Lebanon protests, Macron visit highlight absurd EU policy on Hezbollah
Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Shi'ite terrorist group, has held a firm grip over Lebanon's governing coalition for years, even selecting Hassan Diab as prime minister in January.
By LAHAV HARKOV‘THERE IS no dispute between Lebanon and Israel over any territory, so why is Iran funding Hezbollah?’ (Pictured: Hezbollah flag)(photo credit: REUTERS/KHALID AL MOUSILY)
Watching the protests in Lebanon that rose after the massive explosion in Beirut last week, and seeing videos posted on social media by anguished and frustrated Lebanese people, a clear theme emerges: People are angry, and many of them are pointing fingers at Hezbollah.Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Shi’ite terrorist group, has held a firm grip over Lebanon’s governing coalition for years, even selecting Hassan Diab as prime minister in January. And as former ambassador to the UN Danny Danon told the Security Council last year, “the port of Beirut” – where last week’s deadly blast took place – “has become Hezbollah’s port,” used to transfer weapons and financially support the terrorist group as it develops advanced missiles.Over the weekend, Lebanese demonstrators hung effigies of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, along with the political leaders who enable him, such as President Michel Aoun and Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri.When French President Emmanuel Macron visited the site of the blast in Beirut’s port on Thursday – even as many of Lebanon’s political leaders avoided doing so – he was met with large crowds shouting “revolution” and “the people want the fall of the regime.” As he walked through a Christian district of Beirut, some shouted: “Mr. Macron, free us from Hezbollah.”On the one hand, Hezbollah surely feels the heat from people who clearly have had enough of the destructive, creeping Iranian-backed takeover of their country. It’s not hard to connect these dots and view Hezbollah as a prime suspect at this point, if not of an intentional bombing, then of deadly negligence.Nasrallah felt the need to make the laughable claim that Hezbollah “did not intervene in Lebanese affairs.”In the same televised speech on Friday night, Nasrallah denied that Hezbollah controls the port, despite strong evidence to the contrary, or that it kept any explosives there. Hezbollah also kept large stockpiles of ammonium nitrate, the explosive responsible for the huge second blast in the Beirut port, in numerous locales in Europe until the Mossad helped the UK, Germany and Cyprus uncover them in recent years.A “French babysitter,” as analyst Shimrit Meir called Macron’s plan to help negotiate the formation of a national unity government in Lebanon, along with economic aid, will make it much harder for Hezbollah and Iran to have the freedom to continue in its destructive vein.At the same time, Europe continues to legitimize Hezbollah.When Macron met with the various Lebanese political factions, there was a Hezbollah representative at the table. And this was far from the first time that the government of France was in contact with Hezbollah. Will the national unity government Macron wants to facilitate include the Iran-backed terrorist group, as well?
France is one of the strongest EU member states and the leading country opposing a full ban on Hezbollah, maintaining that there is a separation between its “political” and “military” branches.The protests and Macron’s visit highlight the absurdity of this policy.Never mind that Hezbollah does not consider itself to have two different branches. France doesn’t want to fully ban Hezbollah, so they’ve come up with their own structure for the terrorist organization, rather than face the truth.Earlier this year, after finding ammonium nitrate stored in multiple cities, Germany declared a full ban on Hezbollah, defying the EU differentiation.Israel has pointed out for years that Hezbollah is antisemitic and homicidal, targeting Jews around the world. The government has called for all countries to ban them. Representatives of European countries who visited Israel in recent months have used the EU as their excuse to not ban Hezbollah – in effect, as their excuse for why they are legitimizing a terrorist organization.Now that the destruction Hezbollah has sown in their own country is abundantly clear, and the people of Lebanon are directly asking Macron to be set free, perhaps France and the broader EU will recognize that their legitimization of a supposed Hezbollah “political arm” is nonsensical and dangerous. It’s a small step for Europe that could have great significance in the path to healing and rebuilding Lebanon.
