Network of support for Hezbollah in US

by Seth Mandel from USA
November 24, 2010

http://www.weeklyblitz.net/1115/network-of-support-for-hezbollah-in-us

There are few discoveries I can imagine that should evince more genuine outrage than the fact that the world's most dangerous terrorist organization has a network of unabashed supporters all over the United States.

Yet that is exactly what a thorough investigation by the Investigative Project on Terrorism, led by Steve Emerson, has found and documented. The three-part series (found here, here, and here) on Hezbollah in America is worth reading in full, but the second part¾on Hezbollah's supporters¾is the most blood-boiling because of the supporters' brazenness.

"From rallies like September's Al Quds Day protest featuring Hizballah flags and images of its leaders, to speeches endorsing its activity by national Islamist leaders, to a radical student movement that gives voice to its dogma, the Lebanese-based terrorist group that is considered an Iranian proxy is cast as a legitimate political player and heroic resistance movement," Emerson writes.

The Al Quds Day rallies intended to protest Jewish sovereignty in Jerusalem¾are usually excuses for rally goers to call for Israel's destruction. Emerson reports that the most recent rally in Washington, D.C.'s Dupont Circle featured a pronouncement that 9/11 was a Zionist plot. Hezbollah flags are a staple at such rallies, as are chants in favor of the terror group.

The aforementioned student groups, Emerson writes, include the Muslim Students Association, Persian Speaking Group (MSA-PSG). A 1994 FBI report stated that the group is "known to be in contact" with Hezbollah. A former terrorism chief with the FBI testified before the U.S. Senate that the Iranian government relied heavily upon the group for intelligence and support, and is essentially a breeding ground for future Iranian operatives.

In what will surprise very few readers, Emerson reveals the sympathies held for Hezbollah by the Muslim Student Union at the University of California, Irvine. In February, 11 students were arrested attempting to disrupt a visit by Israel's Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren. It was later discovered that the Muslim Student Union was behind the orchestrated antics. The prior year, the Muslim Student Union invited Imam Abdel Malik Ali to speak. Imam Ali called Hezbollah "people with honor and respect. They're not going to allow themselves to be occupied, to be degraded, to be oppressed."

Emerson calls out the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) for similar infractions. ISNA in 2009 invited Cathy Sultan to speak at a conference, at which she offered this gem: "I think that Lebanon is still under constant threat from its southern neighbor. And I see nothing wrong, as long as Hezbollah abides by certain rules and regulations. I see no reason why Hezbollah should not remain armed."

Emerson recounts several incidents in which members of the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) made the same point¾that Hezbollah is a group of freedom fighters "resisting" the "Israeli occupation."

And of course, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is especially receptive to the argument that much of Hezbollah's works are acts of charity and attempts to provide education to Lebanese citizens, and that "the whole organization" should not be "lumped as a terrorism organization."

This is patently ridiculous. In 2003, then-deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage said that Hezbollah was really the "A-Team" and al-Qaeda was the "B-Team" of global terrorism. The monikers are appropriate. In 1993, senior al-Qaeda operatives went to Lebanon to learn how to make explosives from Hezbollah terror leader Imad Mughniyeh, who was assassinated two years ago. Mughniyeh took on Osama bin Laden as a student and taught him all he needed to know to eventually plan the 9/11 attacks.

It is that one attack that gave al-Qaeda the notoriety it has today, but Hezbollah has always been the master. In fact, as I wrote in the wake of Mughniyeh's assassination, it is likely he played an instrumental role in 9/11. The attacks were planned in Germany, where Mughniyeh, according to intelligence sources, had been traveling just prior to the attack. Mughniyeh had also been toying with airplane terrorism since his unsuccessful 1997 plan to have an agent blow up an El Al plane in flight.

And Hezbollah's resilience is a model not just for terrorist organizations, but for any global network, as Joshua Cooper Ramo told me for a story in 2009.

"I think really resilient systems kind of look like our immune system in a way, that they're capable of confronting things that they've never seen before and they actually get stronger as a result," Ramo had said. "Hezbollah is an example of how that can be very dangerous and very evil in some settings, but having that ability to kind of absorb shocks and bounce back is very important."

He later added: "The more you attack them, the more clever they get."

The point is that Hezbollah is the most dangerous terrorist organization in the world. That we have so many who publicly support them in the U.S., as Emerson has detailed, is both tragic and infuriating.

Seth Mandel is the US Correspondent of Weekly Blitz.

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