Hezbollah Is A Terrorist Group

[Rasputin]

Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah committed war crimes in its conflict with Israel by targeting civilians with rockets packed with metal ball bearings, rights group Amnesty International said on Thursday.

It said around a quarter of the nearly 4 000 rockets that Hezbollah launched into Israel during the 34-day war were fired directly into urban areas.

"The scale of Hezbollah's attacks on Israeli cities, towns and villages, the indiscriminate nature of the weapons used and statements from the leadership confirming their intent to target civilians make it all too clear that Hezbollah violated the laws of war," Amnesty's Secretary-General Irene Khan said.
The fact that Israel has also committed serious violations in no way justifies violations by Hezbollah," she said in a statement. "Civilians must not be made to pay the price for unlawful conduct on either side."

Hezbollah parliamentarian Hassan Fadlallah said that by criticising Hezbollah's actions alongside those of Israel, Amnesty "has tried to equate the executioner with the victim".

Fadlallah said Hezbollah was exercising "its legitimate right of self-defence". At the start of the war it had targeted only Israeli military sites, he said, but later fired at Israeli towns in response to Israeli strikes.

"We urge Amnesty International to make a simple comparison between the number of women and child victims in Lebanon... and in Israel," he said.

In its report, Amnesty dismissed Hezbollah statements that their rocket attacks on northern Israel were a reprisal for Israeli attacks on civilians in Lebanon. "This line is totally rejected by Amnesty International," it said.

Nearly 1 200 people were killed in Lebanon during the war, the great majority of them civilians. More than 150 Israelis were killed, mostly soldiers.

[Rasputin]

Hezbollah is part of the problem

Last weekend, the New Democratic Party, along with its leader Jack Layton, convened for an annual policy conference in Quebec city. Meetings such as these are an important measure of a party's grassroots and ambition for the future. It is constructed to create a dialogue and an exchange of ideas and values within its membership.

At the convention, the NDP adopted a motion that stated, "Hezbollah is a recognized political party and that there should be a comprehensive peace process that brings all state and non-state parties to the table."

It is a shocking declaration and one that needs to be explained. To the uninitiated, the Hezbollah political party may strike one as being no different from the kinds of political parties that we see in democratic nations. These are essentially a union of similarly politically and socially minded individuals.

They compete in the national theatre through a competition of ideas, and use the tools of democracy — media, discussion, and debate — to advance their ideas. It is then left in the hands of the voting public to see if it becomes policy or returns to political rhetoric.

But Hezbollah in Lebanon is not this kind of political party. Hezbollah is an armed subsidiary of the Islamic fascist state of Iran and has displaced the Lebanese government's authority in southern Lebanon with its own. Its existence as a "state within a state" was the subject of United Nations Security Council resolution 1559 that called for the immediate disarming of all armed groups operating within Lebanon that are not state sanctioned. In addition, resolution 1701 called for a stop to the rearming of Hezbollah by Syria and Iran.

Hezbollah is rightly listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada, and many other countries worldwide.

Hezbollah has been repeatedly condemned for using civilians as human shields in its armed conflict with the state of Israel and uses an immoral terrorist tactic in lieu of conventional, and legal armed warfare.

So, the Toronto Board of Rabbis joins many Canadians wondering why Jack Layton and the NDP would wish to see this group part of any peace process. It would seem to the rational mind that Hezbollah is part of the problem, and not part of any just solution. One would hope the NDP would embrace a policy that reflects this great country's desire for peace and morality.

[Rasputin]

Lebanon Must Disarm Hezbollah

The Lebanese government must fully implement a recent U.N. resolution requiring the disarming of the militant Shiite group Hezbollah or Israel will be less reluctant to attack the Lebanese state if Hezbollah resumes hostilities, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said yesterday.

Livni, in an interview with editors and reporters of The Washington Post, said that when the fighting began in July after Hezbollah seized two Israeli soldiers, Israel heeded calls from world officials not to undermine the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora because the formation of the government and the subsequent withdrawal of Syrian troops was an "achievement of the international community."

Israel launched attacks across southern Lebanon, Hezbollah's base, and it demolished bridges to Syria and bombed Beirut's airport. Livni said Israel's efforts to keep the military campaign limited made it more difficult to achieve its objectives.

"The result is it was more difficult to find these terrorists among civilians, compared to attacking a weak Lebanon," Livni said. "We could have done Lebanon in a few days, I think, if we had decided to attack Lebanon as a state."

"Now there is a need to implement fully and completely 1701," Livni said, referring to the resolution passed by the U.N. Security Council that led to the cease-fire between Israeli and Hezbollah forces. "If Israel will be attacked, this is the Lebanese responsibility."

Since passage of the resolution, 4,000 international troops have moved into southern Lebanon, as has the Lebanese army, and U.S. officials say arms shipments have been halted. But Hezbollah's leader, Hasan Nasrallah, said this week that Hezbollah fighters are still in southern Lebanese towns near the border with Israel.

If Israel is attacked again, "we are not looking again to find these terrorists among the civilian population," Livni added. "We are going to face a state which does not implement its responsibility or maybe does not exercise its sovereignty. And so in French, they say tant pis " -- which translates as "too bad."

Asked specifically if Israel would attack Lebanon, Livni replied: "It is the responsibility of the state of Lebanon. I don't want to say so clearly that next time this is what we will do. But we will take it into consideration that this is part of their responsibility."

Separately, Livni expressed concern that a proposed unity government in the Palestinian territories will not explicitly recognize Israel. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who supports peace talks with Israel, is attempting to reach a deal with the radical Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, which won legislative elections earlier this year. The victory of Hamas led to a broad cutoff of international aid, leaving much of the Palestinian territories increasingly destitute.

Hamas won on a platform of reform against the increasingly corrupt Fatah movement, which had long led the Palestinians. But Livni said the aid cutoff has greatly weakened the appeal of Hamas -- which is dedicated to the destruction of Israel -- making it imperative for other nations to insist that the new government renounce terrorism and accept Israel's right to exist.

The Quartet -- a coordinating group for Middle East peace made up of the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia -- will meet on Wednesday at the United Nations. Livni said next week will be an important test of the international community's resolve.

"Hamas has to decide what they will do. Abu Mazen has to take some decisions," Livni said, using Abbas's nom de guerre. "They are looking outside; and if the international community will show some hesitation, we will face a unity government, which will be the most dangerous situation."

Livni said "it is easy for us to see something black, Hamas, and white, Abu Mazen, but sometimes the in-between, the gray, is sometimes the most dangerous" because it will appear legitimate through the presence of Abbas while Hamas continues to be an anti-Israeli militia movement. "They can get legitimacy and get the checks, but we cannot end the conflict."

Asked if the Israeli government would refuse to deal with a unity government, Livni said: "The question is not the formation of the government but its platform."

Livni said it was a mistake to believe that elections would transform terrorist groups. "I believe deeply in democratization, but the question is what is the best way to implement it," she said. "The idea is not only voting, one vote for one person, but the acceptance of the values of democracy."

She said that some have argued that governing will transform militants into responsible parties, but she noted that she believes that "if you are political party which believes in an extreme Islamic ideology, when you have the power you will use it in order to force your ideology. It will look like something which is legitimate because it won the election."

She noted that many nations are working to strengthen the Lebanese army in an effort to transform Lebanon into a normal state. But Hezbollah is a minority in the Lebanese government now, she said, so one day "we may face Hezbollah winning the election and it would have the legitimate control of the Lebanese army."

[Rasputin]

حسن نصرالله، رهبر حزب الله لبنان، از مردم اين کشور خواسته تا روز جمعه (22 سپتامبر) در حومه جنوبی بيروت، پايتخت لبنان، برای بزرگداشت آنچه وی "پيروزی تاريخی و الهی بر صهيونيست ها" ناميده است، گرد هم آيند.
فراخوان حسن نصرالله برای برپايی تجمع در حومه شيعه نشين بيروت در حالی صورت می گيرد که اختلاف بين حزب الله و دولت فواد سينيوره، نخست وزير لبنان، طی روزهای اخير شدت گرفته است.

رهبر حزب الله ظاهرا در صدد آن است که با فراخوان نيروهای طرفدار خود در لبنان، بار ديگر نفوذ مردمی خود را به رخ دولت لبنان بکشد و بدين طريق، موقعيت سابق خود را در جنوب لبنان کمابيش حفظ کند.

دولت آقای سينيوره که از حمايت گروه های موسوم به "جنبش ۱۴ مارس" برخوردار است، در روزهای اخير ترديدی باقی نگذاشته که قصد خلع سلاح حزب الله را دارد، هر چند که در بکارگيری الفاظ هنوز احتياط خود را از دست نداده است.

در واقع، نخست وزير لبنان بدون آنکه از واژه خلع سلاح استفاده کند، بر قاطعيت دولت خود مبنی بر مقابله با هر سلاحی خارج از کنترل ارتش لبنان و يا نيروهای بين المللی مستقر در اين کشور تاکيد کرده است.


به نظر می رسد تمايل حزب الله به اعاده شرايط پيش از جنگ ۳۴ روزه از يک طرف و تصميم دولت لبنان به گسترش حاکميت خود بر سراسر اين کشور از طرف ديگر، رويارويی دو طرف را به گونه ای گريزناپذير کرده است.



آقای سينيوره در عين حال استفاده از زور را برای اين منظور رد کرده و راه گفتگو و مذاکره را بهترين راه کنار گذاشتن سلاح حزب الله دانسته است.

حزب الله اما به رغم پذيرش قطعنامه ۱۷۰۱ شورای امنيت سازمان ملل که سبب برقراری آتش بس در جنگ ۳۴ روزه اسراييل و لبنان شد، تمايلی به کنار گذاشتن سلاح های خود نشان نمی دهد. قطعنامه ۱۷۰۱ خواستار پاکسازی منطقه جنوبی نهر ليطانی از وجود تسليحات خارج از کنترل دولت شده است.

توان حزب الله 'در هاله ای از ابهام'

به نظر می رسد تمايل حزب الله به اعاده شرايط پيش از جنگ ۳۴ روزه از يک طرف و تصميم دولت لبنان به گسترش حاکميت خود بر سراسر اين کشور از طرف ديگر، رويارويی دو طرف را به گونه ای گريزناپذير کرده است.

در اين ميان البته فقط خواست دو طرف درگير در لبنان کارساز نيست، بلکه اراده کشورهای حامی آنها در سطح منطقه و جهان نيز به شدت تاثيرگذار است.

در واقع، بسياری از کشورهای غربی و عربی مشوق دولت آقای سينيوره برای پايان دادن به حيات نظامی حزب الله هستند و در مقابل، ايران و سوريه بر استمرار نقش نظامی حزب الله در لبنان تاکيد می کنند.


ارتش اسراييل مدعی است در طول جنگ، ۷۰ تا ۸۰ درصد موشک های دوربرد و ميانبرد حزب الله را منهدم کرده اما اذعان می کند که حزب الله سه-چهارم موشک های کوتاه برد کاتيوشای خود را که حدود ده هزار فروند موشک است، حفظ کرده است



اين در حالی است که توان نظامی حزب الله پس از جنگ اسراييل عليه اين گروه، هنوز در هاله ای از ابهام قرار دارد. ارتش اسراييل مدعی است که در طول جنگ، ۷۰ تا ۸۰ درصد موشک های دوربرد و ميانبرد حزب الله را منهدم کرده و صدها تن از مبارزان آن را به قتل رسانده است.

با اين همه، اسراييل اذعان می کند که حزب الله سه-چهارم زرادخانه موشک های کوتاه برد کاتيوشای خود را که نزديک به ده هزار فروند موشک است، برای خود حفظ کرده است.

اما به نظر می رسد اسراييلی ها از موشک های کاتيوشای حزب الله، چنانچه از منطقه جنوب نهر ليطانی برچيده شوند، هراس چندانی ندارد. نگرانی اسراييل بيشتر مربوط به مسلح شدن دوباره حزب الله به موشک های ميانبرد و دوربرد از سوی ايران و سوريه است.

در اين ميان، مخالفت حزب الله با استقرار نيروهای حافظ صلح بين المللی در مرز سوريه، بنادر و فرودگاه های لبنان، به اين ترديد دامن زده است که حزب الله در صدد مسلح کردن دوباره خود به سلاح های پيشرفته است.

در همين رابطه، طی روزهای اخير رهبران حزب الله نسبت به گسترش ماموريت نيروهای حافظ صلح بين المللی در لبنان هشدار داده اند و بويژه دولت فواد سينيوره را به بی کفايتی و وانهادن حکميت لبنان به نيروهای خارجی متهم کرده اند.


"شايد، همانطور که وليد جنبلاط، رهبر دروز های لبنان، گفته است راه ثبات لبنان از مسير گفتگوی عربی و بين المللی با ايران بگذرد"
آينده مبهم و نقش ايران و سوريه

حمله حزب الله به دولت آقای سينيوره، از طرف متحدان وی بیپاسخ نمانده است. آنها، حزب الله را به دستور گرفتن از ايران متهم کرده و بعضا، اين گروه را عامل بروز جنگ و ويرانی های گسترده ناشی از آن دانسته اند.

در صورت ادامه جنگ لفظی بين حزب الله و دولت آقای سينيوره، بروز هر حادثه ای در اين کشور محتمل است بويژه اينکه توازن قوا در لبنان به شدت شکننده به نظر می رسد.

شايد، همانطور که وليد جنبلاط، رهبر دروز های لبنان، گفته است راه ثبات لبنان، از مسير گفتگوی عربی و بين المللی با ايران بگذرد؛ کشوری که به دليل نفوذش بر حزب الله، يکی از قدرت های تعيين کننده در لبنان به شمار میرود، اما اين چيزی نيست که همه کشورهای عربی و غربی خواهان آن باشند چرا که گفتگو با ايران در باره لبنان از پرونده هسته ای اين کشور مجزا به نظر نمی رسد.

در اين ميان، جلب همکاری سوريه از سوی کشورهای غربی برای ايجاد ثبات در لبنان نيز گزينه ای محتمل است. هر چند که روند چنين حرکتی بسيار پيچيده و پردردسر خواهد بود، اما سوريه به رغم بيرون راندنش از لبنان، همچنان از نقشی کليدی برای استقرار ثبات يا بی ثباتی در لبنان برخوردار است.

[Rasputin]

'We didn't know enough about Hizbullah'

We did not know enough about Hizbullah's deployment in south Lebanon," a senior IDF officer said on Monday.

The officer added that the war revealed a number of shortcomings regarding the handling of ground intelligence. He said that a lack of coordination between the air force and ground troops weakened the ability of IAF pilots to come to the aid of soldiers on the ground.
While the pilots had intelligence information that was updated in 2006, ground forces used intelligence from 2000 - I am not singling anybody out for blame, but there is no doubt that presented problems," he said.

The officer also spoke of rescuing the wounded from combat zones during the war. The air force performed 110 rescue sorties, 59 in Lebanese territory, rescuing 350 soldiers.

The officer commended two rescue operations carried out under fire and the difficult commando operations in Baalbek and in Tyre.

The officer also claimed that the drone which was launched by Hizbullah during the war in Lebanon, and which was shot down in the area of Haifa, was intended to strike the Gush Dan region, Army Radio reported.

"We found in the wings of the drone 10 kilograms of explosives, with ball-bearings packed inside," the officer said.

"We are talking here about a very accurate machine. In the past there have been attempts by Hizbullah to infiltrate Israeli airspace with drones fitted with video cameras, but never drones armed with explosives."

[Rasputin]

حزب الله
پس از جنگ
در لبنان




ابطحی ـ تهديدات اسرائيل برای ترور اعضای جنبش حزب الله لبنان باعث شده است كه آنها ديگر در ميان مردم نباشند. در دورانی كه در بيروت بودم، به خاطر دارم صبح های زود، در حاشيه دريا حتی اعضای شورای مركزی حزب الله پياده روی و ورزش می كردند؛ خانه هايشان معلوم بود و در دسترس همه. سيد حسن نصرالله هشدار داده است كه حتی اگر شهيد شويم نبايد اعضای حزب الله از مردم جدا شوند. اين يكی از هوشيارانه ترين نظرات رهبری حزب الله است. همين اتفاق تلخ در اوائل انقلاب ايران هم افتاد. وقتی منافقين در كوچه و خيابان به ترور كور پرداختند عناصر حكومتی و مسئولان كه در يك سال اول انقلاب در خانه های شخصی خود زندگی و با اتومبيل های خود رفت و آمد می كردند و گاهی با تاكسی به محل كار خود می رفتند، برای حفاظت از خود كه در آن مقطع ضروری بود، به خانه های امن و اتومبيل های امن تر پناه بردند. از آنجا كه البته اتومبيل بنز از تاكسی، و خانه های سازمانی حفاظت شده از خانه های شخصی به طبع هر انسانی مقبول تر می افتد، وقتی هم كه جريان تروريستی منافقين مهار شد، باز هم ترجيح دادند در همان منازل بمانند و از همان امكانات بهره بگيرند. اين آغاز فاصله ی جدی مردم و مسئولان شد. حالا حزب الله لبنان می خواهد از اين تجربه استفاده كند و نگذارد حزب الله از مردم جدا شوند. به همين دليل سخن سيد حسن نصرالله كه دستور داده اعضای حزب الله از مردم جدا نشوند، يكی از جدی ترين عوامل بقا و قدرت حزب الله در جامعه لبنانی خواهد بود.

[Rasputin]

Israel Warned War With Hezbollah Was Approaching

Ryan R. Jones - All Headline News Middle East Correspondent
Jerusalem, Israel (AHN) - Israel's recent war against Hezbollah should have come as no surprise to the U.S. and France, who received advanced warning of Israel's intent should the terror group assault its northern border again.

According to military sources that spoke to Ha'aretz Tuesday, Hezbollah attempted to kidnap Israeli soldiers along the border no fewer than five times since Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in May 2000.

The last attempt prior to the July 12 attack that sparked the war had been in May of this year, at which time Israel informed Washington and Paris that it would launch a large-scale military operation in response to any further provocations.

Israel's assumption was that the message would be relayed to Hezbollah, deterring any further kidnapping attempts, according to Ha'aretz.

As the conflict escalated, Washington for a time prevented the imposing of a U.N. ceasefire out of what many say was a desire to see Israel inflict a crushing military defeat on Hezbollah.

Hezbollah is viewed by most as a proxy of the Iranian regime that Tehran plans to use to ward off U.S.-led efforts to thwart its nuclear program.

[Rasputin]

Israel Hopes to Complete Its Withdrawal From Lebanon on Friday

Israel hopes to pull its last troops out of Lebanon by sundown on Friday, the beginning of the Jewish New Year, the chief of the Israeli military, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, said Tuesday.

Withdrawal by then is “the working assumption,” a parliamentary spokesman quoted the general as telling a committee, “if all goes without a hitch, to the satisfaction of all sides.”

If not, General Halutz said, the pullout “would be delayed another week.” But he said Hezbollah was respecting the cease-fire that ended the war.

The United Nations said Tuesday that the number of foreign peacekeepers in Lebanon had reached 4,950, which Secretary General Kofi Annan had said would be enough to allow Israel to leave. The number is considerably short of the maximum of 15,000 foreseen in the Security Council resolution that ended the hostilities.

But however thin on the ground the United Nations forces may be, Israel is clearly reluctant to stay much longer in southern Lebanon, where its troops are vulnerable to attack. Earlier, Israel said it had already withdrawn from some 80 percent of the Lebanese territory it had occupied, ceding its positions to the Lebanese Army and United Nations troops.

General Halutz said the Hezbollah militia, which Israel fought for 34 days beginning on July 12, had fully abided by the cease-fire. He said that Hezbollah fighters were not wearing uniforms or carrying weapons and that Israel had detected no significant resupplying of weapons and missiles to Hezbollah from its sponsors, Syria and Iran.

In Beirut on Tuesday, the United Nations relief coordinator, David Shearer, said Israeli artillery had scattered at least 350,000 unexploded cluster bomblets over southern Lebanon toward the end of the fighting. “The outrageous fact is that nearly all of these munitions were fired in the last three to four days of the war,” Mr. Shearer said.

In Gaza on Tuesday, Palestinian gunmen broke into the office of Wafa, a prominent Palestinian press agency under the control of President Mahmoud Abbas. The gunmen beat up a reporter, who was taken to a hospital, and vandalized equipment, the agency said. The gunmen accused Wafa of favoring Mr. Abbas’s faction, Fatah, in its news coverage.

Mr. Abbas is attending the meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he sat down on Monday with the Israeli foreign minister, Tzipi Livni. Ms. Livni said Israel wanted to reopen a dialogue with Mr. Abbas, who said the two had “talked about everything” in what he called “a very, very positive meeting.”

He is trying to convince Israel and the United States that a proposed national unity government with Hamas will satisfy Western demands that Hamas recognize the right of Israel to exist, forswear violence and accept prior Israeli-Palestinian agreements.

But a draft political program for a new government, published by the Palestinian Media Network in Gaza, does not mention Israel at all. It speaks of Palestinians achieving the goal of a sovereign state in all territories captured by Israel in the 1967 war, “using all legitimate means and methods.”

It further recognizes the Palestine Liberation Organization as the “sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people” and says the new government “shall respect the agreements signed by the P.L.O.,” but “in a manner that protects and safeguards the higher interests and the rights of the Palestinian people.”

Such phrases, and another emphasizing “the right of return” of Palestinian refugees, are seen by Israel as only a conditional acceptance of a two-state solution and thus falling short of international demands.

[Rasputin]

Iran’s Leader Challenges U.N. on Hezbollah

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, refused to say today whether he would comply with a Security Council demand to withhold arms from Hezbollah, the Tehran-backed guerrilla group that fought a 34-day war with Israel in southern Lebanon.
“I’d like to say that Lebanon’s affairs are its own affairs, and we don’t want to interfere,” Mr. Ahmadinejad said at a news conference, when he was asked if Iran would favor disarming the group, as called for in the council resolution that ended the combat last month.

As for the measure’s call for an arms embargo to keep Hezbollah from rearming, he said that the United Nations charter gave people the right to defend themselves and that “we give spiritual support to all those who want to uphold their rights.”

Mr. Ahmadinejad spoke to reporters about a wide range of subjects in a packed United Nations conference hall, repeating Iran’s denial that it is trying to build a nuclear weapon and chastising Western countries for trying to curb the country’s pursuit of nuclear energy.

“They’re not concerned about the bomb, they want to stop the development of our country,” he said of the Western nations. “Iran considers the nuclear issue a political one.”

The United States and its European partners are urging Iran to suspend its enrichment of uranium and enter negotiations over a package of financial and commercial incentives the West has offered Tehran to drop its nuclear ambitions.

Iran missed a United Nations deadline for suspending the enrichment on Aug. 31, and the United States has been pushing for sanctions in response, including bans on travel by Iranian officials and freezes of their assets.

Washington has agreed to hold off for the moment, and allow about two more weeks for talks favored by countries like China and Russia that are .reluctant to impose sanctions.

Mr. Ahmadinejad said those talks were “moving on the right path,” but that Iran was seeking “guarantees” and an established “framework” because Iran had had “bitter experiences from the past” with unfulfilled promises by the West.

He held out a slight hope that Iran might agree at some point to a suspension of its nuclear activities, provided there was no threat of sanctions. “We have said that under fair conditions and just conditions, we will negotiate about it, under fair and just conditions,” he said. “We will tell you when the time arrives.”

He said: “The bottom line is, we do not need the bomb. Some think that bombs can be effective in international relations, but we know that these nuclear arsenals will not benefit anyone.”

Asked about his threat to wipe Israel off the map, he argued that his criticism of Israel had been misinterpreted as a rejection of Jews. “These Zionists are not Jews — this is the biggest deception we have faced,” he said. “They are a power group, a power party. We oppose any group that seeks raw power.”

He said Iran “loved everyone around the world — Jews, Christians, Muslims.” But returning to the subject of the Israelis, he said, “We announce and declare loudly that you will be condemned by the rest of the world if you displace people from their homes.”

Mr. Ahmadinejad’s attitude was less belligerent today than on Tuesday evening when he addressed the General Assembly. At the news conference today, he was dressed in what has become his signature outfit, a light grey windbreaker over an open-necked pink shirt. He smiled frequently, alluding to universal desires for love, justice, peace and happiness, and even apologizing to the New Yorkers he had seen out his car window, waiting for his motorcade to pass before they could cross the street.

As in his General Assembly address, he spoke of Iran as a growing country that is impatient with the current United Nations order, one that he said gave undeserved authority to the nations that won World War II and only limited respect to countries like Iran that had arisen since.

“When you look at the Security Council, we see that some members of the council are, in fact, party to many conflicts around the world,” Mr. Ahmadinejad said. Though those countries created the problems, he said, under current arrangements “they nevertheless sit in judgment of world affairs.”

[Rasputin]

The Hezbollah leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, has hailed his group's "victory" over Israel, boasting that the group still has 20,000 rockets.
In his first public appearance since the recent conflict, he said Hezbollah would never be disarmed by force and called for a new Lebanese government.

Hundreds of thousands crowded into southern Beirut, heavily bombed during the conflict, to hear the speech.

Israel said the speech showed a lack of respect to the international community.

Waving flags in the yellow and green of Hezbollah, crowds travelled from all over Lebanon to a square in the city's southern suburbs.

The building of a just, strong and able state starts first with a serious national unity government

Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah
Hezbollah leader


Quick guide: Hezbollah
Security was tight in the streets around the square.

Thanking the crowd for making the journey to the rally, he praised their courage and said Hezbollah was now stronger than it was before fighting began on 12 July.

'Regime change'

The 34-day conflict with Israel ended in a military and a strategic victory for Hezbollah, he told supporters.

"There is no army in the world that can force us to drop our weapons from our hands, from our grip."

Under the terms of the UN-brokered cease-fire that ended the fighting on 14 August, Hezbollah is expected to disarm.

CONFLICT FACTS
Fighting began on 12 July
Ended 14 August
Israeli dead: 116 soldiers, 43 civilians
Lebanese civilian dead: >1,000
Hezbollah dead: unknown

But Sheikh Nasrallah said the group would only disarm when the Lebanese government was capable of protecting the country.

He repeated a Hezbollah call for a new government to replace the administration of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.

"The building of a just, strong and able state starts first with a serious national unity government," Sheikh Nasrallah said.

The strength of Hezbollah had dealt a severe blow to US plans for a new Middle East peace process, he told the crowds.

The BBC's Crispin Thorold, in southern Beirut, said Sheikh Nasrallah spoke for more than an hour, and guns were fired into the air as he left.

But former President Amin Gemayel, an opponent of Hezbollah, told the Associated Press the speech was "dangerous", because it linked disarmament to regime change in Lebanon.

Withdrawal delayed

Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah ended on 14 August with a ceasefire that has largely held.


Most of the crowds waved yellow Hezbollah flags
But Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said Sheikh Nasrallah's speech was a challenge to the international community.

"The international community can't afford to have this Iranian-funded extremist spit in the face of the organised community of nations," he said.

Israel lost 116 soldiers in the fighting, while 43 of its civilians were killed in Hezbollah rocket attacks.

More than 1,000 Lebanese civilians and an unknown number of Hezbollah fighters were killed in the conflict.

Israel failed to achieve its stated war aims of driving Hezbollah fighters from the border, stopping rocket attacks and freeing two of its soldiers captured by Hezbollah in a cross-border raid.

The Beirut rally had been expected to coincide with the final withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon, but the Israeli military said on Friday that some troops would remain in Lebanon over the Jewish New Year holiday this weekend.

[Rasputin]

جنگ ها با همه آثار ويرانگر خود، معمولا به عنوان آخرين راه گشايش بنبست های سياسی و ديپلماتيک شناخته می شوند. جنگ ۳۴ روزه اسراييل و حزب الله، اما، نه فقط بنبست ناشی از اجرای قطعنامه ۱۵۵۹ شورای امنيت سازمان ملل در لبنان را نگشود، بلکه اين کشور کوچک را با بنبست پيچيده تری روبرو کرد.
سخنرانی حسن نصرالله، دبير کل حزب الله لبنان، در جمع صدها هزار نفر از هواداران خود در حومه جنوبی بيروت در روز جمعه 22 سپتامبر، شاهدی است بر بنبستی که همچنان گريبان جامعه سياسی لبنان را رها نکرده است.

رهبر حزب الله با لحن پرحرارت نطق خود مخاطبانش را به شدت تحت تاثير قرار داد، و پيام های متفاوت و بعضا متضادی برای رقيبان و مخالفان داخلی و خارجی خود ارسال کرد، که در واقع ترجمان موقعيت ممتاز و در عين حال دشوار اين جنبش شيعی در لبنان به شمار می رود.

وی زبان تهديد و آشتی، و نيز تهاجم و دفاع، را توامان در سخنرانی خود به کار گرفت به گونه ای که امين جميل، رئيس جمهور سابق لبنان، بخشی از سخنان وی را برای لبنان خطرناک دانست، اما دفتر فواد سينيوره، نخست وزير اين کشور، آن را سازنده توصيف کرد.


شايد بتوان گفت فراخوان حسن نصرالله به تجمع گسترده هوادارانش در بيروت، بيش از آنکه مرحله ای از تهاجم تازه حزب الله عليه ساير فراکسيون های سياسی و قومی در لبنان باشد، حرکتی دفاعی به منظور حفظ نفوذ خود در لبنان است



تلاش برای حفط موقعيت

در واقع حمله شديد نصرالله به سران عرب، تهديد او به عدم سکوت در برابر نقض قطعنامه ۱۷۰۱ شورای امنيت از سوی اسراييل، و هشدار به نيروهای حافظ صلح بين المللی در لبنان را می توان بخشی از مبارزهجويی او نسبت به فضايی دانست که در سطح منطقه و جهان عليه حزب الله جريان دارد، با اين حال به نظر نمی رسد که اين بخش، مهمترين بخش سخنان او باشد.

مهمترين بخش سخنان نصرالله به مسائل داخلی لبنان اختصاص داشت که طی آن وی بر حفظ زرداخانه موشکی حزب الله و لزوم تغيير دولت لبنان تاکيد کرد. با اين همه، نصرالله به رغم لحن قاطع و پرشور خود، در اين دو مورد نيز به صراحت سخن نگفت.

او ضمن اعلام اينکه هيچ ارتشی در جهان قادر به خلع سلاح حزب الله نيست، مسلح ماندن اين گروه را امری ابدی و ازلی ندانست و آن را به شکل گيری دولتی قدرتمند پيوند داد.

'تغيير دولت؛ بدون زور'


فواد سينيوره، نخست وزير لبنان، از جانب حسن نصرالله مورد کنايه قرار گرفت

دبير کل حزب الله همچنين با طعنه به اشک ريختن فواد سينيوره در جريان قتل غير نظاميان لبنانی توسط ارتش اسراييل، به عنوان کنايه ای از ضعف و ناتوانی او، بر تغيير دولت لبنان و تشکيل دولت وحدت ملی پای فشرد، اما در عين حال آشکار ساخت که در پی استفاده از زور عليه دولت و حتی خارج کردن حکومت از دست افراد خاصی نيست.

اين نوع موضع گيریها نشان می دهد که حزب الله هنوز تصميم روشنی در باره جهت سياسی خود در لبنان پس از جنگ اتخاذ نکرده، اما آشکارا از يک مساله احساس خطر می کند و در تلاش است تا اين خطر را خنثی کند.

از سخنان روز جمعه حسن نصرالله می توان استنباط کرد که وی احساس میکند برنامه ای پيچيده و محرمانه برای قطع يا کاهش شديد نفوذ حزب الله در جامعه لبنان در حال طراحی و اجراست؛ برنامه ای که به زعم وی سران عرب، آمريکا، برخی کشورهای اروپايی، نيروهای حافظ صلح، اسراييل و بويژه جنبش موسوم به ۱۴ مارس (ائتلاف گروه های لبنانی ضد سوریه) در آن دخالت دارند.

از نگاه رهبر حزب الله، مجموعه اين نيروها، از يک سو قصد خلع سلاح حزب الله از طريق اعمال زور را دارند و از ديگر سو، با معرفی کردن اين گروه به عنوان آلت دست ايران و سوريه، می خواهند آن را در بين افکار عمومی مردم لبنان بی اعتبار سازند.


تجمع حدود ۸۰۰ هزار نفر در کشور کم جمعيتی مانند لبنان، پشتوانه مردمی قدرتمندی است که محافل داخلی و خارجی لبنان نمی توانند آن را ناديده بگيرند، اما گاهی اين نوع مانورهای قدرت، نيروهای مقابل را به هم نزديک می کند و به فکر مقابلهجويی می اندازد



واکنش گروه های رقيب

بر همين اساس، آقای نصرالله نسبت به مطالبی که در رسانههای لبنان عليه وی انتشار می يابد به سختی واکنش نشان داد و تاکيد کرد که اين وضعيت را تحمل نخواهد کرد.

در واقع، فراخوان حسن نصرالله به تجمع گسترده هوادارانش در بيروت، بيش از آنکه مرحله ای از تهاجم تازه حزب الله عليه ساير فراکسيون های سياسی و قومی در لبنان باشد، حرکتی دفاعی به منظور حفظ نفوذ خود در لبنان تلقی می شود.

با اين حال، اين پرسش قابل طرح است که آيا مانور قدرت حزب الله در روز جمعه به هدف اين گروه برای حفظ نفوذ خود در لبنان کمک خواهد کرد؟

قاعدتا تجمع حدود ۸۰۰ هزار نفر در کشور کم جمعيتی مانند لبنان، پشتوانه مردمی قدرتمندی برای يک گروه شبه نظامی است که محافل داخلی و خارجی لبنان نمی توانند آن را ناديده بگيرند، اما گاهی نيز اين نوع مانورهای قدرت، نيروهای مقابل را به هم نزديک می کند و به فکر مقابلهجويی می اندازد.

[Rasputin]

Israel calls it a "terrorist" and "extremist" organization. George Bush says it is a tool of Iran, and claims it has "killed more Americans than any terrorist organization except al-Qaeda."

But the leaders of governments trying to destroy Hezbollah are not the only ones condemning it. Both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have accused Hezbollah of human rights violations, and Robert Fisk, the Independent journalist who has helped expose some of the worst Israeli and U.S. crimes in the Middle East, says that Hezbollah "provoked the latest war" in Lebanon, and bears responsibility for "bringing catastrophe upon their coreligionists."

Meanwhile, however, Hezbollah has gained growing support in the Middle East, well beyond its base among Shia Muslims in Lebanon--for the simple reason that it is, in the words of Aijaz Ahmad, writing in Frontline magazine in India, "the only entity which has, through armed resistance, forced the Israelis to relinquish any territory that the Jewish state has ever captured."

What kind of organization is Hezbollah, and how should the left view it?

* * *

HEZBOLLAH CAME out of a Lebanon fractured by civil war.

The region of Lebanon has always contained various religious communities, but the French colonialists who dominated the area favored the Maronite Christians, who became the most powerful community once the state of Lebanon was formed.

According to the terms of a 1943 pact, Maronites were given the presidency, and Christians were allocated a majority of seats in the parliament. The post of prime minister was reserved for a Sunni Muslim, and Shia Muslims--soon to become the largest segment of the population--were left with the relatively powerless position of speaker of parliament.

Maronite leaders were traditionally pro-Western and pro-Israel, while Muslim leaders became increasingly influenced by Arab nationalism. These tensions were at the roots of Lebanon's civil war, which lasted more or less continuously from 1975 to 1990. Israel and the U.S. backed the right, grouped around the Christian Falange.

In 1978, Israel seized a strip of territory in Southern Lebanon, and four years later, it launched a full-scale invasion--with the aim of installing a right-wing Christian government and driving out Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) fighters based in the country.

The U.S. sent Marines as part of an international force to oversee the withdrawal of the PLO--these "peacekeepers" began to intervene more and more openly on the side of the Lebanese right and Israel's occupying force.

Throughout this conflict, the group that suffered the most was the Shia--by then the most numerous religious community in Lebanon, comprising about 40 percent of the population, and by far the poorest, inhabiting the slums of Beirut's southern suburbs and the villages in southern Lebanon directly in the path of Israeli attacks and invasions.

By 1982, several Shia military groups emerged--many with funding and training from the new Islamist government in Iran, which took power after the 1979 Iranian Revolution and was seeking to project its influence in Lebanon amid the other rival forces of the civil war. The Iranian-backed militias, though only loosely connected, were known together as Hezbollah, meaning the "Party of God" in Arabic.

Shia militias engaged in several small but devastating attacks, including the bombing of the U.S. embassy, and a suicide truck bombing of the Marines barracks in October 1983 that killed 241 Marines. These attacks led Ronald Reagan to "cut and run"--and withdraw troops from Lebanon.

In 1985, Shia clerics declared the foundation of Hezbollah in an "Open Letter to the Downtrodden in Lebanon and the World." Still associated mainly with its backing from Iran, Hezbollah continued to battle for influence among Lebanese Shiites, including military clashes with the more moderate Amal, formed in the 1970s.

Quickly, however, it became predominant in the military resistance to the Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon. Hezbollah attacks did use suicide bombers, but increasingly into the 1990s, the balance shifted toward guerrilla operations directed at inflicting damage on the Israeli occupation force. Hezbollah is generally credited with forcing Israel to withdraw from Lebanon in 2000.

After 2000, Hezbollah continued to carry out military operations to pressure Israel to leave Shebaa Farms--the last sliver of Israeli-occupied territory in Lebanon--defend against repeated Israeli incursions and provocations, and win freedom for Lebanese prisoners held by Israel. Hezbollah's July 12 raid that captured two Israeli soldiers--which the Israeli government made the pretext for its war against Lebanon this summer--fits this pattern.

Unlike Israel's indiscriminate bombing campaign, Hezbollah primarily targeted Israeli military forces. A majority of Israeli casualties during the onslaught were soldiers, while the vast majority of Lebanese killed by Israeli missiles and bombs were civilian bystanders.

* * *

HEZBOLLAH IS a political party that runs a network of schools, clinics and other services that many people rely on to fill the gap for what the Lebanese government doesn't provide. It also controls an array of businesses, including bakeries, banks, factories and an Islamic clothing line, as well as a satellite television station and a radio station.

Hezbollah organized relief efforts for southern Lebanon after the Israeli bombings of 1993 and 1996, and is currently promising furniture and rent money to all whose homes were destroyed in this summer's assault.

Beginning in the early 1990s, Hezbollah decided to take part in mainstream politics, first winning election to the Lebanon's parliament in 1992. Currently, the organization has 12 members in parliament and two in the cabinet.

It leads a parliamentary bloc in which other forces, including secular parties and non-Muslim parties, are involved. The list of candidates for this alliance during the 2005 elections included not only Shiites, but Christians, Sunni Muslims and Druze.

Hezbollah gets aid and support--including military backing--from Iran and Syria. But it is not a puppet of these governments, as the Bush administration insisted.

[Rasputin]

While Iran had decisive influence during Hezbollah's early years, the organization has since developed its own elected council and command structure to make political and military decisions. According to a post-ceasefire report by the mainstream political analyst Anthony Cordesman, "[N]o serving Israeli official, intelligence officer or other military officer felt that the Hezbollah acted under the direction of Iran or Syria."

More generally, Hezbollah is viewed as a legitimate national resistance organization, among Shia and non-Shia, throughout much of Lebanese society. Even before this summer's war, a 2005 Center for Strategic Studies survey found that three-quarters of Lebanese Christians--the traditional base of the right--identified Hezbollah as a legitimate group in challenging Israeli aggression.

Some on the left focus on Hezbollah's commitment to Islamic fundamentalism to minimize its political importance--for example, a recent letter-writer to Socialist Worker who dismissed Hezbollah as "a movement partially analogous to our own fundamentalist right."

Hezbollah's Islamism need to be understood concretely. For example, though it accepts prejudices against women predominant in Islam--and Christianity, for that matter--Hezbollah's Shia ideology is not as reactionary as, for example, the Wahhabists of Afghanistan's Taliban. Thus, women lead many of Hezbollah's social service projects, although they are excluded from political and military leadership.

Hezbollah does uphold anti-gay attitudes common to many currents of Islamism, and some of its leaders have used anti-Semitic slurs in describing their opposition to Israel.

On the other hand, unlike its backers in the Iranian political establishment, Hezbollah does not have a goal to building of Islamic state--at least in Lebanon. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has said, "Lebanon is a pluralistic country. It is not an Islamic country."

This sheds light on why Hezbollah has been able to gain support beyond its Shia base--both within Lebanon and more broadly across the Middle East. Hezbollah's main appeal lies in its willingness to challenge Israeli aggression and U.S. imperialism, not its Islamist ideology and the backward elements of its social and political program.

By successfully preventing Israel from accomplishing its objectives in this summer's onslaught, Hezbollah has set an example of resistance that could inspire further struggles across the Middle East--potentially opening the way for a secular, left-wing alternative to take root and grow.

[golgol85]

Lebanese Christians protest Hezbollah

BEIRUT, Lebanon - An anti-Syrian Christian leader dismissed Hezbollah's claims of victory in its war with Israel as tens of thousands of his supporters rallied Sunday in a show of strength that highlighted Lebanon's sharp divisions.

The rally north of Beirut came just two days after a massive gathering by the rival Shiite Muslim Hezbollah that attracted hundreds of thousands. The two sides have been at sharp odds over the future of the Lebanese government since this summer's Israeli-Hezbollah war.

Samir Geagea, a notorious former leader of a Christian militia, scoffed at Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah's declaration that his guerrillas achieved "a victory" against Israel.

"I don't feel victory because the majority of the Lebanese people do not feel victory. Rather, they feel that a major catastrophe had befallen them and made their present and future uncertain," he said.

Hezbollah's fight with Israel sent its support soaring among Shiites. But a large sector — particularly among Christians and Sunni Muslims — opposes Hezbollah and resents it for provoking the monthlong fight by capturing two Israeli soldiers on July 12.

The war killed hundreds of Lebanese civilians and left part of the country's infrastructure in ruins, causing billions of dollars in damage to the economy.

Geagea, who served more than a decade in prison on multiple counts of murder dating to the 1975-90 civil war, backs the Western-leaning government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora. His party is a member of the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority in Lebanon.

Geagea's supporters, waving his pictures and the white, red and green flag of his Lebanese Forces Party, arrived in buses and cars at the shrine of the Virgin Mary in the town of Harissa, about 15 miles north of Beirut.

Addressing his supporters after a mass to commemorate Christian militiamen killed in the civil war, Geagea rejected Nasrallah's vow to keep his weapons, saying the guerrilla group was blocking the establishment of "a strong and capable (Lebanese) state" for which Nasrallah was calling.

"When we find a solution to (the issue of Hezbollah's) weapons, then it will be possible to establish the state as it should be," he said.

Geagea, who backs Hezbollah's disarmament, implicitly accused the Iranian- and Syrian-backed group of running "a state within a state" in south Lebanon.

"How can a state be established while there is a mini-state (within its borders)? How can this state be established while every day arms and ammunitions are smuggled (to Hezbollah) under its (the state's) nose?" he said.

Nasrallah vowed at a massive rally Friday in Beirut's southern suburbs not to disarm despite international pressure. Some 800,000 Hezbollah supporters cheered Nasrallah at the gathering to celebrate what Hezbollah called "a divine victory" against Israel in the 34-day war that ended on Aug. 14.

In his speech, Nasrallah also called for the formation of a new government, repeatedly attacking Saniora's administration, which he called weak and unable to protect Lebanon from Israel.

Hezbollah's push for a stronger political role could deepen tensions in a country already sharply divided over the war.

Geagea rejected Nasrallah's call for a new government, defending Saniora's administration. Despite "some loopholes and defects," it is for the first time "a Lebanese, sovereign and independent one," he said.

Syria dominated Lebanon for nearly three decades before it withdrew its troops last year under heavy international pressure following the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Syria is accused of involvement in Hariri's death, which it denies.

Geagea was arrested in April 1994 and his group was banned after a church bombing killed 10 people. He was later acquitted in the bombing but sentenced to three life terms on several other murder counts, including the killing of pro-Syrian Prime Minister Rashid Karami.

Geagea served 11 years in prison before he was released in July 2005, when Lebanon's parliament approved a motion to pardon him.

He was leader of the Lebanese Forces — the country's most powerful Christian militia during the Lebanese civil war. Israel backed the militia during that conflict and the Israeli invasion in 1982 to expel Palestinian guerrillas.

[Rasputin]

سخنرانی آتشين نصرالله
موقعيت دشوار حزب الله لبنان




پيرامون سخنرانی سيد حسن نصرالله در جريان تظاهرات اخير بيروت تفسيرهای ستايش آميز در ايران بسيار منتشر شد. هيچ مفسری در ايران ننوشت و نگفت كه چرا نصرالله اين سخنان آتشين را بيان كرده است، اما اكنون با استقرار ارتش لبنان در مرزهای جنوبی كشور، آشكار شده كه تنش های رو به افزايش سياسی ميان حزب الله لبنان و دولت لبنان از انگيزه های جدی آن سخنرانی و متينگ بوده است.

پرخاش های تند نصرالله به رهبران كشورهای عرب كه از عرف ديپلماتيك به دور بود و اصولا نصرالله از اين ادبيات تاكنون پرهيز داشت نيز نشان داد كه موقعيت او در كشورهای عرب منطقه نيز چنگی بدل نمی زند. نصرالله وابستگی حزب الله به جمهوری اسلامی را در آن سخنرانی تكذيب كرد. به آسانی می توان فهميد كه اگر اين شايعه و يا برداشت در منطقه گسترده نبود، نصرالله نيازی به تكذيب آن در آن متينگ نداشت. هيچ رهبر سياسی، زير فشار خلع سلاح ادعا نمی كند كه شمار موشك هايش نه تنها كم نشده بلكه هنوز 20 هزار موشك دراختيار دارد. وقتی سيد حسن نصرالله چنين ادعائی می كند، بايد چنان تحت فشار باشد كه نيازمند اين تهديد است. تهديدی كه خود او بارها در سخنرانی متينگ بيرون آن را در پوشش مخالفت با خلع سلاح حزب الله به زور مطرح كرده و با آن مخالفت كرد. اگر شمار موشك ها نيز كم نشده بود، نيازی به اين ادعا نبود.

بنابراين سخنرانی رهبر حزب الله لبنان در متينگ بيروت بر خلاف تبليغاتی كه درجمهوری اسلامی پيرامون آن می كنند، نه از موضع قدرت، كه از سر ضعف بود. بويژه كه او در تناقض با موضع گيری های روزهای پس از آتش بس سخن گفت و فراموش كرد كه گفته بود: ما اگر می دانستيم گروگان گرفتن دو سرباز اسرائيل به چنين قيمت و با چنين واكنشی روبرو می شود دست به اين كار نمی زديم و فرمان آن را نمی داديم!

حسن نصرالله با فدراليسم در لبنان مخالفت كرد و اين نيست مگر آنكه چنين خواستی در لبنان مطرح است. خواستی كه اگر عملی شود محدوده جغرافيائی حزب الله در ميان شيعيان لبنان خلاصه خواهد شد و خواب و خيال رهبری لبنان و برپائی جمهوری اسلامی لبنان نقش برآب خواهد شد.

ظاهرا همان نظر نصرالله كه اشتباه در محاسبه و نتيجه جنگ لبنان را درآن ارزيابی كرده بود، به واقعيات زمينی نزديك تر است تا سخنرانی اخير او كه درهوا معلق است.