Lebanon’s Shiites BeginTo Question Hezbollah
Following the funerals of Hezbollah fighters killed in Syria while fighting for the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, some Lebanese Shiites are questioning their exact role in the conflict, writes Elie Hajj.
Informed political sources in Lebanon expect Hezbollah won't impede the formation of a new government headed by Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam in the coming days, given the party's interest in engaging on two heated fronts at the same time: one that is military, in Syria, and another that is political, in Lebanon.
Shiite sources revealed to Al-Monitor that a state of confusion is clearly prevalent in Hezbollah’s ranks, be it in the south, the southern suburbs of Beirut or the Bekaa Valley. This confusion is due to the party’s position regarding the ongoing hostilities in Syria.
According to highly politicized groups that support the Hezbollah leadership, the lack of support for the Syrian regime, which has supported Hezbollah and contributed to its steady ascension at all levels since the 1980s, can be described as disloyalty to say the least. According to these sources, the fact is that Syria is currently in the middle of a major war that regional and foreign powers are waging — via their support for terrorist groups — in an attempt to overthrow the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which stands in the face of Israel and is allied with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Therefore, these foreign interests want to get rid of the Syrian leadership. They want to serve Israel and their allies both in the region and across the world.
It should be noted that the “terrorist groups” in question do not discriminate, according to the sources, between those who “are different from them” in their religion, sect or ideology levels, be they in Syria or in Lebanon.
