Hezbollah 101
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One of the FBI’s most wanted terrorists, Imad Mughniyeh, was killed by a car bomb in Damascus, Syria, on Tuesday. An early leader of the Islamic militant group Hezbollah, Mughniyeh stood accused of directing a long list of terrorist attacks–including the devastating attack on the U.S. Marines barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1983.
Hezbollah blamed its old enemy, Israel, for Mughniyeh’s death. Israel denied any involvement. The U.S. State Department responded unequivocally, saying “the world is a better place without this man in it.”
So, if Mughniyeh was a terrorist, then just what is the group he helped lead? We’ll tell you. Hezbollah–Arabic for “Party of God”–was born out of the Arab-Israeli conflict, in Lebanon, with help from Iran. Today, some of its members officially serve in Lebanon’s government, while others charitably serve the fractured country’s Shi’ite community. But its military wing has never laid down its arms.
Hezbollah’s Roots
In the early 1970s, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) established bases in southern Lebanon–a region bordering Israel that is occupied by large numbers of Palestinian refugees. From there, it launched operations against targets within Israel. So, in 1978 and again in 1982, Israeli forces invaded Lebanon, intending to root out the PLO.
Israel succeeded in driving the PLO out–but at a cost. In 1979, the Islamic revolution in Iran brought Ayatollah Khomeini to power. In 1982, he sent Iranian military advisors to Lebanon to help organize its Shi’ite people. As the Israeli occupation dragged on, the opposition gained strength. Ultimately, Hezbollah–a Shi’ite paramilitary organization–was founded to fight Israel and promote the goal of turning Lebanon into an Islamic republic like Iran.
Israel occupied parts of Lebanon for another 18 years, during which Hezbollah waged a violent campaign against the Israelis and their allies–a campaign that included kidnappings, hijackings, and car bombings. In 1983, Hezbollah sponsored a suicide bombing on the American embassy in Beirut that killed 63 people. That same year, a truck bomb devastated a U.S. Marines barracks in Beirut, killing 241.
Not all of Hezbollah’s attacks were in Lebanon. The group sponsored two attacks, in 1992 and 1994, on Jewish targets in Argentina–bombing the Israeli embassy and killing 29, and bombing a Jewish community center and killing 85. And in July 2006, Hezbollah militants seized two Israeli soldiers in northern Israel, sparking a month-long “Lebanon War.”
Hezbollah’s Branches
Israel, the United States, Canada, and the Netherlands all call Hezbollah a terrorist organization. The United Kingdom and Australia classify Hezbollah’s “external security organization” as “terrorist.” In the Arab world, though, polls show that Hezbollah is widely viewed as a legitimate resistance group.
Its civilian wing provides a variety of social services for Lebanese Shi’ites. It publishes a newspaper and monthly magazine, operates radio and TV stations, and runs hospitals, schools, and orphanages. And since 1992, the group’s political arm has put up candidates in parliamentary elections. In 2005, the “Party of God” hit an all-time political high, winning 14 of the Lebanese parliament’s 128 seats
