On March 31, 2017, tens of armed and masked militants of the Lebanese Hezbollah militia concluded a meeting inside the al-Awsiya mosque in the southern Beirut suburb of Burj al-Barajneh. Armed with bastions and sporting bandanas on their heads, wearing the militia’s yellow badge on their shoulders and the logo of its elite Al-‘Abbas Unit, they took to the streets of the capital. Media reports pointed out that this battalion is known as the militia’s “social security” branch that works alongside Lebanon’s government security services to enforce security.
Uncoordinated Activity
Hezbollah’s media office denied that it deployed the battalion to the streets. It claimed that it was just a group of the militia’s young enthusiastic supporters who want to help the security services and did not coordinate this parade with the militia. The office said it contacted the group to make them stop their activity, and that it will not never happen again. MP Ali Ammar of Hezbollah’s Loyalty to Resistance bloc stressed that the Lebanese state is the sole security authority in the southern districts. He further emphasized that the armed display will never happen again.
Media reported that Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary General of Hezbollah, requested an investigation into the issue and interrogation of the involved group. Moreover, Hezbollah’s regulatory authorities issued a decision to get these elements off the streets.
Domestic Rejection
Hezbollah’s parade seen as a bid to enforce security was rejected inside Lebanon. In reaction, the March 14 Alliance, featuring the Future Movement, led by the current Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, and some independent politicians- who are not affiliated to the March 14 Movement or its rival March 8 Alliance- denounced the parade in Burj al-Barajneh. This is primarily because it mars the prestige and stature of the state, and at the same time, represents the threat posed by Hezbollah as it possesses illegitimate arms. Opponents further criticized what is perceived as “self-security” that is being enhanced at the expense of the state security establishments.
Lebanon’s government official position was voiced by Minister of Interior and Municipalities Nohad Machnouk, who is also a member of the parliament representing the “Future Bloc” coalition. Machnouk issued a formal communiqué that decried “a show of arms by the party [Hezbollah]” and “condemned and rejected it altogether”. The interior minister went on to describe Hezbollah’s parade “as a slap in the face of the new government, defiance to the logic of the state” and stressed that “measures mandated by the law will be taken to prevent all self-security ideas that all Lebanese do reject.”
Motives behind the Military Parade
Hezbollah’s latest parade in the suburb of Burj al-Barajneh was driven by the following factors:
1- Enforcing security in southern Beirut was the main motive behind the appearance of the militia’s Al-‘Abbas Unit. It came after drug trade and organized crime flourished in the suburb controlled by Hezbollah. It is worth mentioning that the suburb of Burj al-Barajneh and surrounding areas witnessed clashes between Lebanese citizens and Palestinian residents over issues relating to drug trade. Hezbollah sought to curb these practices that pose threats to stability in areas under its control.
2- Promoting Hezbollah’s Role at the expense of the state institutions. The southern Beirut suburb of Burj al-Barajneh has recently witnessed an anti-drug raid that was jointly carried out by Hezbollah militants and the government security forces. However, what should be noted here is that Hezbollah’s masked men held the Al-Abbas Unit’s parade in the absence of the Lebanese army and security forces. The parade indicates attempts by Hezbollah to make security in this suburb one of its own pressing internal matters. This is especially because the government official forces face obstacles while trying to do their job due to Hezbollah’s security presence.
3- Unilateral Move by Hezbollah’s militants. The organization seeks to avoid clashes with the residents of the southern Beirut suburb despite the fact that some of them are drug lords, due to familial and tribal complications. That is why a top official from Hezbollah in Burj al-Barajneh took a preemptive step to counter the issue within an unofficial framework – i.e. not mandated by the central command of Hezbollah- to enjoy free movement in the confrontations with the tribes in the southern suburb without officially involving Hezbollah.
4- A decline in Hezbollah’s influence in areas under its control. Several sources pointed out that the military parade held in Burj al-Barajneh was a unilateral action by Abbas al-Haraka, Hezbollah’s commander of the Burj al-Barajneh sector, and a number of Hezbollah’s supporters, without approval from the organization’s regulatory authority. This highlights a decline in Hezbollah’s influence in its own areas, resentment of pro-Hezbollah elements over the deteriorating internal situation of the organization, and lack of adequate attention to internal stability as compared to Hezbollah’s increasing role outside Lebanon, in Syria for instance. This is what prompted the al-Abbas Unit to move unilaterally on the ground without taking into consideration Hezbollah’ reaction.
New Role
Hezbollah’s public acknowledgement that its elements made the move without even informing its command does set a precedence that shows Hezbollah’s declining domestic influence in the very areas that are under its control, especially after the financial crisis hitting the organization due to economic sanctions. Based on this fact, it is likely that some elements inside Lebanon will break away from Hezbollah in the future to take unilateral action that may run counter to Hezbollah’s approaches and goals. Such moves would further weaken Hezbollah’s social cohesion, which already faces the issues of its increasing causalities in the Syrian crisis.
The Al-Abbas Unit’s parade indicates an effort to imitate Iran’s Basij (Mobilisation Resistance Force), which serves as an auxiliary force engaged in activities such as internal security, providing social services, and suppressing dissident gatherings. In light of this, Hezbollah is likely to face lone movement by its own elements as an attempt to establish a Basij-like entity to contain its supporters’ anger and, at the same time, prevent any internal organized entities from emerging and affecting the unity of the whole organization. Such a new entity is expected to carry out missions that involves enforcement of Islamic Sharia law in addition to enforcing security, according to a statement disseminated by Al-Abbas Unit in Burj al-Barajneh, which will eventually cause a new crisis between Hezbollah and the Lebanese state.
