Hizbullah: Politics and Religion by Amal Saad-Ghorayeb. Pub: Pluto Books, London, UK, 2002. Pp: 254. Pbk: £14.99.
The primary reason for the Zionist war machine’s military assault on Gaza was its historic defeat at the hands of Hizbullah in Lebanon.
When Hizbullah drove the Israeli military out of southern Lebanon in August last year, winning a stunning victory in a war by which the US and Israel had hoped to destroy Lebanon’s main Islamic movement and secure control over the country, it was a defeat not only for Israel but for the US as well.
The victory of the Hizbullah over the Israelis and their Western supporters has been celebrated by Muslims all over the world. SHAIKH SAYYID HASSAN NASRALLAH made a number of speeches during the war, outlining Hizbullah’s position, that were remarkable for their clarity and frankness. Here we publish the translation of the speech he gave on August 14, at the end of the war.
Watching events unfolding in Lebanon over the last month, it has been impossible to avoid a sense that we have seen it all before, that what is now happening is merely a replay of what we have seen so many times already. Lebanon’s modern history has been dominated by Israeli attacks and interference, most notably in 1982, when the Israeli military devastated the country with air strikes and occupied Beirut itself.
In previous columns, we have examined the methodology of the Islamic Revolution and movement; now we must move to questions concerning the very survival of the Islamic Revolution and movement. As this column is written, the zionist military machine is launching wave after wave of air-raids and naval bombardments on the northern part of the Holy Land – Lebanon.
The Hizbullah, which is now under intense attack in Lebanon from Israel, emerged as an Islamic movement representing Lebanon’s ordinary Muslims after the Israeli invasion of the country in 1982. Eighteen years later, in 2000, Hizbullah’s resistance led to a stunning victory when the Israelis were forced to withdraw from territories they had occupied in the 1980s. Here we reprint an analysis of Hizbullah’s rise and modus operandi by Khalil Osman, first published in September 2000 to mark that triumph.
Qana has become synonymous with Israeli crimes. On July 30 the zionists repeated an outrage they perpetrated ten years ago by firing missiles into buildings where families were sheltering from just such bombing attacks. At least 54 civilians, 37 of them children, were murdered in the latest outrage; one of the dead was a baby girl only a day old. Several buildings were completely destroyed.
Israel's assaults on Ghazzah (starting on June 28) and on Lebanon (since July 12) have nothing to do with the capture of three Israeli soldiers, one by the Palestinians and two by Hizbullah. The demand for their release was merely a pretext to launch a war that had been planned in conjunction with the US several months ago.
In western mythology, Lebanon is generally identified with mayhem, warfare, hostage-takers and hijackers. Similarly, the name Hizbullah conjures up images of gun-toting Muslim zealots out to get ‘peaceful’ westerners.
