To answer an anonymous question

As you can well notice you have not identified these ‘armed individuals’, nor did you specify where this context is set. If you want me to give you a context to the armed forces of the Hezbollah then what you have wrote is – and I can say it without fear of contradiction – not something that exists on the devastated land of reality.

Nonetheless this can give me a pretext to make a quick – to be developed – description of this ‘terrorist’ group the world wants to disarm.

Here is an on-the-ground version of BBC’s ‘Who are the Hezbollah’:

In 1982 Israel invaded Lebanon leaving its common stain of destruction all over the country. This operation which was led by Ariel Sharon was supposed to be aimed at getting the PLO out if the country and was supposed to be called the Litani operation (litany is a river in southern Lebanon which was supposed to be the limit of the invasion and talks about repeating this operation are now in vogue). However, Sharon had the ambition to occupy Beirut so he went on until he got into the city and of course the civilian casualties were far higher than this year’s invasion – the invasion lasted 4 months.

After many days and more massacres (the massacre of Sabra and Shatila in which more than 1000 Palestinian women and children and elderly were killed was one of the highlights of the invasion and Sharon was supposed to be on trial for war crimes related to this massacre in Belgium but unfortunately for the victims and fortunately for him he got into a coma) the national resistance movement was launched and was mainly formed by the communist and other leftist groups. However another resistance was also forming, it was the Hezbollah; they started with some spectacular operations like blasting the American Marines HQ and the Israeli army headquarters in the southern city of Tyr and did many suicide bombings against the occupying forces. It was the birth of a new form of resistance inspired by religion and the Iranian revolution.

The Hezbollah was not a political group, nor was it a foreign force, it was formed by the poor Shiite villagers who had their villages occupied and pillaged. After the civil war had ended the new era of the party began – the era of Hassan Nasrallah who became secretary general of the party after the late Abbas el Moussawi was assassinated by Israel. The Hezbollah gained huge popularity due to their credibility compared to other Lebanese parties and to their efficiency in helping those in need of help: they built schools, hospitals, colleges, and helped organize farmers and villagers to make better use of their resources. Another reason why the Hezbollah were popular is the fact that the Shiites of Lebanon had been a marginalized part of Lebanese society and politics until the end of the civil war and the Taef accord which gave them a presence in the political life of the country. The Lebanese political system always revolved around Sunnites, Druze and Maronites, the Shiites were the poor rural population in the south of the country usually subject to Israeli attacks from now and then. The Hezbollah gave them a source of relief and a state within the state, protecting them from Israeli attacks and eventually liberating the occupied land of the south.

One thing that must be pointed out is the fact that the Hezbollah did not participate in the civil war – they were preoccupied with fighting their own war against the Israelis who remained in Lebanon until the spring of 2000.

As for their armed presence, they do not terrorize the Lebanese population whether Shiite or not, they are known to be the most respectable armed forces in the country, and there are many different armed forces in Lebanon (basically even after the civil war was over all the parties kept a certain amount of arms and armed individuals). Discipline and respect is one of their best qualities and if I am to describe some personal encounters it would become too long an essay. As for killing people or shooting at people this is simply nonsense and the records of homicide and diverse shootings in Lebanon can do a better job proving so than I can. During the whole period of relative peace in Lebanon the Hezbollah never used their arms to forward any political or social benefits. That is when you walk in Beirut you will never find an armed Hezbollah individual in sight – however it is true that in their headquarters armed guards are always present, however this is not regarded and should not be regarded as a form of terrorizing civilians. As these guards will not harass you even if you were carrying a bottle of Vodka and going to the building just in front of the headquarters to get drunk at your friend’s place (which by the way does not exist anymore).

The Hezbollah had one internal conflict with the other Shiite group Amal in the early nineties which became a war of influence in the south, however this is something one cannot discredit their whole behavior for.

Another thing one should know about this organization is that its leadership is not summarized in Hassan Nasrallah but in a complex structure of decision making which encompasses many boards or councils which are responsible for the different sectors of work of the party. People from diverse domains of expertise most of which are very highly educated individuals in science, humanities and theology represent the high council of the party. Decision making is not in the hands of the leader but in the hands of specific councils.

As a personality Nasrallah however represents a phenomenon similar to the Jamal Abdel Nasser phenomenon in Egypt. He is a highly skilled orator and a very smart politician who can be as good in speaking to a huge crowd as he can be in a Television interview. His charismatic smile, his moderate speech and his amazing sense of rhetoric makes of him a phenomenon that overcame the limits of his Shiite environment to become an Arab figure of resistance and heroism par excellence.

In short the armed presence of the Hezbollah is not a social issue as much as it is a political one related to the fact that this party has been able to transcend Lebanese influence to become a regional power of resistance that has influenced Hamas to try to copy the example. The Hezbollah has to be disarmed because simply it has made Lebanon a country that can defend itself against its southern neighbor.