Hezbollah

Hezbollah (حزب الله, "Party of Allah"; sometimes spelled Hizbullah, Hezbullah, or Hezballah) is a Shi'a Islamic terrorist organization based in Lebanon and supported by Syria^[1] and (mostly) controlled by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The Radical Shia group is dedicated to creation of Iranian-style Islamic republic in Lebanon and removal of all non-Islamic influences from the area. Strongly anti-West and anti-Israel.^[2]

It was founded in 1982 during the Lebanese civil war. Its current Secretary General, Hassan Nasrallah, has publicly stated a clear genocidal goal: "if Jews all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide."^{[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]} Hezbollah's Mohammad Raad, on April 16, 2022:^[10][11] "If they had given Hezbollah $ 9 billion, it would have been enough for us so that Israel would not remain in the region." The organization's privately controlled TV broadcast station Al-Manar was banned in France, Germany, Spain and the US^[12] for inciting racial hatred and Holocaust denial.

Though mainstream Western media narrative is that "only jihadists," such as Al-Qaeda and ISIS, are behind the persecution of Christians in the region, the reality is much more complex than the simple image that jihadists came around and killed Christians, including in: Lebanon via Hezbollah.^[13]

Iranian founded, Iranian/Syrian Backed: Arab Islamic Hezbollah Global Terrorists[edit]

Author Stephen E. Atkins explains that the "Impetus for the founding of the Lebanese Hezbollah came from the Hezbollah Party formed in Iran in 1978 by Hadi Ghaffary, a cleric with close ties to Ayatollah," and that "Khomeini decided to export his Islamic revolution and to form a Hezbollah group among the Shi'ites of Lebanon."^[14]

Huzbollah is a radical Shi’a Muslim organization fighting against Israel and "western imperialism" in Lebanon, and has advocated since its beginning (1982) for a radical Islamic State, Tehran style.^[15] The group does not recognize the legitimacy of the State of Israel. Hezbollah refers to itself with multiple titles including the "Organization of the Oppressed on Earth" and the "Revolutionary Justice Organization." Its main goal is the establishment of an Islamic government across the Arab world that will "liberate" Jerusalem and the entire area of the present-day State of Israel.

It is financed and armed by Iran,^[16] it acts as its proxy^[17] and enjoys full backing from Syria. Hezbollah was founded with the help of Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

Syria backs Hizballah morally and has also supplied it with money and arms. In return, Hizballah protects Syria's political and military interests in Lebanon. ^[18][19]

The two major leaders of Hezbollah are Secretary General Sheikh Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and the organization's spiritual chief, Sheikh Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah, both named "specially designated global terrorists" by the U.S. government. ^[20]

It was founded and continued, and still is marked by violence, locally and worldwide, though, recently, it tries to portray itself as a mere "political" party. It has been said that: "The very year Hezbollah was founded it became the most lethal terrorist organization in Lebanon" & "neither had ever managed to spill so much blood in a single incident." ^[21]

Funding[edit]

Dirty Money, Blood Money

Criminal funding[edit]

The Lebanese Shiite Terrorist Organization has been highlighted as a profile in "Crime and Terrorism" - Hezbollah's Criminal activity is widely in Lebanon and worldwide,^[22] or what researches call: "various criminal enterprises to raise funds for Hezbollah." ^[23] Among the illegal, criminal methods of the Islamic group is wide fraud, drug trafficking, credit card fraud & cigarette smuggling, it has been known that "Cigarette Smuggling Funds Terrorism." ^{[24] [25]} In a 2009 report on "Hezbollah: narco-Islamism Middle East Strategy at Harvard" researchers have found that: 'more than any other Islamist group, Hezbollah has a long record of engaging in criminal activity to support its activities.' ^{[26] [27]}

Especially noted is its funding that comes from narco terror.^[28]

Barack Hussein Obama gave $152,000,000,000 (A $150,000,000,000, a $1,500,000,000, a $400,000,000, and a $100,000,000 deal) to this terrorist group, to destroy America. The money was taxpayer, Obamacare, and bank money. And then Soleimani got more powerful than ever. Trump, however, managed to kill him.

Kassem Mohamad Hijazi, a Brazilian Arab citizen of Lebanese descent implicated in government corruption and Hezbollah terror finance was wanted by the US Government.^[29] According to the inquiry, between 1998 and 2003, with the help of 46 people, Hizaji would have used 130 exchange offices and banks in Brazil and Paraguay to carry out illegal transfers to 1,500 bank accounts in Lebanon, the USA and Chile.^[30] Hijazi was arrested in Aug 2021,^[29] as he was hiding in Ciudad Del Este, on the border with Foz do Iguaçu.^[31][32]

Latin America[edit]

The 'Hezbollah's global finance network' includes "The Triple Frontier" (in South America) - "Argentina, Brasil & Paraguay.",^[33][34]

There's an extensive report on "Hezbollah and the Drug Trade in South America" - Hezbollah is active in the drug trade in Colombia, a web of criminality that extends from Lebanon to Africa to South America. ^[35]

Douglas Farah wrote in 2006 on "Hezbollah’s External Support Network in West Africa and Latin America" that Hezbollah, has the largest financial structure in Latin America and it is similar to that in of the organization's Africa structure, that is to say, structured along family/clan lines. These clans have family members across the continent's main free trade zones of Panama, (Venezuela's) Isla Margarita and the TBA (tri-border area), allowing for multiple opportunities to launder funds by over invoicing stocks, under invoicing merchandise and thtough the use of little-monitored electronic money transfer systems and bulk money smuggling. The first study of this overlapping clan structure spread across broad geographic areas was not undertaken until 2004.

The TBA has for years drawn attention as a center for contraband smuggling, drug trafficking and large-scale money laundering, in part because all of the countries whose borders are involved profit from the illicit trade. It is also an easy place to hide and move money. Estimates of the amount of drug money alone laundered through the two main urban centers in the TBA, Foz do Iguacu and Ciudad del Este, range as high as $12 billion a year. ^[36]

From a 2003 research on Hezbollah "Hezbollah: A Case Study of Global Reach": Hezbollah is also active in Chile, Venezuela, Cuba, Panama and Ecuador. ^[37]

Counter terrorism expert Steven Emerson wrote in 2007 in an article titled "Blood Money: Hezbollah's revenue stream flows through the Americas":

A New Front. Hezbollah operatives have frequently sought out sympathetic members of the Lebanese Diaspora to assist them, several of whom have owned and operated Lebanese restaurants. Salim Boughader Mucharrafille, owner of Cafe La Libanesa in Tijuana, Mexico, was arrested in December 2002 for running a ring that allegedly smuggled at least 200 Lebanese compatriots into the United States , including an employee of Al- Manar, Hezbollah's television station. Although it was never confirmed, Boughader was suspected of having helped Kourani to slip over the border. Last May, a Mexican judge sentenced Boughader to 14 years in prison for organized crime and human smuggling.

The case of Rady Zaiter, a.k.a. David Assi Alvarez, is an example of drug-running activities designed to benefit Hezbollah, using a restaurant as a front. In June 2005, Ecuadorian police broke up an international drug-trafficking ring led by the owners of El Turco restaurant: Zaiter and his partner, Maher Hamajo. The restaurant in Quito served as the logistical center for the ring's activities. Drug mules carried cocaine in double bottomed suitcases bound for other countries in South America, as well as Europe and the Middle East. According to investigating authorities, Hezbollah received at least 70 percent of the drug money. Additionally, officials confiscated more than $150,000 and 2,000 euros. Further arrests were made in Brazil, Syria and the Dutch Antilles, bringing the total apprehended to 19 people. El Turco, like the Detroit-area restaurant La Shish that was recently allegedly linked to Hezbollah, was a very popular restaurant, appreciated by the locals.

^[20]

As Hamas joined Hezbollah and al-Qaeda in the activities of terrorist organizations in the border triangle: Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay--the location is a money laundering center for terrorist organizations, terrorists trade drugs there, forge credit cards and gather intelligence on targets, profits of their activities are transferred to the Middle East--on June 18, 2005, Brazilian police had arrested 21 "Islamic terrorists," one of whom, Sial Bashar Yahya al-Atari, defined as "the head of Hamas in South America." Another senior detainee is Hussam Muhammad, a Lebanese citizen known as 'Abu Hitler'. ^[38]

In 2008, Colombia smashed a drug ring tied to Hezbollah, Colombian authorities said that they had broken up a drug and money-laundering ring in an international operation that included the capture of three suspects from the Middle East who used profits from the drug trade to fund Hezbollah.

More than 100 suspects were arrested in Colombia and overseas on charges that they trafficked drugs and laundered cash for Colombia's Norte del Valle cartel and outlawed paramilitaries, in a network that stretched from South America to Asia. "The criminal organization used routes through Venezuela, Panama, Guatemala, the Middle East and Europe, bringing in cash from the sale of these substances," the statement said. ^[39][40]

From 'Inside Homeland Security' 2009:

Muslim businessmen operating companies in Panama "for many years" have laundered funds for Hezbollah, Hamas and the PLO.^[41]

Reported in 2022:^[42]

Despite what the U.S. State Dept. appears to believe, history has demonstrated that the Iranian leopard will not change its spots, only its tactics...

Iran’s ayatollahs closely collaborate with Hezbollah, the proxy of Iran’s Quds Force, which is the arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responsible for exporting the Islamic revolution. They have intensified their surge into South and Central America, from Chile (especially with the December election of President Gabriel Boric) to Mexico. They consider Latin America to be the soft underbelly of the United States.

U.S.[edit]

The Washington Times had an editorial (2005) on 'Hezbollah in America,' a 41-year-old businessman, was arrested at his Dearborn home on charges of smuggling funds to Hezbollah.^[43] In 2009, a grand jury in Philadelphia indicted four men in connection with a plot to support Hezbollah through schemes like buying machine guns.^[44]

Al-Mabarrat has a U.S.-based branch headquartered in Dearborn, Mich. Founded in 1991, the Al-Mabarrat Charitable Organization-USA, Inc., has repeatedly changed its name over the past 15 years. Although Al-Mabarrat acknowledges on its Web site that it works in conjunction with the Al-Mabarrat Association in Lebanon (whose logo it shares), it omits the fact that Al-Mabarrat Lebanon is run by Sheikh Fadlallah. Despite Al- Mabarrat USA's direct link to a Fadlallah-controlled organization, the U.S. branch continues to operate unfettered.

Hezbollah's use of Al-Mabarrat as a fund-raising front is a savvy strategic move, mirroring a tactic long exploited by terrorist groups operating on U.S. soil. By utilizing charities, terrorists can generate popular support by providing some legitimate services, attract contributions from donors both unwitting and aware, and attempt to obscure financial trails. But such operations extend far beyond the United States. ^[20]

In October 2011, it was revealed that a suspect in an Iranian plot to assassinate Saudi ambassador to the US, is linked to Hezbollah.^[45]

Europe[edit]

There's a serious "Hezbollah's Terrorist Threat to the European Union" writes The Heritage (2007) .^[46] From a report on "Hezbollah Around the World" - Arabs, Muslims in Germany have been key fund raising center for Hezbollah. through crimes of: drug trafficking, weapons and people smuggling, document and currency fraud.^[47] From a May 2010 report: 'Hezbollah funded by drug trade in Europe,' German police arrested Lebanese men who transferred millions of Euros to family connected to Hezbollah. ^[48][49]

Hezbollah has established several front charities, mainly operating from Great Britain and Germany, to raise funds earmarked to support the group's members in Lebanon . For example, the British-based Lebanese Welfare Committee, HELP Charity Association for Relief and Abrar Islamic Foundation are among the charities suspected of channeling funds to Sheikh Nasrallah and Hezbollah. ^[20]

U.S. Mexican border[edit]

Hezbollah is also accused of using the same southern narcotics routes that Mexican drug kingpins use, that Hezbollah members have entered the U.S. border through drug cartel. ^[50][51] The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review wrote an article on ‎Apr 10, 2009, "The Hezbollah threat: It's here, now." ^[52]

Syria-Jordan border[edit]

Reported in Feb 2022, groups affiliated with Hizbullah assist with drug smuggling to Jordan which contributes to growing tension on Syria-Jordan border.^[53]

Blood diamonds[edit]

The Associated Press reported on "Blood diamonds fund Hezbollah" (2004): that Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrilla movement is systematically siphoning profits from West Africa's multimillion-dollar diamond trade, in part by threatening the Lebanese merchants who long have handled much of the region's diamond business, US diplomats in West Africa charge.

The pervasive claim is wider—on organised and co-ercive Hezbollah profiteering from West Africa's diamond trade—than most US officials have previously acknowledged.

"One thing that's incontrovertible is the financing of Hezbollah. It's not even an open secret; there is no secret," Larry Andre, deputy chief of mission for the US Embassy in diamond-rich Sierra Leone, told The Associated Press. ^[54][55]

T. Schure wrote in "Blood Diamonds: Still Bloody" (May 14, 2010) that West Africa is a well known transit center for smuggled diamonds, especially for Lebanese traders, with many sales funding criminal and terrorist groups including Hezbollah. ^[56]

Douglas Farah in the Washington Post: "Digging Up Congo's Dirty Gems; Officials Say Diamond Trade Funds Radical Islamic Groups", that diamond dealers and intelligence sources said Hezbollah and other groups buy diamonds in. Congo—sometimes through middlemen, sometimes directly.

European and American intelligence sources have long known that Hezbollah has raised significant amounts of money in West Africa through the largely Shiite Muslim Lebanese communities in Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Togo. There are an estimated 120,000 Lebanese in West Africa, mostly involved in import-export businesses.

"Hezbollah is active in all these countries and are deeply involved in many businesses across the region," said one European official tracking the movement. "It is only a small part of the Lebanese community that is sympathetic, but many people contribute to them just to keep Hezbollah off their backs."

For at least since the early 1980s, Hezbollah had also raised some cash through the sale of diamonds from Sierra Leone, intelligence sources said. Bah, they said, was long suspected of brokering diamond deals through buyers connected to Hezbollah, assisted by sympathetic Lebanese businessmen across the region. ^[57]

Character, racism, fascism[edit]

A writer in the Christian Science Monitor explains that "Hizbullah's real goal is racist: To free the Middle East holy lands of Jews... Hizbullah's goal is not the "liberation" of Palestine. Its members are not Palestinian. They are (Arab) Islamic extremists who want to "liberate" all Islamic land."^[58]

Its Al-Manar television is infamous for being racist, several European countries, including France, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands, as well as Australia, have also taken measures to block Al-Manar. In March 2005, the broadcasting regulators in the European Union agreed to ban satellite broadcasting of Al-Manar on the basis that the channel carried racist material and incitement. As a result, several satellite service providers, most of them European, dropped Al-Manar, making it unavailable in North and South America, Asia and Australia. Al-Manar, is, however, still available in Europe through Arab satellite companies and its Web site offers English, French and Spanish translations of its material. ^[59]

On its TV, Jews are termed pigs and monkeys (stemming from radical Islamic teaching of "apes & pigs" - branding Christians as pigs, Jews as apes [24][25][26][27][28][29]) and the Holocaust is denied. Participants in a network-sponsored symposium urge that Israel "be completely wiped out" and "just like Hitler fought the Jews" the "great Islamic nation of Jihad" should "fight the Jews and burn them." ^[60]

It has been written in an article titled "Hezbollah's Nazi roots" that "Hezbollah's Nazi salute evokes memories of Hitler's support for Arab agitators such as the Grand Mufti (Grand Mufti of Jerusalem) of Jerusalem and the leaders of a pro-Nazi coup."^[61]

From the book, 'Planting hatred, sowing pain: the psychology of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict':

Palestinians are constantly exposed to cultural products that expouse classical anti-Semitic ideas. Fir example, a television series produced by Hezbollah, the south Lebanon Shiite militia group, titled Al-Shatat. This series is focused oin the old middle-ages myth of the blood libel (in which Jews --supposedly-- need the blood of Christian children for the Passover matzoth).

^[62]

Related, from an ADL speech:

In recent years, Jews were killed because they were Jews, something we have not witnessed since World War II, at the hands of jihadists. There was the Buenos Aires bombings of the Israeli embassy and the Jewish center; there was the kidnapping and murder of Daniel Pearl in Pakistan; there was the kidnapping and murder of Ilan Halimi in Paris; and there was the attack on the Seattle Jewish Federation. Hamas and Hezbollah do not want to kill for land, but to eliminate Jews and a Jewish presence.^[63]

Nasrallah & the Jews[edit]

Within a month of Nasrallah's taking over as leader, Hezbollah (with the help of Iranian intelligence) bombed the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, killing 29 and injuring over 200. The next attack perpetrated by Hezbollah—again with Iranian help—was the bombing of the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, killing 86 and injuring over 200.

The widening arena of Hezbollah's attacks stemmed from Nasrallah's perception that Jews anywhere are legitimate targets. In fact, Nasarallah has said:

If they (Jews) all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide. (Daily Star, Oct. 23, 2002)^{[64][65][66][67]}

Shiite scholar Amal Saad-Ghorayeb analyzed the anti-Jewish roots of Hezbollah ideology in her book Hezbollah: Politics & Religion. In it, she quotes Hassan Nasrallah describing his antipathy toward Jews:

If we searched the entire world for a person more cowardly, despicable, weak and feeble in psyche, mind, ideology and religion, we would not find anyone like the Jew. Notice, I do not say the Israeli. (New Yorker, Oct. 14, 2002)^[68]

Nasrallah also incorporates anti-Semitic rhetoric in speeches. For example, he has characterized Jews as the "grandsons of apes and pigs" and "Allah's most cowardly and greedy creatures." (MEMRI: Al- Manar, Feb. 3, 2006) ^[69][70]

In 1998, Ashura commemorations of Hessein's martyrdom coincided with Israel's fiftieth anniversary. Nasrallah used the occasion to lambaste Israelis as "the descendants of apes and pigs. "A few million vagabonds from all over the world, brought together..." ^[71][72][73]

Racist terror[edit]

Examples:

The July 12, 1994, AMIA attack on Jewish center AMIA in Argentina by Islamic Republic of Iran's backed Hezbollah Ansar Allah: 85 civilians dead and over 300 injured of multiple nationalities. The attack is considered the worst antisemitic attack in the world since World War II.^[74][75]

Targeting Jews in Panama shortly afterwards. The Alas Chiricanas Flight 901 murdering 12, mostly Jews July-19-1994.^{[76][77][78][79][80]}

Al-Manar: hate & lies propaganda[edit]

• Started the anti Semitic push to blame Jews for Islamists' crime on 911.^[81]

• Arab Venezuelan MP Al-Sughayar to Hezbollah media floated a stupidity and hate idea, as if the Nazis only killed non Zionists.^[82]

• Lebanese Academic Hassan Jouni on Hizbullah TV: "The Zionists Created" (he said) "Hitler"in Order to Intimidate the Jews.^[83]

Iran's arm: "Big Satan, Little Satan"[edit]

Israel and the United States as Portrayed in the Doctrine of Hezbollah:

1. Hatred of Israel ("that vile microbe") and the Jewish people, --As an arm of Iran it regards,^[84][85][86]

^{[87] [88] [89]} and it seeks to—Eradicating the 'Little Satan.'

1. Hatred of the United States ("the big Satan")

^[22]

Death cult, suicide missions, martyrdom philosophy, inventing 'mass casualty' bombing[edit]

The doctrine of Hezbollah: Suicide attacks ("the shortest road to Allah") are of supreme value. ^[22]

In May 2006, Nasrallah appeared on the network to explain that "our nation's willingness to sacrifice their blood, souls, children, fathers, and families" is an advantage over the Jews "who guard their lives." ^[90]

The modern, high-casualty suicide attack, which has changed our lives irreversibly, was invented by Hezbollah in Lebanon in 1982. ^[21]

To attack the multinational forces, Hezbolah invented a terrible new weapon—the suicide truck bomb. The group loaded several hundred pounds of explosives into a truck. A member of the group—someone prepared to sacrifice his or her life—would drive the truck in front of an embassy or into a military base. The driver then set off the explosives with a control switch in the truck's cab. The detonation would instantly destroy the driver, the truck, and any buildings or people standing within several hundred feet. Sheikh Fadlallah and Hezbollah never took credit for these attacks. As a Shi'ite cleric, Fadlallah knew that Islam would get tarnished by terrorism and the killing of innocent civilians. Fadlallah also claimed to be running the Hezbollah as a political, not a military organization. However, as Many Islamic nation have declared jihads against enemies. For this reason, an organization calling itself the "Islamic Jihad" publicly claimed responsibility for terrorists acts in Lebanon. For several years, the United States and other governments tried to find out who was running the Islamic Jihad. In fact, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad were one and the same. ^[91]

Regional plans[edit]

Amongst its stated objectives is the establishment of a Shiite theocracy in Lebanon. ^[92] Hezbollah's goal is the establishment of an Islamic state encompassing Lebanon and Israel. ^[93] Many in the Lebanese Christian diaspora, beyond the reach of Hezbollah intimidation, speak out forcefully against turning Lebanon into a Shia theocracy emulating Iran. ^[60]

Global Plans[edit]

The Associated Press reported in May, 2010, that a Muslim cleric calls for 'Greater Iran' - Shi'ite Islamic union would stretch from Afghanistan to Israel. Ayatollah Mohammad Bagher Kharrazi said the creation of what he termed an "Islamic United States" is a central aim of the political party he leads - called Hizbullah, or Party of God. He added that he hoped to make his vision a reality if the party won the next presidential election. "The Islamic United States will be an introduction to the formation of the global village of the oppressed and that will be a prelude to the single global rule of the Mahdi," the newspaper quoted him as saying.^[94][95]

Violence, Bloodshed[edit]

Their known spreading of violence & bloodshed includes:

Regional: Lebanon, Israel[edit]

Kidnappings, torture[edit]

Hezbollah's founding quickly resulted in a spate of kidnappings, torture. ^[96] Westerners, including French, German and Americans were target of Hezbollah's kidnapping.^{[97][98][99][100][101]} including hijacking US personnel.^{[102][103][104][105][106][107][108][109]} An estimated kidnapping of 30 Westerners in that period are attributed to Hezbollah.^{[110][111][112][113]} Among the notorious victims were: William Francis Buckley, Terry Anderson, William Richard Higgins.

In March, 1984, Hezbollah operatives kidnapped William Francis Buckley, the CIA's station chief in Lebanon. He was whisked to Damascus and on to Tehran, where, after 15 months of torture, he succumbed to a heart attack. ^[114]

Feb. 17, 1988: The group kidnaps Col. William Higgins, a U.S. Marine serving with a United Nations truce monitoring group in Lebanon, and later murders him.

The United States asserts that top Hezbollah military commander who was one of America's most wanted men, accused of involvement in a string of bombings, hijackings and kidnappings during the 1980s and 1990s, Imad Mughniyeh, was also behind the torture and murder of William Buckley, the CIA station chief in Beirut, in 1984; the kidnapping, torture and murder of Lieutenant Colonel William Richard Higgins of the Marines, who was on peacekeeping duty in Lebanon in 1988; and, through the Islamic Jihad Organization, the seizure of Western hostages in Beirut during the 1980s. ^{[115] [116][117]}

From a legal claim against Iran:

In the instant case the evidence once again discloses that Iran provided Hezbollah with funding, direction and training for its terrorist activities in Lebanon, including the kidnapping and torture of Terry Anderson hezbollah kidnapping torture and his imprisonment as a hostage for 2,454 days. ^[118]

Dec. 31, 1986: Under the alias Organization of the Oppressed on Earth, Hezbollah announces it had kidnapped and murdered three Lebanese Jews. The organization previously had taken responsibility for killing four other Jews since 1984. ^[119]

The 1985 Hezbollah torture-murder of Isaac Tarab, 63, and Chaim Halala Cohen, 39, the 1986 Hezbollah's torturing to death of Ibrahim Benesti, aged 54, of Beirut, and his elderly relatives, Yehudah and Yosef, Benesti's family – like many Lebanese Jews – had been in Lebanon since 2,000 B.C. (before the birth of Mohammed), [described as a charitable and kindly candy store owner who gave free candy to children of all religions]. All these crimes were motivated for no other reason than for the victims simply being Jewish.^[120] See: #Character, racism, fascism.

7 Apr 2005 - Two Israeli-Arabs from the village of Rajar near the Israel-Lebanon border were kidnapped by Hezbollah operatives and held in captivity for four days. The men, identified as Muki Ben-Jamal and Nuef Maharj Ben-Ali, said they were interrogated by their captors who wanted information on Israel. ^[121]

The Time had a detailed piece by William Dowell in May 23, 1988 titled: "Three Years in the Belly of Beirut":

"They weren't human or inhuman. They were nonhuman." That was how French Journalist Jean-Paul Kauffmann, quoting fellow hostage Michel Seurat, , described the pro-Iranian Islamic Jihad terrorists who held him hostage for three years. The wrenching account of his kidnaping, captivity and release appeared last week in L'Evenement du Jeudi, the French newsmagazine Kauffmann worked for when he and French Researcher Seurat were abducted in May 1985.

The two men became hostages by chance after missing a Beirut airport bus and deciding to take a taxi. When a Mercedes pulled alongside and ordered them to stop, they expected a robbery. Instead they were forced into the back of the gunmen's car. What followed was three years of intimidation and psychological torture.
For more than a year, the hostages never saw daylight. Their only diversion was reading the handful of books provided by their jailers; Kauffmann read War and Peace more than 20 times. At one point, he and Seurat listened while their Shi'ite captors spent eight days torturing an Arab suspected of being a spy. When it was over, Kauffmann's jailer joked, "I damaged him a little. He had two broken ribs. We broke both his legs. Finally he talked, and we set him free." Freedom, Kauffmann learned, was a euphemism for death.
In one of the most bizarre episodes, Seurat was allowed a brief visit in August 1985 with his wife and daughters in Beirut, and then returned to the cell loaded down with sociology books. It was the last time he saw his family. A month later, he was deathly ill with hepatitis. A Lebanese Jewish doctor, Elie Hallat, who was also a hostage, pleaded in vain for Seurat's release. As his condition worsened, a Shi'ite commander volunteered a transfusion. "You are becoming a Shi'ite," joked a captor after Seurat was given blood. In fact, the researcher was dying. By then French Hostages Marcel Carton and Marcel Fontaine had been added to the group. "So I am going to die," Seurat told his friends.
In March 1986, the Islamic Jihad announced that it had "executed" Seurat. It seems likely, however, that he succumbed, at 39, to his disease. But the jailers told the hostages he was alive and recovering in a hospital. Kauffmann later learned from a radio newscast that Hallat, doomed by his captors' rabid anti-Semitism, had been executed. Kauffmann, Carton and Fontaine were continually moved from apartment to apartment. At one point Kauffmann was wrapped in bandages like a mummy, sealed in a metal box and bolted under the chassis of a truck. When he banged on the side, he was told he would be shot. "Kill me," he snapped back. "It doesn't make any difference."
At another point Kauffmann and Fontaine were tied together and placed in a coffin. When they were let out for a moment, Fontaine peered under his blindfold and saw that they were near a cement factory. "They're going to kill us here, put our bodies in cement and dump us in the sea," said Fontaine. Later Kauffmann and Fontaine were put in a new cell and chained like animals to a spike in the floor.

^[122]

At a 2008 proisoner swap-deal, Israel was forced to make with Hezbollah, Bradley Burston wrote "The pleasure that Hezbollah takes in torture."

Few innocent people have been tortured like the loved ones of the people murdered by Samir Kuntar, the Palestine Liberation Front monster convicted of a crime so brutal that even the designation terrorist is too good for him.

This week, the loved ones will know that Kuntar will be feted to a hero's welcome staged by Hezbollah, whose claims to being a religious organization, stain the word religious with a level of sadism that is astonishing, reaching new levels with every gloat by the torture master who calls himself a spiritual leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

But that will be only one aspect of the glee with which Hezbollah will likely take explicit pride and claim exultant victory.

Not satisfied with keeping the families of kidnapped IDF soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev in the dark for two years as to their fate, a Lebanese report which appears to have been leaked by Hezbollah two days before the prisoner swap, stated that one of the soldiers had survived the kidnapping attack, but that the other was surely dead.

Then, to torture the families further, the report refrained from revealing which of the two had been killed, or whether the other was still alive.

But for sheer gratuitous sadism, the case of Samir Kuntar has few rivals. Consider the survivors of Kuntar's acts of murder.

Consider Smadar Haran, a survivor of the 1979 attack led by Kuntar. Kuntar burst into Haran's apartment building in the dead of night, seizing Smadar Haran's husband Danny and their daughter Einat, 4 years old.

Desperate to save their two-year-old girl Yael, Smadar Haran huddled with her in a crawl space in the attic. "I will never forget the joy and the hatred in the voices [of Kuntar and his men] as they swaggered about hunting for us, firing their guns and throwing grenades," she later recalled in the Washington Post.

"I knew that if Yael cried out, the terrorists would toss a grenade into the crawl space and we would be killed," she wrote in 2003. "So I kept my hand over her mouth, hoping she could breathe. As I lay there, I remembered my mother telling me how she had hidden from the Nazis during the Holocaust. 'This is just like what happened to my mother,' I thought."

Smadar Haran's personal torture had only begun. She would later learn that Kuntar had dragged her husband Danny and older daughter to the beach nearby, where he shot Danny execution style, making sure that her father's death would be the last sight her little girl would ever see.

Kuntar then took the butt of his assault rifle and brought in down on Einat's head, crushing it against a rock.

Smadar Haran would later recall, "By the time we were rescued from the crawl space, hours later, Yael, too, was dead. In trying to save all our lives, I had smothered her."

Two weeks ago, in an act of heroism that is beyond imagination, Smadar Haran spoke publicly of coming to terms with the impending release of the monster who turned her life into a waking nightmare. "Samir Kuntar isn't, nor has he ever been, my private prisoner," she told a news conference. "His fate must be decided now according to Israel's needs and ethical interests." ...Kuntar... his elevation to the status of hero and martyr to the Palestinian struggle or the Lebanese resistance.

For Israelis, even after all these years, the release of Kuntar is a form of self-inflicted torture. So heinous, so unpardonable were his crimes, that American Jewish author and journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, himself a veteran of the IDF, wrote on The Atlantic Monthly's Website... "As unbelievable as this sounds, Israel is actually thinking of swapping Samir Kuntar in a prisoner exchange with Hezbollah. Kuntar is perhaps the most terrible person held in an Israeli prison, a man who crushed the skull of a Jewish child against a rock."

^[123]

Terror attack on US embassy[edit]

For a more detailed treatment, see 1983 United States Embassy bombing.

The bombing was carried out via a stolen van, carrying 2000 pounds of explosives, slamming into the embassy, killing 63 people. ^{[124] [125] [126][127][128]}

Terror attack on peacekeeping US marine[edit]

The attack on U.S. Marine Barracks in Oct. 1983. ^[129] Hezbollah conducted simultaneous suicide truck bombings against the two buildings housing U.S. Marines and French paratroopers in Beirut, killing 241 Marines and 58 French soldiers who were in Lebanon as part of a multinational peacekeeping mission. ^{[130] [131] [132] [133]} A US federal judge found (in 2003) Iran liable for the 1983 bombing of a US marine barracks.^[134][135]

The Beirut mission started out as an effort to stabilize a fragile peace in a war-torn country. Lebanon had been in turmoil since the Palestine Liberation Organization, having been expelled from Jordan, took refuge there in the 1970s. In 1975, a panoply of Christian and Muslim militias, turned what had been a Middle East oasis into a no-man's land of urban warfare. The situation fell apart quickly. Islamic Militia leaders began to view the United States and its allies as favoring the Christian-led forces of the Lebanese government.^[136]

Targeting Israeli civilians[edit]

Hezbollah has been targeting Israeli civilians, for years. since the 1980s, (Which prompted Israel in 1996 to conduct a defensive operation "Grapes of Wrath." ^[119]) its main weapon - firing rockets, missiles into residential areas^{[137][138] [139] [140] [141] [142] [143]} .^[144] For example, in 24 Jul 2006 - Hezbollah fired more than 70 Katyusha rockets into Israel, several of which landed in Nahariya, Safed, and Kiryat Shmona. Medics treated at least 49 people who were lightly to moderately wounded. More than 2200 rockets have been fired at Israeli cities since July 12, killing 17 Israelis, all of them civilians. 20 Israeli soldiers were killed in other incidents. .^[121] Though there were also other methods like in Apr 2001 – A 42-year-old Israeli woman was stabbed to death in Haifa. Her murder was the initiation rite of a terrorist cell, whose members were apprehended in July. Six members of a Hezbollah-linked Palestinian terrorist cell responsible for the murder, originally thought to be criminally motivated, were arrested in July. The murder was the initiation rite of one of the terrorists into the organization. ^[145][146]

Use of its civilian population in war[edit]

Use of Lebanese as human shields ^{[147][148] [149] [150] [151]} ,^[152] (copying the Arab-Palestinian tactics routine [30] [31] [32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43]), especially was publicized, in their initiated war with Israel, Hezbollah's use of "Christian villages as shields in missile attacks." witnesses: "If Israel does nothing Hezbollah will continue to fire rockets from inside Lebanon shockingly using Christians as human shields actually." "Hezbollah is hiding among civilian populations and launching attacks behind human shields." ^[153] ,^[154] this crime has been categorized as a "Hezbollah specialty",^[155] even using the U.N.,^[156] A.) to cause casualties among their own Arab population, especially among children, in order to generate sympathy and an outcry in the Arab world. B.) Hated Israelis' image get tarnished, an "important" goal in it of itself to make the Zionists look as "killers." C.) To cripple Israel's humane army to respond, thus enables them to come out as "heroes." ^[157] & saviours against the Zionist enemy."

As a result of Hezbollah using civilians as human shields including placing weapons near residential areas,^[158] the Aug 4, 2020, explosion damaged over half the city and killed at least 218 people.^[159] Fearing truth will be revealed about Hezbollah's fault, its thugs attacked protesting investigation on Oct 14, 2021. 6 killed, 32 injured.^[160][161]

Subjugation, persecution[edit]

Hezbollah has a long history of persecuting Christians, decries a Lebanese author.^[162]

The writer W. Phares explains on the suffering of civilians, especially since Hezbollah's take over in 2000:

Such takeover by the Jihadist militia was expected to provoke an exodus by thousands of civilians who would have been subjected to Hezbollah’s persecution. However suddenly on May 23, the Israeli Government then under Prime Minister Ehud Barak ordered a quick pull out from the security zone without waiting for the local force, at the time known as ‘South Lebanon Army’ (SLA) to be transferred under the United Nations or to operate as a local force to stop Hezbollah until the UN would decide what to do.

The population of the "security zone" was about 150,000 counting the district of Jezzine; and its local forces were about 3,000 strong. the make up of the population was Christian, Shia and Druse with some Sunni villages to the East. To their north Hezbollah had massed its forces backed by Iranian Pasdaran advisors. Between 1984 and 2000 Hezbollah launched several offensives against the SLA positions but was unable to overrun them permanently.

^[163]

Civil war[edit]

Some of civil war/clashes waged on the Lebanese by the Hezbollah:

In Jan. 2007, clash pits Hezbollah against rule in Lebanon. The police said at least three people died and 100 more were wounded throughout the country in the violence. ^{[164] [165]}

"Rival factions return to arms as Lebanon stares into the abyss" in Nov 2007.^[166]

In May 8, 2008 Clashes erupted as Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah claims 'War',^[167] clashes between Hezbollah and Druze continued in Lebanon for the 5th day, it erupted in Lebanon's northern port city of Tripoli, as fighting between the Hezbollah militia and its rivals grew.^[168][169] The Lebanese army said it will intervene, it will use force from to stop fighting, which brough the overall toll to 81 dead and about 250 wounded. ^{[170] [171]}

In July 2008, fighting among Lebanese government and the Islamic Hezbollah terrrorists categorized as "Sectarian battles," the battles killed six, wounded 50. ^{[172][173][174]}

In 28 Aug 2008, Hezbollah has "brazenly attacked the Lebanese Army" – in its shooting-attack on an army helicopter, killing 1st Lt. Samer Hanna and wounding several others – so say the leaders of Lebanon's pro-democracy movement. This is not the first time Hezbollah has attacked the Lebanese government. But it is one of the boldest attacks to date against the army. Hezbollah kills Lebanese Army Officer. ^[175]

Cheering ISIS attacks on Israel[edit]

Hezbollah welcomed the Umm El Fahm Arabs' ISIS^[176][177] attack in Hadera Mar 27, 2022,^[178][179] murdering two, injuring others, as well as its Iran bosses supported it.^[180]

Hezbollah also welcomed the Beer Sheva ISIS March 22, 2022 attack.^[179]

Global violence[edit]

Hezbollah is another example (like Al Qaeda) of an Islamist insurgency that is both local and transnational. ^[181]

Attack on US, French embassies in Kuwait[edit]

Hezbollah's responsible for U.S. and French embassies attacks in Kuwait in 1983 .^[182] The American embassy in Kuwait was bombed in a series of attacks whose targets also included the French embassy, the control tower at the airport, the country's main oil refinery, and a residential area for employees of the American corporation Raytheon. Six people were killed, including a suicide truck bomber, and more than 80 others were injured. In Kuwait, 17 people were arrested and convicted for participating in the attacks. One of those convicted was Mustafa Youssef Badreddin, a cousin and brother-in-law of one of Hezbollah's senior officers, Imad Mughniyah. After a six-week trial in Kuwait, Badreddin was sentenced to death for his role in the bombings.^[183]

Hijacking Kuwaiti planes[edit]

A year after the 1983 attacks (on US, French targets), Kuwait Airways flight 221 was hijacked wherein the hijackers demanded the release of Islamic militant: 'Al-Dawa 17.' Two US passengers were killed and Iranian police freed the hijackers in Iran where the plane had been diverted. Imad Mugniyah and Hezbollah were accused by US authorities in the hijacking and killings.

In 1988, militants hijacked a second plane, Kuwait Airways Flight 422, with 110 passengers for 16 days. At one point during the hijacking, the plane was diverted to Iran where multiple survivors reportedly believed the original hijackers deplaned and were replaced by a fresh crew of hijackers who were armed with increased gun power.

During the ordeal, the hijackers met with reporters who quoted one as saying upon requesting the refueling of the plane in order to enable the plane to leave Algeria, "We will liquidate our account with Kuwait elsewhere. We don't want to have the massacre in a friendly country." A hijacker was quoted as saying, "Kuwait has to know that we do not fear death." The hijackers demands included the release of Al-Dawa 17.

The plane was diverted to Cyprus where two young Kuwaitis aged 20 and 25 were tortured and then shot. Their dead bodies were dumped on the tarmac of the Cyprus airport.^{[184][185][186]}

Iraq[edit]

Already in November 24, 2003, The New York Times elaborated in an article: "A region inflamed, the hand of Tehran," Hezbollah, in Iraq, that Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shiite group, has established a significant presence in Iraq.^[187]

In 2006. U.S. Officials said: "Hezbollah Training Iraqi Shiite Militia Group." ^[188][189]

The Wall Street Journal wrote (2007) on Iran's Proxy War, The involvement of Hezbollah in Iraq.^[190]

The BBC reported on additional proof, US officials had in 2007 of the link.^[191] In an article on Iran in Iraq, the Washington Post wrote on Iran's Hezbollah soldiers and methods in the war in Iraq.^[192] the CNN reported on a Hezbollah agent played deaf before confessing, the top special operations officer with Lebanon's Hezbollah militia pretended to be deaf and mute when he was captured in Iraq.^[193]

In 2008, there were reports on Hezbollah training Iraqis in Iran^[194] Iraqi president Jalal Talabani charged (May, 2008) Hezbollah interference, in a Baghdad interview, he accused the leader of the Lebanon-based Hezbollah of meddling in Iraq's affairs.^[195]

In May, 2010, the US said that Syria must curb arm shipments to Hezbollah, top US diplomat has urged Syria to do more to prevent arms shipments to the militant Lebanese Hezbollah and stem the flow of militants into Iraq.^[196]

In July 2011, U.S. official charged that militias are using Iranian weapons to target U.S. troops in Iraq.^[197]

Somalia[edit]

The New York Times reported on Hezbollah in Somalia.^[198] From NPR (November 15, 2006), the "U.N. Report ties Somali Islamists to Hezbollah," in an alarming report about the situation in Somalia. ^[199] More than 700 Somali fighters are said to have gone to support and get training from Hezbollah.. ^[200] The Time reported in 2010, on the Somali al-Shabab getting aid from Syria and Iran and is "believed to have formed direct alliances with militant groups elsewhere, including Lebanon's Hizballah."^[201]

Namibia[edit]

There were reports by a human rights organisation in 2011, of jihadists-terrorists: Hezbollah and al-Shabab operating in Namibia.^[202]

Gambia[edit]

Freedom Newspaper (2011): "There is a Hezbollah cartel in Gambia." Explaining: There is a Hezbollah cartel in Banjul [the Gambian capital], who are acting in concert with the country's President Yahya Jammeh to sell arms to the terrorist group's main base in Lebanon, a source reaching the Freedom Newspaper has alleged. The arms deal goes like this: Gambia procures the arms from Iran, and in turn sells these deadly weapons to Hezbollah. Worst part is, that the "Gambian President has been accused of acting in concert with Lebanese alleged Hezbollah supporters." ^{[203][204][205]} This despite a BBC report in 2010 of Gambia cutting ties with the Islamic Republic.^[206]

Senegal[edit]

Senegal has long been a favorite 'fund0raising' hub for the terrorist organization Hezbollah.^[207][208] Worth mentioning that Senegal accused Iran in Feb. 2011 for supplying weapons to separatist rebels that killed its soldiers.^[209]

Afghanistan[edit]

Hezbollah Link in the war in Afghanistan have been found in 2007, as NATO Finds Copy of Hizbullah's Explosives in Afghanistan.^[210] And in 2011 the Wall Street Journal wrote: "Iran Funnels New Weapons to Iraq and Afghanistan."^[211]

Sudan[edit]

The Hezbollah, reportedly, is very supportive of Al-Bashir's genocide in the Sudan. ^[212] From a March 2009 report: "Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah leaders offer support for Sudan's chief."^[213]

Egypt[edit]

In 2009, the BBC reported that Egypt was 'hunting Hezbollah suspects',^[214] prosecutor accused Hezbollah of plotting attacks in Egypt, of sending operatives to Egypt to carry out attacks in the country and to smuggle weapons.^{[215][216] [217]} On Apr 2010 An Egyptian court convicted 26 men of belonging to a Hezbollah cell. ^[218] The Hezbollah Plot exposed Egypt's shared interests with Israel.^[219] Analysts said that the Egypt-Hezbollah standoff dents Egypt-Iran relations.^[220]

Azerbaijan[edit]

Hezbollah plotted embassy attack' in Azerbaijan - was revealed in 2009. A trial under way in Azerbaijan of two Hezbollah members and four Azeris, where prosecutors drew a link between Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror missions. ^[221][222]

Syria[edit]

In March, 2011, at the height of the so-called "Arab spring," Hizbullah and Iran were helping Bashar al-Assad kill protesters.^[223] In May 2011, a report came out: "Hezbollah forces helping Syria in crackdown on protesters." A Lebanese parliament member said "Syrian forces have breached the border with Lebanon; notes fear that Syrian forces will kidnap refugees who fled the government crackdown in Syria."^[224] In August 2011, Syria's youth coalition accused Hezbollah of role in Assad's brutal crackdown.^[225] Indeed, The AP reported (Oct 24, 2011) "Since the uprising.. Syrians have unleashed their anger at Hezbollah over its blunt support for the regime. Some protesters have set fire to the yellow flag of Hezbollah and pictures of Nasrallah."^[226][227]

In November 2011, activists charged Hezbollah in abduction of Syrian activists in Lebanon.^[228] The persecution caused fear for those seeking exile in Lebanon.^[229]

In March 2014, Hezbollah and Syrian Army drove out Islamist Syrian rebels from the ancient Christian town of Ma'aloula^[230]

Bahrain[edit]

In June 1996, the Bahraini government said it has uncovered a coup plot by an Iranian-backed group, Hezbollah-Bahrain.^[231]

In April 2011, Bahrain government accused Hezbollah of aiding opposition groups.^[232] Indeed, Tehran has been seeking to destabilize and annex Bahrain for decades. It established a military wing for Hezbollah in Bahrain, and in 2011, its thugs incited "protests" in that country.^[233]

In November 2011, Bahrain linked terror suspects to Iran.^[234][235] Al Arabiya TV reported that Bahraini MP said "Hezbollah, Iran behind the terrorist cell" which planned to murder prominent Gulf figures.^[236]

Europe[edit]

Hijacking TWA flight[edit]

Among the highlighted terror crimes of the Hezbollah is the: TWA Hijacking, June 14, 1985: A Trans-World Airlines flight '847' was hijacked en route to Rome from Athens by two Lebanese Hizballah terrorists, and forced to fly to Beirut. The eight crew members and 145 passengers were held for seventeen days, during which one American hostage, a U.S. Navy sailor, was murdered. After being flown twice to Algiers, the aircraft was returned to Beirut after Israel released 435 Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners. ^{[237][238][239][240][241][242]}

The plane was on a scheduled flight from Cairo to Athens. Hijackers—the two terrorists were brandishing grenades and pistols—forced it to Beirut and twice went to Algiers before returning to Beirut releasing most of the (non-American) 152 passengers along the way, and murdering U.S. Navy diver Robert Stethem, one of the passengers—beating him, torturing, shooting him in the temple and dumping his body on the tarmac of Beirut International Airport (June 15).

On June 30, Hezbollah released 39 American passengers they held captive for 17 days.

German authorities arrested Mohammed Ali Hammadi and convicted him of Stethem's murder in 1987. Hammadi was paroled in 2005 and returned to Beirut, where he is believed to be living today (2009).^{[243][244] [245]}

From a letter, Robert's brother Kenneth has sent to president George W. Bush in 2006 as Robert's murderer was released by the German government (and fled to Lebanon) in an apparent exchange for a German hostage in Iraq:

While Robert was being dragged to the door, he knew that all he had to do in order to live was to cry into that transmitter, but he wouldn't do it. He would not give in to the demands of the terrorists. He would not allow the honor and dignity of America to be intimidated by the fear and pain that Hammadi and terrorists everywhere represent. Robert sacrificed his life in order to protect our liberty and defend our way of life.^[246]

Dowining of a French airline[edit]

The Los Angeles Times wrote in November 1, 1989 that a Palestinian group allied with Hezbollah is linked to a plane crash.

Specialists have linked a terrorist bomb that destroyed a French airliner last month (Oct, 1989) in Africa to a Palestinian group allied with the pro-Iranian Hezbollah, the newspaper Figaro said... Working with fragments of a suitcase found in the wreckage of the airliner, specialists in Paris' central police laboratory found similarities to a terrorist bomb that exploded at a Paris department store almost five years ago. The February 1985 attack at the department store resulted in the arrest of Habib Maammar, a Tunisian member of a group directed by the Palestinian bomb maker Abu Ibrahim.

^[247]

Terror attack on French department stores[edit]

Paris' Boulevard Haussmann was targeted in 1985 and 1986 during attacks on Paris department stores, many of them claimed by the Lebanese Hezbollah militants, which left 13 dead and 303 injured. Terrorists from Hezbollah, set off bombs in both Printemps and Galeries Lafayette in December 1985, injuring 43 people.^{[248] [249]}

Workers at Printemps in December 1985 when Hezbollah bombs exploded on the ground floor there and in the Galeries Lafayette department store, recalled the attack which led to a bomb scare in Dec. 2008, when explosives were found there. ^[250][251]

Network[edit]

Although Europe has recently been exempt from Hezbollah attacks, numerous intelligence experts and officials assert that the group's operatives maintain cells across the continent. German authorities, in particular, have expressed concern about the presence of several hundred Hezbollah members in their country.

Reports of an increase in Hezbollah recruiting have emerged in eastern European countries, specifically Slovakia, Bosnia and Russia . And over the past few years, Hezbollah has sent operatives with European identification papers to Israel in order to collect intelligence for future attacks. Efforts by European authorities to curtail Hezbollah's influence have included France 's 2004 ban of Hezbollah's television station and chief propaganda machine, Al- Manar, from that nation's satellite television providers. Spain and the United States have made similar moves. ^[20]

Attempts of attacks between 1988-1996[edit]

Other attacks researchers have attributed to Hezbollah include an unsuccessful attempt to carry out attacks in Cyprus in 1988; a plot, foiled by Spanish police, to carry out attacks against Jewish targets in Europe in 1989; an unsuccessful attempt to detonate a car bomb outside a Jewish community building in Romania in 1992; and a planned 1996 attack, also foiled by police, on an Israeli institution in Paris. ^[252]

Attempts of 'massive-attacks' in 2009[edit]

In 2009, there was a report of a "Massive Hezbollah Terror Attack Against Israeli Target In Europe," that has been thwarted.^[253]

Latin America[edit]

From a US statement in 1995 titled "Latin American Terrorism backed by Iran"

"We believe that Hizballah activities, which include narcotics and smuggling as well as terrorism, are supported in the tri-border area of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. The organization is known to have cells in Colombia and Venezuela as well. Hizballah cells are concealed amidst the large Shia' Muslim population of Lebanese origin which has settled in the tri-border area." ^[254]

Research concludes:

Hezbollah’s advantages in the drug and counterfeiting system:

The organization constitutes a power center among the Shi’ite population in the Bekaa Valley, where these “industrial” centers are located.

Hezbollah controls the drugs and counterfeit money pipelines, including smuggling routes to Israel via southern Lebanon.

The organization has close ties with Lebanese communities abroad and operational infrastructures worldwide, including international crime and smuggling centers in Latin America, Southeast Asia and the former Soviet Union.

Hezbollah exploits its relations with Iran to obtain technological assistance and training (of a quality that terrorist organizations typically don’t have access to) that enable the organization to maintain an infrastructure that produces sophisticated counterfeit money and medications.

Hezbollah’s criminal activities are intended to promote several important goals of the organization:

The creation of a significant independent fundraising channel, in addition to the financing from Iran.

The use of professional criminal elements to improve the organization's operational capabilities in Israel, the Arab countries, and the international arena.

Damage the social and economic fabric of Israel and Western countries, to weaken their struggle against Iran and Hezbollah.^[255]

Venezuela[edit]

US designated two Hezbollah operatives in Venezuela as terrorists- Hezbollah has used the tri-border region between Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay to recruit, train, raise and launder money, and plot attacks. ^[256]

Venezuela's Hugo Chavez (Called a dictator ^{[257] [258][259]} & his regime a dictatorship,^[260] and has close ties with the Mullahcracy theocracy dictatorship of the Islamic Republic of Iran ^[261][262]) has publicly supported a Hezbollah candidate for the Lebanese government, he was a supporter of Hezbollah during the 2006 war in Lebanon; afterward, the group placed signs in Lebanon proclaiming "Gracias, Chavez!" He openly invited Hezbollah members to live in Venezuela. Venezuela's embassies in the Middle East have been used to launder Hezbollah's dirty money, per investigation by the U.S. Treasury Dept In January 2010, Israeli intelligence released information that Chavez shipped heavy arms to Hezbollah the year before; the ship originated in Venezuela, stopped in Iran and docked in Lebanon. ^[263]

Chavez had a close relationship with Iran's President Ahmedinejad. The two leaders regularly visited each other. In 2007, they instituted weekly flights between Tehran and Caracas. Interestingly, the aircraft stops one place - Damascus, Syria. Journalists and others have tried to book a seat on the aircraft and have been denied. The passenger and cargo manifests are kept secret.

In an article (2009) in Forbes Magazine it was discussed how an attack by Israel against Gaza could be fought asymmetrically by Hezbollah - with help from Venezuela and Chavez. ^[264] Worth mentioning (asides from Chavez's "personal" war with "imperialist" US) that Venezuela, has a large Lebanese-Arab community,^[265] many of them supported, financed Chavez's presidency (including Arab on Margarita island). There's also a significant concentration of this community in the area bordering with Colombia (Maicao). Jews have been attacked.^[266]

From a (2000) report on "Antisemitism And Racism," responses to the intifada in the media, in wall graffiti and by Arab organizations in Venezuela such as FEARAB (Arab Federation for Latin America) were directed at de-legitimizing the State of Israel, which was accused of causing the Palestinian tragedy. The radical language used against Israel was not infrequently antisemitic, for example, the comparison of Israeli soldiers with Nazis,^[267] described (in 2009) as "the New Hero in the Arab World.",^[268] moreover, Hezbollah's Nasrallah said: Arabs have much to learn from Chavez.,^[269] he was even exhorting his countrymen to return to their "Arab roots," Chavez has paid state visits to rouge-Arab-Islamic states like: Libya, Iraq and Iran and signed a series of mutual-cooperation.,^[270] it has been said that "The Arabs have appreciated Chavez's declarations of support, and the Arab League has promised to lobby in behalf of Venezuela in the United Nations.",^[271] a defector even accused: 'Chavez gave money to Al Qaeda.'^[272] In an alarming report, the ADL wrote (2008) "Chavez's Venezuela: The Jewish Community Under Threat" on praise for Chavez and his anti-Israel actions echoed across the Arab and Muslim, Chavez Fosters Atmosphere of Intimidation and Fear for Venezuelan Jewish community.,^[273] and that the Chavez Regime is 'Fostering Anti-Semitism, hate and Supporting Radical Islamists, which led to a rise in Anti-Semitism in Venezuela.,^[274] Intelligence sources say Chavez is withholding information on Arabs, some of whom were important financial contributors to terrorism.,^[275] and has illegally given more than 270 Venezuelan passports to Arab extremists.^[276]) Antisemitic Hezbollah first to spread via its Al Manar, in the Middle East on Sep 18, 2001, its libel about 9/11 Islamic attacks where jihadists butchered nearly 3,000.^[277]

Maduro's aid, Arab-Lebanese Tarek Saab, has ben sought by US authorities for acting the actual Hezbollah link. Narco terror, laundering money for jihadists.^[278]

Colombia[edit]

From a 2020 interview with an expert:

Q. What is the history of Hezbollah’s presence in Colombia? A: Colombia is one of the countries in Latin America that has had a presence of Hezbollah for some time. The first wave came through Lebanese migration to the Caribbean cost of Colombia, where large Lebanese communities have formed and have been infiltrated by Hezbollah. Ground zero for this infiltration started in Maicao, on the border with Venezuela. There is clear evidence backing up this point.   Q: Does this necessarily imply a link to terrorist activity? A: We have to remember the attack on the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA) in Buenos Aires in 1994. Colombia is connected to this attack through the planning and logistics of the operation. Operatives moved in and out of South America to plan and carry out the attack and the explosives used to blow up the building came from the Middle East, passing through Colombia to get to the Tri-Border Area. Q: Although this has never been published, correct? A: You are right, it hasn’t. But Argentine intelligence officials that investigated the AMIA case, long before the case was given to special prosecutor Alberto Nisman, confirmed this.  It’s in the 1,500-page classified report from Argentine intelligence that I have read and studied. Q: Is there more that connects Colombia to this attack that killed 85 people?

A: The operative that prepared the logistics for the attack, the communications, and the movement of the explosives is a native Colombian, his name is Samuel Salman el Reda el Reda, who was born in San Andrés. His birth name is Salman Raouf Salman. All of this is public information, identified by the late Alberto Nisman. ^[279]

Attack on Israeli embassy in Argentina[edit]

Hezbollah & Iran attacked the Israel's embassy in Argentina in 1992, in which 29 people were killed.^{[280][281][282][283]}

Attack on a Jewish center (Amia) in Argentina[edit]

Hezbollah and Iran both are also charged, via clear evidence, by Argentinian court, terror bombing on the (civilian building) Amia 'Jewish-Argentine Mutual Association Community Cente' which killed 85 and wounded 300.,^{[284][285][286][287]} furthermore, Argentina accuses Iran of meddling in probe of the 1994 Jewish center bombing,^[288] the investigation finds Iranian, Hezbollah and Syrian involvement.^[289]

Journalist Shieff, detailed a report: "How Iran planned the Buenos Aires blast - 1994."^[290]

In Aug. 2021, the butcher of Tehran, Raisi, appointed interior minister Ahmad Vahidi who's sought by Interpol for the bombing.^[291]

Bombing in Panama[edit]

July 19, 1994 Panama, A suicide bomber reportedly linked to Hezbollah detonated a bomb on a commuter plane in Colón, Panama, killing all 21 people aboard, including 12 Jewish businessmen, at least four of whom were Israeli, and three U.S. citizens.^{[252][254][292][293][294][295][296]} Earlier, on July 18, a bomb killed 95 people at a Jewish center in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The next day, an explosion on a commuter plane in Panama killed all 21 people aboard, inclding 12 Jews. An anti-Israel group in Lebanon had indirectly claimed responsibility for both attacks.^[297]

Experts on terrorism make the link, after the Lebanese newspaper An- Nahar published a communique from an organization calling itself Ansar Allah taking responsibility for the AMIA bombing as well as the bombing over Panama of an Alas Chiricanas passenger airliner.

As it turns out, the name Ansar Allah turned out to be one of the many fictitious names that Hezbollah has used to claim responsibility for its attacks. Moreover, experience has shown that Hezbollah has habitually adopted this method for the clear purpose of avoiding blame for the various actions it has carried out, except for those realized in Lebanon where the conflict has taken the form of a conventional war.^[298]

From the LA Times, Aug. 4, 1994 "Hezbollah: The Latin connection."

Bombings in Argentina and Panama prompt concern over the radical group's growing presence in the region. Experts say lax security and porous borders create a prime base for terrorists.^[299]

Chile[edit]

Iran, its Hezbollah and Quds Force intensified its presence since Gabriel Boric's having been elected.^[300]

Profile of Hezbollah supporter: racist Ben Norton[edit]

Radical racist Ben Norton, long supporter of Islamic republic of Iran, its terrorist Hezbollah proxy, and the brutal Asad regime in Syria, has been called out in August 2020, as he denounced Arab Lebanese who denounced Hezbollah after (July-2020) Beirut explosion, as "sellouts". A white Westerner who considers himself a liberal is saying that Lebanese people who disagree with his rabid hate of Israel are “sellouts” for hating Hezbollah more. This is a typical, racist attitude — that the only Arabs allowed to have an opinion are those whose opinions match a leftist white man. The Grayzone’s apologetics for the Hezbollah terror group are something to behold. ^[301]

Ben Norton is a Stalin apologist. ^[302][303]

On Jun 25, 2019 Norton protested the uniqueness of the Holocaust on twitter. (Acting as if he doesn't know the exceptionality of the Holocaust, the extraordinary historical unprecedented and still unparalleled, from planning to annihilate an entire people, till the enormous systematic attempts towards this goal, and the sheer numbers results). A twitter under user name Kaveh, an Arab replied to it: "non Jews don't count", (as of Sept.2020) it's still without objection from Ben Norton.

Even left wing Arab author [44] exposed falsifier Ben Norton:

Recently, however, Grayzone devoted to the job of smearing me a very long piece written by Ben Norton ....Since Ben Norton too may be mistaken for a genuine ...reporter, I decided to make an exception this time and take the trouble to show how the Grayzone piece fully belongs to the Stalinist school of falsification... The lies in the Grayzone piece start blatantly from the onset, in the worst sensationalist tradition...

Ben Norton is a BDS supporter, a shoddy (so-called) "reporter" for Salon.^[304]

Norton is as radical as they come. In September 2 2020 he tweetted:

Who else saw this coming? Nathan Robinson is yet another staunchly anti-Marxist "libertarian socialist" / anarcho-liberal who is now openly endorsing right-wing war criminal Joe Biden for president. Trump and Biden are almost politically indistinguishable on most major issues. The writer there, on the extreme, anti Biden, Ben Norton on Twitter: “ Who else saw this coming? Nathan Robinson is yet another staunchly anti-Marxist “libertarian socialist” / anarcho-liberal who is now openly endorsing right-wing war criminal Joe Biden for president. Trump and Biden are almost politically indistinguishable on most major issues”

Some of Ben Norton’s 2020 articles (with his co “activist” Blumenthal) via his Grayzone, including sugarcoating Soleimani, lying Hezbollah and Asad regime don't target civilians.

The Grayzone - Jan 6, 2020:

Iraqi PM reveals Soleimani was on peace mission when assassinated, exploding Trump’s lie o‘imminent attacks’

The Grayzone - Jan 7, 2020:

Iranian and Hezbollah leaders oppose attacking civilians as Trump threatens to bomb cultural sites

The Grayzone - Jan 8 2020:

Who are the real terrorists? Iran/Hezbollah vs. Trump

The Grayzone - May 13, 2020:

In banning Hezbollah, Germany responds to far-right, US and Israeli pressure – not any security threat

2021 Update[edit]

Analysis in Aug/2021:^[305]

Contrary to Hezbollah's image as an all-powerful organization in Lebanon, the Arab press exposes cracks in the oiled Shiite military machine operating in Lebanon for 40 years under Tehran's order: severe economic crisis, erosion after fighting in Syria, conflicts with other ethnic groups in Lebanon, blood feuds between Shiite and Shiite tribes and more.

... Financial crisis Hezbollah's main financiers in Tehran have suffered severe sanctions in the United States in recent years, as well as an economic boycott of the Gulf and Saudi principalities. Entire areas of Lebanon are out of military control. The poor Palestinian refugee camps in the south are dangerous crime scenes run by terrorist organizations, such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, where Hezbollah exploits the occasional rocket launch on Israel. Palestinians absorbing the IDF response.

New enemy: the Druze

A few days ago, Druze from the town of Shuya in the Hazbaya area of ​​southern Lebanon attacked Hezbollah rocket launchers that entered their village and confiscated the organization's launcher. The message is that the Druze are not ready to participate in Hezbollah's game and be a human shield for the Shiite organization. Hezbollah claimed that its squad had arrived in the village by mistake. The intensity of the anger of the Druze in the village, who almost lynched one of the organization's activists, demonstrates how much Druze hatred of Hezbollah. The Druze are angry about Hezbollah's attempt in recent years to recruit their brothers, the young Druze in southern Syria (Suida), to fight against Israel. The Druze want to remain neutral in regional conflicts. In response to the incident, Hezbollah operatives prevented Druze vegetable traders from selling their goods in Sidon and called them "unclean" and "collaborators with the Zionists."

Blood revenge

A new problem Hezbollah faces is blood feuds between tribes and families in its areas of control. This problem is exacerbated by two main reasons: the economic crisis and the lack of governance. In the absence of a law enforcement system in Lebanon, families are taking the law into their own hands. About a year ago, a vicious circle began that only widened between two Shiite families in the northern Lebanon Valley, Ja'far and Shemetz. These families are fighting for control of the smuggling crossings between Lebanon and Syria, a source of income mainly from drugs. Hezbollah is unable to contain the conflict, which is increasing the number of deaths each month. Hezbollah has also been embroiled in blood feuds between Shiites and Sunnis. This week, members of the Sunni Rasan family avenged the murder of the boy Hassan Zaher (14), a member of their family who was murdered by a Hezbollah operative a year ago. In August 2020, Hezbollah hung signs of Ashura (Shiite mourning day in memory of Hussein bin Ali, grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad) in the Sunni town of Khaleda near Beirut, sparking local protests over the provocation. Hezbollah operatives fired on protesters, killing the boy. Hezbollah (which is known to be above the law) refused the family's demand to hold a trial for Ali without the boy's killer. The boy's brother Hassan murdered Shevli this week during a wedding he attended. During the funeral that was organized by Hezbollah, the convoy went through a provocative act in the town of Khaleda, apparently contrary to Hezbollah's instructions. The townspeople stormed the convoy and eliminated three more activists from the organization. It is now doubtful whether Hezbollah will succeed in preventing Shiite families from avenging the deaths of their sons and there is a danger that the cycle of blood feuds will only widen.

Hatred for the Iranian occupation

Lebanon has not enjoyed real independence for many years. It suffered from army invasions and civil wars. It suffered from an Israeli occupation, a Syrian occupation and now an Iranian occupation. Hezbollah is the most hated organization in Lebanon. In the current economic crisis all the accusing fingers are pointed at it. The organization is affected by all the disasters that have occurred in recent years in the country and led to the current crisis: Hariri's assassination, the entanglement in the war in Syria, the government's dysfunction, the economic boycott of Lebanon and lack of foreign aid, the Beirut port explosion, unnecessary wars against Israel. If there were elements in the past who saw Hezbollah as a defender of Lebanon, today most Lebanese understand that the organization is in fact a tool for realizing Iranian goals at the expense of Lebanon's economy and security. Hezbollah cannot deal with the economic crisis in its ranks. Nasrallah's promises to bring cheap Iranian fuel are empty. Hezbollah fails to curb its activists who act as masters of the country and provoke Sunnis and Druze. It should be remembered that the Shiite community is the poorest in Lebanon. Therefore, Hezbollah is sitting on a social pressure cooker and in the absence of a solution it may be seen as the main culprit in the crisis experienced by the community.

The shooting a few days ago of Hezbollah and its metamorphoses in the Sidon area over the areas of Kiryat Shmona and the Shebaa Farms was intended to drag Israel into the war against Lebanon, so that Hezbollah could once again appear to the Lebanese as an organization that defends their country. But Israel did not fall into this trap and reacted with restraint.

See: Druze vs Hezbollah (2021).

2022 Uodate[edit]

In Mar 2022:^[306]

The Lebanese channel al-Jadid conducted an interesting poll yesterday under the question "What is your position on Hezbollah's weapons?". Out of more than 34,000 participants, 73 percent answered "We are in favor of its dissolution because it goes beyond legitimacy (outside state institutions)", 26 percent answered that they are in favor of leaving it because it is the weapon of resistance [sic].

In Mar 2022:^[307]

A UN-backed tribunal has found two Hezbollah members guilty on appeal for the 2005 death of former Lebanese prime minister Rafic Hariri, saying both were involved in the bombing that killed him.

Naturally:^[308]

Hassan Nasrallah, the head of the Hezbollah movement, refused to hand over any of the suspects or to recognize the UN-backed court, which has issued an international warrant for the arrest of Ayyash.

A 2022 repory showed, Jihad in Latin America increased in recent years: Illicit activities in the region fund Hezbollah Even though jihad is such a foreign concept for Latin America, jihadist organizations are indeed present in the region. Whike it grew especially since "bromance" – between then-Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez and his contemporaneous Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. And while in the 1990s it was more of a form of direct terror attacks, recent connections' objectives are:

1. to collect intelligence on soft targets that Israel or the United States have in Latin America, a region where most people follow the Catholic faith. 2. to be involved in all illicit activities in the region, such as smuggling, drug trafficking, falsification of documents and money laundering. It "take place in areas such as the tripartite border between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, the border between Colombia and Venezuela close to the city of Maicao, or even in the Chetumal region between Mexico and Belize." As there are "suitable regions to be the focus of groups such as Hezbollah and other jihadist organizations, to proliferate or finance themselves.” ^[309]

See also[edit]

• Project Cassandra

Related topic[edit]

• Arafat, links in Latin America

External links[edit]

• Hezbollah builds a Western base, From inside South America's Tri-border area, Iran-linked militia targets U.S. By Pablo Gato and Robert Windrem, NBC News, May 9, 2007. Retrieved from MSNBC.com June 4, 2007.

References[edit]

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