Sumud: Can you give us some basic information on Hezbollah? Ali Fayyad (A.F.): Let me introduce myself first. I am now a member of the Lebanese Parliament, I am in the Political Bureau of Hezbollah and I am a professor at the Lebanese university where I teach Sociology of Politics. From 1982 until 1990, I was responsible for the students' and teachers' sector of the Hezbollah. After that from 1990 until 1994 I was the Hezbollah responsible for the media (TV, radio, newspapers etc.). Then, from 1995 until one year ago I was the General Director of the Consultative Center for Studies and Documentation, the think tank of Hezbollah, so for fourteen years. But when I got my seat at the Parliament I left my position here at this Center. So today I am only a professor at the university and an … [read more]

Founded in 1983 the “Islamic Jihad” (IJ) has been the first Islamic organisation which took up arms and joined the struggle for the liberation of Palestine. It offered the first Islamic alternative to the secular project of Arafat even before the Muslim Brotherhood created Hamas and embarked on the armed struggle. The political difference between IJ and Hamas is that the first puts national liberation before the Islamisation of society. Inspired by the Islamic revolution in Iran its founder Fathi Shikaki (born 1951 and assassinated 1995 in Malta) absorbed many social and political elements not only from Shiite political Islam but also from the secular left and the Pan-arabist movement. His book “Khomeini: The Islamic Solution and the Alternative” which appeared in 1979 can be … [read more]

“Palestinian guests in Lebanon are working with total freedom. First of all we do not refer to them as “refugees”. They are our brothers who are suffering and in a very difficult situation that they did not cause and they have lost their country. They sought our help in Lebanon as brothers. You Americans really need to understand that in our Arab, Muslim, and Christian culture, you help your brother. You share with him your loaf of bread. You split it in half and give half to your brother. So out of this sacred tradition, out of the long history that binds us with our Palestinian brothers we host them in Lebanon temporarily until they can go back to their country. But while they are here, of course Lebanon is living through a difficult situation ourselves but our Palestinian … [read more]

Founded in 1975 by Ibrahim Ghonaim the Haraka Islamiyyah Muhjahida is considered to be the oldest Islamic movement within the Palestinian refugee camp Ain el Hilweh, Lebanon, which embarked on the armed struggle in order to liberate Palestine. It participated in the resistance against the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1978 and 1982. In 1990 Jamal Khattab took over the leadership of the group. As a graduate from the American University of Beirut he shaped a moderate face for the movement and focused on media work. Beside Usbat al-Ansar (considered close to Al Quaida) and Ansar Allah (considered close to Hezbollah) JIM with some 200 fighters is the third armed Salafi force in the camp. It is, however, politically more articulated and wields a wider field of influence which leads to a … [read more]

Tuesday, August 3: A new war to come? On Tuesday, we heard about the escalation at the border in the south that had happened the day before. The Israelis decided to cut a tree on the Lebanese territory because the tree didn’t allow an Israeli camera the full view on the Lebanese land which they seek to observe. The Lebanese army didn’t give the permission to cut the tree on their territory and as the Israelis did it anyway the Lebanese started to shoot. At first they shot in the air as a warning, then they shot on target. The result was three dead on the Lebanese side (two soldiers and one journalist), one on the Israeli side, many injured on both sides, and the danger of a new war to begin. In the camp we discussed about that issue with the Palestinian refugees. We wanted to … [read more]

First stop was the village Maghdusheh up the hill above the camp. In 1986, the village had witnessed one of the most crucial battles of the Palestinian resistance against the then pro-Syrien Amal militia. The Palestinian counter-attack to take over the hill put an end to months of a starvation siege imposed by Amal, forcing a cease-fire and free access to the camp. After this short stop, the group moved on to Mlita, which was an important starting point of the Hezbollah guerilla actions during the fights to liberate South Lebanon. There, a war exposition is established in a formal mountain military base of Hezbollah. Destroyed and abandoned tanks, canons, armored cars and weapons of the Israeli army and the collaborator South Lebanese army are exposed. Resistance weapons, tunnel … [read more]

The first station was the Market of Sabra. Sabra is a poor district of Beirut, which has merged together with the Palstinian refugee Camp Shatila. In Sabra, the population is mixed: Lebanese of all confessions, Palestinian and other poor foreigners live there. Sabra and Shatila are considered as one and the same place, in particular when mentioning the 1982 massacre. At Sabra Market one can find “everything”. The deeper you go into the long market street, things become cheaper and more illegal. The delegation headed from there to Shatila. Different than Ein El Hilweh, Shatila camp is accessible. No checkpoints and ID controls by the Lebanese army are present. The camp was demilitarised in the context of the end of the Lebanese civil war in 1991. Nevertheless, the situation of the … [read more]

In this way, the teenager, also making his own short film, will show the place which formed his personality and options: the camp. Along with two selected teenagers, the every-day-life of youth in the camp is to be shown. By this the audience can get an impression of the situation, the daily struggles and they ways and means to succeed them. The arrival of Arab Lotfi, the Lebanese film maker and the leader of the work shop meant the actual beginning of the workshop. A summarized presentation of the film concept and a discussion with Ms. Lotfi took place. Teams were formed to cover the themes. For the first shooting days, two teams were to collect images inside the camp, while the third was to deliver scenes of the surroundings, the surrounding fences and from the hill above. After an … [read more]

Straight after the arrival work began. The missing facilities for the multi media centre were purchased. After a first get together, Nashet organised a tour through the Camp. Those delegation members who had already taken part in the mission 2009 were immediately recognised by the inhabitants who welcomed them warmly. This first tour through the Camp allowed for an important impression of the Camp’s intensive political history and present. Posters and pictures of martyrs are everywhere, as well as symbols of Palestinian organisations and banners with political slogans. The Camp means to leave Lebanese normality. Palestine starts here. During the tour, the delegation stopped for a short visit in the PFLP office. It was welcomed by spokesman Abu Bassel who gave an introductory speech … [read more]

Palestinian and European youth worked jointly in renovating a building, which had been destroyed in the successive sieges and bombardments of the camp. The restored building became a multipurpose community centre, a place of interchange, memory and civil commitment, a meeting point for all the young Palestinian of the refugee camp: the Cultural Centre “Sumud”. This year, Sumud starts the second phase: a new brigade will go to the camp. With the help of the collected donations, further restoration and furnishing works will be carried out in the centre. The target of this year is even more ambitious: beside the voluntary works in the building, a film making workshop will be held for Palestinian and Lebanese youth, as well as for the international volunteers, whose task will also be … [read more]

First reportOur work brigade has now been in Lebanon for four days, and in the camp for two days.Upon our arrival, permission to enter the camp was refused by the Lebanese military even though all the bureaucratic steps had been taken: the reason given by the military was they are not used to such large groups asking permission to enter, but we suppose that political matters also played a role.While we were staying outside of the camp, with the help of our comrades in Nashet we managed to arrange two meetings with Lebanese political parties.The first one was with the Popular Democratic Party, a Marxist-Leninist party with a clear anti-imperialist outlook which supports resistances worldwide, and to whom of course the Palestinian Resistance is a crucial point; they also have been carrying … [read more]

On the initiative* and the support of several research centers, associations, syndicates and political, cultural and social movements, The Beirut International Forum was held on 16, 17 and 18 January 2009, attended by Arab and international delegations and eminent authorities from five continents (66 countries).This Forum, in which South America, Asia and Near East were massively represented, embodied the spirit of the Tricontinental centre. Two major topics characterized the Forum. On one hand, the heroic resistance by the Palestinian people of Gaza and their ability to confront an intense violence and unprecedented barbarity. On the other, capitalism's global crisis, which is not only financial but also on economic, social, cultural and moral fronts, thus posing a threat to the … [read more]

In the opening session Hezbollah's deputy-secretary Sheik Naim Kassem captured the common spirit of the assembly: Today there are only two camps in the world. The one of US imperialism and its allies and the other one of the resistances; regardless of their ideological, cultural or religious affiliation. The resistances must be unified against its common enemy. This is only possible by respecting the diversity of the resistance movements.Hezbollah's deputy-secretary Sheik Naim KassemWhether from Venezuela (which had a massive presence), India, or even from the United States in person of former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark, all the speakers from the anti-war and anti-imperialist movements of Europe and the US strongly confirmed the gathering's commitment to an anti-imperialist … [read more]

Based on the right to resistance as a principle, choice and culture, inspired from its confrontation of both the American and Zionist occupation, in appreciation of its great sacrifices, human heritage, and achievements in defending the right to liberation, freedom, independence, and to contribute to the elimination of the illusion of peoples' oppression and humiliation; Based on the experiences of Anti-Imperialism, Solidarity between Peoples defending their legitimate rights and supporting the vulnerable in facing occupation and invasion. Also based on alternative experiences of refusing the intellectual and cultural stereotyping, refusal of marginalization and wasting rights together with the experiences of production-solidarity networks, and the reorganization of land and local … [read more]