Many people today, watching from television screens the events taking place in the world, do not always understand what is at stake. For example, journalists often pronounce the name Hezbollah. What kind of organization this is, however, they do not always mention. Therefore, the viewers are not fully convinced of the events taking place in the East Asian region of Eurasia.
We will try to understand this issue and consider in detail the essence and history of the origin of Hezbollah.
The name and main essence of the organization
Hezbollah is a Shiite militant group that is located in Lebanon.
Translated from Arabic, its name tells us that this is a kind of “party of Allah” (the line is taken from the Koran, which provides evidence that those who are members of the party of Allah will defeat the enemies).
This political and religious movement sets as its main goal the victory of the Shiite direction of Islam and the creation of a state like Iran on the territory of Lebanon. This ideology was formulated in the writings of Ruhollah Khomeini, who led the Shiite revolution in Iran in the last century.
Organization History
The Hezbollah group arose in 1982, and now it is 33 years old. The organization “Guardians of the Islamic Revolution” helped its creation. In this region, both anti-American and anti-Israeli sentiments were very strong.
For the first time as a political organization, Hezbollah participated in the 1992 election. Then she managed to get a large number of seats in the local parliament. It first showed strength in 2000, when it took control of southern Lebanon, taking the place of the pro-Western Lebanese army and pushing it back.
Thanks to its active work and the support of the Shiite population, Hezbollah was able to take its significant place in the political arena of the Lebanese state.
Tensions remain between Hezbollah and the State of Israel. Both of them consider each other as political opponents and openly quarrel among themselves, which is manifested in skirmishes between Hezbollah troops and Israeli government forces.
This organization had 4 religious leaders. Currently (since 1992), this post is occupied by Hassan Nasrallah.
Attitude to this organization in the world
In some countries of the Western world, this organization is considered terrorist (we are talking about the United States, Britain, Australia and Canada). Also, the Hezbollah group is recognized as terrorist in Israel and the Persian Gulf countries, which are allies of the Anglo-Saxons.
This attitude is understandable if we consider it from the point of view of the interests of these states. The fact is that if the Hezbollah leaders achieve their goals, this will strengthen the position of Shiites in the Middle East region and weaken the influence of Western countries on this region. In addition, members of this group proclaim one of their goals to strengthen the sovereignty of the state and the expulsion from Lebanon of foreign capital and foreign companies.
Hezbollah enjoys the support of Iran and Syria. The forces of this organization are fighting, supporting the government troops of President B. Assad.
Organization Performance Assessments
Those who know about the activities of Hezbollah’s organization, what kind of movement this is, is understandable. Of course, an understanding of this issue depends on the ideological attitude of people. Therefore, some consider this group a liberation movement, while others declare it a terrorist organization.
Hence there are so different assessments of Hezbollah’s activities that are present in the media of different countries.
As for Russia, in our country the Lebanese Hezbollah is not considered a terrorist organization. Unlike the countries of the Western world, the Russian Federation does not seek to intervene in the affairs of the Shiite-Sunni conflict (although mainly Sunni Muslims live in our country). The official position of the Russian Foreign Ministry is that Hezbollah is the legitimate political force of Lebanon, whose members are represented in parliament.
The countries of the East have different attitudes towards this political force. So, in Egypt, it is seen not just as an undesirable group, but as a terrorist force. Therefore, the leader of Hezbollah was declared by the Egyptian authorities on the international wanted list.
Hezbollah organizational and military structure
Today, this organization has a clear and fairly well-coordinated system of relations. It is based (as is customary among Shiites) on the supremacy of religious leaders.
Hezbollah, according to Israeli intelligence, has 10 thousand soldiers, some of which are in reserve. This group has enough weapons that can cause significant damage to Israel (up to missile attacks on this state).
There is even information published in the press in 2012, according to which Hezbollah has weapons transferred to it by the Syrian government.
Understanding the meaning of the movement in the Western media
The modern Western press writes a lot about the Hezbollah movement. What does this give readers of these countries? Most likely, the information inspires fear of this movement.
So, most often it is said that the purpose of this group is to export the Islamic revolution in the West. It is emphasized that the leaders of the organization breathe hatred for America and the satellite countries. The terrorist nature of Hezbollah, the number of its militants in the countries of the East, ready to battle with the civilian population of European countries, is indicated.
In general, the Western media portray a purely negative image of this movement.
Own media
Members of Hezbollah attach great importance to the work of the propaganda department. Therefore, they have a network of their own media. Among them are the Mayak satellite TV channel (in Arabic, Almanar) and the Svet radio station (Alnur).
In a number of countries in the Western world, broadcasting of this television channel and radio station is prohibited. In addition, the members of this organization are trying to attract young people through active work in social networks, videos, propaganda speeches and even through the creation of special computer games, the heroes of which fight the Israeli army and defeat the Israelis, gaining eternal heavenly bliss.
