[Published here on January 28, 2015]
Hezbollah
Lebanon’s Shia defiant in face of ISIL threat | Al Jazeera
Image by James Haines-Young (AJE)
[Published here November 5, 2014]
Beirut – Past the barricaded checkpoints, the searching tents, and groups of men with walkie-talkies, hundreds of thousands of Shia Muslims gathered in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Tuesday, to commemorate Ashura.
On this day, Shia Muslims worldwide mourn the death of Imam Hussein, grandson of Prophet Muhammad – and in Lebanon, despite significant security threats and political deadlock, this year was no different.
Will the real resistance stand up? | Gate37
Resistance is Legitimacy
“Many harbor the most profound hopes that Cuba will resist. That is the message we receive from all over, that is the encouragement we receive from all points of the compass on the earth: the hope that we will be capable of resisting.” – Fidel Castro, 1992
Ashura in a time of war | The Economist
Men chant ‘Ya Hussein’ as they beat their heads. Image by James Haines-Young
[Published here November 18, 2013]
KFAR RUMMAN — THE excruciating wail could be heard without the microphones. On November 14th, thousands of women clad in black abayas and children watched the army of the caliph Yazid slaughter Hussein, a grandson and would-be heir of the Prophet Muhammad, in a theatrical recreation of the battle in 680 AD that split Islam into its Sunni and Shia branches.
Below the stage in this town in southern Lebanon, groups of young men prepared themselves for a bloodier part of Ashura, as the day of mourning for Hussein’s death is known. Men used razors to carve small incisions on the scalps of the men and boys, some as young as two-years-old. Cries of “Ya Hussein, Ya Hussein” echoed through the streets as men pounded their foreheads, blood streaming down their faces.
Hezbollah Unfazed | Atlantic Council
Atlantic Council
[Published here July 25, 2013]
In a long-awaited move, the European Union on Monday designated the military wing of Lebanon’s Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. The months-long discussions were catalyzed by American pressure and proof of Hezbollah’s involvement in a 2012 terrorist attack in Bulgaria. The precise effects of the designation on Hezbollah’s operations in Europe remain unclear; nevertheless, as British Foreign Secretary William Hague and EU officials assessed, the move serves as an important message to Hezbollah that its era of impunity in Europe is coming to an end.
MAYA GEBEILY 