During the first half of the 1980s, a joke ran in certain regions of Lebanon. When asked about political affiliation, the answer was ironically: “To Hezbollah.”
This party, rather considered virtual at the time, immediately began to expand and gain popularity, to found religious cells and don’t [écoles ou séminaires religieux chiites]. His culture emerged through young men growing beards, images of Ruhollah Khomeini [le guide spirituel de la révolution islamique iranienne, en 1979] on the facades of the houses, slogans denouncing the “Great Satan” [expression désignant les États-Unis] or calling for the Islamic revolution against thesteadfastness [terme signifiant “arrogance” et faisant référence à l’Occident].
Shia ideology [au Liban] thus [progressivement] shifted from support for the underprivileged emanating from the movement of Imam Moussa Sadr [leader modéré chiite, disparu lors d’une visite en Libye en 1978] to war againststeadfastness and the tyranny stemming from the Khomeini culture.
At the same time, the chador began to appear as a new religious habit for women: “Your veil, my sister, is more precious than my blood”, we heard. According to certain rumors circulating at the time, the women who wore it at the beginning – and only God knows – received in return a sum of money or a monthly salary. The chador had replaced the traditional local outfits in the villages, the headscarf in particular.
At that time, the sturdy Volvo Station was attributed to Hezbollah supporters: “The fighter has a shiny M16 rifle, a fast Volvo and an obedient wife”, we heard. Later, and for unknown reasons, many of them switched to Range models or American 4x4s like the Envoy or Jeep Cherokee.
Foray into politics
Moreover, we were in the throes of violent news, with the kidnapping of foreign hostages in Beirut, the difficult negotiations for their release, the battle [en 1989] d’Iqlim Al-Tuffah [une région du Liban-Sud]the battle [en 1988] by Dahieh [la banlieue sud de Beyrouth] and the attack on the Fathallah barracks by the Syrian army in 1987 [qui s’inscrivent dans le cadre de la guerre fratricide qui a opposé durant la guerre civile libanaise le Hezbollah chiite, pro-iranien, et le mouvement Amal, prosyrien].
In the early 1990s, the “Jihadist Hezbollah” timidly enters the Lebanese political sphere [après la fin de la guerre civile]favoring the field of arms and resistance after having prevented any other form of resistance [contre Israël].
In 1992, the party participated in the legislative elections so as to retain its place in Parliament.