Un'alternativa a Hezbollah in Libano

An Alternative to Hezbollah in Lebanon

A Lebanese liberal politician from the Shia community made a strong presentation at an Foundation for Defense of Democracies forum in Washington. He was introduced by Professor Walid Phares. The audience was made of media, think tank representatives and analysts. It was sponsored by the Future of Terrorism Project at FDD.

Mr. Ahmad El Assaad, son of the former speaker of the Lebanese Parliament and leader of a new Shia liberal Party in Lebanon gave a presentation on January 30, 2008, to introduce the audience to the current issues that Lebanon is facing in relation to Hezbollah and the steps to be taken to solve that problem. He argued that the best option for Pluralism among Shia in Lebanon must begin with an alternative Shiia political party- the Lebanese Option Group (LOG).

Mr. El Assaad focused on three major points in his presentation: first the misconception behind the support of Hezbollah, second the distorted image of Shiism that Hezbollah represents and third Shiism and the west.

In the analysis of Mr El Assaad, "it is important to have a direct Shiia rival to Hezbollah; it is essential for the spread of democracy and freedom in Lebanon and the Middle East. Ahmad El-Assaad comes from a very prominent  political family in the Shiite community. He is the son of Kamal el Assaad, (longest ever serving  speaker of the Parliament (18 Years). The Syrians replaced him because he would not bend and accept their orders.

Mr. El-Assaad's shared his unique perspective as a Lebanese Shiite leader, critical of Hezbollah and the support it receives from Iran. Ahmad El-Assaad Seeks the return of democracy and peaceful governance. He also represents an effort to end the Iran-sponsored control of the Lebanese Shiite community. 

In His opening comments Dr Walid Phares director of the Future of Terrorism Project opened the discussion to the audience by introducing Mr. El Assaad and the mission behind his group LOG (Lebanese Option Group). According to Mr. El Assaad there is no clash of civilizations (eastern vs. western civilizations) there is a clash between a "bunch of people that high jacked their civilization, Islam, and forged their history. He stressed that all communities in Lebanon need to move forward to reach social development. He said that when he and his people hear "Death to America," they interpret it as "death to Islam" because true moderate Muslims, as he said, "have the same values as America."

He said the Iranian regime falsified Shiism. His claimed that Shiia by nature are open minded. "It is a misconception that Hezbollah represents the shiia majority in Lebanon; "they are only loyal to Hezbollah because it is the hand that feeds them."  The slogans that Hezbollah chant like death to America implies the death to democracy, free thought and the death to Islam. The main problem in the region, he said, "is that the Iranian regime has falsified Islam. " He argued that "those that are independent from Hezbollah are not represented politically, and there is no way to move forward in Lebanon unless all Lebanese are represented and move forward." 

There is a large number of Shia in Lebanon that have no political representation he continued. "Shiism never had problems with the West; Hezbollah is the obstacle from building that bridge with the West, because of its pure Syrio-Iranian agenda. Lebanese are realizing this and are separating from Hezbollah. It is afact he continued that Hezbollah's power is based on money. After the 2006 war on Lebanon many Shiia families independent of Hezbollah began looking for an alternative. These people are looking for stability and development, Hezbollah denies them that freedom, their situation can be compared to the Soviet Union era. Mr. Assaad likened Hezbollah today to the PLO when they ruled Lebanon. Money talked then with the PLO and when that changed the PLO was rejected by the people. Hezbollah survives because Iranian petro dollars are being distributed to 37,000 family households per month – 60-70 million US Dollars.

But Iranian money is limited, he said, so there is a large population of Shiia in Lebanon that are not benefiting from this, combine this with those that suffered from 2006 war, and oppose Hezbollah dictatorship policies and you have a growing number of Shiia in Lebanon that are searching for an alternative to Hezbollah. Those Shiia which are looking for an alternative to Hezbollah will not be courageous enough until that alternative is viable, solid that they can depend on with follow through.

He said that the History of Shiism from the Imam Ali and Hussain is that the Shia is open for other people's opinion. Their history in Najaf, Iraq was that they had many different schools - representing differing schools of thought all within Islam and Shiism, they were all Shiia, but with diversity and the Imam demanded respect for all schools of differing teachings.

So, they promote diversity, different teachings amongst the groups, and then the groups must respect each other. This is contrary to  Iranian/Hezbollah diktat and is being realized by other Shia in Lebanon today. People in this community are tired of being the fuel for the new Persian Empire in the east, and they want to return to the teachings of their roots.

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