Disputed Legacy of Hassan Nasrallah
Israel and Hassan Nasrallah have a very long history of acrimonious relationship that incidentally has nothing to do with Palestine
[Mourners in Kashmir after assassination of Hassan Nasrallah.]
The Muslim world laments for the dead of a Lebanon Cleric and the General Secretary of Hezbollah, a Shia Islamist political party and Militant Group. Hassan Nasrallah born on 31 August 1960, got killed on September 27, 2024 as a result of Israeli airstrikes on Beirut.
Nasrallah finished his studies in Tyre and afterward a Shia seminary in Baalbek. He later joined Amal Movement - a Lebanese political party and a former militia group affiliated with the Shia community of Lebanon. The Amal, which means hope, was founded by Musa Al-sadr and Husseini in 1974 as the “Movement of the deprived”. The party is led by Nabih Berri since 1980.
Nasrallah joined Hezbollah, which was formed to fight the 1982 invasion of Lebanon. After a brief period of religious studies in Iran, Nasrallah returned and became the leader of the Hezbollah after his predecessor, Abbas al-Musawi, was assassinated by an Israeli airstrike in 1992.
The 1982 Lebanon war is also called the second Israeli invasion of Lebanon, which began on June 06, 1982, when Israel intruded Southern Lebanon during the Lebanese civil war. The civil war in Lebanon was between the Lebanese Christians and Muslims, and Israel had a role to play. The aim of the invasion by Israel was to end the Palestine attacks from Lebanon, destroy the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and most importantly install pro-Israel Maronite Christian Government.
Israel and Hassan Nasrallah have a very long history of acrimonious relationship that incidentally has nothing to do with Palestine. It’s Israel that made Hassan Nasrallah what got killed for. We can’t blame Nasrallah for being what he was. The invasion by Israel led to the creation of Hezbollah. The question is to be asked to Israel, for the deadly invasion of Lebanon which took place not once but twice.
[Mourners in Kashmir after assassination of Hassan Nasrallah.]
The first Invasion took place in 1978 and the second one in 1982. Defending home land is a right. And Hassan Nasrallah rightly did his job for which he shouldn’t and won’t ever be called a terrorist. A person or army that invades any country or a piece of land is an aggressor and is in real sense a terrorist. And the role of terrorist is widely played by Israel which is hailed by another aggressor called the United State of America (USA).
We have been hearing the very old and famous music from the West, where they claim to be so called protectors of Human Rights and Democracy. But as it is rightly said:
“The only country where USA sees threat to Democracy is the country that has or discovers GOLD”.
The reason why USA becomes interested is only because of the gold. The USA walks in a country that’s fully developed and walks out leaving behind ruins, malnutrition, poverty, homeless people, orphans, and handicapped people, and then proudly calls it an operation that restored the democracy, while the only aim of that operation was to steal the gold and fill up its own gold reserves.
Nasrallah has been a potential leader of Hezbollah. He has great role to play in the upgradation of the Hezbollah’s arms strength and weapons power. Under Nasrallah's leadership, Hezbollah acquired rockets with a longer range, which allowed them to strike at northern Israel. After Israel suffered heavy casualties during its 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon, it withdrew its forces in 2000, which greatly increased Hezbollah's popularity in the region, and bolstered Hezbollah's position within Lebanon. However, Hezbollah's role in ambushing an Israeli border patrol unit leading up to the 2006 Lebanon War was subject to local and regional criticism.
During the Syrian civil war, Hezbollah fought on the side of the Syrian army against what Nasrallah termed "Islamist extremists". He has also promoted the "Axis of Resistance", an informal coalition of Iran-backed militias focused on opposing Israel and the United States. Following Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel, he opted to engage in the conflict, initiating attacks on Israel, which resulted in a conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that impacted both sides of the border.
On September 27, 2024, the Israel Occupation Forces announced that its air force had struck Hezbollah's main headquarters in Beirut with the goal of assassinating Nasrallah. Hezbollah confirmed his death the following day.
The assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary General of Hezbollah, is being seen as a major setback for the militant organization, which is fighting alongside Hamas against the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine.
Nasrallah had faced assassination attempts before being assassinated on 27th of September. On October 15, 2008, an Iraqi news source reported that Nasrallah had been poisoned the pervious week. But he was saved by Iranian doctors who went to Lebanon to treat him. But this was termed as propaganda by Nasrallah in an Interview on 25 October 2008. He called it psychological warfare by Israel and USA.
The legacy of Hassan Nasrallah is a mixed one. Where he has a huge respect for his role in the Lebanon and Palestine, on the same hand he is being criticized for being part of Bashar al-Assad regime.
Bashar al-Assad, who’s the 19th President of Syria, is involved in the mass genocide of Sunni Muslims in Syria. He’s accused of killing hundreds of thousands of Sunni Muslim civilians, especially the innocent Syrian Sunni children.
While actively participating in the genocide of Sunni Muslims in Syria, on 25 May 2013, Nasrallah announced that the Hezbollah is fighting in the Syrian civil war, and justified it by saying that Hezbollah is fighting “Islamic Extremists” and pledged that his group will not allow “Syrian extremists” to control the areas bordering Lebanon. Interestingly, the claims that Hezbollah had been fighting in Syria are same of Israel for fighting in Palestine.
Nonetheless, condolences poured in from across the world soon after the assassination of Nasrallah on Sept 27, 2024. Jammu and Kashmir, which is due for third phase of elections, after ten years of gap and for the first time after abrogation of Article 370, saw unprecedented scenario as the politicians like Mehbooba Mufti, former Chief Minster of Jammu and Kashmir, cancelled all her campaigns as a mark of protest. It was followed by a similar move by National Conference Member of Parliament representing Srinagar Ruhullah Mehdi.
While Hassan Nasrallah leaves behind a Disputed Legacy, it remains to be seen what’s next for Hezbollah.
[The writer, Raqif Makhdoomi, is a law student and a Rights Activist. Views are personal.]
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