{"id":4926,"date":"2020-05-12T15:57:23","date_gmt":"2020-05-12T03:57:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/?p=4926"},"modified":"2020-05-12T16:07:58","modified_gmt":"2020-05-12T04:07:58","slug":"nz-should-join-allies-in-banning-hezbollah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/israelinstitute.nz\/2020\/05\/nz-should-join-allies-in-banning-hezbollah\/","title":{"rendered":"NZ should join Allies in banning Hezbollah"},"content":{"rendered":"
For some time, <\/span>IINZ has urged the government<\/span><\/a> to recognize the fact that there is no distinction between the \u2018military and political wings\u2019 of <\/span>Hezbollah<\/span><\/a>, the terror organisation supported by Iran.<\/span><\/p>\n Currently, New Zealand has only designated the military wing as a terrorist entity, which allows a loophole for Kiwis to materially support global terror.<\/span><\/p>\n The \u201cmilitary wing\u201d is an interesting distinction, given Hezbollah\u2019s own leaders deny there is any division within the organisation. Deputy secretary-general, <\/span>Naim Qassem, declared in 2012<\/span><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t have a military wing and a political one \u2026 Every element of Hezbollah is in the service of the resistance.\u201dNaim Qassem<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n He added, unequivocally: \u201cWe have one leadership, with one administration.\u201d In short, Hezbollah is a unified organization, and its jihadist purpose is central to its existence.<\/span><\/p>\n The United States, Canada, the Netherlands, Japan, Israel, the Gulf Cooperation Council and Bahrain, amongst others, have not seen fit to artificially separate Hezbollah into any \u2018wings\u2019 and have designated the entire group as a terror organization.<\/span><\/p>\n In recent years more countries have taken the step of banning the organisation in its entirety:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe are no longer able to distinguish between their already banned military wing and the political party.\u201dSajid Javid<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Last month, <\/span>Germany became the most recent country to proscribe Hezbollah<\/span><\/a>, recognising that,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “The organization is therefore fundamentally against the concept of international understanding, regardless of whether it presents itself as a political, social or military structure.\u201dGerman Federal Ministry of the Interior<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The reason these countries designate the group a terror entity is clear – Hezbollah has been implicated in <\/span>numerous terrorist attacks<\/span><\/a> around the world and the organisation openly calls for the violent elimination of the State of Israel.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n What is unclear is why New Zealand has decided to artificially separate the organisation into \u201cwings\u201d and provide a loophole for Kiwis to support terror.<\/span><\/p>\n Hezbollah\u2019s activity<\/span><\/a> in the Middle East in recent times has gained it no friends, either. Hezbollah acted as Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad\u2019s backup army, <\/span>contributing to the Syrian civil war\u2019s horrific death toll<\/span><\/a>. In Yemen, similar <\/span>involvement by Hezbollah extended an ongoing civil war by supporting Iranian-backed Houthi militias<\/span><\/a>. Iran-backed Houthi rebels expressed their appreciation last summer by <\/span>donating $300,000 to the terror group<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n New Zealand is not immune to the threat of terror, as the Christchurch massacre of March 2019 made so painfully obvious. <\/span>Hezbollah supporters<\/span><\/a> have made their presence known in recent times in rallies and marches. This should concern us all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n