MONDAY, JULY 17, 2006
Monday Edition: What is Hezbollah?
The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer says:
Hezbollah was founded, with Iran's support, after the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. The group was considered responsible for the suicide truck bombing deaths of 241 U.S. Marines in their Beirut barracks a year later.
Hezbollah has been labeled a terrorist organization by the United States, but it's now one of the political groups in the Lebanese parliament. Its political leader is Hassan Nasrallah, a former military commander and Shiite scholar.
Al-Jazeera has a very different description of Hezbollah:
Hezbollah is an Islamic resistance group and
political party based in Lebanon. Founded by Shia Muslims to resist
Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982, the group's political and
military success has made it a model for other Islamic movements
worldwide.
Here are two bios on Nasrallah -- one from the BBC and the other from Al-Jazeera.
This is what the U.S. Department of State said in April 2005 about Hezbollah's formation and background (note that there are a number of spellings for the group's name):
Description
Formed in 1982 in response to the Israeli
invasion of Lebanon, this Lebanon-based radical Shia group takes its
ideological inspiration from the Iranian revolution and the teachings
of the late Ayatollah Khomeini. The Majlis al-Shura, or Consultative
Council, is the group's highest governing body and is led by Secretary
General Hasan Nasrallah. Hizbollah is dedicated to liberating Jerusalem
and eliminating Israel, and has formally advocated ultimate
establishment of Islamic rule in Lebanon. Nonetheless, Hizballah has
actively participated in Lebanon's political system since 1992.
Hizbollah is closely allied with, and often directed by, Iran, but has
the capability and willingness to act independently. Though Hizbollah
does not share the Syrian regime's secular orientation, the group has
been a strong ally in helping Syria advance its political objectives in
the region.
Activities
Known or suspected to have been involved
in numerous anti-U.S. and anti-Israeli terrorist attacks, including the
suicide truck bombings of the U.S. Embassy and U.S. Marine barracks in
Beirut in 1983 and the U.S. Embassy annex in Beirut in 1984. Three
members of Hizballah, 'Imad Mughniyah, Hasan Izz-al-Din, and Ali Atwa,
are on the FBI's list of [26] Most Wanted Terrorists for the 1985
hijacking of TWA Flight 847 during which a U.S. Navy diver was murdered.
Elements of the group were responsible for the kidnapping and detention
of Americans and other Westerners in Lebanon in the 1980s. Hizballah
also attacked the Israeli Embassy in Argentina in 1992 and the Israeli
cultural center in Buenos Aires in 1994. In 2000, Hizbollah operatives
captured three Israeli soldiers in the Shab'a Farms and kidnapped an
Israeli noncombatant.
Hizbollah also provides guidance and financial and
operational support for Palestinian extremist groups engaged in
terrorist operations in Israel and the occupied territories.
In
2004, Hizballah launched an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that left
Lebanese airspace and flew over the Israeli town of Nahariya before
crashing into Lebanese territorial waters. Ten days prior to the event,
the Hizbollah Secretary General said Hizbollah would come up with new
measures to counter Israeli Air Force violations of Lebanese airspace.
Hizbollah also continued launching small scale attacks across the
Israeli border, resulting in the deaths of several Israeli soldiers. In
March 2004, Hizbollah and HAMAS signed an agreement to increase joint
efforts to perpetrate attacks against Israel. In late 2004, Hizbollah's
al-Manar television station, based in Beirut with an estimated ten
million viewers worldwide, was prohibited from broadcasting in France.
Al-Manar was placed on the Terrorist Exclusion List (TEL) in the United
States, which led to its removal from the program offerings of its main
cable service provider, and made it more difficult for al-Manar
associates and affiliates to operate in the United States.
Here is
a link to the State Department's latest country reports on terrorism
for the Middle East and North Africa, updated in April of this year.
And for the State Department's Web page on Middle East peace,
click here.
Watch/Listen to the War
Here are some sites that might help you put the war into context.
They are links to news sites in the Lebanon-Syria-Israel region:
- Watch Syrian TV. (You can find links to other Syrian news outlets in Arabic and English by clicking here.)
- Watch TV from Israel. (Scroll down on the left-side list of countries and click on "Israel" to find it.)
- Read The Jerusalem Post. (You can find links to other Israeli news sources, mostly in English or Hebrew, by clicking here.)
- Take a look at the BBC's world service page to see the news as it's reported in some of the native languages of the areas.
Domestically, there are a number of organizations whose members are
following this story closely. Here is just a sampling of those who
might have something to say about the conflict:
- Muslim American groups:
- Jewish American groups:
- Lebanese American groups:
- Maronite group:
- Syrian American groups:
- General think tanks:
And here are a few handy resources that you might also find useful as you cover this story:
Travel to Israel/Lebanon
There are several reports of tourist groups stuck in Lebanon, as well as other pieces about advice for travelers to Israel.
Tribal Gaming Revenues Double Those of Nevada
The National Indian Gaming Commission
[PDF] says tribal casinos pulled in $22.6 billion in gambling revenue
last year. It is a $3.3 billion -- or, 16 percent -- increase over 2004, the NIGC reports. Put in
perspective, $22.6 billion is that is about twice what the state of Nevada earned in gross casino
gaming revenue during that same period.
Click here [PDF] to see region-by-region breakdowns for tribal casinos around the country. Click here to find contact information for the regional Indian Gaming Commission office nearest you.
Here is an interactive map
listing 408 Indian Country gambling facilities nationwide, including 247
casinos with slot machines and other Las Vegas-style games.
The Indian Gaming Association points out in a press release [PDF] that despite the big jump in revenue, most tribes are still hurting:
With only 198 tribes having gaming compacts out of the 558 federally
recognized tribes, most are still struggling to lift themselves out of
a centuries-long cycle of poverty. It is a myth that tribes who entered
into gaming are "rolling in dough." Only the top 20 tribal gaming
operations, because of their proximity to major population centers in
the country, make up 55.5 percent of the total portion of Indian gaming
revenue.
Here is a collection of laws and regulations for Indian gaming.
The California Nations Indian Gaming Association's Web site explains the oversight this way:
The tribes, as governments, are the first to be vigilant in
protecting the integrity of projects they rely upon to feed, clothe,
educate and employ their people. Tribal governmental gaming is
regulated on three separate and distinct levels, in contrast to the
single level of commercial gaming. The first level of regulation comes
from the tribes themselves. With the establishment of the Indian Gaming
Regulatory Act (IGRA), tribes are mandated to establish a regulatory
body (tribal regulators and commissions) to keep operations in compliance with local ordinances and state
compacts. The second level is the state gaming department. The state
will regulate the areas that have been negotiated with the tribes in
the state/tribal compacts. The third level is the National Indian
Gaming Commission, which became operable in February 1993 to oversee
the regulation of Indian gaming. Other oversight entities include the federal government; the Department of Justice, FBI and Bureau of
Indian Affairs.
Playing With Fire
The investigative team at KHOU-TV in Houston recently turned out
some stories that are worth your exploration. The station found that
the schools attended by nearly a quarter-million students in the Houston area had
never -- read it again -- NEVER had a fire inspection.
Their story, "Playing With Fire," just won a national Edward R. Murrow Award from RTNDA.
The station says the investigation "revealed that hundreds of public
schools in the Houston area had never received a fire code inspection
in more than 30 years. The investigation also discovered
immediate life-threatening violations at many of the schools that were
missed by the fire marshal, which prompted a massive reorganization of
the Harris County Fire Marshal's Office."
July: Peak Grill-Fire Month
In the last 20 years, grill fires have doubled -- maybe not surprisingly,
the U.S. Fire Administration says, because there are more grills now. July is
the peak month for grill fires in America. According to government figures from 2002 [PDF] 6,500 grill fires cause $27 million in property damage every year. The USFA says:
The leading ignition factor is a result of some mechanical failure,
such as a part failure, leak or break and lack of maintenance (43
percent). Other leading ignition factors for outdoor grill fires
include "operational deficiency" (primarily leaving the grill
unattended), misuse of the material ignited (combustible material was
too close to the heat), and misuse of the heat of ignition itself
(inadequate control of the open fire and abandoned materials).
Fires and the Older Adult
Adults aged 65 and older are two-and-a-half times more likely to die
in fires than members of the overall population-- it is something to think about as our country's population
ages.
The data is contained in a U.S. Fire Administration study that was released earlier this year.
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.
Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas,
edited story excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites,
as well as original concepts and analysis. When the information comes
directly from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be
provided whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends
upon the accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. Errors
and inaccuracies found will be corrected.
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