Etikett: Hizbollah

Mer om Hizbollah-Israel utväxlingen

Daniel Levy hör till de israeler jag respekterar som realister. Hans kommentar kan vara värd att höra. Den ger också lite perspektiv till skillnad från svenska israelvänners kommentarer.

Perspectives on the Israel-Hezbollah Prisoner Exchange – The Washington Note
As Daniel argues, this exchange can be hard to understand in the West. Why would Israel give up a hated terrorist, a cold-blooded murderer, in return for the dead bodies of kidnapped soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, among other Israeli war dead from the 2006 Lebanon war? And what does Israel gain from negotiating with terrorist groups like Hezbollah?

First of all, Hezbollah’s gains from this exchange should not be exaggerated. Hezbollah has built its reputation in Lebanon over the last 26 years, not only as a resistance organization but also as a charity organization that provides education, medical care and other basic services the Lebanese government cannot. The prisoner exchange may mark a small symbolic victory for them, but nothing of any more importance. It certainly will do little to increase the legitimacy that they have already gained with the Lebanese people.

Yet Levy is right in saying that Hezbollah is still a presence that must be dealt with. They are a part of Lebanon’s government, and the level of power they have acquired over the years make them a key player in Lebanese politics, and their influence cannot be underestimate or ignored.

As for the released terrorist, Samir Quntar, he remains a murderer. But his moment in history has passed.

Quntar was a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a group that, while still active, was supplanted long ago by the PLO (now the Palestinian Authority) and Hamas. He is not a member of Hezbollah, and poses little threat to Israel now that he is freed. His power was as a symbol, a martyr condemned in perpetuity to Israel’s prison system. Freed from his bonds, he loses his power to captivate. The hero’s welcome he received today is, as Daniel points out, a chance for the Lebanese to vent their very real anger and frustration at the destruction wrought by the war and the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon that ended in 2000. But Samir Quntar the man will most likely fade away.

This leaves, of course, Israel. Israel’s gains, if they can be called that, are bittersweet and ephemeral. The Goldwasser and Regev families will never see their sons again. But as Levy points out, this exchange shows, if nothing else, the solidarity of the Israeli people, and their commitment, above everything else, to bring all of Israel’s sons home. It also gives them the closure they needed, to be able to bury their sons and go back to their live

2008/07/18

Israel och Gudmundson

Kan det möjligen vara de tusentals döda och sårade och en till stora delar utplånade infrastruktur som får libaneser att fira? Om att de för en gångs skull får vinner något över Israel. Vilket man även i Israel kallt räknar med att Libaneserna kommer att göra. Även i Israel ses utbytet som en framgång. Israel har fått tillbaka sina döda soldater. Olmert har vunnit något och bringat lite avslut tlll det krig han startade. Och familjerna kan begrava sin döda även i Israel.

Goldwasser’s widow: Our journey has ended today – Haaretz – Israel News
Thousands of mourners gathered Thursday morning at the military cemetery in Nahariya for the funeral of Sergeant Major Ehud Goldwasser, whose body was returned to Israel by Hezbollah a day earlier as part of a long-awaited prisoner exchange.

Goldwasser and fellow reservist Eldad Regev were to receive military funerals on Thursday, two years and five days after they were abducted by Hezbollah in a cross-border raid which sparked a month-long war with the Lebanon-based guerilla group.

Det som stör mig är att återigen osynliggör Per Gudmundson på SvD Israels agerande i Libanon kriget och framställer araber som mordiska. Kuntar är en mördare men sådan finns även på den Israeliska sidan. Eller är det finare att spränga småbarn i småbitar med luftbombardemang. Det är kanske inte så förvånande om man reagerar som As’ad’ nedan. Men så är väl också Per Gudmundson med i samfundetSverige Israel och därmed är det Israels röst som talar från SvD’s ledarsida. Eller?

The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب
Huwayda lost one of her eyes, her father, and two of her siblings from Israeli
bombs dropped on South Lebanon in 2006. Never forget. Never forgive.

Eller varför inte läsa igenom listan på döda civila från angry arab. Mellan 1000 och 2000 döda libaneser var priset för två döda Israeliska soldater. Inklusive månads gamla baby.

No.	Village	Region	Date	Targeted area	Number of killed	Number of wounded	Remarks
1.	Aytaroun first massacre	Bint Jbeil/ South Lebanon	July 12	Houses of both Ali and Hassan Al-Akhrass	11 civilians	unknown	The family members of Hassan Al-Akrass hold the Canadian nationality and held a press conference in Montreal
2.	Dweir massacre	Nabatiyeh/ South Lebanon	July 13	Ali Akkash house	12 civilians		An entire family was killed with children under 18
3.	Zibkeen massacre	Tyre/ South Lebanon	July13	Naim Bzeeh with its three floors	12 civilians	unknown	Corpses remained under the rubble till the end of the aggression
4.	Shhour massacre	Tyre/ South Lebanon	July 13	Ali Khashab house	7 civilians	unknown	There were still corpses under the rubble30
5.	Baflay massacre	Tyre/ South Lebanon	July 13	Munir Zein	8 civilians	unknown	Amongst the victims there were two Kuwaitis
6.	Yatar first massacre	Bint Jbeil/ South Lebanon	July 14	Abu-Akeel Sweydan	5 civilians	unknown
7.	Marwaheen massacre	Tyre/ South Lebanon	July 15	A convoy of civilians attempting to flee the village after Israeli warning to bomb Marwaheen	22 civilians	unknown	The convoy was struck in Bayyada
8.	Civil Defense Building	Tyre/ South Lebanon	July 16	8-storey building	12 civilians	50 wounded	Corpses remained under the rubble
9.	Abbassiyeh crossroad massacre	Tyre/ South Lebanon	July 16	Building on the main road	13 civilians	unknown
10.	Abba massacre	Nabatiyeh/ South Lebanon	July 16	Abed El-Aziz Tarheeni	10 civilians	12 civilians	Most of the victims belonged to the same family
11.	Borj Shamali massacre	Tyre/ South Lebanon	July 16	Ramez Zayyat house	5 civilians	8 civilians	Two newborns were killed
12.	Aytaroun Second massacre	Bint Jbeil/ South Lebanon	July 17	Houses of both Mohammed and Hassan Awada	13 civilians	unknown	Corpses were still under the rubble
13.	Rmayleh massacre		July 17	Convoy of displaced people trying to flee their villages heavily struck by air raids	12 civilians	unknown	Chemical bombs were thrown on a convoy of displaced people
14.	Al-Hosh massacre	Tyre/ South Lebanon	July 17	Kodsi Villa	4 civilians	3 civilians	UNIFIL removed the rubble and pulled the corpses buried beneath the rubble
15.	Shmeiss massacre	Shheem/ Mount Lebanon	July 17	Residential house	5 civilians	10 civilians
16.	Srifa massacre	Tyre/ South Lebanon	Night of 18-19 July	As-Sakna and Al Marj neighborhoods, the total demolition of more than 10 houses	More than 35 civilians	30 civilians	Corpses of victims remained for weeks, till rotting disintegrated
17.	Aynatha massacre	Bint Jbeil/ South Lebanon	Night of July 19	Sami Darwish house	4 civilians	5 civilians	Corpses remained under the rubble
18.	Salaa massacre	Tyre/ South Lebanon	July 19	Hassan Moustapha Ayyoub	6 civilians	unknown	Corpses remained under the rubble
19.	Aytaroun third massacre	Bint Jbeil/ South Lebanon	July 19	Convoy of displaced feeling Aytaroun on the Borj Shamali road	4 civilians	2 civilians
20.	Maaraboun massacre	West Bekaa	July 19	Convoy of pickup trucks driven by farmers	7 civilians	2 civilians
21.	Nabatiyeh first massacre	Nabtiyeh/ South Lebanon	July 19	Down town Capitol commercial building	5 civilians	5 civilians	The raid targeted also an ambulance
22.	Nabi Sheet massacre	West Bekaa	July 19	Hassan Shakar house	8 civilians	3 civilians	Amongst the victims there were displaced from Mayss Al-Jabal village, two entire families of 8 were killed
23.	Tyre second massacre	Tyre/ South Lebanon	July 19	Residential areas in Tyre	20 civilians	unknown	Many corpses remained under the rubble for several days
24.	Nabatiyeh second massacre	Nabatiyeh/ South Lebanon	July 25	House of Saad Mamzeh	7 civilians	unknown
25.	Haddatha massacre	Bint Jbeil/ South Lebanon	July 28	Hussein Mohammed Sabra house	6 civilians	unknown	The air raid targeted a religious place used for social occasions (called “husseyniyeh”) of the neighboring village, 6 members of the same family were killed
26.	Kfarjoz massacre	Nabatiyeh/South Lebanon	July 28	Dana Al-Khaleej Building	6 civilians	unknown	Many neighboring residential buildings were hit
27.	Deir Kanoun Nahr massacre	Tyre/ South Lebanon	July 28	Abed Ezzedine house	4 civilians	unknown
28.	Yatar second massacre	Bint Jbeil/ South Lebanon	July 28	Internal houses and roads	4 civilians	unknown
29.	Noumeyriyyeh massacre	Nabatiyeh/South Lebanon	July 29	Houses of both families Haraki and Bdeir	7 civilians	unknown	One entire family was killed in addition to neighbors
30.	Ayn Arab massacre	Bekaa	July 29	Unidentified residential houses	6 civilians	3 wounded	Many corpses remained under the rubble for several days
31.	Yaroun massacre	Bint Jbeil/South Lebanon	July 30	A house where villagers were hiding seeking a safe haven	6 civilians	unknown	6mebers of the same family (Khanafer) were killed : 3 women and 3 children
32.	New Qana massacre	Tyre/ South Lebanon	July 30	Shalhoub building (three-storey)	60 civilians	9 civilians at least	The victims were mainly from Shalhoub and Hashem families. Corpses remained under the rubble for several days
33.	Hareess massacre	Bint Jbeil/South Lebanon	July 31	Houses of Khalil Jawad and Ali Saaban	16 civilians	unknown	The 16 corpses of the two families remained under the rubble of the two residential houses
34.	Halloussiyeh massacre	Tyre/South Lebanon	July 31	Hussein Mwanness	More than 13 civilians	unknown	All the corpses belonged to the same family (many of them were children under 12) and remained under the rubble for several weeks
35.	Road massacre in Qoleyleh	Tyre/South Lebanon	July 31	Roads and vehicles between Qoleyleh and A-Jebbeyn	12 civilians		Amongst the victims there was a corpse of an 8 year old child)
36.	Luweyzeh massacre	Ikleem Tuffah/ South Lebanon	August 1	Salim Hashem house	5 civilians	1 civilian
37.	Maaroub massacre	Tyre/ South Lebanon	August 1	Abdel-Hussein Taleb	5 civilians	unknown	Corpses remained under the rubble for a while
38.	Baalbeck massacre	Bekaa	Night August 1-2	A commandos operation on a hospital in Baalbeck killed civilians	17 civilians	8 civilians	The victims were only women, children and Syrian workers. Five innocent were kidnapped and released later
39.	Qaa massacre	Bekaa	August 4	Syrian workers who were packaging peaches	50 civilians	unknown
40.	Taybeh massacre	Marjeyoun/ South Lebanon	August 4	Two-storey residential house	7 civilians	10 civilians	The victims were elderly unable to leave their houses
41.	Ayta Shaab massacre	Bint Jbeil/ South Lebanon	August 4	Residential house	10 civilians	unknown	Corpses remained under the rubble for a while
42.	Ansar massacre	Nabatiyeh/ South Lebanon	August 6	Ibrahim Assi house	5 civilians	10 civilians	An entire family (Ibrahim Assi, his wife, his two daughters and their neighbors). Rescue workers who were pulling them were hit by another air strike that hit 9 neighboring houses
43.	Al-Jubbeyn massacre	Tyre/ South Lebanon	August 6	House of Kassem Akeel	4 civilians	unknown	Air strikes hit heavily the village killing Kassem Akeel, his wife, his daughter and another victim
44.	Houla massacre	Marjeyoun/ South Lebanon	August 7	Several residential houses, amongst them a shelter	5 civilians	unknown	60 persons who were hiding in a shelter and a social club (“husseyniyeh”) were miraculously rescued, while all surrounding buildings were totally destroyed by 6 heavy air strikes
45.	Ghassaniyeh massacre	Saida/ South Lebanon	August 7	Abdallah Tohmeh house	8 civilians	unknown	An air strike hit at dawn Abdallah Khalil two-storey building killing him, his wife, his two sons, his two brothers and two others
46.	Ghaziyeh first massacre	Saida/ South Lebanon	August 7	Residential neighborhoods	21 civilians	30 civilians
47.	Kfartebneet massacre	Nabatiyeh/ South Lebanon	August 7	Residential houses	5 civilians	18 civilians	7 houses were totally destroyed, Harouf village was targeted later
48.	Breetal first massacre	Bekaa	August 7	Residential houses	14 civilians	31 civilians	Many houses were totally damaged, Shmestar village was targeted later
49.	Shiyyah massacre	Beirut southern suburb	August 7	Hajjaj residential neighborhood	20 civilians	30 civilians	The death toll increased later since many corpses were removed beneath the rubble. Amongst the victims, there were displaced from Beer Al-Abed, Haret Hrayk, Hayy Mawad
50.	Ghaziyeh second massacre	Saida/ South Lebanon	August 8	Air raids struck heavily on the funeral procession of the victims of the previous day air raids	14 civilians	24 civilians
51.	Mashgharah massacre	Bekaa	August 9	Four-storey building	8 civilians	unknown	The victims were all from the same family
52.	Al-Hayssa massacre	Akkar /North Lebanon	August 11	Al-Hayssa bridge	12 civilians	15 civilians
53.	Marjeyoun convoy massacre	Bekaa	August 11	A displaced convoy heading to the Bekaa valley fleeing Marjeyoun area	7 civilians	32 civilians	The convoy was escorted by UN forces and had previous security clearance. It was constituted more than 1500 civilian cars and 200 military cars
54.	Rweyss massacre	Beirut southern suburb	August 13		15 civilians	unknown	The death toll increased later after pulling additional corpses from under the rubble. Amongst the people who were killed there were three newborns
55.	Breetal second massacre	Bekaa	August 13	One residential building in Breetal	13 civilians	22 civilians	Five families were looking for a safe haven in the building that was struck heavily by Israeli air raids
56.	Jamaliyyeh massacre	Bekaa	August 14	A van carrying civilians	7 civilians	7 civilians	The van was carrying displaced people

Eller varför inte titta på bilderna efter en av de många Israeliska bombningar 2006. Är det möjligen så att libaneserna inte glömt vad vi i väst redan förträngt eller inte vill se?

Cana mayor describes bombing horror and calls for Christian support | Ekklesia
Cana mayor describes bombing horror and calls for Christian support

-06/08/05

Salah Salame, the mayor of the Lebanese town of Qana [Cana] in which an
apartment building was bombed on 31 July 2006 by the Israeli military,
says that humanitarian aid is desperately needed in his city and
elsewhere in Lebanon ñ writes Mary Frances Schjonberg, a correspondent
for the Episcopal News Service.

Mr Salame said that churches need to advocate for delivery of such aid as medications, which are no longer available, for chronic diseases like diabetes and heart
conditions. He said his brother died in the 31 July attack due to a
lack of insulin.

Salame claimed 10 people have died of causes
ranging from heart attacks from stress to lack of medicines. He also
called on people of faith to continue to pray and to support Pope
Benedict XVI’s call for an immediate cease-fire.

Salame made his remarks in a lengthy interview on 3 August 2006 in Paris with a
journalist friend of Episcopal Bishop Pierre W. Whalon of the
Convocation of American Churches in Europe. The subsequent account came
from the bishop.

When Qana was bombed, the Reuters news agency called it one of the deadliest air strikes of the war up to that point.

The mayor denied that Israel had any reason to attack the apartment
building. The Israeli military has said that rockets aimed at its
country had been launched from near the building. International outrage
at the bombing prompted Israel to stop its attacks for 48 hours.

Mr Salame, who was elected Qana’s mayor in 1998 and re-elected in 2005,
has been stuck in Paris since the Israeli bombing of the Beirut
airport, Bishop Whalon reported.

Salame said that 57 people died in the attack on the apartment building in Qana, including 29 children ranging in age from a few months to 13 years old. He said that reports
from a hospital in the Lebanese city of Tyre that 28 people died in the
attack are wrong

SvD » Ledarsidan » Vad finns där överhuvudtaget att fira?
Samir Kuntar och de tre andra männen hade tagit sig in i Israel med båt. Väl inne i kuststaden Nahariya ertappades gruppen av en polisman, som de hade ihjäl. På Jabotinskys väg 61 gick männen in i ett flerfamiljshus där de delade upp sig i två grupper. Kuntar och hans medhjälpare tog sig in i familjen Harans lägenhet och tog Danny, och hans dotter Einat, som gisslan.

Mamman, Smadar Haran, lyckades hålla sig undan med den yngsta, Yael. Men hon kramade henne så intensivt för att hon skulle hålla tyst att barnet kvävdes till döds.

Pappa och storasyster fördes ner till stranden. I tumultet dödades ytterligare en polisman.

Samir Kuntar sköt Danny, från nära håll, i ryggen och dränkte honom därefter, inför dotterns ögon. Fyraåriga Einat Harans skalle krossade han sedan mellan gevärskolven och klipporna.

Igår eftermiddag frigavs Samir Kuntar. Han ingår med fyra andra i den uppgörelse som Israel gjort med den libanesiska terrorist- och gerillarörelsen Hizbollah. Israel fick åter kvarlevorna av de två soldater som Hizbollah tillfångatog på israelisk mark (startskottet för kriget sommaren 2006 mellan Israel och Hizbollah), och kunde slutligen förbereda sig för den sorgestund som begravningar alltid innebär.

2008/07/17

Tysklands roll i Hizbollah-israel utväxlingen

För den som följer mellanöstern är det ganska intressant att läsa om den roll som Tyska BND skall ha haft i kontakterna mellan Israel och Hizbollah. Som Haaretz rapporterar nedan var det en Gerhard Conrad med en position som BND’s representant i Damascus och Libanon som agerade mellanhand.

Att Angela Merkels Tyskland får äran av att en framgångsrik medling är också intressant. Och varför publicerar Hareetz vad som i stort är en hyllningsartikel till en Tysk underättelseagent?

Gerhard Conrad – the ’fair’ middleman overseeing the swap – Haaretz – Israel News

Conrad
learned Arabic in Damascus as part of his intelligence training. In
fact, he is among the very few Arabic speakers in the BND. That
training destined him to serve in the agency’s Middle East department.
Among other missions, he was sent in 1998 to serve, under diplomatic
cover, as the BND’s official representative in Damascus, which role
included responsibility for Lebanon. Consequently, he is well informed
regarding developments in both countries, and has met several times
with Hezbollah leaders, including the movement’s secretary general,
Hassan Nasrallah.
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Conrad’s wife also works for the BND, and the couple worked together in Damascus.

Since
the 1990s, Conrad has played a part in every prisoner swap between
Israel and Hezbollah in which the BND and German officials were
involved as mediators.

His two predecessors in the role of chief
mediator – first Bernd Schmidbauer, and then, in the Elhanan Tennenbaum
deal, Ernst Uhrlau (today the BND chief) – were German government
officials who served as liaisons between the chancellor’s office and
the country’s secret services. As a result, their political
affiliations were known and they kept a relatively high profile.
Gerhard Conrad, by contrast, is an intelligence officer on active duty,
so he keeps a low profile and operates mysteriously behind the scenes.

His
key contact is the Israeli government’s coordinator for the hostages in
Lebanon and Gaza, Ofer Dekel, with whom he has met numerous times –
mainly in Europe, but also on several occasions in Israel.

Conrad
was involved in the deals mediated by Schmidbauer and Uhrlau, both
while he was BND representative in Syria and Lebanon and after his
return to headquarters. To a great extent, he served as their man in
the field.

The Conrads returned from their Damascus posting in
2001. Back at BND headquarters, Conrad worked in the research and
analysis department and continued to follow the talks between Israel
and Hezbollah. He was also active in the effort to obtain information
on the fate of Israeli navigator Ron Arad, missing since his plane was
shot down over Lebanon in 1986.

SvD » Utrikes » Glädje i Libanon men sorg i Israel
Efter många timmars väntan fick fångutväxlingen sin avslutning i Beirut på onsdagskvällen. Den i Israel mångfaldigt livstidsdömde libanesen Samir Kuntar och fyra Hizbollahkrigare togs emot av statens högsta ledare på VIP-delen av Beiruts flygplats och kördes därefter i kortege till den ”segerfest” som det shiitiska Gudspartiet Hizbollah höll i Beiruts södra förorter. Där möttes de av tiotusentals deltagare.

– Vem Samir Kuntar, som är drus, har blivit efter 29 år i israeliskt fängelse vet vi inte, förklarade en libanesisk journalist som väntade på honom på Beiruts flygplats.

Men senare på kvällen fick han och alla andra undrande libaneser svaret när Kuntar i sitt tal hyllade Hizbollahledaren Hassan Nasrallah.

Tidigare på dagen hade stoften efter de israeliska soldaterna Ehud Goldwasser och Eldad Regev, som kidnappades av Hizbollah i en gränsräd den 12 juli 2006, återbördats till Israel. När de svarta kistorna kördes över gränsen i Internationella Röda kors-kommitténs bilar släcktes den sista strimman av hopp hos deras anhöriga om att soldaterna skulle återkomma med livet i behåll.

Shlomo Goldwasser, fadern till en av de döda soldaterna, kräver att få veta om hans son dödades i Hizbollahs gränsräd eller om han dog i fångenskap. Fadern påminner om att Hassan Nasrallah direkt efter kidnappningen sagt att Goldwasser togs till fånga levande.

För Israels president Shimon Peres var det plågsamt att benåda den flerfaldigt livstidsdömde Samir Kuntar och Hizbollahkrigare i utbyte mot de döda soldaterna. Premiärminister Ehud Olmert sade att Israels regering tvingades till denna utväxling på grund av det ansvar staten känner gentemot sina soldater.

I Israel ses Samir Kuntar som en ärketerrorist, en brutal barnamördare, som inte bara tog livet av en israelisk polisman och en ung pappa i staden Nahariya i en räd 1979 utan som även, med sin gevärskolv, krossade pappans 4-åriga dotters huvud mot en sten.

Men i Libanon, där Samir Kuntar fick en hjältes mottagande, ville varken vanliga libaneser eller kommentarerna tro på den versionen.

Att en före detta fånge som Samir Kuntar och de fyra Hizbollahmännen flögs i den libanesiske presidentens helikoptrar till Beiruts internationella flygplats och sedan mottogs med alla de hedersbetygelser som staten förmådde är ytterst stötande för israelerna.

2008/07/17
Shia – Majoriteten i Libanon

När man talar om Hizballah och LIbanon kan det vara på plats att nämna alliansen med Aouns kristna maroniter. Och att Shia i Libanon representeras av två partier Amal och Hizballah, som både sitter i parlamentet. När det gäller Hizballahs ’kontroll’ kan det kanske ha något att göra med att de representerar en folklig rörelse med geuint stöd. Tillskillnad från Gucci revolutionärerna inom 14-mars rörelsen, som kanske började som en folk rörelse men till stora delar finansierade av SaudiArabien. Vars inhyrda säkerhetsfolk sprang när Hizballah visade sig. Den var den Libanesiska armen som fick rädda Jumblatt när han belägrades i sitt egen compund och Hairiri.

Oavsett hur det är med Hizballah’s folkliga stöd finns det troligen en Shia majoritet i Libanon om det hade genomförts en folkräkning och ett öppet val. Den amerikansk, israelsiska, saudiska libanesiska planen att krossa Hizballah hade med andra ord väldigt liten chans att lyckas. Att Suleiman skulle ingrippa mot Hizballah med en majoritet av shia soldater inom den Libanesiska armen är ganska orealistiskt. Eller att han skulle tvinga igenom avtal genomdrivna av Israel och USA om avväppning av den starkaste miliärakraften i landet.

Sen var det inte det Libanesiska staten utan Jumblatt som drev igenom den senaste krisen. Där det fortfarande är av intresse om det var en del av en plan där det var meningen att Israel skulle involveras som stöd. Jumblatt med flera turnerade ju också runt I USA förra året där det även ingick möten med Israels dåvarande vice stabschef Moshe Kaplinski som fick sparken för sin dålig hantering av Libanon kriget 2006.

Visst är Hizballah tungt beväpnande och en stat i staten. Om det nu finns någon Libanesisk stat i västerländsk mening. Men samtidigt är det intressanta om Hizballah är en rationell aktör. Vid den senaste krisen visade de sig vara detta. De gjorde precis det som var nödvändigt för att slå ner Jumblatt och hans allierade och drog sig sedan tillbaka.

Förövrigt att Hizballah skapades som en motståndsrörelse mot den Israeliska ockupationen av södra Libanon i nästan 20år hör väl till ironierna nu när de blivit en av Israels farligaste motståndare.

När Libanon i helgen efter nitton misslyckade försök kunde välja general Michel Suleiman till president var det ytterligare bevis för Hizbollahs kontroll. Inget sker utan deras samtycke.
För bara veckor sedan stod Libanon på randen till inbördeskrig. Den tändande gnistan var att Hizbollah inte gillade att den libanesiska staten försökt avveckla organisationens övervakningsutrustning på Beiruts flygplats och försökt sparka dess egna flygplatschef.
Under några dagar försvarade Hizbollah sin position som stat i staten. Organisationen visade sin makt. Man tog kontroll över kvarter, visade sig, och drog sig tillbaka. Man demonstrerade vad man är kapabel till, men utan att utföra det helt. Till slut fick man som man ville.
Viktigast av allt: den libanesiska armén under Michel Suleiman grep inte in. Vad skulle den göra? Hizbollah visade under bara några dagar att man kunde operera efter eget tycke över nästan hela landet.
Att inte gripa in är dessutom något av Suleimans specialitet. Under cederrevolutionen, då libaneserna under några rusiga månader lyckades skaka av sig den syriska överrocken, stod Suleiman med sin armé och tittade på. Och faktum är att han är förbunden av internationella avtal att avväpna Hizbollah, men detta gör han alltså inte ens när Hizbollah bedriver öppet krig på huvudstadens shoppinggator. Han står och tittar på.
Det är lätt att begripa att Hizbollah kan leva med en sådan president.
Den senaste månaden har Hizbollah klivit fram som Libanons mäktigaste spelare. Den uppgörelse som ligger till grund för president Suleimans utnämning föreskriver dessutom att Hizbollah kan lägga in sitt veto mot regeringsbeslut som inte passar.
Det är omöjligt att säga vad som kommer att hända nu. För Israel är det naturligtvis ovisst att ha en Hamas-stat på ena sidan och en Hizbollah-stat på den andra. För Iran känns det toppen. Den som muckar gräl med Iran kan nu få en halv kontinent i obalans om Iran bara bestämmer sig för att dra i trådarna.
Men vad det betyder inne i Libanon är en annan sak. Det märkliga när jag var där var att folk garvade och ryckte på axlarna. De hade lärt sig att leva med röran. Jag fick intrycket då att det kommer att gå bra, trots allt. Libanon kommer inte att bli någon mönsterdemokrati av skandinavisk modell, visst. Men som Italien, kanske. Utom i Beiruts södra förorter där det var mer som Iran

SvD » Ledarsidan » Inget sker utan Hizbollahs godkännande

2008/05/27

Etikett: Hizbollah

Mer om Hizbollah-Israel utväxlingen

Israel och Gudmundson

Tysklands roll i Hizbollah-israel utväxlingen

Shia – Majoriteten i Libanon