Going from Ceasefire to Peace

“Not a single army in the world will be able to dismantle our resistance. No army in the world will be able to make us drop the weapons from our hands:” So bragged Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah last week as he addressed a cheering audience of hundreds of thousands of supporters in southern Beirut.

Nasrallah’s appearance at Hezbollah’s victory rally illustrates the importance of a continued international commitment to restoring stability to the region, a commitment that has fallen on deaf ears since the United Nations (UN) brokered ceasefire came into effect this summer. Hezbollah will continue to pose a threat to the stability of Lebanon and the security of the region as long as it maintains its arsenal (Nasrallah claimed that Hezbollah still possesses 20,000 rockets), is permitted to expand it, and continues to voice its aggressive intentions.

It is both a practical and psychological necessity to force Hezbollah to disarm. If allowed, Hezbollah will rearm itself with the aid of Iran, renewing its threat to Israel and further undermining the Lebanese government as well as the broader Middle East peace process. Disarming Hezbollah will weaken its ties to Iran and allow Lebanon to rebuild itself without remaining a slave to the regional goals of both Iran and its next door neighbor, Syria. Arms will continue to flow through Syria to Hezbollah if UN troops are not given the explicit mission of monitoring the borders to prevent continued weapons shipment.

Psychologically, Hezbollah cannot be allowed to emerge from this conflict with the perception of victory. As demonstrated by Saturday’s rally, Nasrallah is claiming this summer’s war as a victory for Islamic extremism. If Hezbollah is permitted to emerge intact and reassert its influence, Israel’s deterrence power will be shattered and its security compromised as Hezbollah continues to lob missiles into the northern part of the country. Beyond Israel, the credibility of moderate Arab groups will be undermined, and the perception that terrorism works will embolden others to resort to terrorist measures well beyond Lebanon.

The Israel-Lebanon war cannot be treated as a mere regional conflict; it is part of a battle between a moral democracy and terrorist organizations, and the way the international community treats the aftermath of this war and the disarmament of Hezbollah will have implications throughout and well beyond the Middle East. Relying exclusively on Israel, which lacks the international support necessary to wage a unilateral war on Hezbollah, would be perilous.

Unfortunately, the UN coalition is evading the central issue of disarming Hezbollah. UN Resolution 1701 calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah without identifying those to carry it out. UN forces are already expressing confusion and misunderstanding concerning their mission in Lebanon. Currently, they do not have the authority to confiscate weapons being transported to Hezbollah without the authorization of the Lebanese government.

While the Lebanese government must focus on undermining Hezbollah’s popular support, UN forces should focus on weakening Hezbollah’s military strength. The UN peacekeepers will remain worthless unless they are empowered to patrol the borders and confiscate the truckloads of missiles already making their way into the country again.

The UN’s failure to focus on the practical issue of disarmament is part of a general faith that dialogue can resolve deep hatred and lead to rational behavior from terrorist actors. While dialogue is an important tool toward reconciliation, history shows that dialogue alone will not deter Hezbollah from rearming, Hamas from supporting suicide attacks in Israel, and Iran from continuing its sponsorship of terror and nuclear development. Indeed, after Israel withdrew from Lebanon in 2002, Hezbollah ignored UN Resolution 1559, which called for its disarmament. It will do so again if current UN demands for its disarmament are not backed up by active international support of Lebanon.

Just as the disarmament of Hezbollah is a primary necessity for any long-lasting agreement, certain preconditions must be met before the pursuit of dialogue with Hamas and Iran can be fruitful. Before the Israelis and Palestinians reenter peace negotiations and much-needed aid flows into the Palestinian areas, Hamas must recognize Israel’s right to exist and denounce the terrorist actions emanating from Gaza and the West Bank. It must also be understood that mere dialogue with Iran will be futile as long as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad promotes the nuclear destruction of Israel and the West to his own people while preaching peace to an audience at the UN.

The Israel-Lebanon conflict was just one front in the global war being waged by Islamic fundamentalists and the countries of the world need to recognize that the time to take direct action is now. The first step in doing so is to take Hezbollah seriously and take the steps necessary to stop its growth and armament.



Danielle R. Sassoon is a history and literature concentrator in Dunster House and press secretary of Harvard Students for Israel.