EU Declares Hezzbullah a terrorist group

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**Frazzled**

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2013/07/201372210219896194.html

EU blacklists Hezbollah's armed wing

Decision by 28-nation bloc will mean freezing some of the Shia Muslim group's assets in Europe.

Last Modified: 22 Jul 2013 12:06
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Hezbollah denies involvement in a 2012 attack in Bulgaria cited as one of the reasons for the blacklisting [EPA]
European Union ministers have agreed to put the military wing of Lebanese group Hezbollah on the EU terror list, in a major reversal of policy.

Dutch foreign minister Frans Timmermans welcomed the decision to put the Shia Muslim group's armed wing on the bloc's terrorism list on Monday.

"It is good that the EU has decided to call Hezbollah what it is: a terrorist organisation," he said.

"For years the Netherlands has pushed for listing Hezbollah... that's why I'm satisfied that we took this important step today."

Until now, the EU had resisted pressure from Washington and Israel to blacklist Hezbollah, arguing that it could fuel instability in Lebanon, where the group is part of the government, and add to tensions in the Middle East.

Britain had sought to persuade its EU peers since May to blacklist the group, citing evidence that it was behind a deadly bus bombing in Bulgaria last year.

The blacklisting would mean imposing visa bans on individuals and asset freezes on organisations associated with the group.

But the implementation would be complicated since officials would have to unravel the links between the different wings within Hezbollah's organisational network and see who could be targeted for belonging to the military wing.

Britain, backed by France and the Netherlands among others, has argued that Hezbollah's growing involvement in the Syrian war means Lebanon is already in a fragile situation and that the EU must weigh the possibility of future attacks in Europe.

Political wing unaffected

A draft of the meeting conclusions noted that making use of "restrictive measures to combat terrorism does not prevent the continuation of dialogue with all political parties in Lebanon."

"Legitimate financial transfers" and aid will also not be affected, it added, according to the AFP news agency.

On Thursday, Lebanon asked Brussels not to blacklist Hezbollah on the grounds the group was an "essential component of Lebanese society."

Some EU diplomats, responding to concerns that sanctions could further radicalise the group, have argued that targeting the military wing could, in the long term, persuade some of its members to move away from violence into the political sphere.

Hezbollah denies any involvement in last July's attack in the Bulgarian coastal resort of Bourgas that killed five Israelis and their driver.

But the Bulgarian interior minister said last week that Sofia had no doubt the group was behind it.

In support of its bid to impose sanctions, Britain has also cited a four-year jail sentence handed down by a Cypriot court in March to a Hezbollah member accused of plotting to attack Israeli interests on the island.

**Grey Templar**

Took em long enough

**Kovnik Obama**

''Hezbollah''... ?

**Soladrin**

Yerp, about time.

**Orlanth**

Agreed about time.

UK and Holland made this one happen.

**Soladrin**

Let's see how long it takes for Geert Wilders to make an anti-islam speech based on this.

**Jihadin**

Misspelling of the word Huzzballah...Hazbollah....Huzz whatever....not going to stop a drone from putting a Hellfire through a bathroom window...or a phone from blowing up in a "terrorist" face...HA...got two reference in --->insert manical laughter version1.2 here<----

**Soladrin**

Yes, because clearly this is about military action.

**MrDwhitey**

Jihadin very rarely posts coherently, Sol.

**KalashnikovMarine**

It's the pain killers kids, play nice.

Any way, bout time.

**Medium of Death**

This will only improve the lives of the average Palestinian!

**d-usa**

Medium of Death wrote:
This will only improve the lives of the average Palestinian!

The average Palestenian is an anti-semetic terrorist! That is what I have learned in the OT over the weekend.

**LordofHats**

d-usa wrote:
Medium of Death wrote:
This will only improve the lives of the average Palestinian!

The average Palestenian is an anti-semetic terrorist! That is what I have learned in the OT over the weekend.

They man. You learned something. Most people just lounge on their butts and do nothing over the weekend. *leans back and sips lemonade*

**Orlanth**

Soladrin wrote:
Let's see how long it takes for Geert Wilders to make an anti-islam speech based on this.

Why would he need to, Wilders usually comments to draw attention to problems with Islam that are overlooked or downplayed.

**Soladrin**

Nah, he mostly just seeks attention where he can get it. He's really good at shouting followed by sitting on his hands.

**Do_I_Not_Like_That**

If there was ever a PR stunt masquerading as a serious geo-political move, then this is it.

I've been listening/watching a lot of news coverage on this and the consensus from Middle Eastern experts is that this is a complete waste of time.

In Lebanon, Hezbollah are more or less the de facto government. They collect and dispose of rubbish/garbage on the streets, they provide school meals to poor kids, look after the sick and needy, collect taxes etc etc

If that sounds like an apology for them, it's not. The point is, that Hezbollah are so ingrained in the region, it would be better to negotiate with them. Instead, we get this head in the sand approach as usual. Hezbollah are not going away.

**Shadowseer_Kim**

I associate Hezbollah more with the mob in their day to day activities. They collect taxes, and offer protection and services to their fellow citizens.

Then they shoot stuff, and fight with others on a more nation wide scale, and have a strong dislike for certain ethnic groups.

Mafia, terrorists, yeap.

**Do_I_Not_Like_That**

Shadowseer_Kim wrote:
I associate Hezbollah more with the mob in their day to day activities. They collect taxes, and offer protection and services to their fellow citizens.

Then they shoot stuff, and fight with others on a more nation wide scale, and have a strong dislike for certain ethnic groups.

Mafia, terrorists, yeap.

To be fair, some of those points could equally apply to Britain and the USA.

My point was that Hezbollah is not going anywhere. It would be better to thrash out a negotiation with them, rather than the usual policy of pretending they don't exist.

The political wing are exempt from this. I wonder if they will siphon money to their military wing? I doubt it, because they are trustworthy people, and the EU knows this

**Ensis Ferrae**

Jihadin wrote:
Misspelling of the word Huzzballah...Hazbollah..

Having been down range, you should realize that the vowel sound letters dont mean much (if anything) when anglicizing an Arabic name.

But, like many here, I agree that it's about fething time, and I wish that we in the US had done the same.

**djones520**

Ensis Ferrae wrote:
Jihadin wrote:
Misspelling of the word Huzzballah...Hazbollah..

Having been down range, you should realize that the vowel sound letters dont mean much (if anything) when anglicizing an Arabic name.

But, like many here, I agree that it's about fething time, and I wish that we in the US had done the same.

We've listed them as a terrorist organization since 1999. So what are you talking about?

**Ensis Ferrae**

djones520 wrote:

We've listed them as a terrorist organization since 1999. So what are you talking about?

We say stuff like that, but then we get politicians calling for the arming and training of "rebels" who will only turn around and become "terrorists" against us. May not apply to this exact group, but it's kinda how we've dealt with that region of the world for a long time now.

**Jihadin**

Come on DJ....you know we..in the military...have to dumbified things down...how else are we to portray the image the non mil view us......

edit 2

Dear Buddha, please bring me a pony and a plastic rocket...

OMG people catch up on Firefly......you know..the movie Serenity.....

**d-usa**

The only difference between a terrorist and a freedom fighter is what side they are on. We have always known that.

**Jihadin**

The only difference between a terrorist and a freedom fighter is what side they are on. We have always known that.

Think you mean by "Who we support"

**Hordini**

d-usa wrote:
The only difference between a terrorist and a freedom fighter is what side they are on. We have always known that.

That's not what makes the difference. What makes the difference is what kind of targets they are hitting. If they're purposely hitting civilian targets in an effort to cause terror, then they're terrorists.

**d-usa**

Hordini wrote:
d-usa wrote:
The only difference between a terrorist and a freedom fighter is what side they are on. We have always known that.

That's not what makes the difference. What makes the difference is what kind of targets they are hitting. If they're purposely hitting civilian targets in an effort to cause terror, then they're terrorists.

That's not how our government sees it...

**Kovnik Obama**

Hordini wrote:
d-usa wrote:
The only difference between a terrorist and a freedom fighter is what side they are on. We have always known that.

That's not what makes the difference. What makes the difference is what kind of targets they are hitting. If they're purposely hitting civilian targets in an effort to cause terror, then they're terrorists.

It's even more simple then that. Terrorism is the deliberate and systematic use of fear. A government can be terrorists (that's how it started), and terrorist groups can (exclusively) target non-civilians. Some definitions nowadays allow for unlawful warfare to be counted as terrorism.

**Lone Cat**

EU is so late to declare that Hezzbollah is terrorist cell. The world had made it clear that they are!

what prevents them to brand Hezzbollah terrorists earlier?

**KalashnikovMarine**

I swear we had a massive thread on how to define terrorists awhile back and generally came to the conclusion that what makes a terrorist a terrorist is tactics and target selection. Since Hezebollah practices terror attacks to include random rocket/mortar attacks, IEDs, VBIEDs, suicide bombers, hides amongst the civilian population/uses them as human shields and seem to have a thing for hurting any one in Israel but the IDF we can safely say by that they are by word and deed terrorist fethheads.

**djones520**

d-usa wrote:
Hordini wrote:
d-usa wrote:
The only difference between a terrorist and a freedom fighter is what side they are on. We have always known that.

That's not what makes the difference. What makes the difference is what kind of targets they are hitting. If they're purposely hitting civilian targets in an effort to cause terror, then they're terrorists.

That's not how our government sees it...

Proof to back your allegations up?