Contributed by CAMERA Intern Rebecca Pritzker:
“In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” –George Orwell
On September 20th, 1984, Hezbollah—the terrorist group based in Lebanon and that is a proxy to Iran—targeted the United States embassy annex in Beirut. The car bomb that the organization planted killed two Americans and twenty-two other individuals.
In one day’s time, Hezbollah caused the deaths of twenty-four human beings—which is only a fraction of the total murders for which the group is responsible. The September 20th attack is but one example of the organization’s brutal acts.
Hezbollah’s manifesto even states its goal to eliminate Israel, along with itIndeed, since its establishment in 1982, Hezbollah has committed numerous acts of terror, including kidnappings, plane hijackings, bombings, rocket firing, and attacks on United States army quarters.
Hezbollah’s manifesto even states its goal to eliminate Israel, along with its refusal to adopt any mutual peace treaties or cease-fires.
Just last year, in fact, on July 18th, 2012, a bus transporting Israeli tourists in Burgas, Bulgaria was bombed. The attack killed five Israelis, one Bulgarian, and injured many others. In February, the interior minister of Bulgaria said that two of the culprits were thought to be members of Hezbollah’s military wing. Just last month, Europol, the police body of the European Union, concurred.
Moreover, three months ago, a criminal court in Cyprus convicted Hossam Taleb Yaacoub for plots targeting Israeli tourists. Yaacoub confessed to his affiliation with Hezbollah and to tracking Israelis in the country. The court explained that his actions put both Israelis and others at risk.
Nonetheless, despite Hezbollah’s ongoing perpetration of acts of terror, few countries officially consider the group a terrorist organization.
According to an IDF Blog Post featured on the Terrorist Organizations page of the CAMERA on Campus website, “Call Hezbollah What It Truly Is – a Terrorist Organization”, “Europe is currently debating placing Hezbollah on its list of global terrorist organizations. Hezbollah meets all the criteria to be defined as a terrorist organization: suicide bombings, using civilians as human shields, and arms-smuggling.” It was not until about two months ago that the parliament of Bahrain formally recognized Hezbollah as such. By doing so, Bahrain joined America, Canada, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Egypt, Australia, and select other countries that call Hezbollah the title that it has earned since its establishment.
Why, then, would recognizing the group as a terrorist organization require “debate’?
In George Orwell’s poignant words, Bahrain’s recent decision to do so—along with the decisions of other countries prior—is a “revolutionary act.” It is time that others join the revolution and follow suit.
