Nemets (@Peter_Nimitz) Thread on Norton's History of HZB
Source:
Thread with excerpts from "Hezbollah: A Short History" by Augustus Richard Norton
Shia birthrates in mid-20th century Lebanon were higher than those of Sunnis & Christians.
from 1950s to 1970s Lebanese Shia typically supported secular parties led by Christians - whether rightist or leftist. Growth of armed Palestinian formations in Lebanon in 1970s drove formation of both coalitional & oppositional Shia organizations.
Shia Amal organization quietly welcoming Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon because of Palestinian & Iraq-backed Baathist mistreatment of Shia. Amal shifted to opposing Israel in 1983. Amal's unreliability & growing corruption led Syria to favor Hezbollah.
One of the commanders of the Revolutionary Guards had trained with the PLO in Lebanon. Yasser Arafat visited Tehran within weeks of the 1979 revolution.
Hezbollah was inspired the Iranian Revolution, & embraced its mix of Third Worldism & Islam. They see the United States as the main enemy, & Israel as one of its tools. They persecuted communists intensely 1984-5.
Intense legalism in Islam led to temporary changes of school for convenience. One Lebanese prime minister shifted from Sunni Islam to Jafari school of Shia Islam for a day so that his daughter could get a better inheritance.
Shia allow full female inheritance of father's estate if no male siblings, while Sunnis require inheritance to be split with distant male relatives. The difference in inheritance law goes back to dispute over Fatima's legal status after the death of her father.
Mass commemorations of Ashura in Lebanon only began in 1920s. The commemorations were a product of the Shia urban migration & end of Ottoman suppression. They weakened the power of traditional elites while strengthening authority of sectarian politicians.
Various Shia thinkers & organizations - include Hezbollah - are against self-harming on Ashura, and instead encourage people to donate blood at blood banks.
Tendency of certain crowds to attack heavily armed men, then complain after they opened fire, should be studied.
The revolutionary interpretation of Ashura advocated by Khomeini & others strongly contrasts with the conservative understanding. In the conservative understanding, Ashura shows the ushering in of an age of evil, an age from which one can only take shelter rather than overthrow.
Ashura processions as setting the moral & psychological frame for righteous mass demonstrations - even for the apathetic or unbelieving.
Syria disliked any faction in Lebanon becoming too strong, so backed Amal against Hezbollah 1987-9. They had earlier backed Amal against the PLO. Hezbollah supporting Palestinians out of principle, despite annoyance at their abuses.
1992 bombing of Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires was (per the author) in retaliation for the assassination several months prior of Hezbollah's Secretary-General.
Suicide bombings were so uncommon in 1982 that Israelis initially thought that one bombing was a gas leak. Hezbollah only organized 12 suicide bombings in Lebanese Civil War, out of about 40 total.
Hezbollah was wildly popular among Palestinians in early 2000s, but played only a minor role in supplying them. An incident possibly involving both Iran & Hezbollah supplying the Palestinians got Iran added to "Axis of Evil".
despite Iran's condemnation of 9/11 & assistance in the USian invasion of Afghanistan, Bush included Iran in his "Axis of Evil" speech in January 2002 over possible Iranian supply of Palestinian militants, undermining Khatami's domestic position.
Hezbollah had a vigorous internal debate on whether or not to participate in the post-civil war elections of 1992. An influential local Shia cleric endorsed participation in elections, as did Khameini. Hezbollah usually wins about 10% of seats each election.
Per the author, Lebanese municipal elections are honest. Hezbollah's rivals in the south can compete with the party electorally, & force Hezbollah to act in economic interests of locals as well as organize charities.
Egypt as the most fragile of the Arab states. Even a few thousand demonstrators are enough to frighten its rulers - and with good reason.
The Israel-Lebanon border was quiet for the six year between the 2000 Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon & the 2006 War. Hezbollah foresaw the nightmares that would come in the wake of Iraq War II, but had little support from Iraqi Shia.
Lot of similarities between the almost contemporary Cedar & Orange Revolutions. Foreign sympathizing president attacks rival, rivals organize mass protests, & eventually reformers win in peaceful maneuvers.
Nasrallah admitted that the anti-Israeli provocations in the lead up to the 2006 war were miscalculations. If he'd know the magnitude of the Israeli response, then he wouldn't have launched the ambushes.
Israeli K/D ratio in the 2006 war was 11.3:1, or 1.93:1 for soldiers alone.
Author portrays Nasrallah as a television personality as much as a political leader. His television appearances are cited heavily in the book, his writings not at all.
One top Hezbollah operative's identity was only exposed after his 2008 assassination, following a bloody 25+ year career.
Syria didn't really consider Lebanon to be an independent country until 2009. A number of Lebanese agreed, and there was a large faction of Syrian supporters into at least the 2000s.
at least the Druze quietly desired the destruction or neutering of Hezbollah in the 2006 war, per Wikileaks.
Iran's 2009 election irregularities as well as its increased influence in post-2003 Iraq & sectarian bloodletting there led to a collapse in its support in the Arab world in early 2010s. Ahmadinejad's reign damaged Iran's international image severely.
Hezbollah & its coalition allies lost the 2009 election, but won the popular vote by ten points. It successfully gained certain concessions in return for its acceptance of the election results.
Hezbollah was initially supportive of Arab Spring, but endorsed reform programs of Syria's Assad. Sunnis - particularly Salafists - clashed with Shias & crossed border to support Syrian rebels. Syria organized an assassination campaign against her enemies in Lebanon in 2012.
Lebanese Shia are not a political monolith, & some of their institutions are critical of Hezbollah, Assad's Syria, & Iran. There was a jihad declared by Salafists in Tripoli in 2013 against Hezbollah after a gunbattle with a Salafist sheikh's men.
The Arab Spring was, outside of Tunisia, in fact an even colder episode of winter.
