The Case Against Hezbollah
24 January 2016By Dr. Khaled M.
Batarfi
The problem with the Arab mindset is that we tend to forget and forgive too
often. Hezbollah is a case in point.
When the ''Party of God'' raised the resistance flag and achieved some victories
against Israel that forced it to withdraw from South Lebanon in 2000, we
celebrated the achievement and forgot and forgave the party's crimes since its
inception in 1982.
Since then, they have built their reputation on plain terrorism: Mass
murdering Palestinian refugees during the Civil War; bombing public places in
Kuwait and attempting to assassinate its Emir (1983); hijacking a TWA plane
(1985), and Kuwait airliner (1988), and killing 21 in AC Flight 901, Panama
(1994).
There is also the bombing of an American compound in Al-Khobar (1996);
providing ''direct assistance'' to Al Qaeda, including training and explosives,
in US Embassy bombings (1998); the assassination of Prime Minister Rafik
Hariri (2005) and many of his allies; and the kidnapping of Westerners (1982
to 1992). The party has refused to hand any of its assassins over to
international or local courts.
In addition, there were many convicted cases of drug trafficking and money
laundering in USA, South America, Mexico, Europe and the Middle East. Add this
to the uncovered terrorist cells and acts in Singapore, Lebanon, Egypt, Yemen,
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain. Just between 1982 and 1986, there were 36
suicide attacks in Lebanon directed against American and French forces,
killing 659.
All these well-documented crimes do not include the ongoing investigation of
terrorist acts and cells in Arab countries.
Our Alzheimer could go so far, however. We woke up and finally regained our
collective memory when the party ''ninjas'' (Black Shirt troopers) occupied
Beirut and the Druze Mountain (2008) to punish the government for dismantling
its spy network on government and public communication networks.
During the Beirut occupation, the ''ninjas'' killed over 100 Lebanese, and no
case was ever investigated or has gone to court, to-date.
With virtual control over the capital, a ''unity government'' was formed with 11
ministers loyal to the party, giving it a paralyzing veto power, which it used
to force its choice of president, officials and policies.
Worse, the new Cabinet approved a policy statement, which secures Hezbollah's
existence as an armed organization and guarantees its right to ''liberate or
recover occupied lands.'' No other group, party or nongovernmental organization
was given the same right.
With Iran's support, Hezbollah's military has grown so much that it is now
considered more powerful than the Army. The party has become a ''state within a
state'' with a radio and a satellite TV station, social services and
large-scale military deployment abroad, supporting pro-Iran regimes, such as
Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
Today, the party is involved in training Iran's terrorists in Arab countries.
As a recent Alarabiya TV documentary showed, Hezbollah mercenaries were
helping Houthis in Yemen to conduct terrorist operations in the Saudi capital
and to blindly shell Saudi villages and towns.
In Kuwait, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates, cells, operatives, guns and
explosives were uncovered. Networks of money laundering, drug trafficking and
covert financial operations were exposed. Companies that supply weapons and
military materials and spare parts to the party were targeted and the
materials confiscated.
All the above had badly affected Lebanon's relations with its Arab neighbors
and Lebanese abroad.
According to ''Russia Today,'' Saudi Arabia had provided $70 billion since 1980
to the Lebanese government, while Iran aid was directed exclusively to the
party they sponsored. Half a million Lebanese working in Saudi Arabia and the
Gulf States send 7 billion dollars a year home (80% of total expatriate
remittance worldwide).
Lebanon's industrial and agricultural exports to Saudi alone make up 50% and
75% (respectively) of its total exports, according to Beirut Chamber of
Commerce and Industry.
On the other hand, Iran, receives 20% religious tax on the income of its
Shiite followers in Lebanon, imports none of Lebanese products, and hosts no
working expatriates. Its aid promises in the last 35 years amounted to
nothing, according to Russia Today report.
However, the Farsi nation provides the party with an annual $200 million in
military aid, and has trained thousands in guerrilla warfare and Shiite
propagation.
Since all religious income tax from ''Alwali Alfaqeeh'' followers goes to Iran,
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has become one of the richest men in the world, with a
$90 billion personal fortune, according to Forbes Magazine. Other senior
religious leaders made huge, if lesser, fortunes, and the clergy business
dominates Iran's economy.
So what we are facing here is an international mafia, dealing in arms, drug,
terrorism, mercenaries and money laundering, in addition to war crimes and
ethnic cleansing in Syria and Iraq.
It is a case of clear and present danger to world peace and human rights that
should be presented to the United Nations Security Council and World Criminal
Court.
The party, its master in Iran, and global affiliates, must be thoroughly
investigated and tried. If convicted, the world community should stand
together to punish them, eradicate their ugly and dirty business, and dry up
their resources.
Dr. Khaled M. Batarfi is a Saudi writer based in Jeddah. He can be reached
at kbatarfi@gmail.com. Follow him at Twitter:@kbatarfi
©
EsinIslam.Com
Add Comments