458 Resisting Publics
Hizbullah is still primarily an Islamic movement, it displays, more and
more, the characteristics of a nationalist-patriotic political party pursu-
ing realpolitik. In the past few years, following the assassination of Prime
Minister Hariri, the Syrian military withdrawal, and the war with Israel
in the summer of 2006, Hizbullah has in fact attempted to dominate and
lead the Lebanese political scene and the public sphere.
s chapter examines the three phases of Hizbullah, with spe-Thi
cial attention to the third phase and recent developments. While a full
study of the role of Hizbullah in the Lebanese public sphere is beyond
its scope, the chapter makes clear the different ways in which Hizbullah
wields influence through political action, media communications, and a
street presence as well as how it accommodates and reconciles national
discourses that may not be congruent with its own ideology.
Phase I: Beginnings
In its own words, Hizbullah is an Islamic movement “whose emergence
is based on an ideological, social, political, and economical mixture in
a special Lebanese, Arab, and Islamic context.”^1 The roots of Hizbullah
can be traced back to the first Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1978 and
the disappearance of Imam Musa al-Sadr later that year. Musa al-Sadr
was a charismatic leader who mobilized Lebanese Shi‘a in the 1960s and
1970s and was able to channel their grievances into political participation,
including the establishment, in 1975, of “Amal” as a secular Shi‘i politi-
cal party with a military wing. Led by al-Sadr, Amal maintained relative
unity as a movement. With his disappearance, elements within the party
grew dissatisfied with its program. This coincided with the victory of the
Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979 and various Shi‘i clerics calling for
“The Hizbullah of Lebanon.”^2
e second Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 was the spark Th
that led to Hizbullah’s full formation as an Islamic jihādῑ movement.
Hizbullah’s military wing, the Islamic Resistance, made some break-
throughs in the face of the Israeli army advancing on Beirut and led a
campaign of resistance against the Israeli forces after they occupied the
Lebanese capital. Hizbullah leaders, such as Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah