Hezbollah

Hezbollah – Aaron Jeweler – Mostly Wikipedia (I know, I know) – Sep. 18, 2008 Hezbollah literally "party of Allah" is a Shi'a Islamic political and paramilitary organization based in Lebanon. It follows an Islamist Shi'a ideology developed by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of the Islamic Revolution in Iran. Hezbollah first emerged during the Lebanese Civil War in the early 1980s as a militia of Shia followers of the Ayatollah Khomeini, trained, organized and funded by a contingent of Iranian Revolutionary Guards. In its 1985 manifesto Hezbollah listed its three main goals as the eradication of Western colonialism in Lebanon, the bringing to justice of those who committed atrocities during the war (specifically the Phalangists), and the establishment of an Islamic government in Lebanon. Since then Hezbollah has temporarily abandoned the goal of transforming Lebanon into an Islamic state as impractical at this time. Hezbollah leaders have also made numerous statements calling for the destruction of Israel, which they describe as an unlawful "entity". Six countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, officially list Hezbollah, or its external security arm, as a terrorist organization, though its designation as such is not unanimous among world powers (perhaps most notably, the European Union). Most in the Arab and Muslim worlds regard Hezbollah as a legitimate resistance movement. Hezbollah has popular support in Shi'a Lebanese society and has mobilized demonstrations of hundreds of thousands. Hezbollah receives its financial support mainly from the donations of Lebanese Shi’ites. Hezbollah has "operated with Syria's blessing" since the end of the Civil War. Hezbollah, which started with only a militia, has grown to an organization with seats in the Lebanese government, a radio- and a satellite television-station, and programs for social development. Since 1992, the organization has been headed by Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, its Secretary-General. Hezbollah organizes an extensive social development program and runs hospitals, news services, and educational facilities. Its Reconstruction Campaign ('Jihad Al Binna') is responsible for numerous economic and infrastructure development projects in Lebanon. Ending Israel's occupation of Southern Lebanon was the primary focus of Hezbollah's activities. Hezbollah has tried to expel Israel from Lebanon. At the beginning, it had used suicide attacks against the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and against Israeli targets outside of Lebanon. Hezbollah is reputed to have been among the first Islamic resistance groups to use tactical suicide bombing, assassination and capturing against foreign soldiers in the Middle East. Gradually, Hezbollah turned into a paramilitary organization and used missiles, Katyusha and other type of rocket launchers and detonations of explosive charges instead of capturings, murders, hijackings, and bombings. Hezbollah has been subject to assassination and abduction by Israel as well. Hezbollah's violent acts are characterized by some countries as terrorist attacks, while others regard them as a resistance movement engaged in defensive Jihad." Human rights organizations Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have accused Hezbollah of committing war crimes against Israeli civilians, in which in the same article, they also accused Israel of war crimes but against Lebanese civilians.   From the inception of Hezbollah to the present, the elimination of the State of Israel has been one of Hezbollah's primary goals. Its 1985 manifesto reportedly states "our struggle will end only when this entity [Israel] is obliterated." Hezbollah has declared that it distinguishes between Zionism and Judaism, however the group has been known to use anti-Semitic rhetoric and fallacious accusations that Jews are deliberately spreading AIDS. The Hezbollah owned and operated television station Al-Manar was criticized for airing "anti-Semitic propaganda" in the form of a television drama that depicting a Jewish world domination conspiracy. Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, a Shiite Lebanese scholar critical of Israel, firmly believes that Hezbollah is an anti-Semitic organization. As evidence, she quotes 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." The supreme decision-making bodies of the Hezbollah were divided between the Majlis al-Shura (Consultative Assembly) which was headed by 12 senior clerical members with responsibility for tactical decisions and supervision of overall Hizballah activity throughout Lebanon, and the Majlis al-Shura al-Karar (the Deciding Assembly), headed by Sheikh Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah and composed of eleven other clerics with responsibility for all strategic matters. Within the Majlis al-Shura, there existed seven specialized committees dealing with ideological, financial, military and political, judicial, informational and social affairs. In turn, the Majlis al-Shura and these seven committees were replicated in each of Hizballah's three main operational areas (the Beqaa, Beirut, and the South). Hezbollah is accused of being responsible for a number of attacks and kidnappings carried out since its founding in the early 1980s. These include: * April 1983 U.S. Embassy bombing * 1983 Beirut barracks bombing, * kidnappings of Western, especially American, targets in the 80s, mostly alleged by the US, Israel, and Canada, while others allege that other groups were responsible * the hijacking of TWA Flight 847 in 1985 by a group with alleged links to Hezbollah * Between 1982 to 1986, 41 Hezbollah suicide attackers killed 659 people, including 241 US Marines as they slept. In the American Conservative Robert Pape details 38 of the bombers as 8 Muslim, 27 Communists/Socialists and 3 Christian. * the 1992 Israeli Embassy attack in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which Hezbollah took responsibility for. * the 1994 AMIA bombing of a Jewish cultural centre, also in Argentina. * the January 15, 2008, bombing of a U.S. Embassy vehicle in Beirut. Hezbollah has not revealed its armed strength. It has been estimated by Mustafa Alani, security director at the Dubai-based Gulf Research Centre, that Hezbollah's military force is made up of about 1,000 full-time Hezbollah members, along with a further 6,000-10,000 volunteers. Hezbollah possesses the Katyusha-122 rocket, which has a range of 29 km (18 mi) and carries a 15 kg (33 lb) warhead. Hezbollah also possesses about 100 long-range missiles. They include the Iranian-made Fajr-3 and Fajr-5, the latter with a range of 75 km (47 mi), enabling it to strike the Israeli port of Haifa, and the Zelzal-1, with an estimated 150 km (93 mi) range, which can reach Tel Aviv. Fajr-3 missiles have a range of 40 km (25 mi) and a 45 kg (99 lb) warhead, and Fajr-5 missiles, which extend to 72 km (45 mi), also hold 45 kg (99 lb) warheads. According to various reports, Hezbollah is armed with anti-tank guided missiles, namely, the Russian-made AT-3 Sagger, AT-4 Spigot, AT-5 Spandrel, AT-13 Saxhorn-2 'Metis-M', АТ-14 Spriggan 'Kornet'; Iranian-made Ra'ad (version of AT-3 Sagger), Towsan (version of AT-5 Spandrel), Toophan (version of BGM-71 TOW); and European-made MILAN missiles. These weapons have been used against IDF soldiers, causing many of the deaths during the 2006 Lebanon War. A small number of Saeghe-2s (Iranian-made version of M47 Dragon) were also used in the war. For air defense, Hezbollah has anti-aircraft weapons that include the ZU-23 artillery and the man-portable, shoulder-fired SA-7 and SA-18 surface-to-air missile (SAM). One of the most effective weapons deployed by Hezbollah has been the C-802 anti-ship missile. During the 2006 Lebanon War, Hezbollah fired 3,970 rockets into Northern Israel in the course of a month, killing 43 Israeli civilians. Hezbollah operates a satellite television station, Al-Manar TV ("the Lighthouse"), a radio station al-Nour ("the Light"), and a monthly magazine "Bakeyato Allah" ("The Rest of God [Imam-Mahdi]"). Al-Manar broadcasts from Beirut, Lebanon. The station was launched by Hezbollah in 1991 with the help of Iranian funds. Al-Manar, self-proclaimed "Station of the Resistance" is a key player in what Hezbollah calls its "psychological warfare against the Zionist enemy" and an integral part of Hezbollah's plan to spread its message to the entire Arab world. Al-Manar's transmission in France is prohibited due to promotion of Holocaust denial, a criminal offense in France. The United States lists Al-Manar television network as a terrorist organization. Materials aimed at instilling principles of nationalism and Islam in children are an aspect of Hezbollah's media operations. The Hezbollah Central Internet Bureau released a video game in 2003 entitled Special Force, in which players conduct war on Israeli invaders, wherein the winner becomes a national hero on Earth and a martyr in Heaven. Hezbollah's financial support is a matter of controversy. Critics argue that it is, or has been, massively supported with tens of millions of dollars annually from the Islamic Republic of Iran. Hezbollah maintains that the main source of its income comes from donations by Muslims. Lebanese Shi’ites often make zakat contributions directly after prayers and an additional donation in a Hezbollah donation box. Hezbollah also receives financial and political assistance, as well as weapons and training, from the Islamic Republic of Iran. The US estimates that Iran has been giving Hezbollah about US$60-100 million per year in financial assistance. Hezbollah has relied extensively on funding from the Shi'ite Lebanese Diaspora in West Africa, the United States and, most importantly, the Triple Frontier, or tri-border area, along the junction of Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil. U.S. law enforcement officials charged that smugglers of illegal cigarettes in the United States were funneling millions of dollars to Hezbollah. Hezbollah sucks.
 * In 1996, Hezbollah called on "Muslim believers to boycott the movie" Independence Day due to the fact that a Jewish character played by Jeff Goldblum helps save the world from an alien invasion. Hezbollah called the science fiction movie, "propaganda for the so-called genius of the Jews and their alleged concern for humanity." **