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Should Hezbollah Be Disarmed?

For many years, there has been an intense debate over whether or not Lebanon’s Hezbollah group should be disarmed.
By Kristian Alexander & Giorgio Cafiero • Jul 09, 2020
Disarm Hezbollah, Disarming Hezbollah, Hezbollah disarmed, Hezbollah news, Hezbollah, Lebanon, Lebanon news, news on Lebanon, Kristian Alexander, Giorgio Cafiero

Hezbollah supporters on 5/25/2014 © Gabriele Pedrini. / Shutterstock

Amid Lebanon’s ongoing anti-government protests, various demonstrators have held signs demanding “No weapons but legal weapons. 1559, make it happen.” This is a clear reference to Hezbollah, a hybrid organization, political party, social movement and a regional player with global reach.

There is a long history of Hezbollah and the disarmament issue being part of Lebanon’s political discourse. The issue is complex and contentious. There are various angles. First, one needs to distinguish between the internal Lebanese debate and the demands imposed externally by Western countries. Both perspectives are interconnected.

Within the Lebanese context, Hezbollah has over time toned down its Islamic narrative and burnished its Lebanese credentials. The party has had representatives elected to parliament, various members in the cabinet, and stated that it would be willing to discuss disarmament within the framework of national dialogue. Hezbollah has pointed out that the Lebanese government itself has sanctioned and acknowledged the Shia organization’s role as a resistance movement. It has also repeatedly claimed that it would be willing to integrate into the national defense system once the Lebanese government is run efficiently, with the Lebanese armed forces proving capable of protecting the country.  

A number of Western and Arab states and Israel have designated Hezbollah a terrorist organization. These governments view the Iranian-sponsored group as a major obstacle that is guilty of impairing progress in the Middle East, sowing chaos and advancing Iran and Syria’s sinister plans. A common narrative in Washington, some Gulf Arab capitals and Tel Aviv is that Hezbollah is mainly an Iranian stooge and/or a Syrian agent. The Shia organization, from this perspective, is a “state within a state” that willfully undermines the sovereignty of the Lebanese state while stripping the government of having the sole monopoly over the use of force in the country. The externally driven disarmament rhetoric, some have argued, is intended to demonize Iran as “harboring and abetting” terrorist movements and hence isolating it further.

Protesters in Beirut, Lebanon on 10/28/2019 © Diplomedia / Shutterstock
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CategoriesArab News, Arab world, Insight, International Security, Middle East & North Africa, Middle East News, Politics, World News TagsDisarm Hezbollah, Disarming Hezbollah, Giorgio Cafiero, Hezbollah, Hezbollah disarmed, Hezbollah news, Kristian Alexander, Lebanon, Lebanon news, news on Lebanon
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