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Written by Lizzie Porter, Prospect Magazine
Hezbollah’s intervention in Syria not only tarnished its reputation, it also revealed the depth of its ties with the highest levels of the IRGC leadership. Hezbollah’s senior leaders used to go to Damascus with the powerful Iranian leader, Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated by America last January. They shared meals and breaks with Soleimani, who headed the Quds Force, responsible for the IRGC’s external operations.
Hezbollah members fondly remember Soleimani and do not hide to what extent he was the final decision maker. It was flexible. “He was able to simplify any dilemma for young people so they could understand it, and then solve it step by step,” said a senior Hezbollah official who met Soleimani in Syria, who spoke to me from a muddy path in the Bekaa valley. Track. “It is clear that he was intellectually and analytically mature.” The official went on to deny that the general had offended the Syrian people: “The Syrians have oppressed themselves in this war,” he insisted. His expression was emaciated.
Contrary to these warm words from the Iranian leader, Hezbollah fighters sometimes express contempt for the Assad regime’s army. Hussein, the commander of the Hezbollah unit, said of Assad and his comrades: “We respect their leaders”, but he was less kind to the Syrian soldiers: “They are not human and they seem to come from another world”. He said. “There are traitors among them. Some of them killed a lot of us. They shot us from behind many times while we were attacking. Many of our fighters have been martyred because of them. Another Hezbollah fighter interviewed for this article expressed similar sentiments towards the Syrian army.
Mutual distrust between the party and the Syrian army. Syrians who support the Assad regime are also not very happy with Hezbollah’s survival. Now that most of the country has been snatched from the rebels, there is a certain section of the forces in Syria that does nothing – many Hezbollah fighters. “These fighters are causing some problems in the areas they are in, and they are not welcome,” said Nawar Shaban, a Turkey-based analyst. “Now Syrian loyalists don’t see that Hezbollah’s presence is necessary in their area – they believe Hezbollah shouldn’t stay there in Syria because there is no real role for them.”
Enemy of the people “?
Opposition to Hezbollah is growing at home (Lebanon). And its reputation with the traditional Shia base is suffering from the ongoing financial crisis in the country. The Lebanese pound has lost more than three-quarters of its value since October 2019, leading to a sharp rise in the prices of imported goods. Hundreds of thousands of people were losing their jobs even before the Coronavirus pandemic. The shortage of dollars led banks to impose arbitrary restrictions on withdrawals last fall. Although its direct responsibility has not been proven, fair or not, Hezbollah has been accused of the attack on the Beirut port, which killed nearly 200 people and displaced hundreds of thousands. The party is part of the political elite in Lebanon. As such, it is believed to bear some responsibility for the general negligence and corruption that have allowed thousands of tons of high-explosive materials to enter the port and be improperly stored there for years. After the disaster, the demonstrators carried the noose through the streets of Beirut and from those tunnels hang models of political leaders, including Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah. (At the time of writing, investigations into the harbor explosion are still ongoing.)
And while Hezbollah’s members and fighters are paid in US dollars, its regular supporters bear the brunt of the decline of the Lebanese currency, as does the rest of society. The party’s access to supplies of new dollars – from where it is not clear – pits Hezbollah against those who do not have it. “Part-time employees are not paid in dollars – not even Hezbollah supporters – and they are fighting, and they are really fighting,” Lamia said. “It is no longer the People’s Party”.
On the ground, as in the case of popular bets, Hezbollah’s ambitions could take risks. By building relationships with local traffickers, businessmen and residents along the porous Syrian-Lebanese border – near Qusayr, the city Hezbollah conquered from Syrian rebels at the start of the war – and by creating its own safety net, including centers of detention, Today Hezbollah seeks to consolidate its control as an end in itself. Through “relations with strong local entities in Syria”, explains analyst Nawar Shaaban, Hezbollah “has secured its existence for some years, or even more”. If this strategy is militarily successful, it is likely to be at the expense of human lives: “Before then,” Shaaban said, expressing the views of party opponents, “To target Hezbollah in Syria, its positions were known. But now that Hezbollah has relied on local entities, how does it know which sites they are attacking? “All this creates a confusion that is” very complex and very dangerous “.
As he continued to participate in the fighting with Hezbollah in Syria, Jawad’s brother became more withdrawn. After a few months of fighting in Syria, he spent short breaks at home in solitary confinement. Jawad continued to meditate: “The more he becomes part of Hezbollah, the more closed he becomes.” “It was very strange for me to see this transformation take my brother from being a funny person to being a mysterious and reserved person. I thought, what did they do with it? What did he see What am I experiencing? I never got these answers because he refused to speak. “
The loss of his brother in Syria strengthened Jawad’s opposition to Hezbollah. He said: “The first thing that pisses me off is that they target young people.” “Then, when they grow up with the incorporation of that belief into their minds, they actually start believing it for themselves.” He has decided that he can no longer live in Lebanon and at some point he will leave. He said, “No matter how difficult the decision is, it will benefit.”
Ahmed, the Syrian in Turkey, will also be moving soon. He will settle on the Swiss border with France, on mountains completely different from the Madaya hills where Hezbollah surrounded him. He said, “They don’t care about anything other than their interests.”
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