Hezbollah, a product of Arab media propaganda

The crimes committed during battles in Syria's central town of Qusayr have increased Arab anger and hatred towards Hezbollah. The Lebanese Shiite's chief Hassan Nasrallah had to make an appearance yesterday to defend his reputation which is stained with the blood of children, women and thousands of slain people.

In order to gain the sympathy of his adverse audience, he resorted to his old rhetoric style, which was once directed towards Sunni Arabs. And so, he spoke of a united front against Israel and the West. He spoke of how he fought for the sake of the Palestinians although there are no Shiites among them and how his party fought in Bosnia in the 90s although the Muslims there are Sunnis.

Has Nasrallah convinced millions of Syrians and 200 million Arabs of his claim that he is fighting in Syria alongside Assad's forces for the sake of Palestine and Jerusalem? I think it is unlikely that he convinced anyone because news of massacres and sectarian murders in Syria have reached an extent where speeches on a mutual forged history can no longer conceal this.

Hezbollah’s 30 years

Truth is, Hezbollah has not changed. Most Arabs who later realized the truth are the ones who've changed. Hezbollah was born in 1982 for the aims of carrying out today's goals and schemes. Arabs who are willing to kiss the forehead of anyone who raises Palestine's flag threw their support behind this Iranian organization which was planned in Qom and established in Lebanon as a tool for the region’s struggles.

During the same year, forces belonging to Israeli slaughterer Ariel Sharon entered Lebanon surprising everyone by heading towards the capital, Beirut, besieging it and destroying it. These forces eventually destroyed the only Palestinian power, Fatah, which fought 88 difficult days. Fatah finally gave up, and its leader Yasser Arafat left to Cyprus in defeat and then to his final exile in Tunisia. Hezbollah was born as an alternative to the Palestinian Liberation Organization. The Iranians had already decided to use to the Palestinian cause to enter the Arab world and respond to the propaganda of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein who doubted Iran's intentions and fought it on the borders.

If we clear our heads and observe what Hezbollah has done in 30 years, we'd realize it has been operating as an Iranian battalion within Iran's struggle with the region's areas, including struggles against the Lebanese, the Arabs and the Israelis. It eliminated national Lebanese and Palestinian powers and became a fort protecting Israel except for few confrontations against it - confrontations in which Israel won. You may ask why Hezbollah always appeared victorious as a steadfast power against Israel. The reason behind this was Arab propaganda that was used to forge and twist facts.

Most of Hezbollah's wars fell within Israel's interests. In 1985, the war of the camps erupted. Syrian forces along with Hezbollah and Amal committed massacres against Palestinians, but Arab media stood by the criminals against the victim.

Israel also conducted operations against Hezbollah in 1993 and 1996. The battles were finalized with agreements in which Hezbollah made concessions and pledges to Israel. But Arab media claimed that Hezbollah is winning. Even when Israel decided to withdraw from South Lebanon in 2000, Hezbollah was not part of this and it threatened that it will not allow its withdrawal.

Then, the party invented the issue of the Shebaa Farms to keep their arms, or as they call them, the "resistance" arms. These arms were and still are against the Lebanese. They are currently arms against the Syrians. The proof of this lies in later years, where all wars were against Lebanese national parties beginning with the assassination of Hariri and other leaders. The party's actions thus fell within the interests of the Iranian scheme to dominate Lebanon.

I know that it is difficult for those who have swallowed lies for 30 years to understand what I am saying or believe it. But what is happening in Qusyar and the rest of Syria is nothing more than an additional chapter in Hezbollah's bad history.

This article was first published in Asharq al-Awsat on May 26, 2013.
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Abdulrahman al-Rashed is the General Manager of Al Arabiya News Channel. A veteran and internationally acclaimed journalist, he is a former editor-in-chief of the London-based leading Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat, where he still regularly writes a political column. He has also served as the editor of Asharq al-Awsat’s sister publication, al-Majalla. Throughout his career, Rashed has interviewed several world leaders, with his articles garnering worldwide recognition, and he has successfully led Al Arabiya to the highly regarded, thriving and influential position it is in today.