Hezbollah’s MOU With Salafists

Hezbollah’s Memorandum Of Understanding with Salafi groups is not only fair game, but it’s also a masterful political stroke.

Naharnet called it “controversial” and quoted a Salafist sheikh who characterized it as “bad for Sunnis.” The Future Movement remained silent -Update: Future Movement member Samir Jisr said that Mr. Hariri was not aware of the agreement and that the FM has nothing to do with it. Mr. Jisr said that comprehensive agreements are better than bilateral ones- But today’s M.O.U between Hezbollah and Salafists is a reminder to March 14 that if they want to compete with Hezbollah, they will have to be as pro-active and creative.

One can argue that Hezbollah’s Salafist partners are marginal, but one can’t deny that the M.O.U has achieved many objectives for them:

• It has calmed the nerves of Hezbollah Shiite supporters who were concerned about Iraqi-style terrorist attacks on their mosques and markets
• It has received wide acclaim in Lebanon and among Arabs for seeking to prevent intra-Islamic bloodletting
• It has added a dent to Hezbollah’s reputation (some would say manufactured) as a sectarian Shiite Movement
• It undermines the rationale of many pro-March 14 Sunni extremists who support the Future Movement because they believed Hezbollah’s project is an existential threat to Sunnis in Lebanon

In other words, it was exactly the kind of show Hezbollah needed to put up. In fact, this M.O.U is so politically effective that Hezbollah’s opponents will find it very difficult to portray it as “bad” or “evil”. For now, the best they can do is grumble in private and call it “controversial”