Hezbollah
yosi
NYC Posts: 3,069
Out of curiosity, how do people on this board feel about Hezbollah? In threads about Israel (this is not meant to be one, so please don't turn it into one) many of those who have nothing good to say about Israel defend Hezbollah, but I assume this is to a certain extent due to the fact that Israel is part of the discussion. What I'd like to know is how people here feel about Hezbollah within the context Lebanon? I have my own views, but I'm interested in seeing what others think before I share.
you couldn't swing if you were hangin' from a palm tree in a hurricane
Post edited by Unknown User on
0
Comments
http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?ReportID=268
Four years after its victory in Palestinian parliamentary elections, Hamas receives relatively positive ratings in Jordan (56% favorable) and Egypt (52%). However, Palestinians are more likely to give the group a negative (52%) than a positive (44%) rating. And reservations about Hamas are particularly common in the portion of the Palestinian territories it controls – just 37% in Gaza express a favorable opinion, compared with 47% in the West Bank.
A survey conducted May 18 to June 16, 2009 by the Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project also finds limited support for the Lebanese Shia organization Hezbollah.1 While most Palestinians (61%) and about half of Jordanians (51%) have a favorable view of Hezbollah, elsewhere opinions are less positive, including Egypt (43%) and Lebanon (35%). As with many issues in Lebanon, views of Hezbollah are sharply divided along religious lines: nearly all of the country's Shia Muslims (97%) express a positive opinion of the organization, while only 18% of Christians and 2% of Sunni Muslims feel this way.
Meanwhile, Turks overwhelmingly reject both groups – just 5% give Hamas a positive rating and only 3% say this about Hezbollah. There is also little support among Israel's Arab population for either Hamas (21% favorable) or Hezbollah (27%). Outside of the Middle East, many in Pakistan, Indonesia, and Nigeria are unable to offer an opinion about these groups.
Lukewarm support for extremist groups among Muslim publics is consistent with other Pew Global Attitudes findings in recent years, which have shown declining public support for extremism and suicide bombing among most Muslim populations. The same surveys have also found decreasing confidence in Osama bin Laden. In addition, a 2009 Pew Global Attitudes survey in Pakistan – a country currently plagued by extremist violence – found growing opposition to both al Qaeda and the Taliban.2
Me personally ? I hope they all burn in hell or where ever it is they go.
No stats are perfect, but nothing about these numbers clearly says they are biased. Ironic, though ... I post some stats that suggest that the Muslim world actually has a nuanced view of these groups, and you jump in to slam this position. Would it make you feel better if I posted some figures suggesting that everyone in the Middle East is pro-terrorism? You're the one who constantly accuses people of racism, yet you have a problem with numbers suggesting that not everyone in the Middle East has the same opinion.
Also:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hezbollah#Social_services
Hezbollah...organizes extensive social development programs, running hospitals, news services, and educational facilities. Social services have a central role in the party's programs. Most experts believe that Hezbollah's social and health programs are worth hundreds of millions of dollars annually.[18]
Hezbollah organizes an extensive social development program and runs hospitals, news services, educational facilities, and encouragement of Nikah mut‘ah.[18][164] Some of its established institutions are: Emdad committee for Islamic Charity,[165] Hezbollah Central Press Office, Al Jarha Association,[166] and Jihad Al Binaa Developmental Association.[167] Jihad Al Binna's Reconstruction Campaign is responsible for numerous economic and infrastructure development projects in Lebanon.[168][169] Hezbollah has set up a Martyr's Institute (Al-Shahid Social Association), which guarantees to provide living and education expenses for the families of fighters who die in battle.[170] In March 2006, an IRIN news report of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs noted: "Hezbollah not only has armed and political wings - it also boasts an extensive social development program. Hezbollah currently operates at least four hospitals, twelve clinics, twelve schools and two agricultural centres that provide farmers with technical assistance and training. It also has an environmental department and an extensive social assistance program. Medical care is also cheaper than in most of the country's private hospitals and free for Hezbollah members".[18]
According to CNN: "Hezbollah did everything that a government should do, from collecting the garbage to running hospitals and repairing schools."[171] In July 2006, during the war with Israel, when there was no running water in Beirut, Hezbollah was arranging supplies around the city. "People here [in South Beirut] see Hezbollah as a political movement and a social service provider as much as it is a militia, in this traditionally poor and dispossessed Shiite community."[171] Also, after the war it competed with the Lebanese government to reconstruct destroyed areas. According to analysts like American University Professor Judith Swain Harik, Jihad al-Binaa has won the initial battle of hearts and minds, in large part because they are the most experienced in Lebanon in the field of reconstruction.[172]
Does mean that any group that also does good things gets a pass for everything it does wrong? So Israel should get a pass because it does all the good things that a government "should do." And isn't the fact that one party in government maintains ITS OWN ARMY, seperate from the national army, a fundamental problem?!
Oh, my bad, I forgot they have an "environmental department."
first of all, you notice how it labels all those groups as 'Extremist Groups'. In fact, even in the poll it shows "favorable vs. unfavorable opinion of extremist groups". This label is just one of the many examples, that is quite blatantly shown by this entire poll, of how this poll has a political agenda of its own. A poll about an issue like this should not have its own opinion on the matter, it should be rather be done by a research organization that is not politically-affiliated and held to fit the standard of its donors. the fact that it has a political agenda leads me to my second point, which is how poorly it's done. When a poll is done by a research organization with a political agenda, it is made very vague with questions like "do you have a favorable or unfavorable view about x?" which is such a stupid and ambiguous question when you consider how many possibilities that question can be concerning. social issues, religious, foreign policy, etc, are all important to different people in a different way. the idea to think that combining all these questions into something as stupid as favorable/unfavorable is pretty ridiculous. all that, and the numbers are probably fixed. anyway I've grown tired of trying to explain this, I think my point should be clear now.
:roll: :roll:
I mean... if Chomsky, Eddie and Tim Robbins are the baseline for what one would call the "center", then I guess she is "conservative", but.......
MSG 1 & 2 2010
Montreal 2011
Missoula 2012
Seattle 2013
Denver 2014
Central Park NYC 2015
Sunrise 2016
Wrigley 2 2016
Seattle 1 2018
~~~~~~~
EV NYC 2 2011
RNDM NYC 2012
TOTD SF 2016
Highlights Of Last Spectrum Show
Mike DESTROYING in Seattle 2013
"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro" - HST
Instagram (great concert shots of many bands): concertaholic
And what is it exactly that they do wrong?
I'll be waiting in hell for YOU PRFCTLEFTS...holding the gates wide open for U. And I'll make sure to burn your ass EVERYDAY....you make some of the dumbest comments on any thread....but have no fear, I'll be waiting for you in hell with one BIG ass smile as you enter my domain....dumb fuck
Leaving Israel aside entirely, they maintain a separate army that they use to intimidate and kill their political rivals in Lebanon. And they do so with the backing of Syria and Iran, which essentially means that they make a mockery of Lebanon's sovereignty, since they maintain an army on Lebanese soil that serves the interests of two foreign powers. We could start there.
but isn't the IDF in the occupied territories (ie maintaining an army on soil that is not Israel's)? so it's wrong for 1 side but not the other?
what are you but my reflection? who am i to judge or strike you down?
"I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank." - Barack Obama
when you told me 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'
i was thinkin 'death before dishonor'
it wasn't about Hamas, either, and yet you had no problem with that :roll:
i'm just saying Israel does exactly what you were complaining about, no need to cry about it
what are you but my reflection? who am i to judge or strike you down?
"I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank." - Barack Obama
when you told me 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'
i was thinkin 'death before dishonor'
Hezbollah holds a minority of government seats (I cannot recall how many, exactly, but the proportion is small), but my understanding is that Hezbollah ministers have de facto veto power when it comes to government decisions. This makes non-Hezbollah Lebanese rather uncomfortable, given the pull Iran and Syria have over this group. Hezbollah is supported around 97% of the Shi'ite population, but only around 20% of the Christians and 2% of Sunnis! Hezbollah has a history of attacking minority groups such as the Druze, while the Lebanese military proper stands by and watches. Some have argued that Hezbollah gave up terrorism in the 1990s ... I'll concede that the group does a lot more than carry out attacks, but I'd also note that firing rockets into civilian areas during 2006 does not support the notion that this group has completely stopped using terrorist tactics. As argued to death in another thread, Hezbollah provoked Israel into executing an invasion plan and the Lebanese civilian population suffered for it. I do envision a scenario in which Hezbollah takes over the Lebanese government entirely, at which point they will need to be managed at a political level.
You don't make the rules here pal. I'd get used to that if I were you.
Some people here choose to look at the bigger picture as it helps to put things in their proper perspective.
Though I understand why you have a problem with this and so keep trying to get everyone to play your game.
No.
It's not possible to discuss Hezbollah without mentioning Israel because as you know Hezbollah was created as a response to Israeli aggression against Lebanon.
Like I said before, you don't make the rules around here.
IDF hezbollah hamas.. whats the difference???
ooh ooh i know. the IDF are instruments of state sanctioned terror under the guise of the defense of the state of israel... whereas the other two are just terrorists.
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
couldn't have said it any better. Why is it ok for one country to be "freedom fighters" but the other is "terrorists." Hmmmmmm, isn't that basically BULLSHIT??? Come on now...some credit please, were not dumb. This is so bullshit, Arabs are fucken terrorists and everyone else are fucken angels. Enough already.
I'm shocked, though, at how utterly shameless you all are. Regardless of what you think about Israel you should be able to recognize the faults in a group like Hezbollah. The fact that you all refuse to do so speaks volumes.
Hypocrisy speaks volumes also.