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Hezbollah

- "Liberation of Jerusalem". - "Introduction of civilized Islam to humanity". ( http://english.moqawama.org and www.moqawama.org)) Our assessment Hezbollah's Goals: -Protect, maintain and whenever possible increase Hezbollah's role in Lebanon. - Protect Hezbollah's weapons cache and thereby ensure Hezbollah's ability to defeat any attempt by Israel, Syria or Lebanon to diminish or eliminate the organization. - Continue "resistance" activities against the state of Israel and Israeli interests around the world. The organization has, in recent years, become more pragmatic in its political orientation. Originally shunning the idea of involvement in the Lebanese state, aiming instead to create an Islamic Shia state under the guardianship of a supreme cleric (as Iran had done), it turned towards "resistance" of the state of Israel in 1989 in a late response to Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon, and then finally, after a great deal of internal debate, to politics. Hezbollah as a political entity has become a powerful actor in Lebanese politics. The political party that it formed in 1992 now has members serving in Lebanon's Parliament and the Cabinet. The party has evolved in its political orientation and outlook in an attempt to increase Hezbollah's support, popularity and legitimacy in the eyes of all Lebanese citizens. It promotes itself as a Lebanese resistance movement, claiming that its objectives are to free the Israeli occupied Shabaa Farms area, which it consider to be a part of Lebanon and to liberate Palestine by eliminating the state of Israel. The organization's massive social welfare and infrastructure development programs in poorer, predominantly Shia, areas help to ensure the political loyalty of the majority of Lebanese Shia and also garners it some support amongst the poor from other denominational groups.