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Special Dispatch|3073| July 1, 2010 Lebanon/Hizbullah/U.S. and the Arab and Muslim World Hizbullah Threatens Recipients of U.S. Funds; Lebanese Columnists Respond: Hizbullah is Trying to Suppress Freedoms in Lebanon Speaking before the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs at a June 8, 2010 hearing on Hizbullah, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman described the U.S. fight in recent years against Hizbullah, which it considers a threat to the interests of the United States, Lebanon, Israel, and the entire Middle East. Feltman said that "the United States provides assistance and support in Lebanon that work to create alternatives to extremism, reduce Hizbullah's appeal to Lebanon’s youth, and empower people through greater respect for their rights and greater access to opportunity. Through USAID and the Middle East Partnership Initiative) MEPI), we have contributed more than $500 million to this effort since 2006..."[1] In response to Feltman's statements at the subcommittee hearing, Hizbullah launched a furious attack against him and against Lebanese elements that had accepted American aid, threatening to sue them for collaboration with the enemy, and also to sue the U.S. administration itself for endangering Lebanese national unity by instigating strife in the country.[2] On June 30, 2010, it was reported that attorney May Al-Khansa, who is identified with the Lebanese opposition headed by Hizbullah, had filed a private lawsuit against Feltman for "establishing a terrorist association aimed at changing Lebanon's social makeup, and for financing terrorism and exacerbating sectarian and racist extremism."[3] Hizbullah's threats evoked angry responses in Lebanon. The daily Al-Mustaqbal, owned by Lebanese Prime Minister Sa'd Al-Hariri, stated that Hizbullah is trying to subject Lebanon to a regime of oppression similar to Ahmadinejad's regime in Iran. A more scathing response was penned by a columnist on the Now Lebanon website, which is affiliated with the March 14 Forces. He wrote that Hizbullah's methods were reminiscent of those used by the Nazi propaganda minister Josef Goebbels.   Hizbullah: We Will Sue Media, Organizations and Politicians Who Received Money from U.S. In a session of the Lebanese parliament, Hizbullah MP Nawwaf Al-Moussawi accused Lebanese media, organizations, and individuals of accepting funds from the U.S. and called upon the parliament "to conduct an investigation and find out who these elements are."[4] In a June 21 interview with the Lebanese OTV channel, Al-Moussawi announced that Hizbullah is working to find out who had accepted U.S. aid and is considering filing a lawsuit against them. He said that most of the funds had been given to politicians and political organizations in Lebanon, and that accepting them is tantamount to collaborating with the enemy.[5] On June 22, Al-Moussawi announced that Hizbullah is also considering a lawsuit against the U.S. administration itself on the basis of Feltman's statements, and repeated his accusations against Lebanese who had received American funds. He claimed that Hizbullah had known who these elements were even prior to Feltman's statements to the Senate subcommittee.[6] In an interview for Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV, Al-Moussawi said that the funds Feltman had referred to as "assistance" were aimed at distorting and even ruining Hizbullah's image in Lebanon. He added: "Some [Lebanese] media elements are harming the journalistic profession and its honor. The elements that received the funds have a chance to recant before we toughen our position, for we are managing this campaign with patience and confidence. Hizbullah Secretary-General [Hassan Nasrallah] knows who took what and when. Those who accepted [money] received it not only from the U.S. Agency for [International] Development [USAID] but also from the U.S. Bureau for Fighting Narcotics [sic], which is actually a bureau for spreading drugs in Lebanon..."  Al-Moussawi said further that the sum mentioned by Feltman was only the tip of the iceberg."[7] Al-Mustaqbal: Hizbullah's Attack on the Media – Part of the Suppression of Freedoms in Lebanon Following Al-Moussawi's accusations and threats against Lebanese media and politicians, the Lebanese daily Al-Mustaqbal, owned by Prime Minister S'ad Al-Hariri, warned that Hizbullah is trying to gag the Lebanese press in the manner of Ahmadinejad's regime in Iran: "In Iran, dozens of journalists and intellectuals have been executed or are awaiting a death sentence. Hundreds languish in the darkness of prisons, or are persecuted by the Basij militias day and night. While Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi continues to remind [the world] that 'the Iranian people's need for international support is [now] greater than ever,' and while Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari, who spent several months in prison, points out that 'the prisoner's worst nightmare is to be forgotten' – [Iranian President] Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continues to break records in stifling press freedom in Iran. The campaign launched by [Hizbullah] MP Nawwaf Al-Moussawi against the freedom of the press and media, and against the honor of the free Lebanese journalists, is part of a larger campaign directed by Ahmadinejad [himself]. Every time MP [Al-Moussawi] makes a move, we must remind him of Adnan Hassanpour, Abdolvahed Botimar, Abdolreza Tajik, Mohammad Javad Mozafar, Behrang Tonkaboni,[8] and all the other free people in Iran. "MP Moussawi's anti-freedom campaign must be effectively restrained by the [Lebanese] parliament, because this MP is undermining the very pillars of Lebanon's constitutional regime. First of all, his campaign contravenes the representational character of [his role], as defined by Article 27 of the constitution, which states that 'a member of parliament represents the nation as a whole.' How can an individual represent the [entire] nation when he wants to sue journalists and politicians who are [part] of the nation? For an MP to intimidate the people, especially journalists and media personnel [whose job it is] to supervise the functioning of MPs, is a flagrant violation of the constitution. "When an MP sets himself up as a supreme judge, preacher, and general prosecutor, [as part of Hizbullah's] powerful arm, this violates the principle of separation of the powers... In a parliamentary democracy, a member of parliament is neither a prosecutor nor a judge, but a representative of the nation, [whose role is] to pass laws on the nation's behalf... [Al-Moussawi's] statements constitute incitement to violate the Lebanese constitution. This is an MP openly calling for oppression..." We Must Prevent the Importation of Iranian Oppression into Lebanon Our Lebanese parliamentary democracy is opposed to Al-Moussawi's campaign, [aimed at] revoking the article of the constitution that upholds 'public freedoms, primarily freedom of expression and belief,' as well as Article 13 of the constitution, which upholds 'the freedom to express opinions, in speech and writing, and the freedom of publication'... "[Moussawi's actions] represent two kinds of intervention. On the one hand, [he embodies Iranian intervention in Lebanon, because] he is a Lebanese extension of Ahmadinejad's persecution of free[-thinking] journalists in Iran. On the other hand, he also represents Lebanese intervention in Iran, against the will of the free Iranian [people] and civil society. Free citizens in Iran are beginning to suspect that the suppression of the Green Movement would not have succeeded were it not for a phenomenon that the Iranian regime imported from Lebanon.[9] Were it not for the experience gained by Hizbullah in Lebanon [during the 2008 takeover of Beirut, which is being applied by the IRGC in suppressing the Iranian Green Movement], Ahmadinejad could not have controlled Iran today... "In light of the above, we Lebanese must increase our alertness, in order to keep [locals elements] from importing the methods by which the Iranians suppressed the Green Revolution."[10] Lebanese Columnist: Hizbullah Is Using the Methods of Josef Goebbels Columnist Elie Fawwaz wrote on the website Now Lebanon, which is affiliated with the March 14 Forces: "Hizbullah takes every opportunity to push Lebanon toward a totalitarian regime by means of which it hopes to impose its principles, customs and beliefs upon the Lebanese people, according to the [Iranian principle of] the rule of the jurisprudent... The latest [example of this] is MP Nawwaf Al-Moussawi's demand to prosecute all [Lebanese] associations, individuals, and institutions that have received funds from the U.S., or have criticized Hizbullah or tried to ruin its image... "Obviously, Al-Moussawi's lawsuit will not apply to the extensive funds that God's Party [i.e., Hizbullah] receives from Iran, some of which are used to harm the image of Lebanese Prime Minister Sa'd Al-Hariri, his close advisors, [former Lebanese prime minister] Fuad Al-Siniora, [Maronite] Patriarch Nasrallah Boutrus Sfeir, [the head of the Lebanese Forces party] Samir Geagea, and anyone else who disagrees with Hizbullah or refuses to obey its directives. MP Nawwaf Al-Moussawi has apparently forgotten that there is no need for American funds in order to ruin Hizbullah's image in Lebanon, for [its image] was ruined the day [it organized] the rally of gratitude to Syria [on May 8, 2005], less than a month after the assassination of former prime minister Rafiq Al-Hariri, which was a blunt provocation to a large sector in Lebanon... [Hizbullah's image was further ruined] on May 7, 2008,[11] which [Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan] Nasrallah called a 'glorious day'... "Any intelligent person can see that [the rationale behind Hizbullah] methods is that any media outlet or platform that [is used to] oppose Hizbullah must be besieged and eliminated... Many might ask: Why can't Hizbullah accept that there are those who disagree with its policy, decisions and goals? Why does it feel threatened by all criticism? Why does it want to force the Lebanese public to regard it as saintly, when many Lebanese do not take this view? "Do any of us remember Josef Goebbels, Hitler's propaganda minister? One of his important achievements was the burning of all books that rejected Nazism or criticized it. Goebbels, who controlled all German media, art and publications with an iron fist, said one day: 'Every time I hear an intellectual speaking I reach for my gun' [sic]. He was convinced that the world had no need for intellectuals who would criticize and question what the Nazi party endorsed as absolute truth in the name of [all] Germans. He knew that intellectuals posed a threat to his weak [ideological] claims, and therefore picked up his gun to silence them. How much similarity exists between then and now!"[12]     [1] For the full text of Feltman's statements, see http://foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/060810%20Feltman-Benjamin%20Testimony.pdf. [2] Al-Akhbar (Lebanon), June 24, 2010. [3] www.moqawama.org, June 30, 2010. [4] Al-Safir (Lebanon), June 16, 2010. [5] www.elnashra.com, www.moqawama.org, June 21, 2010. [6] www.psp.org.lb, June 22, 2010; www.almanar.com.lb,  Al-Akhbar (Lebanon), June 23, 2010. [7] www.14march.org, June 23, 2010. [8] These are Iranian journalists and human rights activists who were arrested by the Iranian regime, some of whom have been sentenced to death.  [9] This apparently alludes to suspicions that Hizbullah is involved in suppressing the Green Movement in Iran. [10] Al-Mustaqbal (Lebanon), June 23, 2010. [11] Hizbullah's armed takeover of Beirut and other parts of Lebanon. [12] www.nowlebanon.com, June 30, 2010.