Surprisingly, the Middle Eastern Christians say their new and unlikely allies "accept us as we are."
Citing
Lebanese sources, Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin says Christian villages in
the Bekaa Valley area of Lebanon are forming militias to join Hezbollah
fighters already engaging ISIS and the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat
al-Nusra Front in the Syrian Qalamoun mountains opposite villages in
central and eastern Bekaa.
Christian Post reports that Rifaat Nasrallah, a Catholic businessman who is part of the militias fighting ISIS in Ras Baalbek, discussed the alliance with Hezbollah in an International Business Times report last month.
"We're in a very dangerous situation," he said. "The
only people who are protecting us are the resistance of Hezbollah. The
only one standing with the army is Hezbollah. Let's not hide it
anymore."
Nasrallah said Hezbollah does not expect its allies to convert to Islam or create an allegiance to the group's ideals.
"They accept us as we are," he said. "They
do not impose on us anything. When there's an occasion, they come to
our children's birthdays. The people here accept that Hezbollah comes
and helps."
This unlikely alliance between
Christians and Hezbollah is a far cry from the adversarial relationship
depicted between the two groups in the region.
According
to the IB Times report, however, the alliance is one of convenience.
Hezbollah is Iran's strongest proxy in that area of Lebanon and has been
a key factor in keeping President Bashar Assad's regime in power after
four years of the Syrian war. Protecting Ras Baalbek is a priority for
the group because losing it to ISIS would put the surrounding Shiite
towns under direct threat.
As a result, Hezbollah
has invested heavily in sustaining the relationship with Christians. The
group trained Christians in Syria to fight ISIS alongside them,
according to a November report from Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar and even
paid wages similar to Hezbollah members for Christians joining their
ranks.
"We are not speaking of an assumed
threat, we are speaking of a real aggression that exists every hour,
every day, every night," said Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah in a recent speech.
He
explained that armed groups have launched continuous attacks inside
Lebanese territories while also holding dozens of Lebanese soldiers and
police officers hostage, "so we need a permanent solution."
No comments:
Post a Comment