Hizbullah's Documents: From the 1985 Open Letter to the 2009 Manifesto

224 Pages·2011·8.3 MB·English

by  Alagha, Joseph Elie

compile and meticulously translate a host of original primary
documents: from Hizbullah’s 1985 Open Letter; through its eight
clandestine conclaves from 1989 to 2009; to all of its election programs
from 1992 to 2010; and all of the agreements, understandings, and pacts
the party has ratified over the years; ending with the 2009 Political
Manifesto. This first-hand portrait of Hizbullah’s metamorphosis over the
past three dec a des is complemented by thorough footnotes, commentary,
background information and chronology. A detailed introductory chapter
maps the party’s transformation by analytically comparing the Open
Letter with the 2009 Manifesto. Hizbullah’s Documents: From the 1985
Open Letter to the 2009 Manifesto will be an invaluable companion for
both scholars and policymakers.
Joseph Alagha, associate professor of Islamic studies at Radboud Univer-
sity Nijmegen, is the author of The Shifts in Hizbullah’s Ideology (2006)
and Hizbullah’s Identity Construction (2011), both published by Amster-
dam University Press.
Praise for The Shifts in Hizbullah’s Ideology

I have admired your work on Hizbullah, and I found your recently published
book fascinating.
— Daniel L. Byman, Director, Center for Peace and Security Studies,
Georgetown University
I hope Alagha’s work will receive attention in the US, where US policy on
Hizbullah is based on ignorance – often deliberate ignorance.
— Graham E. Fuller, Ex-Vice Chairman of the National Intelligence
Council at the CIA
isbn 978 90 8555 037 2
pallas publications
www.aup.nl
9 789085 550372
Hizbullah’s Documents

For a better understanding of Hizbullah, Hizbullah’s Documents ought to be read
in conjunction with Joseph Alagha: Hizbullah’s Identity Construction, Amster-
dam: Amsterdam University Press (2011), ISBN 978 90 8964 297 4.
Both titles are fully searchable on Amazon.
Cover design and lay-out: Maedium, Utrecht
ISBN 978 90 8555 037 2
e-ISBN 978 90 4851 337 6
NUR 697
© Joseph Alagha / Pallas Publications – Amsterdam University Press,
Amsterdam 2011
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above,
no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of both
the copyright owner and the author of the book.
To my family

Table of Contents
A Note on Transliteration | 9
Prologue | 11
Abstract | 13
Introduction | 15
1 The Salient Points of the Open Letter | 15
2 Hizbullah’s Eight Conclaves | 22
3 Analysis of the New Manifesto | 29
4 Thematic Analysis | 31
5 Conclusion | 36
1 Primary Documents | 39
1 The Text of Hizbullah’s Open Letter Addressed to the Oppressed in Lebanon
and the World, 16 February 1985 | 39
2 Hizbullah: Views and Concepts, Manar TV, Beirut, 20 June 1997 | 56
3 Statement of Purpose: Hizbullah Press Office, 20 March 1998 | 59
4 Hizbullah: Identity and Goals (August 2004) | 60
2 Election Programs | 63
1 Hizbullah’s 1992 Parliamentary Elections Program (my translation) | 63
2 Hizbullah’s 1996 Parliamentary Elections Program | 69
3 Hizbullah’s 2000 Parliamentary Elections Program (my translation) | 75
4 Hizbullah’s 2004 Municipal Election Program (my translation) | 81
5 Hizbullah’s 2005 Parliamentary Elections Program (my translation) | 88
6 Hizbullah’s 2009 Legislative Election Program: 6 April 2009 | 89
7 Nasrallah’s Post-elections Press Conference: 8 June 2009 | 97
7
3 Agreements, Understandings, Pacts | 105
1 Paper of Common Understanding between Hizbullah and The Free
Patriotic Movement: 6 February 2006 | 105
2 The Beirut Declaration: 15 May 2008 | 110
3 Doha Accord: 21 May 2008 | 111
4 Hizbullah’s Understanding with the Salafi Movement: 18 August 2008 | 112
5 President al-Assad Issues a Decree Stipulating the Establishment of
Diplomatic Relations with Lebanon: 14 October 2008 | 113
4 The New Manifesto (30 November 2009) | 115
1 Hegemony and Mobilization | 118
2 Lebanon | 122
3 Palestine & The Settlement Negotiations | 133
4 Nasrallah’s Press Conference: 30 November 2009 (in full) | 138
Chronology of Events (1975-2010) | 151
List of Abbreviations | 185
Glossary | 187
Notes | 193
Index | 211
table of contents 8
A Note on Transliteration
The transcribing of words and phrases in Modern Standard Arabic into Eng-
lish is in conformity with the transliteration system of the International Journal
of Middle East Studies, with a few modifications that cater to the guidelines
of the highly simplified transliteration system of Amsterdam University Press,
where all diacritical marks have been omitted save for the ‘ayn (‘) and hamza
(’). Concerning the translation of controversial terms, the author gave the Eng-
lish equivalent and included the original Arabic word in transliterated form in
brackets beside each term.
9