I. Citation:
VOA News
5/6/08
II. Summary:
The Lebanese government has decided to try and stop some of the actions of the Hezbollah group located in their country. They are doing this because they feel that the Hezbollah are acting against the government. First, they want to rid of the Hezbollah telephone network. Also, they have fired the Hezbollah official who ran secruity at an airport for activating a Hezbollah spy camera. The government thought that the camera was a way of spying on leaders. Hezbollah argued about the stopping of these actions though. They said that they needed the network to protect against Israeli detection and even threatened officials. The Hezbollah official also claimed that the camera was not used as a spy camera. This conflict between the Lebanese government and Hezbollah escalated further when Hezbollah protested new prices. Hezbollah has definate influence in Lebanon and the government will have to work hard to stop them from completing these activities.
III. Reactions:
A) This relates to the AP World theme of changes in functions and structures of states and in attitudes toward states and political identities, including the emergence of the nation-state. It relates to this because Hezbollah has a negative attitude toward the Lebanese government because they are challenging them and saying that they are commiting illegal actions. Also, the Hezbollah is gaining influence and growing in Lebanon.
B) Hezbollah started after the civil war in Lebanon and it is an Islamic political group in Lebanon. The main goals of this group are to recapture lands now controlled by Israel. Due to some of their actions in trying to gain back these lands, some countries, including the US and Israel consider Hezbollah a terrorist group. The Lebanese government now want Hezbollah to stop the actions that make it seem like a terrorist group.
C) This article is written by an American who is an outsider on this issue.D) The author's point of view may have impacted the article because the author is American, and Americans believe Hezbollah is a terrorist group, so it may back the Lebanese government's point of view. This could be shown where it makes the actions of Hezbollah sound completely unreasonable, like them having an illegal phone network, or that they treatened officials, yet it justifies all the actions made by the Lebaanese government.
E) I would like to hear from a Hezbollah official because he would be able to better justify Hezbollah reasoning for commiting actions such as setting up the cameras or having a phone network.
E) I would like to hear from a Hezbollah official because he would be able to better justify Hezbollah reasoning for commiting actions such as setting up the cameras or having a phone network.
F) I feel that the Lebanese government is making a good decision by challenging Hezbollah. Hezbollah seems to be gaining great influence and, by challenging it, the Lebanese government has no risk of Hezbollah gaining so much power that it is impossible for the government to control. It is clear that Hezbollah already didn't have great support for the Lebanese government due to the protests. It is currently unknown whether Hezbollah is really just trying to gain back Lebanon land or if they have other motives. By challenging them now, the Lebanese government can keep them in check and make sure that they do not gain too much power later.
1 comment:
This is very interesting and there are obviously conflicts between the Hezbollah and the Lebanon government. It certainly seems as though the secuirity manager was just doing his job, whats wrong with putting a camera to watch over important officials? It seems as though the Lebanon government could be a little paranoid.
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