Hezbollah

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Hezbollah flag. The upper line above the outstretched rifle is a quote from Sura 5 : 56: “The party of God are the victorious.” The lower line means: “The Islamic resistance in Lebanon”.

The Hezbollah ( in Arabic حزب الله Hizbullah , DMG Hezbollah  , Party of God ', even Hezbollah , Hezbollah or Hizb Allah has) written a Islamist - Shi'ite party and militia in Lebanon . As a “state within a state”, Hezbollah controls Lebanon through its militia not only militarily, but also politically through its party.

It emerged from 1982 as a paramilitary organization operating from the underground through the merger of various Shiite groups in the resistance against the then Israeli invasion . The official establishment took place in 1985. The strongholds of the organization are in the south of Lebanon , in the Bekaa plain and in southern Beirut . Shiite scholars are at their head; the revolutionary leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran , Ayatollah Sejjed Ali Khamene'i, is regarded as the highest spiritual authority . The general secretary and commander in chief of the Hezbollah militias is Hassan Nasrallah .

Hezbollah has also been represented in the Lebanese National Assembly since 1992 . Since then it has developed into a military, social and political power factor. After the parliamentary elections in 2018, it made up around 10% of the parliamentary representatives with 13 seats and was already represented in several cabinets of the Lebanese government.

Hezbollah is responsible for numerous attacks against the Israeli army. Her involvement is assumed in many other attacks against Jewish or Western, mainly US-American, institutions around the world.

history

Emergence

Hezbollah emerged in the course of various divisions in the Shiite political movements in Lebanon. In 1974 a Shiite cleric, Imam Musa as-Sadr , organized a movement of the underprivileged to improve their social situation. This movement later developed into the main political party in Lebanon, which called itself Amal . During the Lebanese civil war from 1975 to 1990, the movement built its own militia, the Amal militia . In 1978, however, Musa al-Sadr disappeared in Libya, and the initially unsanitary party came under the influence of Iran, which had just ousted the Shah Reza Pahlavi during its Islamic revolution . In the course of the civil war, parts of the Amal became radicalized. In 1981 the Islamic Amal split off, and a little later Hezbollah under the leadership of Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah .

In 1982, shortly after the Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon , attacked after the Ayatollah Khomeini proclaimed fatwa Iranian forces in favor of Shiite militias actively involved in the Lebanese civil war. The approximately 1500 pasdaran (revolutionary guards ), who were initially stationed in the Sheikh Abdullah barracks in Baalbek , were supposed to export the Islamic revolution to Lebanon based on the Iranian model ( revolution export ). They organized themselves in the Bekaa plain near the Syrian border, where the first Pasdaran training camps were set up. The Iranian fighters who called themselves from now on Hezbollah, which especially on the so-called Hezbollahi is based (Khomeini supporters) during the Iranian Revolution, the voluntary militia recruited modeled on the Basitsch mostly young Lebanese to guerrilla -Einsätzen and suicide missions . The groups that later merged into Hezbollah were formed from them. They were mainly recruited from former members of the Shiite Amal militia and from several smaller groups such as the Houssein Suicide Squad , Jundollah (Army of God), the Islamic Student Union and members of the Lebanese Dawa Party. One of the first founders and activists of the organization was the prayer leader Raghib Harb (d. 1984) from Jibsheet in southern Lebanon, who preached against the Israeli occupation and Zionism .

The first commanders of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Abbas Zamani ( Abu Sharif ), Mostafa Tschamran , who previously trained the Amal militia and participated in the first fighting, were involved in the formation, financing and founding of the organization, which officially appeared under the name Hezbollah only in 1985 involved, such as Ayatollah Ali Akbar Mohtaschami and later Ali-Reza Asgari actively involved as coordinator.

From 1985 onwards, heavy fighting broke out between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Amal, which in turn was backed by Syria . The Amal had previously attacked the Palestinian refugee camps Sabra and Shatila with heavy weapons and killed numerous civilians. Hezbollah cited these attacks, which are often referred to as massacres, as the reason for the fighting with the Amal. However, it is generally assumed that power competition between the two Shiite militias was at least as important a motive. Hezbollah established two bases in Baalbek and al-Hirmil in the Bekaa plain in 1985/86 and further bases in the south in 1989/90, particularly in Iqlīm at-Tuffāh near Sidon and the Palestinian camps . Between 1988 and 1989 Hezbollah launched its major economic, social, educational and medical projects to support needy Shiites. The establishment of cooperatives, clinics, pharmacies, hospitals and sports facilities brought her many followers.

Attacks and kidnappings in the 1980s

In western foreign countries, Hezbollah became known primarily for attacks against the Israeli army. They carried out kidnappings of Israeli soldiers, hostage-taking and mortar attacks on territory occupied by the Israeli military or positions during its occupation of southern Lebanon .

Cloud of smoke after the attack on the US Marines headquarters in Lebanon . The US blames Hezbollah for the attack, October 23, 1983

Her involvement is assumed in many other attacks against Jewish or Western, mainly US-American institutions worldwide:

  • In November 1982 , two suicide bombers blew up an Israeli army command post in Tire, Lebanon . 75 Israeli soldiers died in the process. In April 1983, 63 people were killed in a bomb attack on the US embassy in Beirut . The following October, 58 French paratroopers and 241 US Marines were killed in the attack on the US base in Beirut . These were the first suicide attacks in the Middle East . The Islamic Jihad group claimed to be the originator of the attacks. Hezbollah officially denied that it was responsible for the attacks, claiming that the organization did not even exist in 1983. However, Sheikh Subhi at-Tufaili later admitted that some of the first Hezbollah members were actually responsible.
  • According to controversial information, 13 French citizens were killed in Hezbollah bombings in Paris in 1985 and 1986.
  • In addition, the case of Hezbollah member and aircraft hijacker Mohammed Ali Hamadi , who was arrested on January 13, 1987 in Frankfurt am Main while smuggling explosives, made waves.
  • Hezbollah militiamen were also involved in the 1988 kidnapping of US intelligence officer William R. Higgins , who was tortured to death while in custody.

The alleged mastermind of many of these terrorist attacks was Abbas al-Musawi (around 1952–1992), Nasrallah's predecessor, head of the military wing. He was killed in an Israeli helicopter attack in southern Lebanon on February 16, 1992, along with his wife, son and four other people. Another person blamed for numerous attacks and kidnappings was Imad Mughniyah (1962–2008), co-founder and head of Hezbollah's intelligence service. He himself was later killed in an attack.

As an anti-Israel militia and party after the end of the Lebanese civil war

Hezbollah was the only Lebanese militia to refuse to return its weapons in 1989 after the Taif Agreement . In the intra-Lebanese negotiations since the end of the civil war, this was granted provisionally on the grounds that the purpose of its establishment, the end of the Israeli occupation, had not yet been fulfilled. Although Hezbollah was reserved about the Taif Agreement, its leadership decided in 1991/92 to participate in future political elections. This also had to do with the fact that the Amal had lost popularity at the time because of their indulgent attitude towards Israel. In the 1992 parliamentary elections, Hezbollah won eight seats, four for Baalbek, one for Mount Lebanon , one for Beirut and two for the south. After this success, the social composition of the organization also changed: while the Shiite lower class was its mainstay, it subsequently became increasingly popular with Shiite business people, who saw it as a suitable means of political representation. In the late 1990s, engineers became the main profession within Hezbollah, and most of the merchants in the southern suburbs of Beirut joined the party. There was also a reconciliation with the Amal militia. Since then, their political wings have worked closely together and even form joint electoral lists.

In western countries, Hezbollah made a name for itself primarily as a terrorist organization in the 1990s. In 1992 she carried out an attack on the Israeli embassy in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires , in which 22 people died. Another attack took place in 1994 , also in Argentina's capital. 85 people died in this attack on a Jewish center. For this reason, Argentine prosecutors brought charges against the former Hezbollah foreign security chief Imad Fajes Mughnieh and the Iranian ex-president Ali-Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani in October 2006 . Hezbullah also became known in the 1990s as a supporter of guerrilla training in northern Albania .

To stop Hezbollah bombardment of northern Israel, the Israeli forces launched Operation The Fruits of Anger in April 1996 . In response, around 200,000 Shiites had to flee the area. In 1997, Subhi at-Tufaili , former general secretary of Hezbollah, who had split off from the more moderate wing under Nasrallah, started a campaign for civil disobedience against the government of Bekaa under the name "Revolution of the Hungry" ( ṯaurat al-ǧiyāʿ ) Rafiq al-Hariri , which was directed against his economic policy. In 1998 he had armed conflict with both the Lebanese army and Hezbollah.

Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon as a "victory" for Hezbollah

In the late 1990s, Hasan Nasrallah pursued an ambitious plot against the Israeli army that resulted in Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in May 2000. Hezbollah celebrated this event as “its” victory. After the end of the civil war and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon in May 2000, Hezbollah repeatedly attacked military bases in northern Israel and on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Shebaa farms. These were originally on Syrian territory and were annexed by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War . Syria claims to have ceded these areas to Lebanon in the meantime. Up until the outbreak of the Lebanon War in 2006, 14 Israeli soldiers, 7 civilians and one UN soldier had been killed and 7 people kidnapped.

On January 29, 2004, after several years of negotiations between Israel and Hezbollah, an exchange of prisoners was achieved through the mediation of the BND , during which the remains of three Israeli soldiers were also handed over. Parts of the handover took place at Cologne / Bonn Airport .

Consolidation of the position as a Shiite party

Around the middle of the new decade, Hezbollah expanded its political agitation and gained greater popular support, so that it became an integral part of the Lebanese party landscape. In the 2005 general election she won 14 seats in the Lebanese parliament , the allied Amal 9. Support for the Palestinians has been an important part of its program since Hezbollah was founded.

The March 14 alliance formed after the assassination of Rafiq al-Hariri in 2005 , which was supported by the US and the EU, tried to force Hezbollah to surrender its weapons. The protecting power of the Lebanese Sunnis, Saudi Arabia , helped finance this alliance. In Jordan Sunni fighters to have been trained. In this situation, Hezbollah intensified its alliance with its former adversary Nabih Berri , chairman of the Amal militia. In February 2006, Hezbollah also formed an alliance with the Free Patriotic Movement party of Christian politician Michel Aoun . This is how the so-called March 8th Alliance came into being .

Lebanon War 2006

Hezbollah-controlled areas in July 2006

The kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers on July 12, 2006 triggered violent military strikes by Israel against Lebanon. The incident occurred on the border between Israel and Lebanon. The circumstances are contentious between the conflicting parties. According to the Lebanese police, it happened near Aita Al-Schaab on Lebanese territory. Hezbollah members confronted a group of Israeli soldiers there. These had advanced into Lebanese territory with an armored vehicle. Eight were killed and two captured. According to Israeli television, however, it happened on Israeli territory. A Hezbollah group advanced there, killed eight Israeli soldiers and kidnapped two. According to Amnesty International , Hezbollah broke international law in that war by " deliberately targeting civilians and civilian objects in Israel or failing to distinguish between military and civilian targets ".

Israel saw this as an act of war and responded with military strikes. Numerous civilians were also killed in the process, a significant number of which, according to Israeli sources, is said to have served Hezbollah as human shields. As a result of UN resolution 1701 , a ceasefire came into effect on August 14 at 7:00 a.m. CEST, which ended the war. After the outbreak of the Lebanon war in 2006, the UN coordinator for humanitarian aid, Jan Egeland , also accused Hezbollah of “mixing cowardly with women and children” and thus being responsible for the high civilian casualties in Israeli military actions.

As a result of the war, Hezbollah was able to consolidate its image as a resistance movement in large parts of the Lebanese population. Afterwards, not only Sunni religious leaders spoke out in favor of them, but even Christians in Lebanon and Syria. Other Lebanese groups condemned the "glorification" of death and martyrdom in Hezbollah.

The Alliance's attempt to overthrow it on March 14th

When it became clear that the government of Fuad Siniora (July 2005 - July 2008) wanted to enforce the UN Security Council resolution to disarm Hezbollah and hold an international tribunal, the Islamists and their allies held a sit-in in Beirut in December 2006 which attracted more than 800,000 Lebanese. The government thereupon renounced the violent disarmament of Hezbollah.

In the spring of 2008, the Alliance of March 14th, with support from the government and the US, attempted to destroy the telecommunications network established by Hezbollah and to obtain the dismissal of the security chief at Beirut airport, who had been accused of having relations with Hezbollah. As a result, Hezbollah militiamen occupied the western part of Beirut. In the Schuf Mountains and in northern Lebanese Tripoli there were fighting with more than 100 dead. The crisis could only be resolved when the army intervened.

Role in the Syrian Civil War (from 2011) and new attacks on Israel

In the Syrian civil war tens of thousands of Syrians fled to Lebanon. In April 2013, in a televised address, Nasrallah confirmed for the first time the use of Hezbollah forces in the Syrian civil war on the part of government troops. He justified this with attacks by Syrian insurgents on Lebanese border villages and announced retaliation in the event that the Shiite Sayyida Zeinab shrine in Damascus were damaged. Walid Jumblat , the Druze chairman of the Lebanese Socialist Progressive Party (PSP) accused Hezbollah of committing a blatant error “on an ethical as well as a political level” with the support of the Syrian regime. Jumblat demands arms deliveries to the insurgents organized in the Free Syrian Army .

On January 28, 2015 at 11:30 am local time, Hezbollah hit a ZAHAL vehicle with an anti-tank missile fired from Lebanese territory, killing two soldiers and injuring at least seven more.

According to the Bulgarian authorities, Hezbollah is also believed to be behind the suicide attack on July 18, 2012 in Burgas ( Bulgaria ) . Five Israeli tourists and the Bulgarian driver were killed. In addition, 30 people were injured. According to former Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov , two suspects, including the assassin, belonged to the armed Hezbollah arm. The Bulgarian opposition complained that the decision to officially accuse Hezbollah was made under “pressure”.

Role during the protests in Lebanon in 2019 and in the formation of a new government (2019/20)

The ex-minister Hassan Diab was able to gather the majority of the parliamentarians behind him in December 2019 and was tasked with forming a technocratic government and dealing with the financial and economic crisis in Lebanon. He had been proposed by Hezbollah and other pro-Syrian and pro-Iranian forces, which in itself is tricky because the office of prime minister is reserved for a Sunnis in the Lebanese concordance system, said Maximilian Felsch, political scientist at Haigazian University in Beirut , on Deutschlandfunk . Hezbollah official Sheikh Mohammed Amro said at the end of 2019 that Hezbollah supports the formation of a government of “specialists”: “The government must involve specialists in order to obtain parliamentary approval and to be able to carry out its work in the face of regional and international complications ".

Situation after the killing of Qasem Soleimani

In a speech in which Hezbollah General Secretary Hassan Nasrallah responded to the killing of Qasem Soleimani on January 5, 2020 , he called the event a milestone that separates two periods in the region. It is not just a new era in the history of Iran or Iraq, but for the entire region. All allies would now have to work together, the goal is the displacement of the American armed forces from the entire region.

Role during the 2020 Covid-19 Pandemic in Lebanon

As part of the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic , Hezbollah was criticized for its close ties with Iran . She was accused of preventing the Lebanese government from stopping early entry from Iran when the outbreak of the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in Iran had already been confirmed. In this way, Hezbollah brought pilgrims and students from different parts of Iran back to Lebanon and independently and bypassing the Lebanese health authorities quarantined them in the areas it controlled.

Hezbollah then tries to save its damaged reputation by disinfecting streets and distributing food to the poor. Hezbollah also cleared St. George's Hospital in Beirut for corona virus patients and promised to cover the costs for each patient admitted there.

Ideology and purpose

Understanding of the state

In the spirit of its supreme spiritual leader, Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, Hezbollah sees itself as a community of all devout Muslims working for the realization of the Islamic state under the rule of religious legal scholars. The ideological goal from the 1980s to the mid-1990s was based on the Iranian model of the Islamic theocracy , which is strongly based on so-called Khomeinism . The declared goal was thus an “Islamic revolution” in Lebanon, which is still currently expressed as a slogan on the Hezbollah flag . In Khomeini , Hezbollah saw the deputy of the Hidden Imam , who is part of the belief of the Imamite Shiites and who would one day come as savior to save the world. Hezbollah pursued a pan-Islamic idea across all state borders. Hezbollah was the first in Lebanon to speak, in the spirit of Fadlallah, of the establishment of an Islamic state in its homeland and openly admit to eliminating the Christian population living there . As a social component, Hezbollah also called for "social justice", the "liberation of Lebanon" and the "fight against foreign oppression".

In its election manifesto of 1996, Hezbollah defined its goals in seven points. In the first place the "resistance against the occupation" is mentioned. The second goal mentioned is “achieving equality” and “establishing a just state”. The other points deal with issues relating to the economy, education, social and health systems and foreign policy. An Islamic theocracy is no longer a party goal. Instead, Hezbollah is calling for a reform of the denominational system. Freedom to practice religious customs and training is also recognized. The party has thus officially distanced itself from its program published in 1985 during the civil war, which was heavily based on the writings of Khomeini. Their participation in the first parliamentary elections after the end of the civil war and their participation in the government with parity of denominations were seen as a sign of moving away from a theocracy as an objective.

Fight against Israel and the USA

The Hezbollah militias see themselves, especially in the face of the weak Lebanese army, in the role of protector against Israel. After the Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon , Hezbollah's declared immediate goal is to regain the Israeli occupied, territorially disputed Shebaa farms , a tiny border area made up of 14 farms. Israel's withdrawal is viewed as incomplete by Hezbollah as Lebanon views the Israeli-occupied Shebaa farms as Lebanese territory. The UN regards it as Syrian territory, while Syria has publicly stated that it is Lebanese territory.

However, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has made it clear that his organization will generally not accept the existence of a Jewish state and will continue to fight until the intended destruction of Israel. Hezbollah supporters refuse to even call Israel by name and only speak of “the Zionist entity” or “the so-called Jewish state”. In 2000, Nasrallah declared that it was a "corrupted bacteria and the mother of cunning" and had "no choice but death". In this attitude he was also supported by Fadlallah, who also denies Israel's right to exist “because the neighboring state is occupying Arab land”. In its second political manifesto, announced by Nasrallah in November 2009, Hezbollah reaffirmed its jihadist impetus against Israel. The fight against Israel is connected with a hatred of all Jews, the supporters of Hezbollah do not differentiate between the state and religion. In 2017, Nasrallah gave a speech entitled, “Write in blood 'Death for Israel'”, which was disseminated on social networks. In the Hezbollah discourse, Jews are referred to as "descendants of monkeys and pigs" and the procession to Chaibar is mentioned with allusions , a victorious campaign by the Muslims under Mohammed against Jewish tribes. The idea of ​​a Jewish world conspiracy and the originally Christian ritual murder legend are elements of the anti-Semitic discourse of the Hezbollah.

Hezbollah is committed to the Palestinians. In August 2009, for example, their MPs in the Lebanese parliament voted for the repeal of state laws that discriminate against Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, emphasizing their right to work and to receive state welfare and health care.

For Fadlallah, a key element in achieving his goals was also the suppression of American influence. However, Fadlallah officially refused to continue the Islamic struggle in the USA, as happened in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 in New York . He condemns the attacks by al-Qaida as " incompatible with Sharia [...] and true Islamic jihad ". For the Shiite Fadlallah, the fighters of the Sunni-influenced al-Qaeda are not martyrs, but “ mere suicides ”. In May 2002, however, Fadlallah issued an Islamic legal opinion ( fatwa ) calling for a boycott of American products. Another fatwa he issued on August 12, 2002 forbade Muslims from participating in an eventual US military strike against Iraq.

organization structure

Organizational structure of Hezbollah

Central management structure

Hezbollah has several thousand members. It is formed on the one hand from a political party ("Hizb Allah" means "party of God"), on the other hand it maintains a paramilitary militia. At the head of the party is the Central Council ( al-maǧlis al-markazī ) consisting of 200 cadres , which elects the seven-member Consultative Council ( maǧlis aš-šūrā ) every three years . It is the highest decision-making body in the organization and has seven sub-committees. Current members are Hassan Nasrallah (* 1960), General Secretary, Naim Kassim (* 1953), Deputy General Secretary, Muhammad Yazbik, Saiyid Hāschim Safī ad-Dīn, Saiyid Ibrāhīm Amīn as-Saiyid, Hādji Muhammad Ra Chald and Hāddschi Hussain.

To do justice to the party's increased parliamentary representation, Hezbollah has had a Politburo since 1989. Members of the Consultative Council as well as Hezbollah MPs are represented in it. Ibrahim al-Amin , chairman of the Politburo, is the official spokesman for the Hezbollah faction in parliament. In the Diab government, which has been in office since January 21, 2020, Hezbollah is represented by the two ministers Hamad Hassan (health) and Imad Hoballah (industry).

Spiritual guidance

The leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is considered to be the most important spiritual authority of Hezbollah in the sense of a Marjah at-taqlīd . It is also he who is left to decide if the Consultative Council cannot reach agreement on a matter. In addition, a group of clergy who follow the Khamenei fatwas provide Hezbollah with advice.

Until his death in 2010, Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah was also considered the religious leader of Hezbollah. Khamenei's maneuvering between extreme radicals and more moderate forces, earlier rebukes from Khomeini himself and other events that made it impossible for the supporters of the extremes to clearly locate Khamenei, led in the past to serious arguments between him and Fadlallah.

To this day, Hezbollah also propagates an almost messianic cult around the person of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (1902–1989), who was an ideological leader and founding father of Hezbollah during his lifetime.

Military command

The military command is led by twelve religious scholars. 300–400 active fighters and approx. 3000 reservists are maintained. Other sources speak of around 3500 to 5000 active fighters or even 20,000 fighters as well as several thousand reservists who can be recruited from the Iranian Hezbollah . Hezbollah is the only organization designated by the United States as a terrorist group that possesses heavy conventional weapons, including: Katyusha missiles , Fajr-5 missiles, armored personnel carriers and short-range missiles.

Funding and equipment

To this day, Hezbollah has a considerable stock of weapons and thus violates UN Security Council Resolution 1559 , which in turn is not recognized by Lebanon. As a predominantly Shiite organization, Hezbollah is openly financed by Iran and armed with weapons of Iranian, Russian or Chinese origin such as the Iranian Fajr-3 , the Russian Katyushas and the Chinese cluster bombs used in the 2006 Lebanon War . In most cases, these reach Lebanon via the Syrian border, sometimes by sea and in rare cases via Turkey . In addition, she officially receives donations from Sunni countries, although these are unofficially part of the "Cold Religious War" with Iran. The aim of these grants is to divert and weaken the "common enemy" Israel through a permanent threat from the north.

An important source of income for Hezbollah today is international smuggling. uses her long-standing contacts with Muslim migrant groups. Hezbollah has taken on a criminal role that previously only belonged to the mafia . For example, it was reported from South America that a group of Lebanese criminals close to Hezbollah had smuggled counterfeit goods from Europe into a free trade area. These counterfeits were then smuggled into third countries in order to circumvent the import duties. All criminal opportunities are used to generate money, and the smuggling of diamonds, drugs and cigarettes is also one of the organization's common practices.

Hezbollah is supported by Iran with arms deliveries, although the Iranian leadership officially denies this. One can often read in German newspapers that Iran made it clear in 2006 that if the nuclear conflict with the West came to a head, Hezbollah would be deployed as a deputy army.

Hezbollah is believed to generate significant drug trafficking revenues in both the Middle East and South and Latin America. According to a study by the Abba Eban Institute as part of the Janus Initiative project, Hezbollah generates high profits by smuggling cocaine. She then uses the money to finance terrorist activities. Hezbollah members move about $ 200 million a month through illegal financial transactions and drug smuggling.

Hezbollah is also financed through non-profit organizations, such as the "Orphans Lebanon eV" project, a German-based charity that allegedly takes care of orphans in Lebanon. The investigation was able to show that the "Project for Orphans" passed on part of the donated sums to a foundation that supports the families of Hezbollah members who had committed suicide attacks .

Sociopolitical and religious engagement

Hospitals, schools for Muslims and other aid organizations and institutions are close to Hezbollah and are financially supported by Hezbollah. The families of the Hezbollah militiamen are also supported. Since anti-Semitic propaganda is also being carried out in these aid organizations and institutions and young people are being recruited, there have been repeated foreign banning initiatives.

With Al-Manar -TV, Hezbollah has been operating its own regional television station since 1991, which can be received throughout Lebanon and broadcasts 18 hours a day. Since 2000, it has also had a satellite station that broadcasts a 24-hour program around the world, to Europe via the French satellite Hot Bird 4 . However, the French broadcasting authority blocked reception in December 2004, particularly because of anti-Semitic calls for hatred and violence. Reference was made in particular to the multi-part television series "al-Shatat" ( Diaspora ) broadcast in 2003 . This is based on the Protocols of the Elders of Zion , an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory . The broadcasting center was attacked on July 13, 2006 by the Israeli air force and partially destroyed. In Germany, too, Al-Manar has been prohibited from operating since 2008.

There is also the Al-Nour radio station, which was founded on May 9, 1988 and is affiliated with Hezbollah .

Different attitudes to the character of terrorism

UN position

The United Nations has not published a general list of terrorist organizations, only a list of individuals and organizations close to the Taliban or al-Qaeda. Hezbollah is not on that list. According to UN Security Council Resolution 1559, however, Hezbollah would be obliged to fully disarm. She has not fulfilled this obligation to this day.

Stance of the EU

Hezbollah was not included in the list of the EU Council of Terrorist Organizations of July 15, 2008. In an earlier non-binding decision of the European Parliament of March 8, 2005, "clear evidence of Hezbollah terrorist activities" was found and it was requested that the "[EU] Council take all necessary steps to end its terrorist activities". The EU Council did not comply with this request. The EU Council supports measures aimed at disarming the organization within the framework of UN resolution 1559.

On July 22, 2013, the EU Council put the Hezbollah militia, but not the entire organization, on its list of terrorist organizations. How the military arm of Hezbollah was to be delimited from the overall organization and what specific and how this distinction would affect possible sanctions remained unclear. Hezbollah spokesman Ibrahim Mousavi rejected the existence of such separate wings. The reason given by the foreign ministers was that, according to the Bulgarian authorities, the evidence had increased that Hezbollah was behind the attack on a tourist bus in Bulgaria on July 18, 2012 . Seven people, including five Israelis, were killed in the attack.

Arab League stance

The Arab League declared Hezbollah a terrorist organization at a meeting in March 2016. The resolution was passed without dissenting votes, with Iraq and Lebanon abstaining . The Gulf Cooperation Council under the leadership of Saudi Arabia had previously made a similar decision.

State attitudes

The following countries classify Hezbollah as a terrorist organization: The USA (see Foreign Terrorist Organization ), Israel , Canada , Great Britain , Argentina, the Netherlands , Germany (since December 2019, see below) and, since January 6, 2020, Honduras . In March 2016, the Arab League also declared Hezbollah a terrorist organization. The EU and Australia only consider the Hezbollah militia as such - as the so-called “military arm” of the group - to be a terrorist organization. The Lebanese government refuses to forcibly disarm Hezbollah.

Australia does not see Hezbollah itself as a terrorist organization, but lists the Hizballah External Security Organization as a terrorist:

Hizballah External Security Organization: Hezbollah is committed to armed resistance against Israel, the goal of which is to liberate all Palestinian territories and Jerusalem from occupation. A terrorist wing, the External Security Organization (ESO) , will be maintained to accomplish this goal.

Germany

In Germany there is a following among Shiite Lebanese and Iranians, which consists of approx. 3000 members and whose center is the Iranian Islamic Center Hamburg (IZH). In June 2002 a youth center was opened in Berlin . In the mid-1990s, the Iranian secret service ( VEVAK ) carried out several operations to combat the Iranian opposition abroad, in which members and supporters of Hezbollah, including from Germany, were involved. The masterminds behind the Mykonos attack in Berlin were the Iranian Kazem Darabi , who was sentenced to life imprisonment, and the Lebanese Abbas Rhayel , both members of Hezbollah who have lived in Germany since the mid-1980s.

Hezbollah is receiving further support from Germany from right-wing extremist politicians. In 2019, a delegation of European neo-Nazis visited the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. Among them were the MEP Udo Voigt , who assured Hezbollah support through European rights, and Karl Richter , who sits on the Munich city council for the right-wing extremist NPD camouflage list “Citizens' Initiative to Stop Foreigners”. Richter praised the fact that it was "definitely worth considering the extent to which Hezbollah's successful model could also serve as a model for right-wing parties in Europe".

In Germany, members of Hezbollah are the Protection of the Constitution observed and the organization Verfassungsschutzbericht classified in 2005 as Islamist, since December 2019 explicitly as a terrorist organization. In a letter to Federal Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière in August 2017, members of the Knesset and the Bundestag called for the organization to be banned from operating in Germany. However, since Germany acts as a diplomatic mediator between Israel and Lebanon, the German government stuck to its practice of not classifying Hezbollah as a terrorist organization for a long time. It was not until November 2019 that the federal government planned to ban the Lebanese terrorist militia Hezbollah in Germany. At the time, the Foreign Office, Justice and Interior Ministry had agreed on this. The reason for the ban was that Hezbollah is a terrorist organization and that Israel's right to exist is in question. On December 19, 2019, the German Bundestag also called on the federal government to issue such a ban on the Islamist Hezbollah. A corresponding motion was passed with the votes of the CDU / CSU, SPD and FDP. AfD, Left and Greens abstained.

On April 30, 2020, the Federal Ministry of the Interior issued a corresponding ban, which also extends to several associations classified as sub-organizations. It also extends to the Imam Mahdi Center in Münster, the Mosque Association El-Irschad eV in Berlin-Neukölln, the Al-Mustafa Community in Bremen and the Community of Lebanese Emigrants eV in Dortmund, which is so closely related to Hezbollah that they were classified by the Federal Ministry of the Interior as their sub-organizations. According to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Hezbollah has around 1,050 supporters from the extremist spectrum in Germany. As a result, activities and members of the militia in Germany are now on an equal footing with the Kurdish PKK and the terror organization Islamic State . All Hezbollah activities are therefore prohibited in Germany; for example, the flag of the Lebanese terrorist militia (green rifle on a yellow background) may no longer be shown.

Sunni-Shiite conflict stance

The Sunni al-Qaeda, who see Shiites as infidels, often refer to the organization as Hisballat , which means al-Lats party . Al-Lāt was an Arab goddess from pre-Islamic times.

The Iranian , Syrian and Lebanese governments regard Hezbollah as a legitimate resistance organization.

See also

literature

Web links

Wiktionary: Hezbollah  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Commons : Hezbollah  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

items

Essays

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Christoph Leonhardt: Hizbullah is in a bind, Zenith (09.12.2019), https://magazin.zenith.me/de/politik/die-hizbullah-und-die-protestbewegung-im-libanon .
  2. ↑ Fikret Aslan, Kemal Bozay: Gray wolves howl again - Turkish fascists and their networking in the FRG. Unrast Verlag, Münster 1997, ISBN 3-928300-58-X , p. 121.
  3. ↑ Ute Meinel: The Intifada in the Bahrain Oil Sheikdom. LIT Verlag, Berlin / Hamburg / Münster 2003, ISBN 3-8258-6401-4 , p. 203.
  4. ↑ Martin Gehlen: Die neue Macht der Hezbollah , Zeit-online, May 8, 2018; accessed November 11, 2018.
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  8. ↑ Source: Ahmad Nizar Hamzeh (2004): In the Path of Hizbullah, p. 24.
  9. ↑ Abisaab / Abisaab: The Shi'ites of Lebanon . 2014, p. 136.
  10. ↑ Abisaab / Abisaab: The Shi'ites of Lebanon . 2014, p. 130.
  11. ↑ Abisaab / Abisaab: The Shi'ites of Lebanon . 2014, p. 131.
  12. ↑ Kim Ghattas: Black Wave. Saudi Arabia, Iran and the Rivalry that Unraveled the Middle East. Wildfire, London 2020, ISBN 978-1-4722-7111-2 , pp. 138–139 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search).
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  17. ↑ Die Weltwoche : The jack-of-all-trades of terror , by Pierre Heumann, from the 29/06 issue
  18. ↑ Abisaab / Abisaab: The Shi'ites of Lebanon . 2014, p. 131f.
  19. ↑ Abisaab / Abisaab: The Shi'ites of Lebanon . 2014, p. 133.
  20. ↑ Abisaab / Abisaab: The Shi'ites of Lebanon . 2014, p. 133.
  21. ↑ a b Yves Dubitzky: financing of Islamic terrorism. Research work, GRIN Verlag, Munich-Ravensburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-638-91141-2 , p. 35.
  22. ↑ Der Spiegel: Attack on cultural center: Argentina wants to sue Rafsanjani and Hezbollah
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  25. ↑ Abisaab / Abisaab: The Shi'ites of Lebanon . 2014, p. 133f.
  26. ↑ Abisaab / Abisaab: The Shi'ites of Lebanon . 2014, pp. 149f.
  27. ↑ Hezbollah attacks along Israel's northern border May 2000 - June 2006. ( Memento from February 12, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) List of Hezbollah attacks on Israel's northern border with dead or wounded
  28. ↑ Mixed Views of Hamas and Hezbollah in Largely Muslim Nations ( Memento of February 27, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) , Pew Research Center , February 4, 2010.
  29. ↑ qantara.de : The Coalition of Anti-Corruption , December 8, 2006.
  30. ↑ Abisaab / Abisaab: The Shi'ites of Lebanon . 2014, p. 140.
  31. ↑ Spiegel online : Israeli troops invade Lebanon , July 12, 2006.
  32. ↑ Amnesty International: AI: Hezbollah has committed war crimes in Israel ( August 1, 2013 memento in the Internet Archive ), September 14, 2006.
  33. ↑ tagesschau.de : Stop mingling cowardly with women and children. (tagesschau.de archive)
  34. ↑ Blätter for German and International Politics N. 9/06 , Edition Blätter, Bonn, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-939469-25-4 , p. 1206.
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  36. ↑ Abisaab / Abisaab: The Shi'ites of Lebanon . 2014, p. 143.
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  38. ↑ Abisaab / Abisaab: The Shi'ites of Lebanon . 2014, p. 144.
  39. ^ Matthias Rüb: Tactical retreat. FAZ of July 21, 2012, p. 2.
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  54. ↑ Melanie Herwig, Rudolf Schlaffer: The Lebanese State and Hezbollah since 1970. In: Bernhard Chiari, Dieter H. Kollmer (ed. On behalf of MGFA ): Middle East. Guide to history , Paderborn 2009, ISBN 978-3-506-76759-2 , p. 145.
  55. ^ University of New Brunswick: Hezbollah promises Israel a blood-filled new year, Iran calls for Israel's end ( Memento of January 14, 2003 in the Internet Archive ), December 31, 1999.
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  57. ↑ Ahmad Nizar Hamzeh: In the Path of Hizbullah 2004, p. 41.
  58. ^ Deutsche Welle: Interview with Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah Fadlallah , September 14, 2006.
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  61. ↑ Olaf Farschid: Hizb Allah . In: Wolfgang Benz (Hrsg.): Handbuch des Antisemitismus. Volume 5: Organizations. De Gruyter Saur, Berlin 2012 ISBN 978-3-11-027878-1 , p. 320 (accessed via De Gruyter Online).
  62. ↑ Abisaab / Abisaab: The Shi'ites of Lebanon . 2014, p. 139.
  63. ^ Deutsche Welle: Interview with Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah Fadlallah , September 16, 2006.
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  75. ↑ Lebanon / Israel: Hezbollah Hit Israel with Cluster Munitions During Conflict
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  93. ↑ Summary of terrorist activities 2004 Foreign Office Israel
  94. ↑ Listed entities pursuant to the Anti-Terrorism Act (2001, c. 41) ( Memento of April 26, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada (PSEPC), Government of Canada
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  100. ↑ Tarik Ndifi: The Summer War 2006 in Lebanon and its consequences. In: Bernhard Chiari, Dieter H. Kollmer (ed. On behalf of MGFA ): Middle East. Guide to history , Paderborn 2009, ISBN 978-3-506-76759-2 , p. 155.
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  117. ↑ Hezbollah completely banned in Germany , Tagesschau from April 30, 2020
  118. ↑ Der Spiegel : Al-Qaeda discovers Lebanon for itself , July 27, 2006.
  119. ↑ Ahmadinejad: Palestinian movement motivated by Lebanese Hezbollah ( Memento from July 1, 2007 in the web archive archive.today )
  120. ↑ PBS report: http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/dispatches/lebanon.syria/seelye2.html
  121. ↑ Hezbollah's Role in Lebanon's Government , NPR