Daily Archives: May 9, 2008

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"Al-Qaeda declares war on Hezbollah"

Iran’s Press TV writes a thinly-sourced report on Al-Qaeda declaring war on Hezbollah:

Al-Qaeda has reportedly called on its operatives to go to Lebanon and defend what it called the Sunni community of the country.

The report came while some Arab media outlets described the current clashes in Lebanon as a fight between Sunni and Shia communities.

In an interviews with Sunni clerics with links to Saad Hariri’s pro-government bloc, Al-Arabiya TV network described the ongoing clashes as a sectarian strife.

Sheikh Ali al-Jozo, Mufti of the Jebel region, who is well known for his harsh stance against Hezbollah told the TV network that the clashes are a battle between Lebanon’s Shia and Sunni communities and called on Arab leaders to prevent “Iran’s influence in the country.”

The TV network reported that al-Qaeda on all of its websites urged its operatives to defend the Sunni community of Lebanon.

The reports came while in interviews with NBN and al-Manar TV stations on Thursday, a number of Sunni clerics said that the clashes are not a sectarian strife and many Sunni Muslims in Lebanon support Hezbollah.

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Beware Of Al-Quaeda

All sides should try their best not to portray this as a defeat for Lebanon’s Sunnis.


Humiliated on Hezbollah TV. (Photo Credit: Yahoo!)

As Hezbollah moved into (Sunni) west Beirut and took on the moderate Future Movement, many will be tempted to portray this as a defeat for Lebanon’s Sunnis. That would be bad ideas whose repercussions will affect all parties in the country.

Unleashing the sectarian monster can seem like a good idea to Islamists allied with the Future Movement and to the Saudis, but they had better think twice before letting that genie out of the bottle. All parties, including the Future movement should actively portray this as a security and political situation, not a sectarian one.

Because before we know it, extreme elements can manipulate the sense of victimhood some Sunnis would have and target Shiaa symbols with terrorist operations that would unleash the same god-forsaken death spiral that exists in Iraq.

We don’t have to go through all what Iraq has suffered to realize that Al-Quaeda is not really what the Sunnis want for their protection.

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Resisting The Resistance


Can Hezbollah maintain control of hostile Beirut?


Hezbollah the occupiers… Looks familiar? (Photo: Reuters)

The impressive invading powers swept through the place and all defenses melted away. No, I’m not talking about the Americans who initially breezed through Iraq 5 years ago, I’m talking about Hezbollah’s “Gaza scenario”: The purge of the Future Movement’s offices, social centers, MPs residences and media last night.

Apparently, the Future Movement’s security personnel “dropped their guns” and “ran away” at the first sights of Hezbollah soldiers. Even Future TV, March 14‘s pulpit has stopped broadcasting for fear for the safety of their staff. But have we seen the end of this? Will Hezbollah maintain its control on Sunni neighborhoods? Of all people, Hezbollah should know better.

5 years later, the Americans have learned that their mission was not accomplished. Expect the fight for Beirut to begin in earnest later with the distinct trademark of an occupied population: Hit and run. Meanwhile, Future TV will resume broadcasting soon (Maybe from Tripoli?), but what matters is this: The world has seen the real face of Hezbollah.