The myth that Hezbollah is a terrorist organisation
Definitions of terrorism
Terrorism vs resistance to occupation
Hezbollah: aims, strategy and tactics
Hezbollah (meaning the Party of God in Arabic) is regularly referred to in the West as a terrorist organisation. Its military wing, the External Security Organisation, is proscribed as terrorist by the UK and Dutch governments, although it is not mentioned in the EU list.
The US also considers Hezbollah to be a terrorist group, though it makes no distinction between its civilian and military wings. A 2002 Congressional Research Service report noted, in its analysis of Hezbollah, that “no major terrorist attacks have been attributed to it since 1994.” The most recent State Department report on international terrorism also fails to note any acts of terrorism by Hezbollah since that time.
Significantly, Hezbollah is not listed by the UN as a terrorist organisation.
Definitions of terrorism
Terrorism has been notoriously difficult to define. However, a consensus has emerged over various definitions of terrorism which would apply to states, international organisations and non-state actors who are all capable of engaging in acts of terrorism. Essentially, the common characteristic of a terrorist attack is its indiscriminate character and the fact that civilians are targeted for political reasons.
Article 2 1. (b) of the 1999 UN International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism includes as terrorism any acts “intended to cause death or serious bodily injury to a civilian or to any other person not taking an active part in the hostilities in a situation of armed conflict, when the purpose of such act, by its nature of context, is to intimidate a population, or to compel a Government or an international organization to do or to abstain from doing any act.”
In the context of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Sharm El-Sheikh Fact-Finding Committee report of April 2001 described terrorism as follows at pp. 14-15:
“Terrorism involves the deliberate killing and injuring of randomly selected non-combatants for political ends. It seeks to promote a political outcome by spreading terror and demoralization throughout a population. It is immoral and ultimately self-defeating. We condemn it and urge that the parties coordinate their security efforts to eliminate it.”
Terrorism vs resistance to occupation
Egypt, Syria and Jordan issued reservations and declarations relating to the definition of terrorism in the UN International Convention referred to above.
Egypt said that it “does not consider acts of national resistance in all its forms, including armed resistance against foreign occupation and aggression with a view to liberation and self-determination, as terrorist acts.” Jordan said it “does not consider acts of national armed struggle and fighting foreign occupation in the exercise of a people’s right to self-determination as terrorist acts.” Syria simply said it does not consider “acts of resistance against foreign occupation” terrorism.
For the Arab reservations to the UN Convention, click here.
It should be remembered that Israel has been militarily occupying Arab lands for almost four decades. In 1981 Israel annexed the Syrian Golan Heights, which was condemned by the UN Security Council. The UN Charter prohibits annexation of foreign territory.
Although the Arab declarations were objected to by Western nations, it is difficult to see why resisting foreign occupation and alien subjugation should be regarded as terrorism, provided the parties respect the laws of war and refrain from targeting civilians. After all, many of the countries that objected to the Arab reservations were occupied themselves in the Second World War, and adopted similar tactics to those used today by Hezbollah (including acts which could be described as terrorism).
Hezbollah: aims, strategy and tactics
Hezbollah was founded in the early 1980s to fight the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon. Israel invaded Lebanon in 1973, 1978 and 1982. In 1982, it occupied southern Lebanon all the way up to the capital Beirut, killings tens of thousands. Under the watch of the Israeli military, 800-3,500 civilians were murdered by Israel’s Lebanese allies the Phalangists in West Beirut’s Sabra and Chatila neighbourhood. Palestinians and Lebanese were killed in that operation.
It was against the background of the brutal Israeli invasion and the arrival of foreign forces (American, French and Italian) which were seen by the Arab and Islamic worlds as pro-Israeli, that Hezbollah came to the fore. Its strategy was simple: to eject the foreign invaders from Lebanese soil and spread the Islamic revolution (which had just occurred in Iran in 1979) in Lebanon. At the time, it was not the strongest of Lebanese Shia resistance movements, but it was well disciplined, organised and dedicated to its struggle.
Hezbollah acquired a fearsome reputation for its hit-and-run tactics against Israeli military targets in southern Lebanon. It is also particularly adept at kidnapping Israeli military personnel. Although it has been accused of carrying out attacks on civilian targets abroad, no evidence has ever linked them to any of these acts.
It is legitimate in war to attack soldiers. This is not terrorism. Resisting occupation is not terrorism because the occupiers are normally armed combatants. This therefore does not fit the definitions of terrorism referred to above, which only apply to “non-combatants” or to those “not taking an active role part in hostilities.” It is therefore not illegal to use force in resisting an occupier, providing that civilians are not made the specific object of attack.
Hezbollah is represented in the Lebanese parliament. Its civilian arm runs hospitals, news services and educational facilities. It social services programme is very popular with Lebanon’s Shia community which makes up almost 40% of Lebanon’s three million people. Some of its propaganda activities may be regarded as anti-Israeli or even anti-Semitic, but this does not mean it is a terrorist organisation.
Since Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000, Hezbollah has stabilised the border, apart from the area around the Shebaa Farms, which Israel still occupies.
Further reading:
Who are Hezbollah by Kathryn Westcott:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1908671.stm
Hizbollah in the Firing Line by Nicholas Blanford:
http://www.merip.org/mero/mero042803.html
Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hizbullah