Document #1302526
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
The dissolution of the central leadership
in Lebanon led to a situation where the main militias were the de
facto authority within the areas that they controlled, "holding
territory and prisoners, [and] collecting taxes". [ Lara Marlowe,
"War-Weary Lebanon Reaches a New Low: Rarely Have the People of
Beirut Known Such Despair", Financial Times, 2 August 1989.]
Hezbollah is one of the militias with temporary control in parts of
Beirut, south Lebanon and the Baalbek valley. In June 1989, the
Muslim Cabinet leader Salim al-Hoss blamed shortages in supplies on
the leaders of militias operating in Lebanon. [ Mohammad Salam,
"Lebanon's Moslem Cabinet Head Hoss Blames Militia Leaders for
Abducting Civil Servant", Financial Times, 23 June 1989.] In
addition to levying taxes, the militias are accused of blowing up
power poles and blocking fuel supplies to force the population to
buy things from the militias or their business partners. [ Salam.]
Please see the attached articles:
-
Lara Marlowe, "War-Weary Lebanon Reaches a
New Low: Rarely Have the People of Beirut Known Such Despair",
Financial Times, 2 August 1989;
-
Mohammad Salam, "Lebanon's Moslem Cabinet
Head Hoss Blames Militia Leaders for Abducting of Civil Servant",
Associated Press, 23 June 1989;
-
"Rival Moslem and Christian Cabinets Have
Little Influence in Militia-ruled Lebanon", Associated
Press, 24 Sept. 1988.
Because Hezbollah is a Shi'ite party, it
exercises control in predominantly Shi'ite sectors. Sunnis within
the enclave would also be subject to the authority of the
controlling militia (in this case Hezbollah), and would be viewed
with suspicion in the prevailing climate of hostility where, in the
words of one authority on Lebanon, "If you're not with us, you must
be against us". [ Mr. Badri Hamadi, contacted through the auspices
of the National Council for Canada Arab Relations.] It should be
noted that other government functions (aside from "taxation") have
been implemented by militias. For example, a report in Keesing's
Record of World Events (January 1988, p. 35671) mentions that
Hezbollah "committees effectively controlled a large number of
villages, and in southern Beirut in particular they operated
subsidized supermarkets and pharmacies and arranged a system of
cash payments to poor families". [ Keesing's Record of World
Events, Volume XXXIV, January 1988, p. 35671.] No specific
information on the techniques Hezbollah employs to extract taxes is
currently available to the IRBDC.
Although the war is largely based on
intercommunal religious differences, the volatile political climate
has precipitated swiftly changing alliances and expediency has
placed Hezbollah in opposition and in partnership with Sunnis in
the past few years. For example, in August 1989, 18 Muslim and
leftist militias and organizations formed the National Front in
opposition to General Aoun. [ Ihsan Hijazi, "Lebanese Muslims Warn
of Final Battle", The New York Times, 29 August 1989.] Over
the past two years, one of Hezbollah's principal militia opponents
has been Amal (as well as some confrontations in the south with the
South Lebanon Army) (please refer to Keesing's and other
sources in the Toronto Documentation Centre for more information).
The conflict between Amal and Hezbollah degenerated into street
battles in south Beirut as each vied for the leadership role within
the Shi'ite community.