Over the past few days, the Hizbullah-led Lebanese opposition has threatened to escalate the conflict through violent protests that will include the blocking of main intersections, the airport and other vital installations so as to "paralyze life in Lebanon."
The Beirut daily Al-Akhbar (The News), which is close to Hizbullah, reported January 5 that the "second phase of the opposition's intifada" will begin on Monday.
"The opposition," the newspaper's editor wrote, "has entered a new phase of intensive confrontation with the ruling faction, and, in the last few days, has been deliberating over its plan of action. This comes after it has become convinced that the Arab parties managing the attempts at mediation [i.e. Saudi Arabia and Egypt] have in practice adopted the position of [Lebanese PM] Al-Siniora, who, like them, belongs to the 'moderate' camp supported by the U.S. and France."
These threats come despite two weeks of diplomatic efforts on the part of Saudi Arabia and Egypt to prevent a violent outbreak.
Al-Akhbar reported on a secret meeting of Lebanese opposition forces onJanuary 2 in which they concluded that the ongoing peaceful mass demonstrations in central Beirut had failed to destabilize the Siniora government, which enjoys Arab and Western support. The daily reported that "a prominent senior opposition figure defined the forthcoming steps that were discussed in the meeting as steps of 'violent protests' which is
what former minister and MP Suleiman Franjieh talked about a few days ago... when he mentioned roadblocks and [civil] unrest..."
Al-Akhbar explained that these steps are coming as "preparation for... a new plan that sets out [steps] more severe than roadblocks such [as] shutting down the activity of government ministries and offices, blocking the routes to the airport and the seaport and blocking central junctions all of which is liable to completely paralyze life [in
Lebanon]."
Similar threats appeared in an editorial posted on Hizbullah's website on January 4: "In light of the fact that the government has closed the door to solutions to the crisis, and since it continues to violate the Lebanese constitution and is continuing in its political and sectarian escalation and in exacerbation [of tensions] between the two sects [i.e. Sunnis
and Shi'ites], the Lebanese national opposition group will very soon begin to formulate a plan of action that is escalatory in nature..."
Hizbullah (the Party of God) has its immediate historic roots in the social uprising of the Lebanese Shi'a minority in the late 1960s and early '70s that took its inspiration from the charismatic Imam Musa Sadr who "disappeared" in Libya in 1978.
Sadr's Movement of the Deprived (Harakat al-Mahrumin) with its military wing and present-day political party, Amal soon became mired in the convolutions of Lebanese politics and the country's 15-year civil war.
The Israeli invasion of 1982 provided the catalyst for Shi'ite radicalism. Hizbullah emerged with the aim of expelling the IDF and alleviating the social sufferings of Lebanon's Shi'a minority.
The IDF withdrew from Southern Lebanon in 2000 after 18 years in its buffer zone, allowing Hizbullah terrorists to deploy along Israel's northern border. The Hizbullah military buildup following the withdrawal culminated in last summer's Katyusha shelling and war.
Hizbullah today operates as a parallel government in Lebanon, serving the Shi'ite communities concentrated in the south, Beirut's slum neighborhoods and the Bekaa Valley in the northeast. Hizbullah operates the Al-Manar (The Lighthouse) satellite TV station and the an-Nour ("the Light") radio station. Al Manar broadcasts news in Arabic, English, French and Hebrew, and is widely watched both in Lebanon and in other Arab
countries.
Al Manar has been removed from cable systems in North America and Europe for anti-Semitic programming inciting hatred.
The Beirut daily Al-Akhbar (The News), which is close to Hizbullah, reported January 5 that the "second phase of the opposition's intifada" will begin on Monday.
"The opposition," the newspaper's editor wrote, "has entered a new phase of intensive confrontation with the ruling faction, and, in the last few days, has been deliberating over its plan of action. This comes after it has become convinced that the Arab parties managing the attempts at mediation [i.e. Saudi Arabia and Egypt] have in practice adopted the position of [Lebanese PM] Al-Siniora, who, like them, belongs to the 'moderate' camp supported by the U.S. and France."
These threats come despite two weeks of diplomatic efforts on the part of Saudi Arabia and Egypt to prevent a violent outbreak.
Al-Akhbar reported on a secret meeting of Lebanese opposition forces onJanuary 2 in which they concluded that the ongoing peaceful mass demonstrations in central Beirut had failed to destabilize the Siniora government, which enjoys Arab and Western support. The daily reported that "a prominent senior opposition figure defined the forthcoming steps that were discussed in the meeting as steps of 'violent protests' which is
what former minister and MP Suleiman Franjieh talked about a few days ago... when he mentioned roadblocks and [civil] unrest..."
Al-Akhbar explained that these steps are coming as "preparation for... a new plan that sets out [steps] more severe than roadblocks such [as] shutting down the activity of government ministries and offices, blocking the routes to the airport and the seaport and blocking central junctions all of which is liable to completely paralyze life [in
Lebanon]."
Similar threats appeared in an editorial posted on Hizbullah's website on January 4: "In light of the fact that the government has closed the door to solutions to the crisis, and since it continues to violate the Lebanese constitution and is continuing in its political and sectarian escalation and in exacerbation [of tensions] between the two sects [i.e. Sunnis
and Shi'ites], the Lebanese national opposition group will very soon begin to formulate a plan of action that is escalatory in nature..."
Hizbullah (the Party of God) has its immediate historic roots in the social uprising of the Lebanese Shi'a minority in the late 1960s and early '70s that took its inspiration from the charismatic Imam Musa Sadr who "disappeared" in Libya in 1978.
Sadr's Movement of the Deprived (Harakat al-Mahrumin) with its military wing and present-day political party, Amal soon became mired in the convolutions of Lebanese politics and the country's 15-year civil war.
The Israeli invasion of 1982 provided the catalyst for Shi'ite radicalism. Hizbullah emerged with the aim of expelling the IDF and alleviating the social sufferings of Lebanon's Shi'a minority.
The IDF withdrew from Southern Lebanon in 2000 after 18 years in its buffer zone, allowing Hizbullah terrorists to deploy along Israel's northern border. The Hizbullah military buildup following the withdrawal culminated in last summer's Katyusha shelling and war.
Hizbullah today operates as a parallel government in Lebanon, serving the Shi'ite communities concentrated in the south, Beirut's slum neighborhoods and the Bekaa Valley in the northeast. Hizbullah operates the Al-Manar (The Lighthouse) satellite TV station and the an-Nour ("the Light") radio station. Al Manar broadcasts news in Arabic, English, French and Hebrew, and is widely watched both in Lebanon and in other Arab
countries.
Al Manar has been removed from cable systems in North America and Europe for anti-Semitic programming inciting hatred.