(Download) "What will Hizbullah Do if the Assad Regime Collapses? (SYRIA)" by The Weekly Middle East Reporter (Beirut, Lebanon) # Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: What will Hizbullah Do if the Assad Regime Collapses? (SYRIA)
- Author : The Weekly Middle East Reporter (Beirut, Lebanon)
- Release Date : January 06, 2011
- Genre: Reference,Books,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 62 KB
Description
The five-month-long popular upheaval against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which shows no sign of letup, has presented the powerful Shiite Hizbullah group with a tough challenge, raising questions about the dire consequences of the possible collapse of the Assad regime on Lebanon's key ally. In fact, since the uprising erupted in the Syrian village of Deraa in mid-March, and later engulfed most Syrian cities, posing an unprecedented threat to Assad's 11-year rule, Hizbullah officials have refrained from commenting on the fast-moving dramatic developments in Syria. This was in sharp contrast with Hizbullah's stance, of which public praise and encouragement for the popular revolts in Egypt and Tunisia, eventually led to the overthrow of the two countries' authoritarian Presidents Hosni Mubarak and Zine al-Abidine ben Ali respectively. The image of Hizbullah, which is backed by Iran and Syria, has already been badly harmed by the Syrian uprising for adopting the Syrian regime's official line in blaming the unrest on armed extremist gangs and outside agitators. In an unprecedented development, angry Syrian protesters have torn down and burned Hizbullah's pictures, according to images posted on YouTube. Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has also been criticized for acting like a "Syrian television presenter," prompting his party to adopt a more low-key approach. Analysts say Hizbullah, the most powerful military and political group in Lebanon and a key player in the new government formed in June, was in a bind given the platform on which it has built support as a defender of the peoples' rights, freedom and a resistance leader. The party has come under harsh criticism for backing the Arab Spring in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Bahrain, everywhere except Syria.