Hezbollah: Understanding an Organization

This analysis of the Islamic terror organization commonly identified as Hezbollah will utilize an ideological approach, attempting to delve into the beliefs, views and standards of the group themselves in order to interpret the underlying means behind how they attempt to meet their goals and to what level of success or failure have they found in the process. The importance of doing so will be to come to an understanding as to what importance the structure of an ideology plays behind the success of a terrorist group in establishing a powerbase and the means to spread terror past the borders of what nation they reside in.

Hezbollah came into being in 1982, the group founded by a small group of Lebanese Shiite imams, the simple motive behind the organization’s conception simply that of fighting against Israel’s invasion of Southern Lebanon (Daniel L. Byman). While the group itself had a focused purpose and a defined end-goal, that of repelling Israel from Lebanon, their origins were themselves tainted as the group was itself inspired by the teachings of two different religious scholars, both of whom who had professed radical teachings of Islam. One of these scholars, one Ayatollah Khomeini, had in fact led the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, utilizing militant means to bring about widespread political change to his country. This same man would lend his assistance to Hezbollah through the hands and weapons of his men, known as Iran Revolutionary Guards, the same ones who had brought down the former leadership of Iran. Khomeini’s underlying goal, of course, was to spread the Islamic Revolution across the entirety of the Muslim world (Nicholas Blanford).

Unsurprisingly, from it’s very beginning, Hezbollah was a primarily militant-focused organization, its goals sponsored by the Iranian government and the means of accomplishing said goals assisted by weapons and bodies. Soon enough, hundreds of Lebanese men in the group’s ranks were drilled with radical religious indoctrination and harsh military training to create religious soldiers devoted to fight for the cause and fight, they did (Counter Extremism Project). In fact, the men of Hezbollah fought so well against Israel’s invasion that the Lebanese government allowed the militia organization to keep their weapons in order to resist Israel’s occupation (Nicholas Blanford).

Whether or not the support from Lebanon’s government at the time was implicit or explicit, the acknowledgement of their goals, beliefs and war efforts would only subconsciously strengthen the organization’s ideals, leading their ideological pillars to be entrenched even firmer in their minds. Throughout the first ten years of their creation as a militant organization, Hezbollah established its radicalism by rising to the Anti-Western ideals of their inspiration, Ayatollah Khomeini, and engaged in terrorist attacks such as kidnappings, bloody executions and car bombings (Counter Extremism Project).

The majority of these were directed towards Westerners currently in Lebanon, the U.S. Embassy being a noted target at the time, but these actions also served to cement Hezbollah’s reach and consolidate their power and establish a network for supporters of the group, these individuals now believers in the seriousness of Hezbollah as an organization (Nicholas Blanford). The inherent Anti-Western ideals sponsored by the new religious leaders of Iran, the goal to establish an Islamic state in Lebanon itself to mimic that of Iran, and the deeply rooted hate against Israel as a separate state would remain Hezbollah’s primary ideals stretching all the way in to the modern day (Counter Extremism Project).

One has to understand that terrorist organizations rarely last as long as Hezbollah has, especially when their actions are so openly violent. A long-standing reason for this is the political power Hezbollah managed to gather mentioned earlier, their network of supporters among them. As Hezbollah continued in their attacks against Westerners and ongoing guerrilla war against Israel, the organization soon emerged as one the third-largest political party in Lebanon by the start of the new millennium. This is rather surprising when one notes that Shi’ite Muslims, those which Hezbollah as a political group are mostly comprised of and advocate for are a minority in Lebanon proper.

Yet, even with that in mind, the scope of Hezbollah’s power is not something to be underestimated. In fact, one counterterrorism expert has gone so far as to say that Hezbollah is "the most powerful single political movement in Lebanon (Daniel L. Byman)." It cannot be understated that their military strength remains more powerful than the actual military of Lebanon as a nation and that is not where their reach ends. Hezbollah continues to garner favor among Lebanon’s people through its large number of social services which include social development programs, hospitals, news services, garbage collection, home repairs, and schools.

In areas where the Lebanese government is unable to provide these social services, Hezbollah even goes so far as to handle these problems themselves, further endearing themselves to the nation’s people while admittedly causing some tension with Lebanon’s leadership (Reuters). This can be taken into account as another major reason as to why Hezbollah is so popular in Lebanon, their political power and military power making them seem more effective at governing and protecting the country than the actual government itself (Daniel L. Byman).

Counter-terrorism efforts against Hezbollah has not done much in truly curbing the terrorist group as the vast majority of the actions taken on a larger scale are done with the idea of treating Hezbollah’s political and military wings as separate (Levitt). Yet in actuality, they work together, pursuing the same goals through different means. As the organization also benefits from Iran sponsoring their actions, any losses they might incur are made up through the funding, training and weaponry they receive from the country’s Revolutionary Guard (Reuters). As quoted by Hezbollah’s former Security General in 2016, “There is no voice within Lebanon’s Shia community that is not tied to Iran. (Counter Extremism Project)”

Throughout all this, it can be understood that Hezbollah as an organization benefits from following the revolutionary ideals set out by Iran during it’s Islamic Revolution. It’s strict adherence to Khomeini’s Anti-Western and Anti-Israeli ideals have only strengthened Iran’s hold and relationship with both the organization itself and Lebanon through Hezbollah’s slow overtaking of the country through it’s powerful and persistent growth in all sections of the government, military power notwithstanding. It is through Hezbollah’s ideology affirming the devotion of its members, its supporters and its outreach making the organization the strong force it has become in the present day.

Works Cited

Counter Extremism Project. "Hezbollah." 2019. Counter Extremism Project. .

Daniel L. Byman, Bernard Gwertzman. "Hezbollah: Most Powerful Political Movement in Lebanon." 29 May 2008. Council On Foreign Relations. Document. 1 April 2019.

Levitt, Matthew. "Introduction: Researching Hezbollah’s Clandestine Activities." Levitt, Matthew. Hezbollah: The Global Footprint of Lebanon's Party of God. Georgetown: Georgetown University Press, 2013. xiii-xvi. Book.

Nicholas Blanford, Arthur Bright. "Hezbollah 101." 19 July 2012. Christian Science Monitor. https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2012/0719/Hezbollah-101-Who-is-the-militant-group-and-what-does-it-want/What-does-Hezbollah-want. 1 April 2019.

Reuters. "Iran to cement ties with Lebanon, Hezbollah despite U.S. pressure." 24 March 2019. Reuters. Document. 30 March 2019.