Having spent the last two weeks engaging my counterparts in the broader Middle East region, I believe the time has come for the European Union to join Canada in designating Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.
Since it reared its ugly head in 1982, Hezbollah has become one of the most technically advanced terrorist groups in the world. It is a grave threat to security and stability in the Middle East and beyond. While Hezbollah hides behind its social programs, it remains, in its heart and deeds, a terrorist entity.
Hezbollah is responsible for some of the most heinous terrorist attacks of the Lebanese civil war. It killed over 300 soldiers and civilians with the 1983 suicide bombings of the U.S. and French barracks in Beirut. In 1985, it hijacked Trans World Airlines Flight 847, killing a U.S. serviceman and dumping his body on the tarmac, and then holding the other passengers hostage for two weeks. In 2011, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon indicted Hezbollah members for their involvement in the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
And while the European Union has not yet listed Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, that hasn’t stopped Hezbollah from inflicting terror on Europeans. There are strong indications that Hezbollah was behind the July, 2012 bombing of a tourist bus in Burgas, Bulgaria, killing one Bulgarian and five Israelis. A Hezbollah operative also has been found guilty of planning a similar attack on Israeli tourists in Cyprus.
These are not our friends.
Now, Hezbollah is helping Syria’s Assad regime in its bloody war on its own people, by providing training, advice and logistical support to the regime and its militias. Nearly 70,000 people have died in Syria, and the conflict there is threatening the stability of the entire region. Hezbollah is undeniably — even proudly — complicit in this carnage, reflecting a complete disregard for human life.
A terrorist designation is more than a label: It criminalizes financing to the group
Sadly, this is not an isolated occurrence; it is a hallmark of the organization and its activities. Supported by Iran and Syria, its leaders have called for the destruction of the state of Israel.
A terrorist designation is more than a label: It criminalizes financing to the group. The purpose is to starve them of the resources they use to plan and carry out terrorist activities. Moreover, it’s about sending a strong political message that the international community is united in its rejection of terrorist activities.
Canada designated Hezbollah as a terrorist entity in 2002; the Netherlands in 2004; and the United Kingdom designated Hezbollah’s military wing in 2008. Others, too, have listed Hezbollah, including the United States and Australia. It is time for the EU to stand up with its allies and designate Hezbollah for what it is, and thereby remind the world that terrorism will not be tolerated, neither at home nor abroad.
