Ed On Everything: Coffee Grinder: Hassan Nasrallah and Hezbollah

Here's every bit of information I could find on the terrorist organization Hezbollah and its leader Hassan Nasrallah.

This is far from a political organization, and Nasrallah is far from a political leader. To say so is to say that people like Charles Manson and Osama bin Laden are political leaders. Hezbollah is a terrorist organization. Nasrallah is a terrorist. They are not interested in peace. They are interested in the destruction of anything that does not reflect their form of Islam. This includes the destruction of Israel, anything Jewish, and anything western.

So here's the Coffee Grinder for Nasrallah and Hezbollah.

In the aftermath of the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri (sometimes referred to as the Cedar Revolution or Lebanon's Cedar Spring), Nasrallah initiated several large demonstrations expressing support for the Syrian government.
In 1975, the civil war in Lebanon forced the 15 year old Nasrallah and his family to move to their ancestral home in the South Lebanese village of Al Bazuriyah. Here he joined the Amal Movement (Harakat Amal became one of the most important Shi'ite Muslim militias during the Lebanese Civil War).
After the Israeli invasion in 1982, Nasrallah joined Hezbollah to dedicate himself to the resistance of the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley.
Hezbollah was "inspired by the success of the Iranian Revolution"and was formed primarily to combat Israeli occupation following the 1982 Lebanon War.
After emerging during the civil war of the early 1980s as an Iranian-sponsored second resistance movement (besides Amal) for Lebanon's Shia community, Hezbollah focused on expelling Israeli and Western forces from Lebanon. It is the principal suspect[citation needed] in several notable attacks on United States, French and Italian Multinational forces, whose stated purpose was the stabilization of Lebanon.
The continued existence of Hezbollah's military wing after 1990 violates the Taif Agreement that ended the Lebanese civil war, which requires the "disbanding of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias" and requires the government to "deploy the Lebanese army in the border area adjacent to Israel."
On May 25, 2000, Israel withdrew from Lebanon to the UN-agreed Israeli border, and their pullout was certified by the UN as complete. Lebanon and Syria claim the Shebaa Farms, a 35 km² area, to be occupied Lebanese territory despite the UN ruling, and on that basis Hezbollah has continued to engage Israeli forces in that area.
Hezbollah says Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon proves that the Jewish state only understands the language of resistance. They defend their right to keep their weapons as a deterrent against Israeli attack, to liberate the disputed Shebaa Farms border area, which is occupied (according to Hezbollah) by Israel.
Hezbollah abducted three Israel Defense Forces soldiers during an October 2000 attack in Shebaa Farms, and sought to obtain the release of 14 Lebanese prisoners, some of whom had been held since 1978. On January 25, 2004, Hezbollah successfully negotiated an exchange of prisoners with Israel, through German mediators. The prisoner swap was carried out on January 29: 30 Lebanese and Arab prisoners, the remains of 60 Lebanese militants and civilians, 420 Palestinian prisoners, and maps showing Israeli mines in South Lebanon were exchanged for an Israeli businessman and army reserve colonel Elchanan Tenenbaum kidnapped in 2001 and the remains of the three Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers mentioned above, who were killed either during the Hezbollah operation, or in its immediate aftermath.
In 2001 Jordan arrested three Hezbollah members attempting to smuggle Katyusha rockets into the West Bank. Nasrallah responded that "it is a duty to send arms to Palestinians from any possible place."
On February 9, 2005 Palestinian Authority officials blamed Hezbollah of attempting to derail the recent truce between Israel and Palestine by offering increased funding and bonuses to the militant cells it operates in Israel for any attack they carry out.
On September 2, 2004, the UN Security Council adopted UN Security Council Resolution 1559, coauthored by France and the United States. Echoing the Taif Agreement, the resolution "calls upon all remaining foreign forces to withdraw from Lebanon" and "for the disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias." Lebanon is currently in violation of Resolution 1559 over its refusal to disband the military wing of Hezbollah.
On October 7, 2004 the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan reported to the Security Council regarding the lack of compliance with Resolution 1559. Mr. Annan concluded his report by saying: "It is time, 14 years after the end of hostilities and four years after the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, for all parties concerned to set aside the remaining vestiges of the past. The withdrawal of foreign forces and the disbandment and disarmament of militias would, with finality, end that sad chapter of Lebanese history."
The Council has recognized the Blue Line (the border between Israel and Lebanon) as valid for purposes of confirming Israel’s withdrawal pursuant to resolution 425 (1978).
During 2002, 2003 and 2004, the Israeli Security Forces thwarted numerous suicide bombing attacks, some of which Israel claims were planned and funded by Hezbollah and were to have been carried out by Tanzim (Fatah's armed wing) activists.
On November 21, 2005 Hezbollah launched a heavy attack along the entire border with Israel which was intended to provide tactical cover for a squad of Hezbollah special forces attempting to abduct Israeli troops from the Israeli side of the village of Al-Ghajar.
On December 27, 2005 BM-21 Grad rockets fired from Hezbollah territory smashed into houses in the northern Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona wounding three people.
Hezbollah claims that it forbids its fighters entry into Iraq for any reason, and that no Hezbollah units or individual fighters have entered Iraq to support any Iraqi faction fighting the United States. However, on April 2, 2004, Muqtada al-Sadr announced his intention to form chapters of Hezbollah and Hamas in Iraq. He is not known to have consulted Hezbollah or Hamas before making this statement.
In 2004 the Dutch internal security agency AIVD, concluded: "Investigations have shown that Hezbollah’s militant wing, the Hezbollah External Security Organization, has been directly and indirectly involved in terrorist acts. It can also be concluded that Hezbollah’s political and terrorist wings are controlled by one coordinating council. This means that
there is indeed a link between these parts of the organization. The Netherlands has changed its policy and no longer makes a distinction between the political and terrorist Hezbollah branches. The Netherlands informed the relevant EU bodies of its findings."
Hezbollah supports the destruction of the state of Israel and co-operates with other militant Islamic organizations such as Hamas in order to promote this goal.
The conflict with Israel is viewed as a central concern. This is not only limited to the IDF presence in Lebanon. Rather, the complete destruction of the State of Israel and the establishment of Islamic rule over Jerusalem is an expressed goal.
Hezbollah operates a satellite television station from Lebanon, Al-Manar TV ("the Lighthouse") as well as a radio station, al-Nour ("the light"). Qubth Ut Alla ("The Fist of God") is the monthly magazine of Hezbollah's paramilitary wing. It has been accused of promoting religious and racial hatred (against Jews).
The Hezbollah Central Internet Bureau in 2003 released a video game titled Special Force, intended to simulate Arab-Israeli conflicts from an Arab perspective.
Hezbollah has been labeled a terrorist organization by the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Canada, Israel and Australia.
In a non-binding resolution adopted by the European Parliament on 10 March 2005, the MEPs urged the EU Council to brand Hezbollah a terrorist organization. However, the Council has so far been reluctant to do so, as France, Spain, and Britain fear that such a move would further damage the prospects for Middle East peace talks.
The United Nations has called for the disbanding of Hezbollah's military wing in UN Security Council Resolution 1559.
Hezbollah has denounced some acts of terror, such as the September 11 attacks, GIA massacres in Algeria, Armed Islamic Group attacks on tourists in Egypt, and the murder of Nick Berg. However, it expresses support and sympathyfor the activities of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Islamist groups responsible for suicide attacks and armed resistance in Israel and the Palestinian territories.