Discovering MENA and other thoughts

¿Cuánto tiempo puede funcionar un país sin gobierno? ¿Y sin presidente? El Líbano parece el campo de experimentación perfecto para responder a estas cuestiones si el país no implosiona antes, claro está. El pasado mes de febrero, tras meses de riñas políticas e incontables rondas de negociaciones el país árabe finalmente se dotó de un nuevo primer ministro – el líder sunita Tammam Salam, elegido prácticamente de forma unanime por todas las fuerzas políticas – y de un nuevo gabinete. La primera tarea del nuevo gobierno de interés nacional fue emitir un esperado comunicado en el cual se reafirmaba en su responsabilidad de preservar la soberanía, la independencia y la integridad territorial del Líbano a través de todos los medios legítimos a su alcance, y afirmando el derecho de los ciudadanos libaneses a resistir a la ocupación israelí y a liberar a los territorios ocupados del país. . Esto permitió que el Parlamento les concediera un voto de confianza que garantiza la in...

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah delivered an unforgettable speech in Beirut last July 25th on the occasion of "Jerusalem Day", in which he pledged "all means of support" for the "Palestinian resistance". It wasn't the first time Nasrallah took the chance to criticise Israel and its actions. It was the first time in months, though, Nasrallah showed signs that links between his organisation and Hamas are thawing. Hezbollah and Hamas had been allies in the region for more than 20 years. The first direct contact between the movements took place on December 17, 1992, when Israel deported 415 Hamas and Islamic Jihad activists from the West Bank and Gaza to Marj Al-Zouhour in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. Hezbollah’s resistance in the early 1980s inspired and motivated the Palestinians to launch the first intifada in December 1987, during which the Muslim Brotherhood branch in Palestine created Hamas. Many experts consider Nasrallah's messag...

Talking about politics in Lebanon is always tantamount to wondering about the status of Hezbollah (meaning "Party of God"). Hezbollah is, at the same time, as The Economist likes to call it, a party-cum-militia, created within the Shia community and funded by Iran during the country's civil war - in 1982 - with the main aim of offer resistance (muqawama) to the state's self declared biggest enemy that had just (taking advantage of the ongoing chaos) invaded the country: Israel. Its paramilitary wing is still regarded as a resistance movement throughout much of the Arab and Muslim worlds. Several countries and organizations in the West and elsewhere (U.S., Netherlands, France, Gulf Cooperation Council, U.K., Australia, Canada, the European Union ) classify Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, be it in whole or in part.

Throughout the week, a lot has been said about Israel attacking Syria. The news was about Israel carrying out airstrikes in and around Damascus, targeting missiles Iran intended to smuggle into Lebanon through Syrian soil. The final addressee was Hezbollah, which would in turn have later used this "game-changing" weapons to attack Israel. Even though Israel did not confirm the military move at the beginning (the first information came from US intelligence sources), many officials (including an Israeli ambassador acting as guest speaker in a conference on the Southern Mediterranean I had the honour to attend) have commented on it, affirming that Israel is not looking forward to intervening in Syria, but has drawn its particular "red line", that is, Iran providing the Shiite militia with powerful arms that will put in danger both the stability in the region and Israeli citizens' safety. As a matter of fact, and in anticipation to some kind of counter-attack, I...

For months, the Syrian opposition has been accusing Hezbollah of waging a war against the Syrian people. Reports increasingly acknowledge the presence of Lebanese fighters, fighting alongside Assad´s army, on Syrian soil, namely in Shiite villages along the border between Syria and Lebanon. Even though the extent of the implication of Shiite group in Syria cannot be verified, it was clear the cum-militia had, in some measure, blood in their hands. This was confirmed when, in a televised speech, the leader of the Lebanese organization, Hassan Nasrallah, said they are ready to protect the Syrian regime. Nasrallah affirmed Syria has true friends in the region and the world that won't permit Syria to "fall in the hands of America, Israel, and Takfiris [jihadist group linked to Al Qaeda]". He added that members of Hezbollah were "providing appropriate aid" to Syrian government forces. He however denied Iranian forces are deployed in Syria, although he acknowledged ...

It seems as of lately the Middle East is all about resignations. Resignations that could turn into game-changers. The head of the Syrian National Coalition announced his resignation on his Facebook page, although he later represented the Syrian opposition in an Arab League Summit that, according to some, inaugurated an era, as the Syrian opposition occupied the chair of the legitimate representatives of Syria before the international organization.

We all know Friday is a key day for everything regarding the Arab World. Last Friday was no exception. A huge car bomb exploded at the heart of the Beirut's Christian neighborhood of Ashrafiyeh (Christians were also the main target of a terrorist attack that took place yesterday in Damascus). It was the first large-scale explosion since 2008, an event that largely reminisced former PM Hariri's killing in 2005, an act that sadly reminded Lebanese people what living in fear actually is. The target of the bomb remained unclear during the first hours. 8 people died (4 of them have not yet been identified), more than 80 were injured, and a large swathe of land around the area was substantially damaged. First, people thought the bomb aimed at blowing up the Headquarters of the 14 March Movement (a coalition of the main parties in the opposition, that was able, together with the Lebanese themselves, to finally rout the Syrians in 2005) in the vicinity. But little by little rumor...

Hezbollah (aka "Party of God") is an Iranian-funded Shia Muslim militia created in the 1980s, in the midst of Lebanon’s civil war.  Much has been said about the “propaganda war” the group has been waging, a war that found its peak with the building of a multi-million dollar museum in the town of Mleeta celebrating its military victories over Israel, as the magnificent video my friend Pierre sent me shows (don’t miss VICE´s Hezbollah´s propaganda war ). The militia has been using propaganda to transform itself into not only a military, but also a political force to be reckoned with (a real kingmaker in Lebanon), not only through an increased military build-up, but also through public relations (yeah, yeah, you read it right: I said PR). It seems that what some Western powers call “terrorist groups” (I won’t get into that) know how to balance Joseph Nye’s hard and soft power. The group’s leaders are well known for their inflammable speeches, and they do master th...