The Arab League announced on Sunday that it no longer considers Lebanese Hezbollah to be a terrorist organization, even though Hezbollah has been showering Israeli civilians with rockets for months to support the Hamas terrorists in Gaza.
“In earlier Arab League decisions, Hezbollah was designated as a terrorist organization. This terminology was reflected in our resolutions and led to the severing of our communication with them. Member states of the Arab League have now agreed that this approach no longer applies,” explained Arab League Assistant Secretary-General Hossam Zaki.
Zaki pointed out that the Arab League does not maintain a formal list of terrorist organizations and feels no need to create one.
The Times of Israel (TOI) confirmed that Hezbollah was the only terrorist group so designated by the Arab League until now. The League apparently applied this designation on an ad hoc basis in 2016 after the influential Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) branded Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.
The GCC made that decision in March 2016 after accusing Hezbollah of causing “incitement in Syria, Yemen, and Iraq.” Hezbollah sent fighters to help keep Syrian dictator Bashar Assad in power, while the GCC mostly supported rebel groups.
The GCC countries, led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), were also concerned about Hezbollah’s “stranglehold” on Lebanese politics – an entirely reasonable concern, given the state of Lebanon both then and now – and by Iran’s support for the Lebanese terrorist group.
The Arab League slapped Hezbollah with its terrorist designation ten days later, citing “provocative statements by Iranian officials against Arab countries” and Iran’s use of groups like Hezbollah to conduct “flagrant interference” in the affairs of other states.
“Hezbollah’s terrorist practices and its intervention in Syria on the side of the Assad regime have further destabilized the region and fueled the sectarian strife. Hezbollah is a key partner for the Assad regime in the killing of more than 300,000 civilians in Syria,” a member of the Arab League’s political committee said in March 2016.
In addition to Hezbollah’s support for Assad, the League was especially critical of Iran and Hezbollah working together to finance and train terrorists in Bahrain, where a Sunni monarchy rules over a restless Shiite population. Knocking over the Bahraini monarchy has been a leading goal of Iran and its Shiite terrorism network since shortly after the Islamic Republic of Iran seized power in 1979.
The League’s change of heart on Hezbollah is most likely driven by the Gaza war, the desire of Arab rulers not to appear soft on Israel before their angry subjects, and the League’s desire to avoid a wider war between Israel, Hezbollah, and Iran.
The Arab League welcoming Syria back as a member in May 2023, 12 years after it was expelled, made Hezbollah’s support for Assad so much bloody water under the bridge. The move was also seen as a sign of declining American influence in the Middle East under President Joe Biden, as rescinding Hezbollah’s terrorist designation will be. The United States labeled Hezbollah a terrorist organization in 1997.
Al-Monitor saw “widespread controversy on social media” after Zaki announced the lifting of Hezbollah’s terrorist designation. Critics said Zaki and Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit were ignoring the wishes of member states and serving their own selfish interests with the move, not to mention giving Hezbollah a free pass for using illegal weapons.
The Jerusalem Post quoted Lebanese media reports that said Zaki was recently in Lebanon to curry favor with Hezbollah leaders, informing them in advance that they would no longer be considered terrorists by the Arab League. He seemed uninterested in feedback from Lebanese politicians who were not Hezbollah members.
Zaki also reportedly told Hezbollah that the Arab League wants to break the political deadlock in Lebanon so a new president can finally be installed. Lebanon has not had a president since Michel Aoun completed his term and left office in October 2022.
