The Organization of the Oppressed on Earth is a group that claimed responsibility for kidnappings, bombings, and executions in Lebanon in the 1980s. It was considered a precursor to, or another name for, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah.
The US, Israel, and Canada consider the names "Islamic Jihad Organization", "Organization of the Oppressed on Earth" and the "Revolutionary Justice Organization" to be synonymous with Hezbollah. [1] [2] [3]
Jeffrey Goldberg wrote in the New York Post :
Using various names, including the Islamic Jihad Organization and the Organization of the Oppressed on Earth, Hezbollah remained underground until 1985, when it published a manifesto condemning the West, and proclaiming, "Allah is behind us supporting and protecting us while instilling fear in the hearts of our enemies." [4]
The group claimed responsibility for a 1985 bombing attack against the Madrid offices of British Airways and Trans World Airlines. [5]
The group kidnapped 4 Jews in 1985, including Isaac Sasson, leader of the Jewish community in Lebanon, and Dr. Ellie Hallaq, the community doctor. [5] Sasson (Arabic : إسحق ساسون) was taken at gunpoint March 31, 1985, on his way from the Beirut International Airport, after a trip to Abu Dhabi. [6] The group killed the abductees one-by-one. [7] [8]
In 1987, the group kidnapped British citizen Terry Waite who was in Lebanon as a hostage negotiator. [9] Waite was retained in captivity for 1,763 days, the first four years of which were spent in solitary confinement. He was finally released on 18 November 1991. [10]
In 1989, the group kidnapped and then later hung United States Lieutenant Colonel Richard Higgins. Higgins was a member of the United Nations Truce Supervisory Organization observer unit and was accused of spying by his captors. [11] [12] A videotape was released July 31, showing his body hanging from a gallows. [13]
Hezbollah is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. Its armed strength was assessed to be equivalent to that of a medium-sized army in 2016.
Sir Terence Hardy Waite is an English human rights activist and author.
William Francis Buckley was a United States Army officer in the United States Army Special Forces, and a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) station chief in Beirut from 1984 until his kidnapping and execution in 1985.
The Islamic Jihad Organization was a Lebanese Shia militia known for its activities in the 1980s during the Lebanese Civil War.
Imad Fayez Mughniyeh, also known by his nom de guerre al-Hajj Radwan, was a Lebanese militant leader who was the founding member of Lebanon's Islamic Jihad Organization and number two in Hezbollah's leadership. Information about Mughniyeh is limited, but he is believed to have been Hezbollah's chief of staff and understood to have overseen Hezbollah's military, intelligence, and security apparatuses. He was one of the main founders of Hezbollah in the 1980s, and was described as a skilled military tactician and highly elusive figure. He was often referred to as an ‘untraceable ghost’.
On October 23, 1983, two truck bombs were detonated at buildings in Beirut, Lebanon, housing American and French service members of the Multinational Force in Lebanon (MNF), a military peacekeeping operation during the Lebanese Civil War. The attack killed 307 people: 241 U.S. and 58 French military personnel, six civilians, and two attackers.
William Richard Higgins was a United States Marine Corps colonel who was captured in Lebanon in 1988 while serving on a United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission. He was held hostage, tortured and eventually murdered by his captors.
Abbas al-Musawi was a Lebanese Shia cleric who served as the second secretary-general of Hezbollah from 1991 until his assassination by Israel in 1992.
The South Lebanon conflict was an armed conflict that took place in Israeli-occupied southern Lebanon from 1982 or 1985 until Israel's withdrawal in 2000. Hezbollah, along with other Shia Muslim and left-wing guerrillas, fought against Israel and its ally, the Catholic Christian-dominated South Lebanon Army (SLA). The SLA was supported militarily and logistically by the Israel Defense Forces and operated under the jurisdiction of the Israeli-backed South Lebanon provisional administration, which succeeded the earlier Israeli-backed Free Lebanon State. Israel officially names the conflict the Security Zone in Lebanon Campaign and deems it to have begun on 30 September 1982, after the end of its "Operation Peace for Galilee". It can also be seen as an extension of the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990).
Hezbollah originated within the Shiite block of Lebanese society. According to the CIA World Factbook estimate in 2022, Shiites comprise 31.2 percent of Lebanon's population, predominating in three areas of Lebanon: Southern Lebanon, Beirut and its environs (Dahieh), and the northern Beqaa valley region.
Hezbollah, a Shia Islamist political and militant group based in Lebanon, is driven by an ideology that combines religious, political, and social elements. Founded in the early 1980s, Hezbollah's ideology is deeply rooted in Shia Islam and influenced by the Iranian Revolution. Central to its ideology is opposition to Western influence and Israeli occupation, which it frames as a struggle for justice and liberation, while also positioning Islam as a comprehensive solution to social and political issues. Hezbollah's ideological framework is articulated through its foundational documents, such as the 1985 "Open Letter" and the 2009 "New Manifesto," which emphasize themes of anti-Zionism, anti-Americanism, and the establishment of an Islamic state governed by Sharia. The movement also advocates for pan-Islamism and pan-Arabism, promoting unity among Muslims and Arabs while supporting Iran as a model of sovereignty.
Hezbollah has a military branch and is the sponsor of a number of lesser-known groups, some of which may be little more than fronts for Hezbollah itself. These groups include the Organization of the Oppressed, the Revolutionary Justice Organization, the Organization of Right Against Wrong, and Followers of the Prophet Muhammad.
Ali Akbar Mohtashamipur, also known as Mohtashami, was an Iranian Shia cleric and former interior minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran. He was active in the Iranian Revolution and is seen as a founder of the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon as well as one of the "radical elements advocating the export of the revolution," in the Iranian clerical hierarchy.
The history of the Jews in Lebanon encompasses the presence of Jews in present-day Lebanon stretching back to biblical times. While Jews have been present in Lebanon since ancient times, their numbers had dwindled during the Muslim era. Through the medieval ages, Jewish people often faced persecution, but retained their religious and cultural identity.
The April 18, 1983, United States Embassy bombing was a suicide bombing on the Embassy of the United States in Beirut, Lebanon, that killed 32 Lebanese, 17 Americans, and 14 visitors and passers-by. The victims were mostly embassy and CIA staff members, but also included several US soldiers and one U.S. Marine Security Guard. The attack came in the wake of an intervention in the Lebanese Civil War by the United States and other Western countries. The attacks were claimed by the Islamic Jihad Organization. The United States later believed they were perpetrated by Hezbollah, but Hezbollah denied responsibility.
The 1983–1988 Kuwait terror attacks were various pro-Iran terror attacks during the Iran–Iraq War. 25 people were killed and more than 175 people were wounded. Following the attacks, Kuwait's economy significantly suffered.
The Lebanon hostage crisis was the kidnapping in Lebanon of 104 foreign hostages between 1982 and 1992, when the Lebanese Civil War was at its height. The hostages were mostly Americans and Western Europeans, but 21 national origins were represented. At least eight hostages died in captivity; some were murdered, while others died from lack of medical attention. During the fifteen years of the Lebanese civil war an estimated 17,000 people disappeared after being abducted.
Ibrahim Mousawi is a Lebanese journalist and spokesman for the Islamist group Hezbollah, which is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union. He has engaged in anti Western rhetoric and works in the Hezbollah TV station Al Manar.
Michel Seurat was a sociologist and researcher at the CNRS, born 14 August 1947 in Tunisia and died in Beirut in 1986.
Terrorism in Lebanon refers to the acts of terrorism that have occurred in Lebanon through various phases of its history. According to the U.S. Country Reports on Terrorism in 2016 and 2017, Lebanon is considered a safe haven for certain terrorist groups. Terrorist organizations operating in Lebanon include Hezbollah, Palestinian militias, and other radical Sunni Muslim organizations. The government was reported to not be in control of "all regions" of the country which includes many refugee camps and its borders with Israel and Syria.