Known for its wineries and Roman temples, and as the home of Hezbollah, the Beqaa has become a theatre of war again
n a recent morning near the town of Nabi Chit in Lebanon’s eastern Beqaa region, a dozen men were clearing away debris. Israeli jets had thundered through the valley a week earlier, the second such raid in three days. The explosions turned the night sky red, yellow and orange, and filled the air with the smell of dust and gunpowder.
As the region’s fault lines risk tearing open, another aspect of the Beqaa’s history is taking centre stage. The Beqaa is the birthplace of Hezbollah and several of its leaders. A short walk downhill from the municipality lies the ornate shrine of Abbas al-Moussawi, the Shia cleric who co-founded Hezbollah in 1982 with the help of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to fight against Israel’s occupation of Lebanon. The Beqaa was the location of the first training camp and served as a rear base as Hezbollah battled Israeli troops in the south until the latter withdrew in 2000.
“The west thinks there’s a leader and a follower, that Iran gives an order and we fire,” said a different Mohammed Moussawi, the spokesperson of the Abbas al-Moussawi shrine, which features a large poster of Iranian leaders next to the tomb“The relationship is an alliance where decisions are taken through consultation. If Iran says, ‘Let’s bomb Tel Aviv,’ but it’s not in Hezbollah’s interest, it won’t happen.
He was arrested by the Israeli army in 1984, when it occupied Lebanon. During the interrogation, Israeli officers pulled out all his teeth, he said, pausing to pop out his implants and reveal his toothless jaws. Upon his release, Moussawi joined Hezbollah. Now aged 60, he is retired, but his two sons followed in his footsteps. His grandson Hussain would probably become the family’s third generation to fight in Hezbollah’s ranks.
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