'We are just hit-and-run
guerrillas' By Syed Saleem
Shahzad
SOUTH LEBANON - Over the past
days, this correspondent has met many Hezbollah
field commanders on the war front, as well as in
other parts of Lebanon, but they have been too
concentrated on their military campaign to offer
any real insights.
Similarly, Hezbollah
ideologues and, of late, even parliamentarians
have gone underground to avoid Israeli spies, or
even being attacked.
However, after an
arduous process spread over several days, Asia
Times Online managed to arrange an interview with
Sheikh Bilal. Bilal, who wears a white turban and
a black robe, is a close aide of Hezbollah chief
Hassan Nasrallah and in charge of a region in
south Lebanon.
He is also an ideologue of
Hezbollah, having been educated in the
Iranian city of Qom and then
sent by the Iranian leader ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini back to Lebanon to "guide" Hezbollah.
Bilal
comes from the Dahieh district of Beirut, but
constant bombing of the area forced him to leave
his home. He agreed to
meet this
correspondent on condition that no hint of the
location would be given.
Sporting a small
white beard, Bilal sat in front of a picture of
Nasrallah, but refused to have his own picture
taken.
Asia Times Online:
How do you view the Israeli plans? Will
they be able to push into south Lebanon and
destroy Hezbollah's arms?
Bilal: Israel is the
fourth-strongest power in the world. The
Americans, British and even Arab countries support
its designs, but I tell you, despite all of this,
the whole war is in our hands, not in the hands of
Israel. We are pulling the strings of this war,
not the Israeli war machine. It is because Allah
is with us.
Even though they [Israelis]
are very powerful, they believe in a tangible life
in which they eat, sleep and entertain, and then
die. We believe in eternal life, which starts from
our apparent death [Bilal then quoted a long
phrase from Nahjul Balagha (The Peak of
Eloquence) - a collection of sermons,
precepts, prayers, epistles and aphorisms of Imam
Ali to support his statement.]
ATol:
But still, you are an organization. Israel
is a state. There is surely no match?
Bilal: But the
question is, who has better control over the
battlefield? I accept Hezbollah is not a
conventional army. We are just hit-and-run
guerrillas. Israel is trying to get into Lebanon
with its 30,000 men equipped with the best war
equipment. Has it
achieved
anything? No. Its achievement is zero because it
has failed to inflict any serious losses on
Hezbollah. I swear to you, Israel has only one
edge on us, and that is its air force.
Were the air force removed from over our
heads, we would go deep inside Israel and liberate
Palestine. The whole Israeli activity is a brutal
bombardment of civilians and on the
infrastructure. But when they finish with their
spray of guns and expect a free walkway into south
Lebanon and go for a military push, we will catch
them in the middle and force them to retreat. In
about a month of war they have not even
established exactly where we are based and how and
from where we confront them.
ATol:
There was a time when Palestine was a
matter of honor for Arab nations. They fought many
wars against Israel, but now when Hezbollah
confronts Israel, why do Arab countries criticize
Hezbollah?
Bilal: They are
scared that any appreciation or encouragement of
Hezbollah would encourage other resistance
movements in their own country and ultimately the
present rulers would lose their governments and
Islamic movements would take over control. For
instance, Egypt and Jordan are fearful of Iqwanul
Muslemeen [Muslim Brotherhood]. The Muslim
Brotherhood tried to take to the streets in Egypt
in favor of Hezbollah, but the Egyptian government
suppressed them with force. This is the situation
of this whole region.
ATol:
Hezbollah and the Brotherhood are very
close. What is the secret of their closeness,
despite Hezbollah being Shi'ite and the
Brotherhood predominately Sunni?
Bilal: Yes, this is true
that we are close and we both work for the Islamic
cause beyond any sectarian differences. But let me
tell you that does not mean that we like
takfiris [those militantly intolerant of
"infidels"] like al-Qaeda. We hate them because
they kill innocent people and destroy sacred
places.
ATol: Hamas and
Islamic Jihad also believe in Salafi Islam, like
al-Qaeda. Yet Hezbollah is close with them.
Bilal: We have one thing in
common, and that is Islam. And because of that we
support them. And another aspect is the liberation
of Palestine, which is central to all Muslims. We
do not care whether they are Salafis or not. We
are committed to the Palestinian cause, and for
that we can go to any lengths.
You want to
know what this war is all about? We understood
that after the abduction of Israeli soldiers in
Gaza, Israel was ready to raze Gaza. And then we
came into the picture and diverted all their
attention to us [by abducting Israeli soldiers].
This forced Israel to disengage from taking on the
weak Palestinians and engage our forces.
ATol: Do Hezbollah's designs
go beyond Lebanon?
Bilal:
Hezbollah is only for Lebanon. We do not have any
designs beyond Lebanon or Palestine.
Syed Saleem Shahzadis Asia Times
Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached
at saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com.
(Copyright 2006 Asia Times Online Ltd. All
rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing
.)
meet this
correspondent on condition that no hint of the
location would be given. 
achieved
anything? No. Its achievement is zero because it
has failed to inflict any serious losses on
Hezbollah. I swear to you, Israel has only one
edge on us, and that is its air force.
