The changing face of terrorism by judith palmer harik. During the 1980s, the cia and israeli intelligence began targeting hezbollahs leadership. The changing face of terrorism judith palmer harik on amazon. Kourani admitted to the fbi that he was accepted by hezbollah because his family is connected to a top official in the terrorist group. Hezbollah is a shia islamic militant group and political party based in lebanon. It is far more dangerous than the revolutionary hezbollah of the 1980s due to both the means at its disposal and the double faced policy it employs. This fact led terrorism scholar daniel byman to refer to hezbollah as the single most effective adversary israel has ever faced and former deputy secretary of state richard armitage to opine that hezbollah may be the ateam of terrorists and maybe alqaeda is actually the b team. To the us, hezbollah represents one of the most dangerous terrorist networks in the world. The group has killed more americans than any other terrorist group except alqaida and has carried out numerous attacks against israelis. A disciplined hezbollah surprises israel with its training. This event brought to power hafez alassad, the man who took the presidential position in. Background and issues for congress congressional research service 1 overview and key issues lebanons hezbollah1 party of god is a shiite islamist militia, political party, social welfare. Aug 07, 2006 sheik nasrallah said to have been advised by the secretive imad mugniyeh, a trained engineer wanted by the united states on terrorism charges thereby improved hezbollahs security and.
Terrorism the use or threatened use of violence terror in order to achieve a political, religious, or ideological aim hezbollah was responsible for the bombing of a tourist bus in bulgaria, killing five israelis an. He said one of his brothers is the face of hezbollah in yater, lebanon and boasted that his familys name is like the bin ladens of lebanon. This week marks the 21st anniversary of the 1992 israeli embassy bombing. Will syrian withdrawal send the country back into civil war. President obamas deputy national security advisor for homeland security and counterterrorism, john brennan, gave a speech on 26 october 2012 in dublin in which he called for the european union to label hezbollah as a terrorist organization the united states has included hezbollah in its list of terrorist organizations since 1995. Request pdf on feb 1, 2007, rola elhusseini and others published judith palmer harik hezbollah. Failure to respond to that attack emboldened hezbollah, which incurred no cost for the attack. But we can also consider it nationalist since its origin was to expel foreign forces israel, u. Based amongst the poor shiite population, it takes its inspiration from the iranian revolution and the teachings of ayatollah khomeini.
As a lebanesearmenian colleague of mine once astutely observed, the israelis have tried to treat. Hezbollahs organized criminal enterprises in europe. Putting hezbollah on the eu terrorism list also would help stabilize lebanon. As former undersecretary of state richard armitage noted, hezbollah is the gradea of terrorist.
The british government adds hezbollahs military wing to its list of outlawed terrorist organizations. Hezbollah party of god, the radical lebanonbased shiite revolutionary movement, poses a clear terrorist threat to international security. The role of hezbollah in lebanese domestic politics. The following is an excerpt from his prepared remarks. The main countries conducting counterterrorism ops against hezbollah are israel and the united states. Hezbollah arose amidst the chaos of the lebanese civil war to resist the israeli invasion of 1982. The new hezbollah manifesto november 2009 hezbollahs new political document aims to define the political vision of the party. Another way hezbollah fighters have augmented syrian forces is through acting as advisers and trainers for the syrian military and paramilitary forces, either in an embedded or partnered capacity. The changing face of terrorism provides detailed history of hizbullah, especially insightful, when it comes to the lebanese context and politics.
With all of the focus on isis and alqaida, i can assure you that those of us who have focused on terrorism for the entire period since 911 have never taken our eye off of the hezbollah threat. Hezbollah launches katyushas into northern israeli town. He subsequently served in strategic roles at the pentagon, the u. Cypriot authorities arrested a 24 yearold lebanese hezbollah terrorist in limassol, who collected information on israeli tourists arriving on flights to the island. The changing face of terrorism see note 2 above, 171. About 1,000 core members and between 3,000 and 10,000 reserve fighters national consortium for the study of terrorism and responses to terrorism 2015. Hezbollah changes battle tactics to fight syrian rebels the. Todays hearing on hezbollahs strategic shift is extremely timely. View all notes hezbollah broke off from amal, another shiaa militia, and merged with. Hezbollah and its history of international terrorism and violence. Hezbollah is primarily based in lebanon, but has carried out terrorist and criminal operations around the world. In fact, germany has long been a center of hezbollah activity in europe, and for years german security officials saw hezbollahs terrorist chief imad mughniyeh, in close concert with iran, as the key leader of the groups efforts related to planning, preparing and carrying out terrorist operations outside of lebanon. Ive partial reverted lihaas edit, in which they changed hezbollah leads the march 8 alliance to hezbollah is a part of the march 8 alliance. It receives financial and political support from iran and syria, and its paramilitary wing is regarded as a resistance movement throughout much of the arab and muslim worlds.
Hezbollah has remained ideologically true to its hardline theocratic raison detre despite its carefully cultivated image as a modernised, fully integrated political apparatus. Hezbollah fighters have also led units comprised of iraqi shia militants, especially in damascus. The director of the institutes stein program on counterterrorism and intelligence testified before the house regarding hezbollahs growing terrorist activity worldwide. Jul 31, 2015 the main countries conducting counterterrorism ops against hezbollah are israel and the united states. The terrorist, who admitted belonging to hezbollah during his questioning, held a swedish passport and collected intelligence in preparation for an attack on israeli tourists visiting the island. If his boasts are true, a simple look of his family would have tipped off the u. Security council resolution 1559, jointly sponsored by france and the united states, calls for the disarming of. Changes include a repositioning and fortification of bases, increased use of unmanned aircraft and. Since the assassination of rafik hariri in early 2005, lebanese politics has been plunged into a new era. Introduction a research about terrorism and resistance needs careful examination of each term, both terms need conceptualization to draw lines of differences between both terms.
Hezbollah, which was founded in the 1980s to fight against israeli occupation, is keen to portray itself to the world as a vital defender of lebanon. Rejecting or understating hezbollahs global reach and terrorism. Hezbollah mp nawwaf moussawi went on record to say that the groups membership had increased significantly since the 2006 war against israel. Hezbollah s terrorist threat to the european union. Today hezbollahs military wing controls the major faultline of the middle east.
Israel also waged war with lebanon in the 1980s with the goal of taking out the terrorist organizations located there, one of which is hezbollah. Urbancic, principal deputy coordinator for counterterrorism to the house committee on international relations subcommittee on international terrorism and nonproliferation and subcommittee on middle east and central asia. Hezbollah will likely face challenges resupplying its rockets and missiles in the near term. Hezbollahs terrorist threat to the european union the. Hezbollah changes battle tactics to fight syrian rebels. Background and issues for congress congressional research service 1 overview and key issues lebanons hezbollah1 party of god is a shiite islamist militia, political party, social welfare organization, and u. Even though hezbollah and hamas have in the past held different position on how to. Why hezbollah is a terrorist organization the jerusalem post. It includes our visions and stances and the aspirations, expectations and fears that preoccupy us. How to prevent a third lebanon war colonel vincent alcazar united states served as a fighter pilot in operations desert storm and southern watch as well as various other post 911 theatres.
I can assure you that those of us who have focused on terrorism for the entire period since 911 have never taken our eye off of the. Today hezbollah s military wing controls the major faultline of the middle east. Hezbollah is a militia trained like an army and equipped like a state, and its fighters are nothing like hamas or the palestinians, said a soldier who just returned from lebanon. This leads the author to conclude that hezbollah s legitimate claim to be a resistance movement rather than a terrorist group has resulted in what she entitles chapter 12, americas halfhearted war against terrorism pp. Hezbollah chief sheikh hassan nasrallah, 2016 ap images 1982 19821992 1983 1985 1985 hezbollah. Iranian and hezbollah operations in south america then and now by matthew levitt s ince at least the early 1980s, iran has operated an intelligence network in latin america hezbollah soon followed suit. Merge the statements by hezbollah i think this part make many problems and everybody wants to add something.
Hezbollah shows all the elements of hybrid warfare. Israel invades lebanon to drive out the plos terrorist army, which had frequently attacked israel from its informal statewithinastate in southern lebanon. The use of terrorism in the political arena in lebanon the operational strategy of hezbollah in the political arena is to walk on the edge 1. Would it be a good idea to collect antiisrael quotations in a subheading under ideology. A history of terrorism hezbollah is an iranianbacked, lebanonbased terrorist network with global reach that poses a direct threat to american interests at home and abroad. The emergent relationship between iran, hezbollah, and hamas is especially noteworthy in its potential to turn gaza into a genuine southern front against israel. Shortly thereafter, he applied for naturalization and became a citizen in april 2009, all the while lying about his connections to terrorism. The group has killed more americans than any other. The president must be a christian, the prime minister is a sunni muslim, and the speaker of the national assembly is a shia muslim. Why hezbollah is a terrorist organization there must be a zero tolerance principle for transnational terrorism just as there is a zero tolerance principle for racism. This fact led terrorist scholar daniel byman to refer to hezbollah as the single most.
Mar 22, 2016 daniel byman testifies before the house committee on foreign affairs subcommittee on the middle east and north africa on hezbollah s growing threat against u. Hezbollah is an iraniansponsored, internationally sanctioned terrorist group with an antiisrael and antiu. It does not aim to cover all features of this organization, but rather focus on the transformation, in the opinon of author, from fundamentalist group to resistence and moderate potical actor. Hezbollah regards terrorism not only as a useful tool for advancing its revolutionary agenda but also as a religious duty as part of a. This assault comes amidst almost daily hezbollah attacks against israeli troops in shebba farms. Hezbollah regards terrorism not only as a useful tool for advancing its revolutionary agenda but as a religious duty as part of a global. Jun 11, 2017 in 2008, he then joined hezbollahs islamic jihad branch. Hezbollah by victoria silva hezbollah is a wellknown terrorist group based in lebanon, whose ideology is a radical interpretation of shii islamism, following the model of ayatollah ruhollah khomeini. Hezbollah has suffered serious casualties in syria, but also feels emboldened by its battlefield successes and may seek to flex its muscles globally. Hezbollah may be the ateam of terrorists and maybe alqaeda is. Iran and hezbollah leveraged support from these networks to carry out the 1994 bombing of the asociacion mutual israelita argentina amia.
From political confessionalization to confessional specialization introduction 1 consociationalism is a model of government, developed as a prescription for plural and divided societies, giving primacy in political representation to collectivities rather than individual citizens. Some, such as the united states, clearly view this organization as a terrorist group, highlighted by richard armitages statement that, hezbollah may be the ateam of terrorists and maybe al qaeda is actually the bteam. In promoting the lebanonized view of hezbollah, it was important to the proponents of this theory to distance hezbollah from regional and international associations. But hezbollahs leader, sheikh hasan nasrallah, who we met in beirut, insists that his group no longer poses a threat to the u. The changing face of terrorism offers a history of hezbollah that is now outdated, so as with hamas this should not be the only book you read, but it provides a good starting point for learning about the basic origins and mission of hezbollah offering a look at the clanistic regional politics of lebanon. Hezbollah of the year 2006 is a pragmatic terrorist organization that is wellarmed, welltrained, and equipped with highly sophisticated weaponry. Hezbollah does not hesitate to harm the sovereignty of governments and foreign countries. Hezbollah, also known as the party of god, is a radical shia muslim group fighting against israel and western imperialism in lebanon. The role of hezbollah in lebanese domestic politics augustus richard norton hezbollah is the product of a quarter century of history.
Hezbollah hezbollah the changing face of terrorismjudith palmer harik published in 2004 by i. It was especially important to reject or heavily qualify the partys terrorist label as well as to deny. Despite the classification of hezbollah as a terrorist group by several states. Hezbollah has been active in america for decades the. Despite the classification of hezbollah as a terrorist group by several states, hezbollah is recognized as a legitimate political party within lebanon. Hezbollah terrorists caught in us planning attack clarion. How will the seismic political shifts underway affect the. The group does not recognize the legitimacy of israel and it has been labeled as a foreign terrorist organization fto by the u.