Part 4. Genesis of Hezbollah of Lebanon: Resistance to Israel occupation accelerating the pace

I have published four articles on the genesis of Hezbollah: One article described the geopolitical and social context of Iran Islamic revolution, and the living condition of the citizens in south Lebanon during the 22 years of Israel occupation.  How the Lebanese resistance to the Israeli occupation, particularly Hezbollah, got organized, developed, and managed to kick out Israel in the year 2000 without preconditions or any negotiation?

It is recommended, in order to appreciate the facts, eye-witness accounts, and reports of Robert Fisk, which points to the creation of Hezbollah and how it started to resist Israel occupation of Lebanon from 1982 to 2000, to read https://adonis49.wordpress.com/2011/09/19/south-lebanon-living-conditions-under-22-years-of-israel-occupation/

Robert Fisk wrote the book “Afflictions of a Nation” and I am reading the Arabic translated version. Fisk was the correspondent to the British The Times in Beirut and covered Lebanon civil war for nine years. I am summarizing one of the chapters.

“My visits to south Lebanon increased in difficulties: Israeli check points refused foreign correspondents access to the region. Israeli officer Albert cursed the CBS team and peppered his machine gun around their car.  They insisted on us to obtain prior permits for our visits and even wanted to take a look at our investigative reports to our dailies.

I once toured Charles Wilson, vice-chairman at The times, in the south. As we arrived to Saida, the officer Albert Cohen with number K272632 detained us saying: “You are not to enter Saida.  Military order.”  He turned to a militia and ordered him: “Lead these pigs toward Beirut”.

I had called Charles Douglas at The Times complaining of Israeli harassment and he said: “You are a British citizen, and you have the right to travel any place you want. You don’t need Israeli permits to move around, and never allow them to taking a look at your reports…”

Long lines of Lebanese waited on the only two access bridges to the south:  The Awali River Bridge and the Bater Bridge high up on the mountain.  The inhabitants overcame all these harassment tactics to reach their homes.  By 1984, the Israeli army was suffering terrible lack of order and organization:  I have witnessed the Israeli soldiers ransacking houses, breaking furniture, mixing rice with dirt, pouring olive oil on beds…

The Israeli TV has recorded a children song that says: “O plane land; fly us out of Lebanon; we are fighting for Sharon; we return in gaskets…” One Israeli soldier told me: “I don’t want to be here.  Definitely, this Ariel Sharon is a testified lunatic…”

The town of Gebsheet (where the religious Shia clerics, sheikh Raghed Harb, was assassinated in 1984) had become the center of resistance to Israel occupation:  The militias of Saad Haddad frequently committed acts of genocides and atrocities.  Khadija Atawi (18 year-old) was left to bleed to death on the street for 4 hours in March 24, 1984. Khadija’s family suffered three injured young kids. Sobhia Akhtar, mother of ten kids, exited her house carrying onions (people learned to rub their eyes with onion juice to resist tear gas).  Apparently, a milita viewed the onion for a hand grenade! Sobhia was shot in the heart. That morning, 10 resistance fighters had fled the town before the arrival of the Israeli force.

Sheikh Adel Karim Obeid had replaced martyr Ragheb Harb.  He said: “Whoever quits his religion is liable to face death”. (In July 1989, Israel kidnapped sheik Obeid,  an act that lead to the killing of the America hostage Colonel William Higgins).

In the village of Maaraka, Israel responded by detaining 100 youth and then released 40 from the Ansar Prison as “good will” gesture during the Moslem religious Fitr celebration.  Israel started another wave of terror tactics.  Dozens of Shin Beth agents, in civilian cloths, crossed the UN check points by simply showing their badges.  Their entrance cards were stamped by their commander Colonel Schneider in Tyr.  Their badges read: “Israel Defense force: Chiroot Betakhun”.  The duty of these agents was to randomly shoot-to-kill civilians in towns they entered: They were dispatched as assassination teams.

For example, one of the assassination team of 15 agents arrived in 3 cars to the town of Bedias.  Two cars kept turning around at high-speed to prevent the inhabitants from gathering. Eight soldiers kept vigil at building entrances.  The Shin Beth agents dragged to one car Mershed Nahas, a gas station owner, and told him: ” Choose the way you like to die”.  Mershed was let to step away and then shot to the head by four agents (from eye-witness people).  Mershed refused to become an informer and join the militia group formed by the Shin Beth.

The people got to be very familiar with these terrorist agents who adopted Palestinian code-names such as Abu Yussef, Abu George, Aby Gharzia, or major Sami…The resistance targeted Abu Youssef on its wanted list because he led the assassination team of Ragheb Harb.

The resistance in the south galvanized the resistance forces in West Beirut, mostly headed by Amal. Western foreign officials, especially of the US and France, witnessed a wave of kidnapping.  In January 1984, the US university professor Frank Rajir and French engineer Christian Jouber were kidnapped.  In March, Jeremy Levine of CNN, William Buckley (who turned out to be effectively the chief CIA agent in the Middle-East) were kidnapped.

In July 13, 1984, the last US Marines forces withdrew from Lebanon.  We felt that the worst is to come. Ronald Reagan had said: “What do you expect us to do?  We thought to be a deterrent force, and it turned out that the Islamic Jihad had no fear of us and gladly committed suicide car bombing on our troops as their favorite targets…”

Israel began constructing fortified bunkers (60 meters long, 6 wide, and 15 high).  Military buses were constantly accompanied by tanks.  The 20 year-old Ali Safi el Din crashed his car, filled with explosives, in an Israeli convoy on April 12, 1983, at Jisr Daire Kanooun:  Ali had lost his detained brother in the prison of Tyr. this new weapon of blowing cars was to become an efficient tactics against Israel occupation.