On This Day in History: February 16
Hezbollah
People across the political spectrum love to engage in antisemitism, with Israel as a popular target and some even embracing Hezbollah as the good guys. There is a dearth of good guys, but to better understand the present situation in the Middle East it helps if you read the primary principles of Hezbollah as revealed in their founding manifesto.
--On This Day in History Shit Went Down: February 16, 1985--
The roots trace to the formation of Israel in 1948, with Palestinian refugees expelled during, or fleeing from, the resulting conflict. Many ended up in Lebanon, on Israel’s northern border. The Palestinian Liberation Organization formed in 1964 and recruited militants from the refugee camps to achieve the goal reflected in the organization’s name through means including violence. The PLO was considered a terrorist organization by both Israel and the U.S., but that eventually shifted and in 1993 the PLO recognized Israel’s right to exist. However, in 2018 the PLO suspended such recognition. Hezbollah has never recognized Israel’s right to exist. At all.
Lebanon began a civil war in 1975, with Israel giving support to the Christian side. Violence spilled across the border and in 1978 Israel launched a massive invasion of South Lebanon to create a “security zone.” There is more to it than that—it involved some dick moves by Israel—their indiscriminate killing of civilians motivated the creation of Hezbollah, which translates to “Party of God”.
Hezbollah announced its existence on February 16, 1985, as a Lebanon-based Shia Muslim political party and militant group, releasing a manifesto proclaiming their ideology. A founding principle of the organization is the elimination of Israel and expulsion of every Jewish person living there. Some quotes from the current Hezbollah Secretary-General: “Israel is an illegitimate entity . . . We cannot coexist with this threat.” He said their ultimate goal “is to end Israel’s existence.” He also said, “the disappearance of Israel” is the only solution, and that they recognize no ceasefires, no peace agreements, no treaties with them. He is “against any reconciliation with Israel.”
Israel is far from blameless, having engaged in much violence, fuckery, and killing of civilians. In the Palestinian territories, such Hezbollah-espoused anti-Israel and anti-Jewish ideology is prevalent. In 2006, Hamas, which many western nations consider a terrorist organization, won the Palestinian legislative election in Gaza. Like Hezbollah ideology, the Hamas charter has been accused of incitement to Jewish genocide, blaming much of the world’s ills upon Jews. Hamas also denies the Holocaust. Hezbollah is considered a role model for Hamas, sharing common goals and tactics. The two have been close allies.
Have atrocities been committed by Israeli governments against Palestinians? Yes. Both sides are guilty of war crimes. In criticizing the conflict, you cannot ignore Hezbollah’s and Hamas’s constant terror attacks, their use of human shields, and their calls for Israel’s obliteration.
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Kudos on this. Entire books have been written about the Middle East conflict without this level of distillation and balance. Is there anything you can't do, you magnificent bastard?
Possibly very unpopular opinion here: if the West had just done right by Jewish people, even just during and after WWII, a lot of these issues may have been mitigated and even prevented. But no -- the US and the rest of the West was fine with helping terrorized, post-Holocaust Jews migrate to, and take over, land that was until that point held and owned by Arabic peoples. But doing the decent thing, and opening our doors wide in welcome and apology for allowing the Holocaust to happen in the first place? Not even a bit of it; if anything, we did the opposite.
Today, the Christian right in this country only really supports Israel because they expect the Israeli/Arab conflict to start the Biblical end times; the Christianists believe all the Jews will die and go to hell so that the "real" Christians can go to heaven. The Israeli state is as rabid as it frequently is, and is supported in its actions by Jewish people to the extent it is, in large part because of the very real anti-semitism that is still so prevalent throughout the world. Imagine knowing that a lot of powerful people around the world hate you just for existing, and simultaneously being surrounded by countries full of people who also hate you. How much would you support your government taking any means it tells you is necessary for you to be safe?