THE MIRACLE OF HEZBOLLAH:
By Ghassan Kadi
11 November 2012
It would be rather difficult, if not impossible, to even try to fathom the extent of despair that befell upon Lebanon after the 1982 Israeli invasion.
It had already been seven long years into the dreadful civil war, and personally like most other Lebanese, I was a refugee in my own land running from an area to a safer area after having lost home and its contents as ear...ly as 1976.
It was a choice perhaps for me to stay in the Israeli-occupied part of Lebanon in 1982 because I was tired of running away, and this time, I had the “real enemy” on the ground and I had to make a stand and not leave.
The capital Beirut fell into the hands of Israel and the smell of death hovered over the whole of Lebanon in the wake of the Sabra and Chatila massacres. There was not a single glimmer of hope of any Israeli withdrawal and life under the Israeli occupation, the check points, the long long queues etc…was not worth living.
Situations like these, the daily bread of the people of Palestine, are the breeding grounds for frustration and suicide bombing.
The Israelis controlled everything. Their trucks rolled in every morning carrying mega tons of Israeli goods into the local markets, and no Lebanese goods, including perishable fruits and vegetables were allowed to be sold before all Israeli goods were sold first
The Israelis were also very busy bringing in more humiliation to the people of South Lebanon. Hooded informers were used to identify sympathizers of the PLO and taken into custody. Many people who were never associated with the PLO were taken. Tens of thousands of young men were taken to the Ansar prison camp and the strife of the people was getting worse by the day.
All of that had to happen after two decades of random Israeli shelling of South Lebanese villages as well as many abuses of PLO members. That abuse was so grave to the degree that some southern Lebanese initially greeted Israeli troops. They soon realized of course that they are now dealing with the real culprit.
When the Lebanese Resistance started to make its presence known, it had the hallmarks of a small group of people who were trying to make the occupation a bit difficult for the Israelis, no more and no less. But as this Resistance grew and grew and was fostered by Hezbollah, it started to cause real pain to Israel. But even by the mid 80’s, it was still totally unfathomable that from the ashes, a mighty, organized, highly sophisticated army was on the rise, one that was capable for scoring victory on Israel.
The rest was history, and it was the Hezbollah wins in 2000 and 2006 that had a great inspiration for Gaza and the leaders of Gaza. Even after the recent rift between Hamas and Hezbollah (based on their different views about Syria), Hamas leaders could not but take their hats off for Hezbollah’s ability to send a drone deep into Israel.
As a matter of fact, even the Intifidas in the West Bank were inspired by the Resistance in South Lebanon. This is not taking any credit away from our Palestinians brothers, and brothers they are. The borders that separate Lebanon from Syria, Jordan and Palestine were drawn by Sykes-Picot, the British and French colonials; not the people. We, the people of the Levant do not believe in those divisions.
Love it or hate it, there has been nothing usual about Hezbollah. Those who know the Arab world well and understand the extent of despair and lack of confidence that dominated the Arab psyche after the 1967 war would not and could not expect any phenomenon such as Hezbollah to happen so soon in the Middle East.
And when Nasrallah says that he would not have been able to reach his achievements without the help of Syria and the Syrian government, his words are not to be taken lightly. For those who support Palestine and its cause, they must know such facts.
And when the Prince of Qatar is finally unable to continue to hide behind the façade he is creating about Gaza and wipes his hands clean, and Hamas needs real friends, Hezbollah and Syria will be there.
And for Arabs who see those facts in their own eyes, see how despair and hopelessness were turned into victories almost overnight and yet they do not recognize it and salute Hezbollah, they should lower their heads with shame instead.
11 November 2012
It would be rather difficult, if not impossible, to even try to fathom the extent of despair that befell upon Lebanon after the 1982 Israeli invasion.
It had already been seven long years into the dreadful civil war, and personally like most other Lebanese, I was a refugee in my own land running from an area to a safer area after having lost home and its contents as ear...ly as 1976.
It was a choice perhaps for me to stay in the Israeli-occupied part of Lebanon in 1982 because I was tired of running away, and this time, I had the “real enemy” on the ground and I had to make a stand and not leave.
The capital Beirut fell into the hands of Israel and the smell of death hovered over the whole of Lebanon in the wake of the Sabra and Chatila massacres. There was not a single glimmer of hope of any Israeli withdrawal and life under the Israeli occupation, the check points, the long long queues etc…was not worth living.
Situations like these, the daily bread of the people of Palestine, are the breeding grounds for frustration and suicide bombing.
The Israelis controlled everything. Their trucks rolled in every morning carrying mega tons of Israeli goods into the local markets, and no Lebanese goods, including perishable fruits and vegetables were allowed to be sold before all Israeli goods were sold first
The Israelis were also very busy bringing in more humiliation to the people of South Lebanon. Hooded informers were used to identify sympathizers of the PLO and taken into custody. Many people who were never associated with the PLO were taken. Tens of thousands of young men were taken to the Ansar prison camp and the strife of the people was getting worse by the day.
All of that had to happen after two decades of random Israeli shelling of South Lebanese villages as well as many abuses of PLO members. That abuse was so grave to the degree that some southern Lebanese initially greeted Israeli troops. They soon realized of course that they are now dealing with the real culprit.
When the Lebanese Resistance started to make its presence known, it had the hallmarks of a small group of people who were trying to make the occupation a bit difficult for the Israelis, no more and no less. But as this Resistance grew and grew and was fostered by Hezbollah, it started to cause real pain to Israel. But even by the mid 80’s, it was still totally unfathomable that from the ashes, a mighty, organized, highly sophisticated army was on the rise, one that was capable for scoring victory on Israel.
The rest was history, and it was the Hezbollah wins in 2000 and 2006 that had a great inspiration for Gaza and the leaders of Gaza. Even after the recent rift between Hamas and Hezbollah (based on their different views about Syria), Hamas leaders could not but take their hats off for Hezbollah’s ability to send a drone deep into Israel.
As a matter of fact, even the Intifidas in the West Bank were inspired by the Resistance in South Lebanon. This is not taking any credit away from our Palestinians brothers, and brothers they are. The borders that separate Lebanon from Syria, Jordan and Palestine were drawn by Sykes-Picot, the British and French colonials; not the people. We, the people of the Levant do not believe in those divisions.
Love it or hate it, there has been nothing usual about Hezbollah. Those who know the Arab world well and understand the extent of despair and lack of confidence that dominated the Arab psyche after the 1967 war would not and could not expect any phenomenon such as Hezbollah to happen so soon in the Middle East.
And when Nasrallah says that he would not have been able to reach his achievements without the help of Syria and the Syrian government, his words are not to be taken lightly. For those who support Palestine and its cause, they must know such facts.
And when the Prince of Qatar is finally unable to continue to hide behind the façade he is creating about Gaza and wipes his hands clean, and Hamas needs real friends, Hezbollah and Syria will be there.
And for Arabs who see those facts in their own eyes, see how despair and hopelessness were turned into victories almost overnight and yet they do not recognize it and salute Hezbollah, they should lower their heads with shame instead.
No comments:
Post a Comment