The Hybrid War On Lebanon Is All About Weakening Hezbollah

Lebanon has endured constant attacks and pressure from Israel, America and their allies for decades, sometimes in the form of direct military confrontation and more recently through a hybrid war involving sanctions, propaganda, violent provocations, social media, western NGOs and embassies — all to weaken Hezbollah.

To discuss all of this Rania Khalek is joined by researcher and journalist Julia Kassem, who has a masters degree from the American University of Beirut and is a contributor to the Al Akhbar, a widely circulated Lebanese leftist newspaper.

TIME CODES
0:00 Intro
1:27 Hezbollah’s origins
5:41 The difference between Hezbollah and Amal
10:05 Israel’s occupation of southern Lebanon
14:54 Hezbollah’s relationship with the left
22:09 The year 2000: Hezbollah expels Israel
25:32 2005: Hezbollah enters government, March 14 vs March 8
29:55 2006: Hezbollah defeats Israel, again!
37:20 US & Saudi Arabia embark on an anti-Shia crusade to weaken Hezbollah & Iran
41:16 Hezbollah enters the war in Syria
41:17 Hezbollah becomes a regional actor, in Syria, Iraq & Yemen
50:27 Saudi Arabia becomes the bigger threat
52:35 Maximum pressure and the October 2019 uprising
55:22 Why does Hezbollah ally with corrupt parties?
1:00:07 Why is Lebanon’s economy collapsing?
1:02:16 “Corruption” is the new “terrorism”
1:05:45 Western-funded NGOs, civil society & media
1:11:13 Politicizing the Beirut port blast investigation against Hezbollah
1:18:16 Does Hezbollah have an economic ideology?
1:27:32 Why is there a hybrid war on Lebanon?