Shalom from Israel. Because there is so much misinformation and twisting of facts today, and because so few people know what is really happening and who the players are, I shall give a concise history of Hizbulla. They are our friends to the immediate North in Lebanon (and Syria). Even though you don’t hear it on the news, we are at war with them currently. Thank goodness it has not escalated into a major incursion on either side -yet.

As an overview, in 1948, President Truman on behalf of the US, supported the UN Partition Plan of the MidEast and the creation of the Jewish state of Israel. The Pentagon did not voice their support and stated that Israel would be a liability. Most people did not expect the tiny state in the middle of a pool of hostile Arab Muslim nations to last long.

In ‘48, just a day after Israel achieved recognition as a sovereign nation by the UN, she was attacked from all sides by her Arab neighbors. Against all odds, Israel won and gained more territory. After constant skirmishes with Egypt, Israel was forced to give up territory in the Suez area (1956) and there was a prohibition on the sale of US armaments to Israel until 1962. The relationship between the US and Israel was cordial, but kept at arm’s length as by the mid 60s, the US was fully engaged in Vietnam and the Cold War was still raging.

1964 saw an attempt of consolidation of “Palestinian” people. Up until 1948, anyone living in under the British Mandate was known as a Palestinian, whether Muslim, Jew, Christian or other. Before the ‘48 war, the respective surrounding Arab countries told the Muslims to leave Israel. They were told by the imams that after the Arab states had destroyed the Jews, the Arabs could return and take over the land and possessions. Many left for other countries. Many Arabs remained and became full Israeli citizens. The Palestinian Charter called for a type of loose organization of those displaced and for “the complete elimination of the state of Israel.”

In 1967, Israel was again attacked from all sides. She won this war in 6 days, defeating the combined forces of Egypt, Jordan and Syria. Israel also gained large amounts of territory including Jordanian controlled East Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.

The PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) was formed with Yassar Arafat rising to power in Jordan in 1969. Fatah and the PLO were making guerilla attacks from Jordan into Israel’s Judaea and Samaria, the West Bank. In Egypt, President Nasser was pressuring the Christian Lebanese government to let the Palestinians in as a launchpad for attacks against Israel. He no longer wanted them in his country. Their entrance into Lebanon started a landslide of problems leading to civil war (1974-1990).

Many Palestinians went from Israel to Jordan. Or to Egypt then Jordan. One of these was Yassar Arafat, born in Egypt and living in Jordan. Two thirds of Jordan was Palestinian by 1970. The Hashemite Kung Hussein came to power. By 1969-70, Arafat was leading the PLO/the radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) not only in attacks on Israel, but in a coup against the Hashemites. There were three attempts on King Hussein’s life.

Four jets were hijacked in the summer of 1970. Dozens of hostages were being held. Arafat pledged, “We will turn the MidEast into hell. We will liberate our land.” In addition to planes being hijacked, in 1972, the PLO took over the Munich Olympics, kidnapping and murdering 11 Israeli athletes. Other terror attacks continued throughout Europe.

This marked the beginning of the United States and Israel security relationship. The US was in an Asian quagmire in Vietnam and Cambodia. In September of 1970 (Black September), Syrian militants joined up with the PLO in Northern Jordan. Now there was an all out civil war in Jordan as the Palestinians wanted control. King Hussein asked the US for military backup. The States turned to Israel to do the job.

The United States sent weapons at the last minute in ‘67 so Israel could win the war and it was payback time, in a political sense. Besides, the Israeli Air Force and IDF were already staving off terrorist attacks perpetrated by the PLO in Israel. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger went to Prime Minister Golda Meir. Israel sent IDF planes into Syria to prevent their armies from entering Jordan. A civil war was already raging in Jordan between the Palestinians and the Hashemites.

By July, 1971, the PLO was defeated. Arafat fled from Amman, Jordan to Beirut, Lebanon. Syria’s Assad would not allow the Palestinians to settle in Syria after their defeat in Jordan, so the 300,000 (more or less) moved to Lebanon. This put great strain on the already disorganized Christian controlled nation and helped to tip the population to the Muslims. The Christians were divided into many disagreeing factions: the Maronites, Melkites, Orthodox, Byzantine and Protestants.

The Lebanese Civil War started in 1975 when the Maronite Christian President Bashir Gemayel and 25 of his staff were killed in a terrorist bombing of a Beirut building. This led to a widespread killing spree between Christian Phalangists and the Palestinians. Eventually 30,000 Syrian troops came in to help the PLO and save them from the Christians. Other Arab forces joined. The civil war lasted for years as Lebanon was completely destabilized.

In 1978, the Palestinians infiltrated Israel from several fronts. There were massacres on kibbutzim, kidnappings and bombings of buses and supermarkets. 25,000 IDF troops deployed on Operation Litani to wipe out the Palestinian terrorists. The UN stepped in with a ceasefire and Resolution 425 pushing Israel out of Lebanon and setting up a force of 4000 UN Forces in Lebanon (UNFIL) to keep peace. They were supposed to stay for 6 months…. UNFIL is still here today over 40 years later.

In the interim Syrian and Palestinian Islamic forces were killing Christians. The Christian Phalangists were bent on revenge. Israel aid was sought as the Islamists tried seizing government power. The IDF re-entered and secured Beirut.

In September of’82, Israel allows the Phalangists to enter the refugee camps at Sabra and Shetula to round up the 200 or so suspected terror leaders. Instead, a massacre occurs. 463 were found dead according to Lebanese police. The Israeli intelligence estimated 700-800 were murdered. The Palestinians say it was 3500.

In any instance, Time Magazine wrote an article blaming Israel. The news spread throughout the world that the IDF massacred 3500 men, women and children in Lebanon. It was fake news even back then. Gen Ariel Sharon sued Time, who corrected the piece but the damage was done. Even now Israel is blamed.

To make a long story short, many of the Palestinian troublemakers were pushed into Tunisia, which quickly became a hotbed of Fatah/PLO terrorist activity. Arafat was, for the most part, exiled there from Beirut. He switched from active terror strikes in Israel to diplomacy. His part in the Oslo Accords in which Gaza, under Israeli control, was fully handed over to the Palestinians (all Jews were forcibly removed) in 2005, led to his receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.

The remaining PLO and PFLP in Lebanon again banded with Syria and Iran. This Shiite Islamic group morphed into Hizbulla, supplied with arms from Iran, Russia and China. They bombed the US marine barracks in Lebanon. Under the direction of Gen. Alexander Haig, Secretary of State, President Reagan withdrew all forces from Lebanon, leaving a vacuum.

Today, Hizbulla is fully entrenched in the southern part of Lebanon. Most of the Druze and Christian residents have fled north, their homes and schools used as military bases, launch sites for rockets and weapons storage facilities. They have over 150,000 missiles pointed in our direction. They are fully in league with Hamas and the PA.

It’s extremely complicated, but that’s the ‘Hiz-tory in a nutshell.