Muhammad Hussayn Fadlallah," Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 25, No. 1. (Autumn, 1995), pp. 61-75.
  13. ^ The Hezballah Program: An Open Letter [to the Downtrodden in Lebanon and the World]. Institute for Counterterrorism (1985-02-16). Retrieved on 2006-08-24.
  14. ^ Wright, Robin (2006-07-13). Options for U.S. Limited As Mideast Crises Spread. Washington Post.
  15. ^ a b Iranian and Syrian Reactions to the Latest Developments in the Middle East Crisis. The Middle East Media Research Institute (2006-08-04). Retrieved on 2006-08-08.
  16. ^ http://www.roozonline.com/01newsstory/016885.shtml (Arabic)
  17. ^ a b Who are Hezbollah?. BBC News (2002-04-04). Retrieved on 2006-08-11.
  18. ^ US Department of State Background Information on Foreign Terrorist Organizations Accessed August 15, 2006
  19. ^ Adam Shatz, New York Review of Books, April 29, 2004 In Search of Hezbollah Accessed August 15, 2006
  20. ^ Helena Cobban (April/May 2005). Hizbullah's New Face. Boston Review.
  21. ^ a b Adam Shatz (April 29, 2004). In Search of Hezbollah. The New York Review of Books.
  22. ^ 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 Accessed August 17, 2006
  23. ^ The Brunswickan Online. "Hizbollah promises Israel a blood-filled new year, Iran calls for Israel's end".  (Student newspaper)
  24. ^ Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada Listed Entities - Hizballah Accessed July 31, 2006
  25. ^ this text is reportedly in the original Arabic-language manifesto but not in the original translation, nor found on Hezbollah website, according to the pro-Israel, anti-Hezbollah website where the text appears.
  26. ^ a b Thisreen (Syrian newspaper) June 21, 1999, reprinted by MEMRI Secretary General of Hizbullah Discusses the New Israeli Government and Hizbullah’s Struggle Against Israel Accessed July 30, 2006
  27. ^ Little choice for a defiant Israel, by Andrew Markus, The Age, July 15, 2006
  28. ^ United Nations Document A/54/723 S/2000/55, citing Washington Post, 1 January 2000 Letter dated 25 January 2000 from the Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General Accessed August 17, 2006
  29. ^ "Said Hassan Nasrallah Q&A: What Hezbollah Will Do", The Washington Post, February 20, 2000. Retrieved on 2006-08-08. 
  30. ^ Source states, among other things, that Hezbollah seeks the return of Lebanese prisoners from Israel: "Israeli court frees Lebanese prisoners", BBC News, 2000-04-12. Retrieved on 2006-08-08. 
  31. ^ "Israeli striles kill 40 in Lebanon", Al Jazeera, 2006-07-13. Retrieved on 2006-08-08. 
  32. ^ Private website, registered to Bassam Kantar, Beirut Lebanon (WHOIS search, August 4, 2006) Freedom for Samir Kuntar Accessed August 4, 2006
  33. ^ a b Jeffrey Goldberg, "In the Party of God." The New Yorker. 10 July 2002. Accessed 2 September 2006.
  34. ^ a b Hersh, Seymour. "The Syrian Bet", The New Yorker, 2003-07-18. Retrieved on 2006-08-07. 
  35. ^ Macvicar, Sheila. "Interview With Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah", CNN, March 16, 2003. Retrieved on 2006-08-01. 
  36. ^ BBC News, December 14, 2004 France pulls plug on Arab network Accessed August 18, 2006
  37. ^ Myre, Greg and Steven Erlanger. [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/13/world/middleeast/13mideast.html?_r=1&hp&ex=1152849600&en=7c501785edb16cc8&ei=5094&partner=homepage&oref=slogin "Israelis Enter Lebanon After Attacks." The New York Times. 13 July 2006. 21 October 2007.
  38. ^ Rosen, Laura. "Islamic radical groups are not all alike." Boston.com. 13 August 2006. 15 August 2007.
  39. ^ Interview in July 1985, quoted in Martin Kramer, `The Oracle of Hizbullah: Sayiid Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah, Part II, in Spokesmen for the Despised: Fundamentalist Leaders of the Middle East, ed. R. Scott Appleby (Chicago University of Chicago Press, 1997), p.8
  40. ^ Terrorist Television
  41. ^ http://memritv.org/Transcript.asp?P1=570
  42. ^ The Truth Is Spoken: Anti-Zionists Are No Anti-Semitists... The Zionists ideology versus the Torah and Judaism, Archive search result page, labeled "Aljazeera, 1-1-2006."
  43. ^ The Enemy Within. New York Times (2004-05-23).
  44. ^ Chayban, Badih "Nasrallah alleges 'Christian Zionist' plot." The Daily Star (Beirut). 23 October 2002
  45. ^ LRB · letters page from Vol. 28 No. 19
  46. ^ Muhammad Fnaysh, 15 August 1997. qtd. in Saad-Ghorayeb, Amal. Hizbu'llah: Politics and Religion. London: Pluto Press, 2002. p. 170.
  47. ^ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named In_the_Party_of_God
  48. ^ 'Abbas al-Mussawi, Amiru'l-Zakira, Dhu al-Hujja 1406, p. 197. qtd. in Saad-Ghorayeb, 2002, p. 174.
  49. ^ Saad-Ghorayeb, Amal. Hizbu'llah: Politics and Religion. London: Pluto Press, 2002. pp. 168-186.
  50. ^ The Hezballah Program: An Open Letter [to the Downtrodden in Lebanon and the World]. Institute for Counterterrorism (1985-02-16). Retrieved on 2006-08-24.
  51. ^ a b c Schuh, Trish (2006-07-18). Free speech marked for death. Retrieved on 2006-08-19.

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