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Bilal Hussein / AP
Hezbollah supporters wave Hezbollah flags, Syrian flags with a picture of Syrian President Bashar Assad (R) and pictures of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah during a rally marking the sixth anniversary of the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war on July 18.
MLEETA, Lebanon – On a hill a short drive from Lebanon’s border with Israel, bright yellow and green flags lead to a museum whose theater shows footage of troops training or in combat against the backdrop of rousing music and speeches.
Visitors explore a bunker cut into the side of the mountain and once used as a war room, examine some of the weapons picked up over three decades of conflict, and survey a map of its southern neighbor Israel complete with coordinates -- all potential targets in a next war.
This museum, which guides say has already welcomed hundreds of thousands of visitors, is a monument to Lebanon’s Hezbollah, the powerful Iran and Syria-backed Shiite militia classified as a terrorist group by the United States.
As the stream of museum-goers shows, local support for Hezbollah holding firm, and by extension, the group’s followers remain loyal to the government of President Bashar Assad. This support remains despite Damascus’ bloody 18-month crackdown, which has sparked accusations of war crimes, on a rebellion sparked by Arab Spring movements sweeping the region
The reason for this steadfastness is simple – Syria’s continued support of Hezbollah in its struggle against arch-enemy Israel.
“In 2006, we saw our homes destroyed and relatives killed,” Hezbollah supporter Ali Fayed said, referring to the month-long war with Israel that claimed an estimated 1,300 Lebanese lives. Around 160 Israelis were also killed during the conflict.
NBC's Stephanie Gosk takes a look at an open-air theme park in southern Lebanon that has been designed to celebrate Hezbollah's military campaign against Israel. Visitors can even buy souvenirs.
Over a cup of strong Turkish coffee in the nearby village of Tibnin, Fayed said his support for the militia – and Syria – was the result of the mistreatment of his fellow Lebanese by Israeli soldiers during the 22-year occupation of Lebanese territory before withdrawing in 2000.
Then war broke out in 2006. Despite the devastation wrought throughout Lebanon during the conflict, Hezbollah, with Syrian arms and support, managed to halt the advances of the most powerful army in the region.
The war garnered Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, widespread respect across the Arab World. Flags adorned with Hezbollah’s logo -- an arm holding an assault rifle, extending from the party’s name in green Arabic letters against a yellow background -- flies across the region and Nasrallah is now a household name.
NBC's Richard Engel answers your questions about Syria
The war solidified Hezbollah loyalists’ support for Syria and, when asked for his views on the uprising there, Fayed took a firm position.
Anwar Amro / AFP - Getty Images
Men raise their fists as they listen to a speech via videolink by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah marking Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Friday. Nasrallah warned that the militia would make lives of Israelis
“Assad helped us in our fight against the Israelis. Those who are fighting against him want to destroy the resistance,” Fayed said, “But the resistance (against Israel) will prevail.”
The links between Hezbollah and Syria were stressed emphatically in July during a speech by Nasrallah who defended his support for the Assad regime.
Russia warns Obama against 'violation' of law over Syria
He highlighted how Syria had been an ally against Israel, supplying Hezbollah and the Palestinian militia Hamas with weapons used during the recent wars with Israel.
“The Syrian leadership was risking its interests and existence in order for the resistance in Lebanon and Palestine to be strong. Show me one other Arab regime that does the same,” Nasrallah declared.
“Bashar [Assad] is a good man,” said Louay Hashem, a taxi driver from the southern town of Bint Jbeil. “The people who are causing trouble in the country are the terrorists. They are sponsored by Qatar and Saudi Arabia who want to take over the country for their own interests.”
NBC's Richard Engel, who has just returned from his third trip inside Syria, since the uprising began, joins Andrea Mitchell Reports to discuss the situation on the ground.
These are views repeated time and again by Hezbollah supporters, and follow the narrative of news outlets such as Al Manar, a television station affiliated with the party.
“The resistance (to Israel) is the priority for the party,” explained Nicholas Blanford, a Hezbollah expert and author of Warriors of God: Inside Hezbollah's Thirty-Year Struggle Against Israel.
Clashes over Syrian conflict in Lebanon leave ten dead
“The Assad regime forms part of the axis of resistance [together with Hezbollah and Iran] and its demise would be a significant blow to the axis,” he added.
Lefteris Pitarakis / AP
A man walks past a destroyed building after it was hit by missiles from Israeli warplanes in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, on Aug. 7, 2006.
According to Blanford, steadfast support by Hezbollah members for the party’s position on Syria is unsurprising considering the fact that the conflict is increasingly being seen as a regional battleground, with Hezbollah and Iran supporting the regime while Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Gulf States back the rebels.
Further afield, Russia and China have repeatedly vetoed U.N. Security Council resolutions that Western and some Arab countries had hoped would pile pressure on Assad to end the conflict.
Fouad, a resident of Hezbollah’s Beirut stronghold of Dahiyeh, who asked for his full name to be withheld, described how Syria has always been a dependable ally in the group’s conflict with Israel “unlike other traitor nations [in the region] that claim to support the resistance but in reality do not.”
Moreover, Fouad stressed the importance of Syria as a Shiite-friendly ally in a region dominated by Sunni governments.
According to Ali Wehbe, a mechanical engineering student and Hezbollah loyalist, the group supports calls by the Syrian people for regime reform, but feels that the conflict has been exploited by Western countries, Turkey and Gulf States to pursue their own agendas.
Syrian violence spills into neighboring Lebanon
Crucially, if Assad falls many believe a key pillar in the war against Israel will disappear.
So the methods employed by the Assad regime were harsh, but understandable, Wehbe said.
“Just as the Allies had to shell Germany to rid it of Hitler and his Nazi ideology [in World War II], the methods employed by the Assad regime are a tragic but necessary evil,” he said.
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Leave a Comment:
This article is offal.
Hesb'Allah (The Party of God) is an Iranian proxy army that has infiltrated Lebanon, the same way that the Syrian army held Lebanon hostage for 30 years.
Here's what Hesb'Allah is up to, and the ass hole who wrote this article seems to overlook it:
Now you know why US and Israel support the Syrian rebels, which include Alqaida and other Islamic terrorists - because they would rather see an unstable, Lebanon like Syria, than stable Syria aligned with Iran. It has nothing to do with freedom for the Syrians.
Two groups of barbaric savage terrorists helping each other. What a surprise! The only difference is one group calls themselves the Syrian Army and wears uniforms, and the other wear civvies and call themselves "freedom fighters"! Other than that, there is no real difference other than country of origin!
Hezbollah is not a terror group. It is a militia and a political group that is dedicated to keeping Israel out of Lebanon, a country they occupied for 18 years.
In 2006, after a border skirmish, where Hezbollah fired a few rockets into Israel as a diversion, so they could kidnap a few Israeli soldiers to trade for some of the thousands held in Israeli prisons, Israel conducted massive air attacks on the Lebanese civilian population, far from the borders where the attack took place. Israel dropped millions of cluster bombs, which is in violation of the Geneva accords.
Syria and Iran help Hebollah by sending them some arms with which to defend the country of Lebanon. It is but a drop in the bucket, compared to what America has sent Israel.
Israel doesn't like it when the countries they attack have some ability to defend themselves. They like shooting fish in a barrel. The Lebanese have no way to shoot down an attacking F16, so Israel's brave pilots can kill at will, with no fear of being shot down. When they finish their bombing runs, they go home to their wives and families, while the Lebanese people wail for their dead and their destroyed homes and towns.
Note: The Israeli attack on Lebanon had been planned for quite some time. They just wanted a catalyst or excuse.
Balderdash.
Hesb'Allah is dedicated to the destruction of Israel.
Syria occupied Lebanon for decades, and Syria still acts as the conduit between Hesb'Allah and Iran.
Bull. Isreal NEVER stated the ten wars the Arabs started against them. All the Arab dictators, including the current Iranian government who terroize their own people, USE Isreal as an excuse. Don't pay any attention to how corrupt we are, look at Isreal. None of these Arab countries or leaders ever gave a damn about the Palestians. All they were is fodder for them to look good. If the Palestinians were smart, they would look at all their Arab brothers and think why live like that, no education, no freedom, no justice, no hope, and build a country and a future. Yeah, the Isrealis are stupid for not making real peace and giving these phony arab leaders the excuse they need to keep their own people in line, but the Palestinians are just as dumb for not making real peace too and educating and job training and giving their people real freedom and justice. Assad murders his own people, the Iranian mullahs stole elections from their own people and now operate kangaroo court and secret prisons, and you say it is just counter balance against the US influence and Isreal. I think when Assd, and Hussein, and Mubarek, and Khaddafy, and the Iranian mullahs, arrest, torture, and kill their own people, and the only enemy they see is Isreal, the whole argument is phony, But who cares. While the rest of the world moves forward, they sit in their own muck.
Ralph, are you for real? Israel can wipe out all of their neighbors if they wanted to, but they choose not to, they want peace.
Oh, cry me a river, RalphH! ANYONE in league with Iran for ANY reason is an enemy of the USA, and I don't care if Israel FLATTENS them! They deserve it.
none of these nations and armies are blameless, and neither are we. but this conflict only continues as all sides attempt to retaliate for the wrongs of the past instead of attempting to prevent those things from occuring over and over again. the propadanda that they feed their kids is really no different from what we feed ours about them. i'll bet nearly half of the kids in the u.s. think that there is a "good guy" and a "bad guy" in all of this. although, i'm probably generously overestimating how many kids even know where the hell these countires are at all. there has never been a war on this earth between good and evil, between right and wrong. there have only been wars in which the winners beat the losers.
Ralph / Mohammad: You have a strange way of rewriting history. Hezbollah is a Palestinian terrorist group that has occupied Lebanon against the will of the citizens of Lebanon. Hezbollah working as the proxies of the Syrian regime has slaughtered the entire political and military infrastructure of the nation of Lebanon. Hezbollah was kicked out of Jordan when they started a civil war when they attempted to take control of the GVT. Black September saw the army of Jordan wipe out the rebel and drove them out of Jordan.
Best thing that could happen to Hezbollah is their destruction as a terrorist group
Steven B by now I can tell you are an Israeli's lover and blind supporter , you can not see pass your nose , the reporter answered your question when he said, (Israel occupation of Lebanon for 20 years ) did you read that , Hezbollah is a organization the fight the occupation of Israel , and yes they said they will conflict lots of damages on Israel and lost of lives , But off course with people like you , you forgot to mention that they were answering the Israeli threat to demolish Lebanon, Just like when Iran answer the Israeli threat , you all hear one side , and just like in Syria you all see one side the Terrorists side , come on man , people not that stupid any more , they are not going to put up with your BS , these terrorists are killing the Christians and murdering civilians in Syria , and if you think for minute there that I or the Christians that love their religion , not the Zionist Christians that they forgot who Jesus is , and just because Hillary , and Honorable McCain , Lieberman , Graham and Mr. Obama and every body that supporting these Alqaida thugs in Syria , when the American people will wake up to that , that ass holes won't be in their office very long , not that it matter to them , they already got enough money from the Alqaida Masters ( the Saudis and Qataris ) . you know , we use to call the Taliban's , freedom fighters , Guess what we call them now ???? Saddam was our hero when he fought the Iranins , Guess who killed him ??? Qaddafi was a good man , according to McCain and that was 6 months before we went and killed him , so you get your facts and SHHHHIIT straight and quit lying to the American people .
my turn: Israel did not occupy all of Lebanon, they occupied a strip 20 miles wide to establish a buffer between the two nations to impede terrorist attacks by Hezbollah into Israel.
Hezbollah role in Lebanon is one as an occupying force against the will of the Lebanon citizens. Hezbollah has served as little more than a proxy for Syria as those two groups assassinated the entire political and military leadership of the Nation of Lebanon.
Hezbollah played an integral role during an event history refers to as Black September when Palestinian terrorists attempted to overthrown by civil war the legitimate government of Jordan. The Jordanian armed forces defeated the Palestinian terrorists and they fled to Lebanon.
Bottom line is Hezbollah is a terroist organization that needs to be exterminated just as every terrorist group needs to be exterminated
i guess that means if the mexican drug cartels happen to shoot some rockets across the rio grande we can sit back and say its ok to shoot at us but we cannot shoot at you old saying dont bring a knife to a gunfight
Exactly. These haters of Isreal, freedom, justice, education, job training, hope, and the future, and lovers of servitude, submissiveness, darkness, hatred and war THINKS ITS OK to spew hate, kill innocent people, send rockest over the border killing civilians BUT are all up in arms when people fight back. Maybe thsi is why they can even stick up for their own brothers and sisters fighting Assad. Anybody who stands up to a bully, a tryant, a muderer, well, JUST MIGHT have some guts. Hezbellah and Hamas could never stand for that
Brosol - Do you think if the Mexican cartels shot some rockets across the border, the US would launch air attacks on Mexico City? Would we then drop millions of cluster bombs into Mexico?
The answer is: No we wouldn't. We are somewhat civilized, in direct contrast to Israel which is a nation modeled on Nazism. They want their bloodstream pure, no immigrants, no Arabs and no christians.
"We should prepare to go over to the offensive. Our aim is to smash
Lebanon, Trans-Jordan, and Syria. The weak point is Lebanon, for the Moslem
regime is artificial and easy for us to undermine. We shall establish a
Christian state there, and then we will smash the Arab Legion, eliminate
Trans-Jordan; Syria will fall to us. We then bomb and move on and take Port
Said, Alexandria and Sinai."
David Ben-Gurion, May 1948, to the General Staff. From
Ben-Gurion, A Biography, by Michael Ben-Zohar, Delacorte, New York 1978.
Bill - It could be these haters of Israel are sick and tired of supporting them. It also could be we are tired of fighting wars for them, as we are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan. The war in Afghanistan is to secure the country from the Taliban, so Israel can build the TAPI gas pipeline from Turkmenistan-Afghanistan to Pakistan and on to India. Israel owns the gas rights in Turkmenistan. That is why Israel needed 9/11. It was so the US would destroy the Taliban and Israel would be rich, selling gas to India. Iran could sell them the gas cheaper, but those pesky Israel -US sanctions are a sticking point.
www.rense.com/general15/game.htm
If it was not cartel, but Mexican government who arranged rockets fired at USA, we would bomb the crap out of Mexico, and we would be right to do so.
Ralph/Mohammad: your entire post is one of lies and misinformation. Bottom line Israel has a right ot protects its citizens and its borders from terrorist. The world owes the nation of Israel a debt of gratitude for every Palestinian terrorist they exterminate. With every death it saves a Christian, Jew, Hindu and other innocents from the depraved acts of these Palestinian terrorist animals. The only issue the world in total has with Israel and the United States is that we are not eliminating those animals fast enough.
So, they say their homes destroyed and they took up an armed struggle. So why do they stand by a man who is destroying families, communities, and cities? Because Hezbellah, like Hamas, like the current Iranian government don't care about truth or facts or hope or the future. They live on hatred and war, ignorance, and the past. I don't buy their story or their spin or their ideology one bit. They hate Israel and they want war. It is OK if Assad commits genocide. They are as phony as a three dolllar bill. I hope Assad goes down and their free paycheck dries up.
If these Militias in Lebenon think there fate would be any different if they turn from there leaders..They are wrong..There leaders do not promote inclusion or freedom...or any other form of dissent..They promote hate and violance as the ONLY means to an end..Lets not forget In Syria the Peaceful Demonstration lasted for Months months....I doubt the Same would be true in Lebinon there Syrian supported militia would simply open fire on demonstrators...There is no room for dissent in Lebonon...because there is no room in Lebenon....
So supporters of Syrian Government...You are looking at your future..in Lenenon...That fate will be oyur one day..and you are cheering now but will be crying then....or worse you will be dead...Your support for Assahd is your lid for your coffin...and the nails that hold it shut
“Bashar [Assad] is a good man,” said Louay Hashem, a taxi driver from the southern town of Bint Jbeil. “The people who are causing trouble in the country are the terrorists. They are sponsored by Qatar and Saudi Arabia who want to take over the country for their own interests.”
OH, you kind of like the way your organization and Syria took over Lebanon. Which was one of the most modern, beautiful and forward thinking countries in the mideast? Any one tell you people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones?
Cycledude So now you all love Lebanon , I bet you did not give a rat asss when Israel was bombing the hell of Lebanon infrastructures , did you ??? and now back to Syria , Syria entered Lebanon because the Fatah and the Druze Muslims were threatening to massacre the Christians in Lebanon if they won the war , Assad went into Lebanon to protect the Christians , and later on some of them turned around and dealt with the Israeli's because they were getting paid by every freaking Gulf states and the US , so id you do not what you talking about , you should just read so you do not sound ignorant . and again for the person who said that Hezbollah shoots rockets at Israel , Buddy you are wrong , some of these rockets get shot by the Palestinians ,trying to start trouble for Hezbollah , that's why these rockets never hurt or destroy anything in Israel , Have you ever wondered why ??? because Israeli's agents in Lebanon do this rockets shooting , Just like they do from Gaza , these dumb Palestinians got more traitors for their cause than Rome days , Hell Syria helped them and gave home and shelter , look what they doing now , they stabbing Syria in the back , because 1) they leaders getting paid off by the SAUDIS AND QATARIS . and 2) they are mostly Muslims extremists and their loyalty to the Wahhabi's Saudis are more important to them than cause , so that tells you what kind of people they are . Syria and Lebanon should have taking care of their own people , and should have let the Palestinians fight their own fight .
Lebanon is Syria... by default, so standing by your man is what is expected. Why is everyone surprised... Lebanon is a proxy state of Syria... If syria loses,,, and the rebels take over, watch what happens next. Iran on the north golan, lebanese border...and whoa hoo...... new war
If gulf states had been willing to spend half the money they spent on three attacks against Israel to build a viable Palestinian state they'd have a very prosperous one far more wealthy than Israel. The West Bank was controlled by Jordan and Gaza by Egypt. Neither country would allow the creation of a Palestinian state even though the majority of residents, both Jews and Palestinians wanted a two state solution. Hard liners in the Arab states would rather keep them in poverty than accept a Jewish state. Had they not attacked in 1967 or 1973 both the West Bank and Gaza could have been part of a Palestinian state.
This sounds vaguely familiar to another country we all know that keeps a certain segment of its population at a poverty level for decades. Tons of money is poured into this group and is a bone of contention every time there is a budget battle. Some governments do this for what reason, to keep their people in line, beholding to the man. Easy to manipulate the masses like that when you practically control their destinies.
Ralph H. is dead wrong.
Comparing to the US response to the 9/11 attack (hundred of thousand Afghanistan had/have been killed), the Israel's retaliations for those rocket attacks across its border are very prudent/modest.
The next time Obama/UN want to complain about a tough Israel respond to those rocket attacks, they should kick themselves in their own asses first.
Ralph H is right on!! isreal is useing the U.S. and has been for a long time. Enought is what we need to tell em' loud and clear.Cut the aid and take care of AMERICA.
birdsview: Actually no he is not nor are you - a dollar of US money that leads to the extermination of a Palestinian terrorist is a dollar well spent whether it is a soldier wearing a US uniform or an Israeli one pulling the trigger.
If Hezbollah is going to help Assad, no one will have a reason to complain, especially not Israel, and certainly not USA.
Let them bring Syrian civil war into Lebanon as well.
Rebels will look for reinforcements in Lebanon, and they will have no difficulty finding those who are pissed at Hezbollah.
If Hezbollah is busy fighting a civil war of their own, they can not do dirty work for Iran.
Iran will have one less tooth to bight with, so they just might stop barking at Israel.
Israeli government wont be able to persuade their people that they need to attack Iran, if Iranian government is not backing up their story with constant threats.
World war will be avoided.
Every one will be happy, except for Syrians and Lebanese, but those guy don't have a happy ending in all this no matter how you turn it.
Ok Syrians killing Syrians. Syria has been one of the primary sponsors of global terrorism conducted by Palestinian for the last 60 years. So from a global perspective as each sides does its best to exterminate the other the World in total benefits. So what we need to figure out is how to get both sides of this civil war to also exterminate Hezbollah in the process.