Although hezbollah s psychological warfare strategy contributed greatly to these two successes, there also are other factors that contributed to israels failures. Atkins explains that the impetus for the founding of the lebanese hezbollah came from the hezbollah party formed in iran in 1978 by hadi ghaffary, a cleric with close ties to ayatollah, and that khomeini decided to export his islamic revolution and to form a hezbollah group among the shiites. Nasrallah dismisses rumored illhealth as psychological. Hezbollah as a case study of the battle for hearts and minds. The formidable militant organization is increasingly turning its attention to the digital realm to engage in espionage, psychological operations, disruption of critical services and criminal activity to fund its activities on the ground. Al manar also provides rightwing extremists like ahmed rami a forum. Meanwhile, manelis continued to ratchet up the drumbeat of war, affirming that the israeli army is currently engaged in psychological and media warfare against hezbollah, according to presstv. The military analyst of the hebrew daily, amos harel, addressed hezbollah army in a lengthy report, in which he stated that the zionist entity should activate during the next war with lebanon an unprecedented force, i. Inside hezbollah s thirtyyear struggle against israel. How hezbollah media wing runs psychological warfare. For many years, they have been strong, using television to try to demolish the morale of the soldiers and the population of israel. Syrian state media and the hezbollah run al manar television station, which has a reporter in qusayr, said that the town had.
The event was later described by the idf as a psychological warfare act, intended to bait hezbollah into making false claims of casualties and stopping its fire under the assumption it achieved its goals. In addition to almanar, hezbollah owns a radio station radio nur, newspapers, internet sites in several languages including english, french, spanish and even hebrew and publishing houses the most notable of which. As well as a political clout, hezbollah has wide popular appeal by providing social services and health care. Nasrallah dismisses rumored illhealth as psychological warfare hezbollah leader calls atrocities committed by radical sunni groups in syria a nakba catastrophe which threaten. Both almanars programs and its website honor the martyrs who have tried, often successfully, to kill israelis. The almanar channel is hezbollah s main media outlet, reporting on news items, cultivating the personality cult of hassan nasrallah, inculcating hezbollah s ideology, engaging in the glorification of shahids, preaching loyalty to the islamic revolution in iran and its leaders, and engaging in propaganda and psychological warfare which are. Hezbollah is generally considered the most powerful nonstate actor in the world, and to be stronger than the lebanese army. It regularly legitimizes violence against the united states, israel, and other enemies, not only by hezbollah, whom it generally glorifies, but also by palestinian militants. How hezbollah came to dominate information warfare rand. Almanar and was among the first terrorist organizations to. Conflicting information strategies in the 2006 lebanese war. Interview with sheik zivhi tophieli, al ahad, hezbollah weekly, 16 february 1990. The psychological warfare between israel and hezbollah intensifies as. The irony is that the early hezbollah members actually welcomed israel coming in and taking care of the palestinians who were operating out of there.
Lebanese media, including hezbollah s almanar outlet, later reported that the idf had used a robot to drag two blue nylon bags with bodies into israel and shot bullets at a third. It has become a potent instrument in what hizbullah calls its psychological warfare against the zionist enemy, keeping the arab world focused on the palestinianisraeli conflict. Gideons clash with the midyanites judges 6 is usually considered an early example where psychological warfare was used in battle. Global interest in hezbollah was heightened by the recent war between israel and the beirutbased organization.
Al manars stated mission is to wage psychological warfare against the zionist enemy. His book on the art of war is still considered a classic and quoted in books and articles on modern. This is what deputy secretary of state richard armitage had in mind a few months ago when he pinned this label on hezbollah. Almanar airs hezbollah s hightech propaganda campaign. The selfproclaimed station of the resistance qanat almuqawama, in its psychological warfare against the zionist enemy, i. Beirut airport and the broadcasting station of al manar the hezbollah tv channel were bombed. Newspapers, social media outlets and television programming comprise hezbollah s information warfare portfolio. Inside hezbollah s thirtyyear struggle against israel blanford, nicholas on. Almanar, the selfproclaimed station of the resistance, qanat al muqawama is a key player in what hezbollah calls its psychological warfare against the. Sep 01, 2019 the idf conducted a staged evacuation of wounded soldiers from a military vehicle struck sunday by a hezbollah antitank missile just inside israels border with lebanon, sources confirmed.
Hezbollah was largely formed with the aid of the ayatollah ruhollah khomeinis followers in the early 1980s in order to spread islamic revolution and follows a distinct version of islamic shia ideology valiyat alfaqih or guardianship of the islamic jurists developed by ayatollah khomeini, leader of the islamic revolution. During the war, the iaf dropped 17,000 leaflets over lebanon in 47 missions, and sent more than 700,000 computerized voice messages. Hezbollah has the armed strength of a mediumsized army. Hezbollah, the party of allah, is a lebanese muslim terrorist organization, established with syrian support in 1982 during the first lebanon war operation peace for the galilee. Almanar was designated as a specially designated global terrorist entity, and banned by the united states on 17 december 2004. How hezbollah came to dominate information warfare the.
Almanar, arabic for the beacon, is the official television mouthpiece of the lebanese party of god, or hizballah. The terrorist organization uses almanar which it calls the station of resistance as an integral part of its plan to reach not only the citizens of lebanon, but. Pdf the 2006 war between israel and hezbollah had a significant. This unit is dealing with almanar in the promotion of the image of hezbollah. Hala jaber, hezbollah born with a vengeance, columbia university press, 1997, pp. Although hezbollahs psychological warfare strategy contributed greatly to these two successes, there also are other factors that contributed to israels failures.
Hezbollah network almanar available to wider international. Conflicting information strategies in the 2006 lebanese. Aug 04, 2006 hezbollah, for its part, had much the same reflex. A reporter for the hezbollah s almanar tv channel posted a photo of. Lebanese media, including hezbollahs almanar outlet, later reported that the idf had used a robot to drag two blue nylon bags with bodies. Almanar tv channel broadcast on wednesday a report in which it showed new footage of hezbollah operation of assassinating the commander of the israeli army in southern lebanon, erez gerstein, and unveiled the identity of the resistance fighter who carried out the operation. Israel and hezbollah in psychological war israel today. The partys fighting strength has grown substantially since the 2006 lebanon war. How hezbollah came to dominate information warfare hezbollah s television and video production is its extensive use of new media and information technologies, including a major.
As a disseminator of radicalism throughout the region, almanar has an impact second only to aljazeera. The israelhamashezbollah conflict introduction a multidimensional conflict1 hezbollahs2 july 12, 2006, attack in northern israel, in which two israeli soldiers were kidnapped, elic ited an israeli military respons e that again embroiled the region in a multidimensional conflict. Conflicting reports say almanar, the hezbollahowned and operated. Zionist media says almanar report on general gerstein.
How hezbollah came to dominate information warfare. Hezbollah also broadcasts programs in hebrew designed to convince israel of the futility of aggression and occupation. Israeli army threatens to kill hezbollahs leader, hassan. Hezbollah has a special unit dealing only with communication and psychological warfare, olivier rafowicz said. Hezbollah was largely formed with the aid of the ayatollah ruhollah khomeinis followers in the early 1980s in order to spread islamic revolution and follows a distinct version of islamic shia ideology valiyat al faqih or guardianship of the islamic jurists developed by ayatollah khomeini, leader of the islamic revolution. Hezbollahs media empire the meir amit intelligence and. Al manar, the selfproclaimed station of the resistance, qanat al muqawama is a key player in what hezbollah calls its psychological warfare against the zionist enemy and an integral part of hezbollah s plan to spread its message to the entire arab world. The history of hezbollahs information warfare efforts is perhaps best told through the story of the evolution of its active media arm, almanar, a satellite television station that broadcasts from beirut and can be seen around the world. Hezbollah goes on the cyber offensive with irans helps. A paper, conducted by researcher in israeli affairs rami abu zubaydah, described how the lebanese resistance movement handles the psychological warfare, or what he calls war of awareness. Psychological operations during the israellebanon war 2006. Hezbollah lebanons party of god is a multifaceted organisation. He noted that the army is active in transitioning from traditional media consumption to social media.
But hezbollahs media operations are no longer limited to al manar. Idf staged evacuation of wounded troops from apc hit by. At the same time, the guerrilla group launched katyusha rockets towards towns in northern galilee. This paper will demonstrate how hezbollah has used the dime to formulate an irregular warfare strategy against israel. Jun 05, 20 hezbollah marks major triumph as qusayr tips back into assad camp. He said that the book includes analyses on how the islamic resistance, through some thousands of fighters, fought israeli and defeated it. The israeli psychological warfare campaign during the 2006 lebanon war article pdf available in terrorism and political violence 212. Hezbollah may be the ateam of terrorists and maybe alqaeda is. Klompas book is at the same time a memoir of her over two. The lebanese majority, you might think, had spoken.
But that night, hezbollahs television station, al manar, presented the demonstration in. Hezbollah also defeated israel in 2000 when it forced the state to unilaterally withdraw from southern lebanon after an 18year occupation. The end of july beginning of august 2006 hacked the israeli army, the transmission signal of the hezbollah television station al manar related to psychological warfare. Israelisaudi alliance for the psychological warfare, as part of its attempts to shake lebanese faith in the. Hezbollah shows all the elements of hybrid warfare. Israel has hacked into hezbollah s al manar channel. Hezbollah blames israel as lebanese receive thousands of anti. One israeli military spokesman pointed out that hezbollah also uses psychological operations against israelis. It has also been banned by france, spain, and germany, and has run into some. In her book massmediated terrorism, brigitte nacos discusses one instance.
The struggle of hezbollah against israel is a striking case study of applying psychological warfare techniques, which can provide an explanation to the above question as well as to similar conflicts against radical islam. Newspapers, social media outlets and television programming comprise hezbollahs information warfare portfolio. Department of the treasury followed suit in march 2006, officially naming al manar a specially designated global terrorist entity, making it illegal to fund or carry out any financial transactions with the station. Hezbollah blames israel as lebanese receive thousands of antinasrallah texts. He said that the book includes analyses on how the islamic resistance, through some thousands of. In the international and national systems, power is a universal goal. This unit is dealing with al manar in the promotion of the image of hezbollah.
Claiming to be the first arabs to use modern psychological warfare in an effective way against the. May 16, 2018 hezbollah maintains a unit solely dedicated to psychological warfare that specializes in burnishing hezbollahs public image. Almanar, says the organizations current website, is the first arab establishment to stage an effective psychological warfare against the zionist enemy israel. The zionist media outlets indicated that hezbollah has started a successful warfare against israel with the speech of sg sayyed hasan nasrallah on sunday and that almanar tv has worked in the same context. Hezbollah maintains a unit solely dedicated to psychological warfare that specializes in burnishing hezbollah s public image.
The battle for hearts and minds in the second lebanon war was spearheaded by almanar tv, which survived and remained on the air, even after the israeli air force bombed its building in a southern suburb of beirut. Hezbollah network al manar available to wider international audience. This article examines hezbollah s strategy and the evolution of their tactical performance during their insurgency in the security zone in southern lebanon between 1985 and 2000. On thursday, hezbollah backed al manar tv broadcast images of the new longrange missiles. Hezbollah secretary general sayyed hasan nasrallah stressed on friday that israel has committed a historic mistake and a great folly by striking syrias t4 airport, which brought it into direct combat with iran. Hezbollahs strategy and tactics in the security zone from. Sep 05, 2019 september 5, 2019 hezbollah runs a widespread media network that addresses not only the lebanese and arab crowds, but also the israelis, a report said. Hezbollah marks major triumph as qusayr tips back into assad. Hezbollah has been a master of propaganda and psychological warfare since it. This documentary goes where few have gone before, exploring the groups television operation al manar, which has a world wide audience estimated at over 200 million. Almanar calls itself the station of resistance, and is instrumental in what hezbollah calls its psychological warfare against the israelis. The selfproclaimed station of the resistance qanat almuqawama, in its psychological warfare against the zionist enemy. In parallel, federico prizzi told almanar channel that his book is under the name of almanar psychological warfare which hezbollah engaged in during the 33 day war with israel. Hezbollah has a special unit that specializes in communication and psychological warfare.
Among these tactics, hezbollah pioneered the use of cyberoperations as a tool of coercion over a decade ago and. Israel drops leaflets in hizbollahs beirut suburb psywar. Using reports from hezbollah affiliated media and journalists, they tried to influence israeli public opinion and to cause fear and uncertainty. Al manar tv sat satellite frequency detail informations. As a disseminator of radicalism throughout the region, al manar has an impact second only to al jazeera.
Its primary message is the promotion of resistance and jihad. Maturing under tehrans tutelage, hezbollah s hackers are quickly learning the art of cyber warfare. A hybrid force, the group maintains robust conventional and unconventional military capabilities. To be relevant hezbollah started with the israeli invasion of lebanon. Ynetnews called hezbollah response to it as bizarre and laughable. The israeli media commented on almanars report, considering that it comes in the context of hezbollah warfare against the entity and recommending that the israel public must not have access to such media productions for they promote the partys power versus the zionist weakness. The ideology of hezbollah has been summarized as shiite radicalism. Hezbollah s strategy and tactics in the security zone from 1985 to 2000. The theory behind this project is that hezbollah is an example of the successful application of hybrid warfare against israel. Since its emergence in 1985, hezbollahs warfare strategy was based on documenting its operations using.
Lets talk about their hezbollahs psychological warfare. Hezbollah runs a widespread media network that addresses not only the lebanese and arab crowds, but also the israelis, a report said. The psychological warfare even continued after this incident. Almanar s website describes the station as the first arab establishment to stage an effective psychological warfare against the zionist enemy.
The station manager muhammad afif ahmad, said that almanar belongs to hezbollah culturally and politically. Translation in hatzav report 17 april 1990843007 2. How does hezbollahs media wing run psychological warfare. Al manar, the selfproclaimed station of the resistance, qanat al muqawama is a key player in what hezbollah calls its psychological warfare against the zionist enemy 167 168 and an integral part of hezbollah s plan to spread its message to the entire arab world. This documentary goes where few have gone before, exploring the groups television operation almanar, which has a world wide audience estimated at over 200 million. At crossroads, hezbollah goes on the attack the new york. American security project since 1982, hezbollah, the lebanese party of god and iranbacked shiite terrorist organization, has antagonized its enemies through a potent mix of armed attacks and psychological warfare. The struggle of hezbollah against israel is a striking case study of applying.
The psychological warfare arm of hezbollah is championed by the almanar satellite television station, four radio stations and five newspapers. Like hezbollah, almanar promotes a radical islamist ideology. Al manar, the selfproclaimed station of the resistance, qanat al muqawama is a key player in what hezbollah calls its psychological warfare against the zionist enemy 171 172 and an integral part of hezbollah s plan to spread its message to the entire arab world. Many of them contained caricatures of hassan nasrallah and hezbollah leading lebanon to ruin and making civilians suffer, showing them as puppets of iran and syria, and calling on civilians. Al manar tv satellite frequency tv sat frequencies. Almanar, the selfproclaimed station of the resistance, qanat almuqawama is a key player in what hezbollah calls its psychological warfare against the zionist enemy and an integral part of hezbollahs plan to spread its message to the entire arab world. Jul 04, 2010 hezbollah leaders have continued to profess its support for syria, while stressing lebanese unity by arguing against western interference in the country. Ive been browsing wikipedia, and ive seen that people post music, and video. The perception war hezbollah ran a widespread preliminary perception campaign psychological warfare and information warfare aimed at weakening israel before the organizations response. Hezbollah as a case study of the battle for hearts and. Hezbollah also transliterated hizbullah, hizballah, etc.
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