Hassan Nasrallah: Difference between revisions
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*According to the US-Israeli organisation [[MEMRI]], in a speech aired on [[Al-Manar]] and [[Al-Jazeera]] in 2006, Nasrallah expressed support for alleged [[Holocaust denial|Holocaust denier]] [[Roger Garaudy]] calling him a "great French philosopher" who "proved (''[{{sic}}]'') that this [[Holocaust]] is a myth".<ref name="MEMRI"/> |
*According to the US-Israeli organisation [[MEMRI]], in a speech aired on [[Al-Manar]] and [[Al-Jazeera]] in 2006, Nasrallah expressed support for alleged [[Holocaust denial|Holocaust denier]] [[Roger Garaudy]] calling him a "great French philosopher" who "proved (''[{{sic}}]'') that this [[Holocaust]] is a myth".<ref name="MEMRI"/> |
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*During the 2006 [[Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy]], Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah declared in a speech aired on [[Al-Manar]] TV and [[Al-Jazeera]] TV that: "If there had been a Muslim to carry out Imam Khomeini's ''fatwā'' against the renegade [[Salman Rushdie]], this rabble who insult our Prophet Mohammed in Denmark, Norway and France would not have dared to do so. I am sure there are millions of Muslims who are ready to give their lives to defend our prophet's honour and we have to be ready to do anything for that."<ref name="MEMRI">{{cite web |url=http://www.memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP108806|accessdate=7 February 2006|title=Hizbullah Leader Nasrallah: Implementing Khomeini's Fatwa against Salman Rushdie Would Have Prevented Current Insults to Prophet Muhammad; Great French Philosopher Garaudy Proved Holocaust a Myth|publisher=[[MEMRI]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.natashatynes.com/newswire/2006/02/hezbollah_killi.html|date=2 February 2006|title=Hezbollah: Rushdie death would stop Prophet insults|agency=Agence France-Presse}}</ref> |
*During the 2006 [[Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy]], Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah declared in a speech aired on [[Al-Manar]] TV and [[Al-Jazeera]] TV that: "If there had been a Muslim to carry out Imam Khomeini's ''fatwā'' against the renegade [[Salman Rushdie]], this rabble who insult our Prophet Mohammed in Denmark, Norway and France would not have dared to do so. I am sure there are millions of Muslims who are ready to give their lives to defend our prophet's honour and we have to be ready to do anything for that."<ref name="MEMRI">{{cite web |url=http://www.memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP108806|accessdate=7 February 2006|title=Hizbullah Leader Nasrallah: Implementing Khomeini's Fatwa against Salman Rushdie Would Have Prevented Current Insults to Prophet Muhammad; Great French Philosopher Garaudy Proved Holocaust a Myth|publisher=[[MEMRI]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.natashatynes.com/newswire/2006/02/hezbollah_killi.html|date=2 February 2006|title=Hezbollah: Rushdie death would stop Prophet insults|agency=Agence France-Presse}}</ref> |
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*On 24 February 2012, in a speech in Nabi Sheet for the "remembrance of the fallen martyrs [[Abbas al-Musawi]], [[Ragheb Harb]], and [[Imad Mughniyah]]," Hasan Nasrallah said, "I say that the American administration and the American mentality lacks nothing from Satanism. But that kind of behavior and that kind of mistreatment of holy books [referring to the Quran burning incident in Afghanistan in February 2012<ref>{{cite news|last=Shah|first=Amir|title=Obama apologizes for Quran burning in Afghanistan|url=http://www. |
*On 24 February 2012, in a speech in Nabi Sheet for the "remembrance of the fallen martyrs [[Abbas al-Musawi]], [[Ragheb Harb]], and [[Imad Mughniyah]]," Hasan Nasrallah said, "I say that the American administration and the American mentality lacks nothing from Satanism. But that kind of behavior and that kind of mistreatment of holy books [referring to the Quran burning incident in Afghanistan in February 2012<ref>{{cite news|last=Shah |first=Amir |title=Obama apologizes for Quran burning in Afghanistan |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/02/20/international/i111336S28.DTL |accessdate=24 February 2012 |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |date=23 February 2012 |deadurl=unfit |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/65hOKsVaf |archivedate=24 February 2012 }}</ref>] and prophets, and the prophets' sanctities, and others' sanctities; this behavior is Israeli and let us say it is Jewish, between quotation marks, - now they will say that this is anti-Semitism - [but] the Holy Quran told us about this people: how they attacked their prophets, and how they killed their prophets, and how they affronted their prophets, and how they affronted Jesus Christ, peace be upon him, and how they affronted Mary, peace be upon her, and how they affronted Allah's great messenger Mohammad, May God exalt and bring peace upon him and his family. This [behavior] pattern about affronting holy books, and prophets, and messengers, and sanctities; this is their mentality, and maybe they want to push things more and more toward a religious war worldwide."<ref>{{cite web|title=Transcript of Hasan Nasrallah's speech in Nabi Sheet on 24 February 2012 |url=http://www.nna-leb.gov.lb/newsDetail.aspx?Id=386839 |publisher=Lebanon's (Official) National News Agency |accessdate=24 February 2012 |deadurl=unfit |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/65hMOL3hg |archivedate=24 February 2012 }}</ref> |
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==Alleged 2008 assassination attempt== |
==Alleged 2008 assassination attempt== |
Revision as of 10:17, 4 July 2016
Hasan Nasrallah | |
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حسن نصر الله | |
![]() A drawing of Hassan Nasrallah by Abbas Goudarzi | |
Secretary-General of Hezbollah | |
Assumed office 16 February 1992 | |
Deputy | Naim Qassem |
Preceded by | Abbas al-Musawi |
Personal details | |
Born | Bourj Hammoud, Lebanon | 31 August 1960
Political party | Hezbollah |
Signature | File:Seyyed Hassan Nasrullah signature.svg |
Hassan Nasrallah (Arabic: حسن نصرالله Arabic pronunciation: [ħassan nasˁrɑɫɫɑh]; born 31 August 1960) has been the third Secretary General of the Lebanese political and paramilitary organization Hezbollah since his predecessor, Abbas al-Musawi, was assassinated by the Israel Defense Forces in February 1992.[1] Hezbollah has since been designated a terrorist organization, either wholly or in part, by the United States, European Union and other nations.[2] Nasrallah is often referred to as "al-Sayyid Hassan" (السيّد حسن), the honorific "Sayyid" denoting descent from the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandson Husain ibn Ali.
Early life and education
Hasan Nasrallah was born the ninth of ten children into a Shia family in Bourj Hammoud, Matn District (an eastern suburb of Beirut) on 31 August 1960. His father, Abdul Karim, was born in Bazourieh, a village in Jabal Amel (South Republic of Lebanon) located near Tyre. Although his family was not particularly religious, Hassan was interested in theological studies. He attended an-Najah school and later a public school in the predominantly Christian neighborhood of Sin el Fil Beirut.[1]
In 1975, the Lebanese Civil War forced the family to move to their ancestral home in Bazourieh,[1][3] where Nasrallah completed his secondary education at the public school of Sour (Tyre). Here he joined the Amal Movement, a Lebanese Shi'a political group.[1][3]
Nasrallah studied at the Shi'a seminary in the Beqaa Valley town of Baalbek. The school followed the teachings of Iraqi-born Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Sadr, who founded the Dawa movement in Najaf, Iraq during the early 1960s.[4]
Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had Sadr executed in 1980. After a period of Islamic study in Najaf, Iraq, Nasrallah returned to Republic of Lebanon in 1978 when Iraq expelled hundreds of Lebanese religious pupils. He studied and taught at the school of Amal’s leader Abbas al-Musawi, later being selected as Amal's political delegate in Beqaa, and making him a member of the central political office.
Early activities
Nasrallah joined Hezbollah after the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon.[1] He became noted for his sharp and fiery sermons. In 1987, Hasan Nasrallah traveled to a seminary in Qom, Iran to further his religious studies. He went back to Lebanon in 1989.
Despite his ongoing commitment to Hezbollah, in 1989 Nasrallah resumed his efforts to become a religious jurist by returning to the Iranian city of Qom to further his studies. Nasrallah believes that Islam holds the solution to the problems of any society, once saying, "With respect to us, briefly, Islam is not a simple religion including only prayers and praises, rather it is a divine message that was designed for humanity, and it can answer any question man might ask concerning his general and personal life. Islam is a religion designed for a society that can revolt and build a community."[1]
In 1991, Abbas al-Musawi became secretary general of Hezbollah and Nasrallah returned to Lebanon. Nasrallah replaced Musawi as Hezbollah's leader after the latter was killed by an Israeli airstrike.[5] Nasrallah lived in South Beirut with his wife Fatimah Yasin (who comes from the Lebanese village of Al-Abbasiyah)[3] and five children: Muhammad Hadi (died 1997), Muhammad Javed, Zainab, Muhammad Ali and Muhammad Mahdi. In September 1997, his eldest son Muhammad Hadi, was killed in battle with Israeli soldiers, after a Navy commando unit operation in which 13 Israeli soldiers were killed in Jabal al-Rafei in the South of Lebanon.[3][6]
Leadership of Hezbollah
Nasrallah became the leader of Hezbollah after the Israelis assassinated the previous leader, Musawi, in 1992.[1][3] During Nasrallah's leadership, Hezbollah acquired rockets with a longer range, which allowed them to strike at northern Israel despite the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon. In 1993 Israel carried out Operation Accountability. Much Lebanese infrastructure was destroyed during the operation, which Israel claimed was successful. An agreement was eventually reached whereby, Israel ended its attacks in Lebanon and Hezbollah agreed to stop attacks on northern Israel.
However, after a short pause, hostilities resumed. In 1996 Israel launched Operation Grapes of Wrath, blocking important Lebanese harbour cities and bombing a Syrian military base. After 16 days of Israeli attacks in Lebanon, the Israeli–Lebanese Ceasefire Understanding was agreed upon. Again, Hezbollah agreed to stop rocket attacks in exchange for Israel halting its attacks. However, as in 1993, the peace did not last for long.
In Israel, it was increasingly debated whether the presence of Israeli forces in southern Lebanon was working, since it was clear that the 'security zone' could not stop Hezbollah rockets reaching into Israel. After heavy Israeli casualties in south lebanon, some Israeli politicians argued that the conflict would only end if Israel withdrew from Lebanon. In 2000 Ehud Barak finally withdrew Israeli forces from Lebanon. Following the Israeli withdrawal, the South Lebanon Army, which was supported by Israel, was quickly overrun by Hezbollah. Some SLA members escaped to Israel, but many were captured by Hezbollah. This success against Israel greatly increased Hezbollah's popularity within Lebanon and the Islamic world.[1]
Consequently, Nasrallah is widely credited in Lebanon and the Arab world for ending the Israeli occupation of the South of Lebanon, something which has greatly bolstered the party's political standing within Lebanon.[7]
Nasrallah also played a major role in a complex prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hezbollah in 2004, resulting in hundreds of Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners being freed and many bodies, including that of his son, being returned to Lebanon. The agreement was described across the Arab world as a magnificent victory for Hezbollah, and Nasrallah was personally praised for achieving these gains.[8]
A December article in the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat stated that command of the organization's military wing was transferred from Nasrallah to his deputy, Na'im Qasim in August 2007.[9] Hezbollah denied this suggestion, declaring it an attempt to "weaken the popularity" of the movement.[10]
In October 2008, Hashim Safi Al Din, his cousin, was assigned to succeed Nasrallah as secretary general of Hezbollah.[11]
Memorandum of Understanding with Free Patriotic Movement
Nasrallah negotiated a Memorandum of Understanding with the Free Patriotic Movement headed by Michel Aoun, the former premier and a Maronite Christian. Aoun described the ten-point MoU in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal published on 31 July 2006. A key point is that Hezbollah agreed to disarm upon the return of its prisoners and the occupied Shebaa Farms. It also agreed to the pardon and return of fugitive South Lebanon Army (SLA) members. The Free Patriotic Movement in turn agreed to work for reform of the confessional electoral system of the Parliament of Lebanon and move it in the direction of one man, one vote. Aoun made the point that the political process was in effect disarming Hezbollah without any loss in lives from unnecessary wars.[12] Critics of this agreement say that is not very clear concerning the disarmament, and that it served to strengthen Hezbollah internally, giving it a non-Shiite cover inside.
2006 Israel–Lebanon conflict
Following an ambush by Hezbollah in Israeli territory that left three soldiers dead and two abducted,[13] the 2006 Lebanon War started. During the war Israeli bombardments seeking Hezbollah targets caused damage in many parts of Beirut, especially the poorer and largely Shiite South Beirut, which is controlled by Hezbollah. On 3 August 2006, Hasan Nasrallah vowed to strike Tel Aviv in retaliation for Israel's bombardment of Lebanon's capital. "If you hit Beirut, the Islamic resistance will hit Tel Aviv and is able to do that with God's help," Nasrallah said in a televised address. He added that Hezbollah forces were inflicting heavy casualties on Israeli ground troops.[14]
During the conflict, Nasrallah came under intense criticism from Arab countries, including Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. Jordan's King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak warned on 14 July of the risk of "the region being dragged into adventurism that does not serve Arab interests," while the Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal called the Hezbollah attacks "unexpected, inappropriate and irresponsible acts." He went further, saying, "These acts will pull the whole region back to years ago, and we cannot simply accept them."[15]
Nasrallah also came under intense criticism from some in Lebanon. Walid Jumblatt, leader of the Progressive Socialist Party of the Republic of Lebanon and the most prominent leader of the Druze community, spoke out quite forcefully: "Great, so he's a hero. But I'd like to challenge this heroism of his. I have the right to challenge it, because my country is in flames. Besides, we did not agree..."[16] Jumblatt is also quoted as saying: "He is willing to let the Lebanese capital burn while he haggles over terms of surrender."
Following the war, came what is known as the "Green Flood" (Al-sayl al-akhdhar), according to Iranian-born journalist Amir Taheri. "This refers to the massive amounts of U.S. dollar notes that Hezbollah is distributing among all the citizens that were effected from the war in Beirut and the south. The dollars from Iran are ferried to Beirut via Syria and distributed through networks of militants. Anyone who can prove that his home was damaged in the war receives $12,000, a tidy sum in wartorn Lebanon."[17]
In a TV interview aired on Lebanon's New TV station on 27 August 2006, Nasrallah said that he would not have ordered the capture of two Israeli soldiers if he had known it would lead to such a war: "We do not think, even one percent, that the capture led to a war at this time and of this magnitude. I'm convinced and sure that this war was planned and that the capture of these hostages was just their excuse to start their pre-planned war, but if I had known on July 11 ... that the operation would lead to such a war, would I do it? I say no, absolutely not."[18][19]
Syrian Civil War
On 25 May 2013, Nasrallah announced that Hezbollah is fighting in the Syrian Civil War against "Islamist extremists" and "pledged that his group will not allow Syrian militants to control areas that border Lebanon".[20] He confirmed that Hezbollah was fighting in the strategic Syrian town of Qusair on the same side as the Syrian army.[20] In the televised address, he said, "If Syria falls in the hands of America, Israel and the takfiris, the people of our region will go into a dark period."[20]
In July 2014, Nasrallah's nephew was killed fighting in Syria.[21]
Views on international politics
Pre-2000 Israeli occupation of Lebanon
- "If we are to expel the Israeli occupation from our country, how do we do this? We noticed what happened in Palestine, in the West Bank, in the Gaza Strip, in the Golan, in the Sinai. We reached a conclusion that we cannot rely on the Arab League states, nor on the United Nations .... The only way that we have is to take up arms and fight the occupation forces."[22]
On Israel and the Arab-Israeli conflict
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- In an interview with The Washington Post, in 2000, Nasrallah said "I am against any reconciliation with Israel. I do not even recognize the presence of a state that is called 'Israel.' I consider its presence both unjust and unlawful. That is why if Lebanon concludes a peace agreement with Israel and brings that accord to the Parliament our deputies will reject it; Hezbollah refuses any conciliation with Israel in principle."[23]
- On 26 May 2000, after the Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon Hasan Nassrallah said: "I tell you: this "Israel" that owns nuclear weapons and the strongest air force in this region is more fragile than a spiderweb."[24][25]
- In 2006 Nasrallah said "There is no solution to the conflict in this region except with the disappearance of Israel."[26]
- Despite declaring "death to Israel" and "death to America" in his public appearances, Nasrallah said in an interview to The New Yorker in 2003, "At the end of the road no one can go to war on behalf of the Palestinians, even if that one is not in agreement with what the Palestinians agreed on."[27] When asked in 2004 whether he was prepared to live with a two-state settlement between Israel and Palestine, he said he would not sabotage what is a "Palestinian matter", but that until such a settlement is reached, he will continue to encourage Palestinian resistance.[28]
- On 30 November 2009, while reading the party's new political manifesto, Hasan Nasrallah declared "Our problem with [the Israelis] is not that they are Jews, but that they are occupiers who are raping our land and holy places."[29]
- In a television interview with Julian Assange on 17 April 2012, Nasrallah said that Israel "is and will be an illegal state… It was established on the basis of occupying the lands of others." He added, "If I occupy your house by force it doesn't become mine in 50 or 100 years." While "Hezbollah does not want to kill anyone", the only solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he argued, was to establish a democratic state on Palestinian land where Muslims, Jews and Christians live in peace but that the US "won't let people listen to Hezbollah."[30]
- Speaking on Al Quds Day on 2 August 2013, Nasrallah said that Israel "is a cancer that must be eradicated."[31]
On 11 September 2001 attacks and the United States
- "What do the people who worked in those two World Trade Center towers, along with thousands of employees, women and men, have to do with war that is taking place in the Middle East? ? ... Therefore we condemned this act—and any similar act we condemn. ... I said nothing about the Pentagon, meaning we remain silent. We neither favored nor opposed that act .... Well, of course, the method of Osama bin Laden, and the fashion of bin Laden, we do not endorse them. And many of the operations that they have carried out, we condemned them very clearly."[22]
Views attributed to Nasrallah
- According to Saudi state-owned Al Arabiya, a video posted on their site is of Nasrallah giving a speech circa 1988 in which he states, "Our plan, to which we, as faithful believers, have no alternative, is to establish an Islamic state ... Lebanon should not be an Islamic republic on its own, but rather, part of the Greater Islamic Republic, governed by the Master of Time [the Mahdi], and his rightful deputy, the Jurisprudent Ruler, Imam Khomeini,"[32]
- According to the pro-Israeli group CAMERA, Nasrallah stated that "The Lebanese refuse to give the Palestinians residing in Lebanon Lebanese citizenship, and we refuse their resettlement in Lebanon. There is Lebanese consensus on this...we thank God that we all agree on one clear and definite result; namely, that we reject the resettlement of the Palestinians in Lebanon."[25] There is broad consensus in Lebanon against the permanent resettlement of Palestinians, due to fears that it could reignite Lebanon's civil war.[33] Likewise, Palestinian refugees in Lebanon consistently favor right of return over Lebanese naturalization.[34]
- Lebanese writer, Amal Saad-Ghorayeb quotes Hasan Nasrallah as saying, "If we searched the entire world for a person more cowardly, despicable, weak and feeble in psyche, mind, ideology and religion, we would not find anyone like the Jew. Notice, I do not say the Israeli."[24] Charles Glass questions the attribution of the quote to Nasrallah, noting that both the footnote in Saad-Ghorayeb's book and her original dissertation instead attribute the quote to an interview she conducted with a Hezbollah member of the Lebanese Parliament, Muhammad Fneish.[35][36]
- According to Israeli military source Shaul Shay, Nasrallah has often made anti-Semitic statements that not only revile Israel as a state, but also the entire Jewish people, while using themes taken from classic and Muslim antisemitism.[37] Two of the claims he makes are that:
- In a 1998 speech marking the Day of Ashura, and published in what was Hasan Nasrallah's official website[38][39][40] at that time, Nasrallah referred to Israel as "the state of the grandsons of apes and pigs – the Zionist Jews" and condemned them as "the murderers of the prophets."[41][42][43] The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA), a pro-Israel media watchdog group, MEMRI, and Shaul Shai interpret this language as broadly antisemitic.[25][41][43]
- Nasrallah said in a speech delivered in Beirut and aired on Al-Manar TV on 28 September 2001: "What do the Jews want? They want security and money. Throughout history the Jews have been Allah's most cowardly and avaricious creatures. If you look all over the world, you will find no one more miserly or greedy than they are."[37]
- According to the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Robert Satloff, in a speech carried during Ashura on 9 April 2000, Hasan Nasrallah said that: "The Jews invented the legend of the Nazi atrocities. It is clear that the numbers they talk about are greatly exaggerated".[44][45][46][47]
- Journalist Badih Chayban in an 23 October 2002 article in The Daily Star wrote that Nasrallah said, "If they [the Jews] all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide." Charles Glass believes that the quotation was likely a fabrication, citing other published accounts of Nasrallah's speech that had no reference to the anti-Semitic comment, and unconfirmed statements by an unnamed person who Glass said is the editor-in-chief of the Lebanese newspaper which published the quotes, that questioned both the translation and the "agenda of the translator."[48] The Nasrallah speech in question is published on Hezbollah's website http://audio.moqawama.org/details.php?cid=1&linkid=189. Mr. Chayban shared this link with Mr. Glass who unfortunately didn't correct his accusations accordingly. Glass also wrote that a Hezbollah spokeswoman, Wafa Hoteit, denied that Nasrallah made the statement.[48]
- According to the US-Israeli organisation MEMRI, in a speech aired on Al-Manar and Al-Jazeera in 2006, Nasrallah expressed support for alleged Holocaust denier Roger Garaudy calling him a "great French philosopher" who "proved ([ [sic]]) that this Holocaust is a myth".[49]
- During the 2006 Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy, Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah declared in a speech aired on Al-Manar TV and Al-Jazeera TV that: "If there had been a Muslim to carry out Imam Khomeini's fatwā against the renegade Salman Rushdie, this rabble who insult our Prophet Mohammed in Denmark, Norway and France would not have dared to do so. I am sure there are millions of Muslims who are ready to give their lives to defend our prophet's honour and we have to be ready to do anything for that."[49][50]
- On 24 February 2012, in a speech in Nabi Sheet for the "remembrance of the fallen martyrs Abbas al-Musawi, Ragheb Harb, and Imad Mughniyah," Hasan Nasrallah said, "I say that the American administration and the American mentality lacks nothing from Satanism. But that kind of behavior and that kind of mistreatment of holy books [referring to the Quran burning incident in Afghanistan in February 2012[51]] and prophets, and the prophets' sanctities, and others' sanctities; this behavior is Israeli and let us say it is Jewish, between quotation marks, - now they will say that this is anti-Semitism - [but] the Holy Quran told us about this people: how they attacked their prophets, and how they killed their prophets, and how they affronted their prophets, and how they affronted Jesus Christ, peace be upon him, and how they affronted Mary, peace be upon her, and how they affronted Allah's great messenger Mohammad, May God exalt and bring peace upon him and his family. This [behavior] pattern about affronting holy books, and prophets, and messengers, and sanctities; this is their mentality, and maybe they want to push things more and more toward a religious war worldwide."[52]
Alleged 2008 assassination attempt
Almalaf, an Iraqi news source on 15 October 2008, quoted sources in Lebanon saying Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah had been poisoned the previous week and that he was saved by Iranian doctors who went to Lebanon to treat him. The sources told the paper that a particularly poisonous chemical substance was used against the Shi'a militia leader. His medical condition was apparently critical for several days until Iranian doctors came and managed to save his life. Almalaf claimed that the sources believed it was highly likely that the poisoning was an Israeli assassination attempt.[53]
Hezbollah denied that Nasrallah had been poisoned. Lebanese parliament member Al-Hajj Hassan, a member of Hezbollah, said: "This is a lie and a fabrication. It's true that I haven't seen Nasrallah this past week, but he's okay." The Iranian doctors arrived on Sunday at approximately 11:00 P.M., apparently on a special military flight. According to Almalaf officials considered flying Nasrallah to Iran for further treatment.
In September 1997, an Israeli Mossad team tried to assassinate Hamas political chief Khaled Mashal by drizzling poison in his ear.[54] The attempt failed, and two of the agents were captured while others took refuge in the Israeli embassy in Amman. Nasrallah's second-in-command Imad Mughniyah was assassinated in February 2008 in a Damascus bomb blast. Hezbollah accused Israel of responsibility for the explosion, although Israel denied responsibility for the act.[55] Nasrallah's predecessor Abbas al-Musawi was killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon in 1992.[56]
Nasrallah's denial of the alleged attempt
On 25 October 2008 in an interview with the Hezbollah owned Al-Manar channel, Nasrallah denied the assassination attempt, accusing the Israelis and Americans of fabricating the story and considering it as part of the ongoing psychological war against Hezbollah that aimed to imply that the party was suffering from internal disputes and assassination plots.[57]
He also explained that "if research was done on the internet websites posting such unfounded information, it would reveal that they are all being run from that same dark room, and that their aim is to serve American-Israeli interests."
He added that at first the organization had considered denying the false information with a written message, "but when the news agencies began to publish it we decided to hold a televised interview, and here I am before you telling you I was not poisoned."[58]
In popular culture
Two popular songs were written about Nasrallah during the 2006 Israel–Hezbollah War, with vastly different views of the Hezbollah leader: The Hawk of Lebanon in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and "Yalla Ya Nasrallah"., against Nasrallah, in Israel. In 2007 Lebanese singer Alaa Zalzali composed a tribute song entitled Ya Nasrallah. Another popular song composed in tribute to him was by Lebanese Christian singer Julia Boutros, called "Ahebba'i" meaning "my loved ones", which was inspired by Nasrallah's words in a televised message he sent to Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon during the 2006 War.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Profile: Sayed Hassan Nasrallah". Al Jazeera. 17 July 2000. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
- ^ http://www.cfr.org/lebanon/hezbollah-k-hizbollah-hizbullah/p9155
- ^ a b c d e "Biographical sketch of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah: "The Nasrallah Enigma"" (PDF). Al Bawaba. 10 November 2003. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
- ^ O'Dwyer, Thomas. "Hizbullah's ruthless realist". Violence and Terrorism 2000, p. 70. Dushkin/McGraw-Hill, ISBN 0-07-031072-6. -"He has lived up to our initial assessment," said an Israeli intelligence source. "He is tough, but more intellectual in a broader sense than Musawi. But he has steered close to Musawi's line and kept good relations with Amal, the Syrians, and [Iran]." The source said Nasrallah has kept an eye on making Hezbollah a legitimate political force as well as a military one.
- ^ Profile: Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. CFR Retrieved 8 December 2011.
- ^ Nahmias, Rohee (18 August 2006). "Hizbullah: No more clashes with Lebanese army". Ynet News. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
- ^ The Brooking Institution – Hezbollah's Popularity Exposes al-Qaeda's Failure to Win the Hearts. Brookings.edu (30 July 2006). Retrieved 8 December 2011
- ^ "Hizbullah, Vanguard and liberator". 4 March 2004. Archived from the original on 15 July 2006. Retrieved 9 August 2006.
- ^ Report: Nasrallah replaced as head of Hizbullah military wing. Ynetnews.com (20 June 1995). Retrieved 8 December 2011.
- ^ Resistance dismisses 'rumors' of high-level shakeup. The Daily Star (Lebanon). Retrieved 8 December 2011
- ^ Cohen, Dudi (13 October 2008). "Nasrallah replacement chosen". Ynetnews. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
- ^ Aoun, Michel. (31 July 2006) See History Will Judge Us All On Our Actions. Online.wsj.com. Retrieved 2011-12-08.
- ^ Myre, Greg; Erlanger, Steven (13 July 2006). "Israelis Enter Lebanon After Attacks". The New York Times.
- ^ "Hezbollah threatens to strike Tel Aviv". CNN. 3 August 2006. Archived from the original on 21 August 2006. Retrieved 3 August 2006.
- ^ "Correct the damage". 16 July 2006. Retrieved 28 August 2006.
- ^ "Lebanese Druze Leader Walid Jumblatt Accuses Hizbullah, Iran, and Syria for Republic of Lebanon Crisis". 20 July 2006. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
- ^ "Hezbollah Didn't Win". 25 July 2006. Retrieved 28 August 2006.
- ^ "Hezbollah leader says he never thought capture would lead to war". 28 August 2006. Retrieved 28 August 2006.
- ^ "Hassan Nasrallah: Leader of Shiite terrorist organization, Hizbullah". Haaretz. 31 July 2006.
- ^ a b c MROUE, BASSEM (25 May 2013). "Hezbollah chief says group is fighting in Syria". Associated Press. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
- ^ "Hezbollah chief's nephew 'killed in Syria': reports". Al Arabiya. 26 July 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
- ^ a b Wright, Robin. "Inside the Mind of Hezbollah." The Washington Post. 16 July 2006. 18 November 2006.
- ^ "Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah Q&A: What Hezbollah Will Do". The Washington Post. 20 February 2000. Archived from the original on 1 November 2005. Retrieved 8 August 2006.
- ^ a b Goldberg, Jeffrey (14 October 2002). "In The Party Of God". The New Yorker. Retrieved 7 July 2009.
- ^ a b c Passner, Deborah (26 July 2006). "Hassan Nasrallah: In His Own Words". CAMERA.
- ^ Markus, Andrew (15 July 2006). "Little choice for a defiant Israel". The Age. Melbourne. Archived from the original on 13 October 2007. Retrieved 30 July 2006.
- ^ Hersh, Seymour M. (18 July 2003). "The Syrian Bet". The New Yorker. Retrieved 7 August 2006.
- ^ Shatz, Adam (29 April 2004). "In Search of Hezbollah". The New York Review of Books. Retrieved 7 August 2006.
- ^ Hezbollah cuts Islamist rhetoric in new manifesto". "Reuters. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
- ^ "Nasrallah to Assange: Hezbollah talked to Syria opposition; we want dialogue, US & Israel want civil war". RT. 17 April 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
- ^ "Pressed on Syria, Hezbollah Leader Urges Focus on Israel". New York Times. 2 August 2013.
- ^ "Old video comes back to haunt Hezbollah chief Nasrallah". 27 May 2013. Al Arabiya. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
- ^ Journal of Refugee Studies Vol. 10, No. 3 1997. Permanent Settlement of Palestinians in Lebanon: A Recipe for Conflict by Farid el Khazen.
- ^ U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. With Palestine, against the Palestinians: The Warehousing of Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon by Lisa Raffonelli.
- ^ London Review of Books. "Letters – Vol. 29, No. 1".
- ^ Muhammad Fnaysh, 15 August 1997. qtd. in Saad-Ghorayeb, 2002, p. 170.
- ^ a b Shaul Shay "Islamic Terror Abductions in the Middle East", Sussex Academic Press, 2007, ISBN 1-84519-167-6, p. 78
- ^ Aaron Mannes "Profiles in Terror: The Guide to Middle East Terrorist Organizations", Rowman & Littlefield, 2004, ISBN 0-7425-3525-8, p. 178
- ^ Barbara Allen Roberson "Shaping the Current Islamic Reformation", Routledge, 2003, ISBN 0-7146-5341-1, p. 245
- ^ Sarah Oates, Diana Marie Owen, Rachel Kay Gibson, Diana Owen "The Internet and Politics: Citizens, Voters and Activists", Routledge, 2006, ISBN 0-415-34784-X, p. 109
- ^ a b "Based on Koranic Verses, Interpretations, and Traditions, Muslim Clerics State: The Jews Are the Descendants of Apes, Pigs, And Other Animals". MEMRI. 1 November 2002.
- ^ Gabriel Weimann "Terror on the Internet: The New Arena, the New Challenges", United States Institute of Peace Press, 2006, ISBN 1-929223-71-4, p. 90
- ^ a b Shaul Shai "The Axis of Evil: Iran, Hizballah, And The Palestinian Terror", Transaction Publishers, 2005, ISBN 0-7658-0255-4, p. 131
- ^ "Excerpts from Speech by Hizbullah Secretary-General Nasrallah". Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 9 April 2000.
- ^ "Hidden History of the Arabs". Newsweek. 20 November 2006.
- ^ Satloff, Robert (8 October 2006). "Lost History Dept: The Holocaust's Arab Heroes". The Washington Post. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
- ^ "The Holocaust's Arab Heroes". Raoul Wallenberg Foundation. 8 October 2006.
- ^ a b Letters. London Review of Books. Vol. 28 No. 19
- ^ a b "Hizbullah Leader Nasrallah: Implementing Khomeini's Fatwa against Salman Rushdie Would Have Prevented Current Insults to Prophet Muhammad; Great French Philosopher Garaudy Proved Holocaust a Myth". MEMRI. Retrieved 7 February 2006.
- ^ "Hezbollah: Rushdie death would stop Prophet insults". Agence France-Presse. 2 February 2006.
- ^ Shah, Amir (23 February 2012). "Obama apologizes for Quran burning in Afghanistan". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 24 February 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
{{cite news}}
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suggested) (help) - ^ "Transcript of Hasan Nasrallah's speech in Nabi Sheet on 24 February 2012". Lebanon's (Official) National News Agency. Archived from the original on 24 February 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
{{cite web}}
: Unknown parameter|deadurl=
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suggested) (help) - ^ "Nasrallah survives poisoning attempt". The Jerusalem Post. 22 October 2008. Retrieved 21 December 2008.
- ^ "Fury at Israeli assassination threat". BBC. 16 March 1998. Retrieved 21 December 2008.
- ^ Yoav Stern (22 October 2008). "Hezbollah chief poisoned, Iranian doctors saved his life". Haaretz. Retrieved 21 December 2008.
- ^ Dominic Waghorn (23 October 2008). "title". Sky News. Retrieved 21 December 2008.
His predecessor Abbas al Musawi was killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon in 1992.
- ^ Nasrallah denies poison attack. AlBawaba. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
- ^ Nasrallah denies poisoning reports. Ynetnews.com (20 June 1995). Retrieved 8 December 2011.
Further reading
- Bergman, Ronen. "The Fall of Hezbollah’s Leader." Bloomberg. 24 June 2013.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/34px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- "The Multilingual Website of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah" Updated source of contents related to him in 31 languages. Its archive is being completed from the link below:
- "The Multilingual Page of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah"
- "Hizballah: A Primer", Lara Deeb, 31 July 2006
- "Inside the Mind of Hezbollah", Washington Post, 16 July 2006.
- Nasrallah: Israel temporary country YNET
- "Seyyed Hasan Nasrallah's Autobiography", Ya Lesarat Ol-Hoseyn (Tehran), Federation of American Scientists Intelligence Resource Program, 10 August 2006
Speeches and interviews
- Nasrallah's Sun Video
- Speech given on 26 May 2008
- Video Clip of Speech given on 14 August 2007 on YouTube
- Interview on 11 August 2007
- Interview with Al-Jazeera on 20 July 2006
- Speech on 8 August 2006
- Speech on 3 August 2006
- Speech on 31 July 2006
- Speech on 14 July 2006
- Speech on 8 March 2005
- Video Clip of Victory Speech on 22 September 2006
- Interview with Al-Jazeera
- The Beirut File: An Interview with Hassan Nasrallah by Mahir Tan (May 2003)