Who are Hezbollah?

Answer 1

Soon to be "who were hezbollah"

Answer 2

The Hezbollah is an organization of anti-Israel jihadists with a score of members elected to Lebanon's parliament. The world perception is that they have the support of Syria (not Iran).

A few weeks ago, this group crossed into Israel and killed a few soldiers. They also kidnapped two of the survivors of the attack. Israel has used that unprovoked attack by Hezbollah as the reason for launching a massive attack of its own on Lebanon.

Hezbollah has been labeled by the United States as a terrorist organization.

Answer 3

Hezbollah[1] (Arabic: حزب الله‎, meaning Party of God) is a Lebanese Islamist guerilla group and political party, with a military arm and a civilian arm, founded in 1982 to fight the Israeli Occupation Forces who occupied southern Lebanon until the year 2000 and are still occupying the disputed Shebaa Farms area in south Lebanon. [citation needed]

Hezbollah was "inspired by the success of the Iranian Revolution"[2] and was formed primarily to combat Israeli occupation following the 1982 Lebanon War.[3] Hezbollah follows the distinct Shia Islamic ideology developed by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of the Islamic Revolution in Iran.[4]

Along with the Amal movement, Hezbollah is the main political party and military organization representing the Shia community, Lebanon's largest religious bloc.[5] and it is a recognized political party in Lebanon, where it has participated in government.[6] The civilian wing participates in the Parliament of Lebanon, taking 18% of the seats (23 out of 128) and the bloc it forms with others, the Resistance and Development Bloc, 27.3% (see Lebanese general election, 2005). It is a minority partner in the current Cabinet. [citation needed]

Hezbollah not only has armed and political wings but also boasts an extensive social development programme. The civilian wing also runs hospitals, news services, and educational facilities. Its Reconstruction Campaign (Jihad al-Bina) is responsible for numerous economic and infrastructural development projects in Lebanon.[7][8] The group currently operates at least four hospitals, 12 clinics, 12 schools and two agricultural centres that provide farmers with technical assistance and training. It also has an environmental department and an extensive social assistance programme. Medical care is also cheaper than in most of the country's private hospitals and free for Hezbollah members.[9] Most experts believe that Hezbollah's social and health programmes are worth hundreds of millions of dollars annually.[9] Hezbollah mainly gets its money from donations. It's no secret that Hezbollah receives financial help from Iran, but not from Syria.[9]

The United States, Britain and Israel consider Hezbollah a terrorist organization but throughout most of the Arab and Muslim worlds, Hezbollah is highly regarded as a legitimate resistance movement.[10] The Lebanese government confirmed it as a legitimate resistance against occupation.[11][12] Even 74 percent of Lebanese Christians viewed Hezbollah as a resistance organization.[13]

The European Union does not list Hezbollah as a "terrorist organization",[14] but does list Imad Mugniyah,[15]

In a non-binding resolution adopted by the European Parliament on 10 March 2005, the MEPs urged the EU Council to brand Hezbollah a terrorist organization. However, the Council has so far been reluctant to do so, as France, Spain, and Britain fear that such a move would further damage the prospects for Middle East peace talks.[16]

European legislators branded the radical Lebanese Hezbollah group a terrorist organization and urged EU governments to place the group on their terrorist blacklists, as the bloc did with the Palestinian Hamas group in 2003.[17]

“[EU] Parliament considers that clear evidence exists of terrorist activities by Hezbollah. The [EU] Council should take all necessary steps to curtail them," legislators said in a non-binding resolution adopted during a session in Strasburg, France.[18]

Answer 4

Hezbollah is a (I believe) muslim, it may just be arabic though, I'm not 100% on it, political group. Hezbollah itself means "Party of God". It was created in direct opposition to the state of Isreal. The main reasons for this are that Israel was created out of Palestine by the west after WW II. Shortly after that the Arab nations attempted to retake Israel but were beaten and Israel took more land.

It is designated as a terrorist organization by Israel and the US. It does run terrorist attacks against Israel. Currently, aspects of it do run a political party and have been elected members of regional governments.

Answer 5

meaning Party of God, is a Lebanese Islamist guerilla group and political party, with a military arm and a civilian arm, founded in 1982 to fight the Israeli Occupation Forces who occupied southern Lebanon until the year 2000 and are still occupying the disputed Shebaa Farms area in south Lebanon.

Answer 6

Hezbollah is not the government of Lebanon

Its spiritual leader is Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, and its senior political leader is Hassan Nazrallah, who has held the title of secretary general since 1992. Its military arm is known as Islamic Resistance.

Hezbollah (Arabic: حزب الله‎, meaning Party of God) is an umbrella organization of radical Shiite group founded in early 1982 to combat Israeli, French and American troops in Lebanon. It is supported by Iran and Syria and located in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah gained popular support by providing social services such as hospitals and schools for Lebanese Shiites. Hezbollah was able to step into the power breach created by Lebanon’s weak government. Hezbollah has pursued a political and religious agenda that centers on the destruction of Israel and opposition to the United States and has been carried out through terrorism against Israeli and Western targets. In 1983 Hezbollah killed 241 US marines in Beirut. Syria admits supporting Hezbollah, but denies arming the group.

Hezbollah’s official rhetoric calls for the destruction of Israel and its replacement with an Islamist Palestinian government. Initially, the group sought to replace Lebanon’s secular government with an Iranian-style Islamic government.

Hezbollah maximizes Israeli civilian casualties when they launch Syrian and Iranian designed antipersonnel missiles with ball-bearing shrapnel. Furthermore, in Lebanon, Hezbollah deliberately operates military wings out of densely populated areas to maximize Lebanese casualties. It seems that Hezbollah wants to maximize civilian casualties on both sides.

On Beirut Al-Manar TV Lebanese President Emile Lahhud expressed his support for Hezbollah leader, Al-Sayyid [Hasan] Nasrallah. The Lebanese government could have chosen to expel Hezbollah.

The ground war in Lebanon began Friday, July 21st. Several Israeli brigades now appear to be operating between the Lebanese border and the Litani River. According to reports, Hezbollah forces are dispersed in multiple bunker complexes and are launching rockets from these and other locations. Hezbollah strategy is to draw Israeli troops as deeply into Lebanon as possible, forcing them to fight on extended supply lines. In order to destroy Hezbollah's infrastructure, Israeli troops
must move into the Bekaa Valley and as far as the southern suburbs of Beirut. Simply occupying the border-Litani area will not achieve any of Israel's strategic goals. The war has begun at Hezbollah's time and choosing.

Answer 7

A terrorist group controlled by Iran. They have swore to wipe Israel off the face of the map, and they have members in the Lebanese government. Surprised that Lebanon has done absolutely nothing to dismantle the group which controls southern Lebanon on the Israeli border? I'm not.

Answer 8

Below Human Terrorits!!!

Answer 9

Hezbollah - or the Party of God - is a political and military organisation of Shia Muslims in Lebanon. It emerged with financial backing from Iran in the early 1980s and began a struggle to drive Israeli troops from Lebanon.

Hezbollah presents itself as a force of resistance for Lebanon and the region. In May 2000 this aim was achieved, thanks largely to the success of the party's military arm, the Islamic Resistance.

In return, the movement, which represents Lebanon's Shia Muslims - the country's single largest community - won the respect of most Lebanese.

It now has an important presence in the Lebanese parliament and has built broad support by providing social services and health care. It also has an influential TV station, al-Manar.

But, it still has a militia that refuses to demilitarise, despite UN resolution 1559, passed in 2004, which called for the disarming of militias as well as the withdrawal of foreign (i.e about 14,000 Syrian) forces from Lebanon.

As long ago as 2000, after Israel's withdrawal, Hezbollah was under pressure to integrate its forces into the Lebanese army and focus on its political and social operations.

But, while it capitalised on its political gains, it continued to describe itself as a force of resistance not only for Lebanon, but for the region.

Syria

The Islamic Resistance is still active on the Israel-Lebanon border. Tension is focused on an area known as the Shebaa Farms, although clashes with Israeli troops occur elsewhere.

Hezbollah, with broad Lebanese political support, says the Shebaa Farms area is occupied Lebanese territory - but Israel, backed by the UN, says the farms are on the Syrian side of the border and so are part of the Golan Heights, which Israel has occupied since 1967.

Another casus belli cited by Hezbollah is the continued detention of prisoners from Lebanon in Israeli jails.

The movement long operated with neighbouring Syria's blessing, protecting its interests in Lebanon and serving as a card for Damascus to play in its own confrontation with Israel over the occupation of the Golan Heights.

But the withdrawal of Syrian troops in Lebanon last year - following huge anti-Syrian protests in the wake of Lebanese ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's assassination - changed the balance of power.

Hezbollah became the most powerful military force in Lebanon in its own right and increased its political clout, gaining a seat in the Lebanese cabinet.

Analysts say Hezbollah has adopted a cautious policy since the Hariri assassination crisis erupted on 14 February 2005 - an event widely blamed on Syria, but which Damascus has vigorously denied.

Hezbollah leaders have continued to profess its support for Syria, while not criticising the Lebanese opposition. They have also stressed Lebanese unity by arguing against "Western interference" in the country.

Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah
It was close to a contingent of some 2,000 Iranian Revolutionary guards, based in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, which had been sent to the country to aid the resistance against Israel.

Hezbollah was formed primarily to offer resistance to the Israeli occupation.

It also dreamed of transforming Lebanon's multi-confessional state into an Iranian-style Islamic state, although this idea was later abandoned in favour of a more inclusive approach that has survived to this day.

The party's rhetoric calls for the destruction of the state of Israel. It regards the whole of Palestine as occupied Muslim land and it argues that Israel has no right to exist.

The party was long supported by Iran, which provided it with arms and money.

Hezbollah also adopted the tactic of taking Western hostages, through a number of freelance hostage taking cells.

In 1983, militants who went on to join Hezbollah ranks carried out a suicide bombing attack that killed 241 US marines in Beirut.

Hezbollah has always sought to further an Islamic way of life. In the early days, its leaders imposed strict codes of Islamic behaviour on towns and villages in the south of the country - a move that was not universally popular with the region's citizens.

Answer 10

They are misguided terrorists fighting to destroy Israel. They are supported by Iran and Syria to do their dirty work. They started this trouble even if Israel has pressed the panic button.