Customer Reviews

Hezbollah: A Short History (Princeton Studies in Muslim Politics)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Lumped into the one size fits all portrayal of terror groups popularized by the media and the government, the author performs a valuable public service in removing Hezbollah from this fog of uncertainty and falsehood, portraying it accurately amid the context of radicalization and growing awareness within the Shia community in the 70's and early 80's. Norton highlights the inherent conflict within Hezbollah between pragmatism and dedication to the founding tenets of the organization.

It is the resolution of this conflict that will determine the fate of Lebanon amid the power struggles ongoing in the aftermath of the summer 2006 conflict that the author says split Lebanon into two groups; those who support the goals of the Cedar Revolution and those who feel victimized by the corrupt government and elites, seeking to share power at the expense of the Sunni power structure.

The pragmatism of Hezbollah seems without limits, whether cooperating with Communist or Christian groups in political parlays or in adhering to the "rules of the game" devised by them and the Israelis during the Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon. It is this pragmatism that sets Hezbollah apart from other Islamist political organizations and Norton does a fine job of exploring it in detail.

A fascinating look that could have been far longer and examined far more but remains one of the best on the subject.

Dr. Norton's short history of Hezbollah provides a nice introduction to the birth, development, and evolution of this complex organization for American (and other English speaking) readers. The US media almost always portrays Hezbollah as an anti-Semitic, Islamofascist, terrorist organization that is opposed to Israel, America, and freedom because they are `evil'. The reality is, of course, much more complex. If you are tired of reading the US media's propaganda about Hezbollah and want to learn a bit more about reality, this is a good place to start.

There are several strengths to this book, and in particular, there are several key points that Norton addresses that I feel are especially significant. First, I think that the reader who is relatively new to Hezbollah and/or Lebanese history and politics in general will better understand the complexities and non-linearities amongst the various confessional groups. The relationships, both internal and external, between the various actors in Lebanon CANNOT be simply understood in terms of the Arab/Israeli, Shi'ite/Sunni, Muslim/Christian, and pro/anti Syrian forces. The alliances among all the major players inside Lebanon (e.g. Hezbollah, AMAL, the various Maronite and Orthodox groups, etc.) as well as with the outside players (primarily Syria, the US, France, and Israel) are constantly changing. Second, I think that the centrality of the Palestinian issue will become clearer to most readers. There are hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees living as non-citizens in Lebanon, and this was the most important (but certainly not only) cause of the disintegration of the Lebanese govt in the mid-70s. This problem still hangs over everything else in Lebanon. Any permanent resolution of the internal problems in Lebanon MUST be part of a larger Arab/Israeli (i.e. Palestinian/Israeli) settlement. Third, this book explores some of the religious and ideological underpinnings of the revolutionary worldview of Hezbollah. The nature of this worldview is widely misunderstood by Western observers, and Norton attempts to explain some of the underpinnings of this world view. Fourth, Hezbollah has always claimed that its existence is necessary to defend Lebanon from Israel. Norton discusses this point at length and presents in detail the opposing view that Israel would have left Lebanon long before 2000 and would not have bombed Lebanon in 2006 if Hezbollah disarmed. We'll never know what would have happened if Hezbollah had disarmed after the 1989 peace agreement, but my personal feeling is that the Israelis would today be draining the water from the Litani river to fill the swimming pools of their settlers without Hezbollah. Finally a significant fraction of the book is devoted to the build up and events of the Israeli attack on Lebanon in 2006. Dr. Norton presents an informative and balanced view of events here in my opinion (in spite of what Mr. Frantzman writes in his review).

The major negative comment that I have about this work is that it is too short. I know that this is supposed to be a `short history', but I think that the astute reader will readily discern that an enormous amount of detail has been swept under the rug. In the end, the interested reader will be left wanting more, and will only start to understand some of the complexities of Hezbollah. Bottom line though is that whether you support Hezbollah, view them as a terrorist organization, or have no opinion and simply want to learn more, I think that Dr. Norton's work is well balanced introduction into the complexities of Hezbollah.

In this short, but revealing book, Norton has provided an excellent overview of the history and politics surrounding Hezbollah. The book contains chapters on the founding of the group, its internal dynamics, as well as how it operates in the regional context. Unlike some analysis of the group, Norton freely discusses both sides of the group: the side that operates and behaves like an organized and effective political party, and the side that can be characterized as a terrorist organization. Norton does this with relative ease and a clear and direct writing style. He demonstrates that the group has evolved at a rapid pace and that no one can say with absolute certainty how the group will continue to evolve.

Unlike Harik's work on Hezbollah, Norton does a fine job of retaining some neutrality here and does not let a great deal of personal opinion seep into what should be a scholarly work. He has an impressive amount of experience working inside Lebanon and is thus very close to the subject he writes about, but this does not appear to have caused him to tilt one way or the other. His chapter on the July 2006 war with Israel is proof of that. His treatment of a highly controversial subject is remarkably balanced. He identifies what both sides were doing and thinking at the time and how it led to the outbreak of real hostilities.

The book is relatively short, but it was not meant to be a sweeping and comprehensive history. He deals with all of the important aspects of the group and the finished product should be read by all those seeking a greater understanding of Hezbollah. Anything Norton produces in the future will be essential reading for the field.

no one is innocent and no one is as evil as the other side's propaganda machine says.

As one who happened to be in South Lebanon at the time the fighting started in 2006, I can say that Norton's description most closely mirrors my experience.

You will benefit greatly by picking up this easy to follow gem. If you want one book to help you understand what's happening now in the Shi'a movement in Lebanon, this will do it for you.

Hezbollah is obviously a well-trained military organization. Whether I disagree or agree with such a disciplined military organ I respect the threat and its dedication as the opponent. Fascinating....George

This book is probably the most balanced and comprehensive introduction to Hezbollah. It is well-written and treats its subject fairly, neither succumbing to the US/Israeli position nor party apologism. Although it does not really analyse the party on an academic level, it does offer the clearest resume of the party's history.

Norton has spent decades researching and studying the Shiites of Lebanon, and it is remarkable that he has squeezed so much into such a slim volume!

As such, I advise that this is the best 'starter' book for those who know little about the party and want a well-rounded, readable text to start them off. For students or researchers who already know the 'facts' of Hezbollah's history, I would suggest something by Alagha, Saad-Ghorayeb, Harik, Hamzeh etc.

This book is entertaining, all too short and rather sloppily edited -- for example whether Israel destroyed 15000 homes (p.111) or 1500 homes (p.144) in the 2006 bombardment, as well as several typographical errors you wouldn't expect in few pages with large print. Moreover it is less about Hezbollah than about Shi'i politics in Lebanon since the 1970s. There are no interviews with Hezbollah officials and only a few quotations from public sources. This is understandable, however: I wanted a book, in 2007, that said _something_ about Hezbollah in the context of the 2006 war, and this provides it. Lebanese politics are intricate and this book doesn't seem to oversimplify matters. Plus there's a chapter that first appeared in a drama journal on the dramaturgy of Ashura. As others have implied here, the book probably assumes sympathy for the Shi'a in Lebanon, as against Israel in particular: that's fine with me, but it's obviously not fine with everyone.

I would ask Mr Norton for more detailed information about Hezbollah's connections with Iran and for some characterization of the social or class position of Hezbollah among Lebanese Shi'a, as against AMAL's, say.

This is more like a collection of notes for an eventual history than a history itself--it offers neither connected narrative nor any other kind of systematization, and as the reader is not prepared for this by anything in the title, it is difficult to suppress disappointment. Particularly disappointing to me are the treatments of the origins of Hezbollah (which are left indeterminate) and of the 2006 war with Israel (which don't add substantially to the newspaper accounts I remember). As I had been especially interested in precisely these two points, the sketchiness here was conspicuous.

This collection of observations has some values, however. I found the discussion of the shift in meaning of the Ashurah celebrations over the last generation interesting: Norton claims that these have been transformed from commemorations of Shia powerlessness in the world into assertions of Shiite heroism and capacity for self-help. This is not argued so much as simply asserted, but it is interesting nonetheless. Also useful was the attention paid to the relationship between the rival Lebanese Shiite movement Amal and Hezbollah, about which I knew nothing.

With a title like that I did expect more of the book, some insight of the leadership, the organization, the relationship with the Iranians and their development and how it began, and so on. Still, is one of the few out there that avoid distortions, give some entries on the Shiites divisions between pro Hezbollah and others in the south, the support it might had with non Shiites; is more a political context of Lebanon, where Hezbollah lives and drives, than the organization itself.

Richard Norton has chronicled the origins and development of the Lebanese resistance party Hezbollah, which rose to prominence as one of the major political players during Israel's occupation of Lebanon during the 1980's. This account benefits from Norton's background in anthropology which enables him to analyze the cultural and ethnic complexity of Lebanon in his discussion. However, his historical background on the political history of Lebanon is somewhat meandering and also slim.

At the same time, this book clears up some misconceptions about Hezbollah. The first of which is that Hezbollah should be regarded as a terrorist group with similar aims of other Islamic fundamentalists organizations like the Taliban and Islamic Jihad. Hezbollah is primarily a defensive organization, and it developed largely in response to Israel's aggression in Southern Lebanon. Norton also points out that the Western belief that Hezbollah was responsible for the death of over 30 U.S. Marines is false, and that that particular atrocity is probably the work of Shi militant agents working for Iran. However, Norton also clears up the misconception that Hezbollah is a "freedom-fighting" organization, and that it's tactics are legal, and that its aims are accomodationist and pluralistic. Hezbollah remains an Islamic theocratic party committed to the destruction of Israel, and it has often chosen poor military tactics with regard to Israel's borders.

This is a worthwhile, though incomplete account of a rising political force in the Middle East.