Hezbollah's activities can be classified in three ways. First, you can apply the standard Western stereotype of Islamic militant groups and brand them terrorists. The second classification places Hezbollah as the leaders of a Jihad. This is a difficult term to translate into English but essentially it means “holy war.” Under this classification, the militants are fighting the “infidel” and this makes death the ultimate achievement for the militant. This is the concept of the martyr and martyrs in Islam are accorded exceptional privileges in heaven. Fighting an enemy that holds death as the highest achievement is a daunting prospect but under this classification you are still able to simplify this movement to a fanatical ideology. Furthermore, this is an Americanized way of viewing the idea of Jihad. One Imam I spoke to explained that Jihad was being misrepresented by fundamentalists. Jihad, according to the Koran and this Imam, is actually the Muslims attempt to live his or her life to their utmost potential. [3]
The third way of classifying Hezbollah is to grant that they are a legitimate resistance movement. The problem with viewing Hezbollah as a legitimate group with more than a fundamentalist agenda is that in doing so you grant Hezbollah a status that could be equated with pre-Revolutionary War America. The West does not want to relate Hezbollah to itself preferring to keep the distance and avoid similarities by calling Hezbollah terrorists and, less frequently, Jihadists. Very rarely is Hezbollah ever described as a resistance movement outside of the news network Al-Jazeera and the Middle East.
The more difficult question is whether or not Hezbollah is actually concerned for the welfare of Lebanon or if the group is just another puppet of Iran and Syria in their mission to destroy Israel. There is no question that both Israel and Hezbollah gained and lost in their month long conflict. The only true losers, though, are the Lebanese. This makes me wonder if Hezbollah actually cares about the people it claims to champion or if it is all publicity to keep the focus on Israel rather than itself.
Reading Al-Jazeera gives a lot of mixed opinions. Many people of Arabic descent claim that Hezbollah is causing the destruction of Lebanon by pursuing the destruction of Israel. Others claim that Hezbollah has set a new trend for the Middle East by “bravely defying the Israeli war machine.” One group of opinions talks about the lack of military targets for Hezbollah's 2000 rockets while another group talks about the injustice of the civilian deaths due to Israeli air strikes.
I heard one opinion that called the Middle East the West's weapons testing field. More condemned America for supporting the “true terrorists”, the Israelis, who are constantly terrorizing Palestinians and Lebanese by destroying their homes and making them bury their dead by the thousands. I agree with various pieces of all these opinions but I disagree with all but one because they do not factor in the big picture. One anonymous post of one line spoke the most truth of any: “both sides are the losers for the destruction they have inflicted upon each other.” Hezbollah is just as much a reason for the Lebanese sufferings as the Israelis. [4, 7]
Inside Lebanon, this recent conflict with Israel has had a polarizing effect on the populace. During the war, the Lebanese supported Hezbollah because of the tremendous destruction raining down from the Israeli warplanes. After the conflict, the Lebanese began considering that some of the fault could be attributed to Hezbollah itself. Their cross-border actions and intolerance of Israel does contribute to antagonizing one the most delicate situations in the modern world.
Another viewpoint put forth primarily by Lebanese Christian's was that this war had halted and reversed a decade of progress. There is also a fear that Lebanon could be dragged into the possible conflict looming with Iran because of Hezbollah's ties with the Islamic republic. Another fear is that the delicate balance of Lebanon could be broken. Lebanon is governed by a tribunal of religious diversity.
The president is required to be a Maronite Christian, the Prime Minister must be a Sunni Muslim, and the Speaker of Parliament must be a Shi'a Muslim. Lebanon has managed to coexist in peace with itself despite the volatility of the region it is located in. Escalating sectarian tensions in Iraq between Shi'ites and Sunnis could spill over into Lebanon and it does not take much imagination to realize that the Christian minority could exacerbate such a situation. Many Lebanese are fearful that this balance has already been permanently altered by this recent conflict with Israel. [4, 5, 7]
I have spoken to three Muslims about Hezbollah. One is Turkish, another is Moroccan, and the other is Lebanese. They all universally referred to Hezbollah as terrorists. They told me about how these organizations go into the most desolate and poverty stricken areas of the Islamic world and brainwash men and women into becoming martyrs. The ignorance of these backwoods people makes their mission easy considering that you would be hard pressed to find an Arab anywhere who believes that the US and Israel have made a lot of good decisions.
