What is "hezbollah"

extremist Shiite group active in Lebanon, founded c.1982, from Persian hezbollah, Arabic hizbullah, literally "Party of God," from hezb/hizb "party" + allah "God." An adherent is a Hezbollahi. The name of various Islamic groups in modern times, the name itself is attested in English by 1960 in referense to an Indonesian guerilla battalion of 1945 that "grew out of a similarly named organization formed by the Japanese to give training in military drill to young Moslems."\n\nIn Modjokuto (like Masjumi itself, Hizbullah was Indonesia-wide but, also like Masjumi, it had little effective central organization) this group was led by the present head of Muhammadijah -- the same man who a year or so before was going to Djakarta for propaganda training and studying to be a kamikaze.

[Clifford Geertz, "The Religion of Java," Chicago, 1960]

"Hezbollah" means "party of God" in Arabic. Hezbollah is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militia which played a major role in forcing Israel out of Lebanon.

A variety of other Islamist organizations that use the name includes:

• Turkish Hizbollah, a Turkish Sunni Islamist separatist group in Turkey.
• Kata'ib Hezbollah (also known as the Hezbollah Brigades), a Shi'a Islamist insurgent group in Iraq.
• Hezbollah Movement in Iraq, a Shi'a Islamist political party in Iraq aligned with the Supreme Islamic Council of Iraq.
• Kurdish Revolutionary Hezbollah, a Iraqi Kurdish Islamist group led by Adham Barzani (cousin of Massoud Barzani) that was founded in 1983 and disbanded in 2004.
• Hezbollah of Iran, a movement of mosque-based groups founded to enforce the authority of the Islamic revolution in Iran
• Ansar-e Hezbollah, an offshoot of Iranian Hezbollah
• Hezbollah Al-Hejaz, a Shi'a militant organization operating in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Kuwait and Bahrain
• Mauritian Solidarity Front, a Muslim political party in Mauritius formerly known as Hizbullah
• Hizbullah, a militant Indonesian youth organisation (with local cadres), founded by the Japanese in December 1944 to reinforce the Pembela Tanah Air.

Hezbollah (pronounced ; , literally "Party of Allah" or "Party of God")—also transliterated Hizbullah, Hizballah, etc.—is a Shi'a Islamist militant group and political party based in Lebanon. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese parliament. After the death of Abbas al-Musawi in 1992, the group has been headed by Hassan Nasrallah, its Secretary-General.

After the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, Israel occupied a strip of south Lebanon, which was controlled by the South Lebanon Army (SLA), a militia supported by Israel. Hezbollah was conceived by Muslim clerics and funded by Iran primarily to harass the Israeli occupation. Its leaders were followers of Ayatollah Khomeini, and its forces were trained and organized by a contingent of 1,500 Revolutionary Guards that arrived from Iran with permission from the Syrian government, which was in occupation of Lebanon at the time. Hezbollah waged a guerilla campaign in South Lebanon—SLA collapsed and surrendered, and Israel withdrew from Lebanon on May 24, 2000.

Hezbollah's military strength has grown so significantly that its paramilitary wing is considered more powerful than the Lebanese Army. Hezbollah has been described as a " state within a state", and has grown into an organization with seats in the Lebanese government, a radio and a satellite TV station, social services and large-scale military deployment of fighters beyond Lebanon's borders. Hezbollah is part of the March 8 Alliance within Lebanon, in opposition to the March 14 Alliance. Hezbollah maintains strong support among Lebanon's Shi'a population, while Sunnis have disagreed with the group's agenda. Hezbollah receives military training, weapons, and financial support from Iran, and political support from Syria. Hezbollah and Israel fought each other in the 2006 Lebanon War.

Hezbollah's 1985 manifesto listed its objectives as the expulsion of "the Americans, the French and their allies definitely from Lebanon, putting an end to any colonialist entity on our land", submission of the Phalangists to "just power" and bringing them to justice "for the crimes they have perpetrated against Muslims and Christians", and permitting "all the sons of our people" to choose the form of government they want, while calling on them to "pick the option of Islamic government". After the 2006–08 Lebanese protests and clashes, a national unity government was formed in 2008, with Hezbollah and its opposition allies obtaining eleven of thirty cabinets seats, which gives them veto power. In August 2008, Lebanon's new Cabinet unanimously approved a draft policy statement which recognized Hezbollah's existence as an armed organization and guarantees its right to "liberate or recover occupied lands" (such as the Shebaa Farms). Since 2012, Hezbollah has helped the Syrian government during the Syrian civil war in its fight against the Syrian opposition, which Hezbollah has described as a Zionist plot and a "Wahhabi-Zionist conspiracy" to destroy its alliance with Assad against Israel. It has deployed its militia in both Syria and Iraq to fight or train local forces to fight against ISIS. Once seen as a resistance movement throughout much of the Arab world, this image upon which the group's legitimacy rested has been severely damaged due to the sectarian nature of the Syrian Civil War in which it has become embroiled.

Hezbollah's status as a legitimate political party, a terrorist group, a resistance movement, or some combination thereof is a contentious issue. The Arab League, United States, France, the Gulf Cooperation Council, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, and Israel have classified Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. The European Union, New Zealand and the United Kingdom have proscribed Hezbollah's military wing as a terrorist organization, while making a distinction with Hezbollah's political wing. Russia considers Hezbollah a legitimate sociopolitical organization. China remains neutral, and maintains contacts with Hezbollah.