What Is Israel Attacking In Lebanon?
THE CLAIM: Lebanon is 1/3 Christian. How dare Israel bomb them! That’s an attack against Christianity!
THE REALITY:
Israel isn’t attacking Lebanon, as a whole, it’s only fighting a piece which has been occupied by the violent islamic fundamentalist militia Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s main government has attempted to restrict Hezbollah’s independently decided military actions for quite some time, but it isn’t powerful enough to successfully stop them. Hezbollah therefore acts as a state within a state. The official government of Lebanon is stuck accepting Hezbollah’s presence in an effort to avoid all out civil war, but it isn’t friendly to them. Hezbollah is funded and controlled by the IRGC of Iran.
Looking at the history of Lebanon, one sees that the Apostles visited and preached in coastal cities like Tyre and Sidon, during the 1st century AD. Christianity spread along the Phoenician coast as part of its expansion from Jerusalem northward to Antioch. Lebanon has had a continuous Christian presence ever since this apostolic era, long before the Arab conquests. Later, the arabs swept through and spread islam by the sword, and created the Umayyad Caliphate out of Syria to the west, but then the Crusades came through and partially drove them back.
Fast forward a few centuries…
The PLO (Hamas’ precursor), coming from Palestine, played a major destabilizing role in southern Lebanon and contributed significantly to their Civil War (1975–1990). Southern Lebanon became known as “Fatahland,” where PLO forces operated checkpoints, launched attacks on Israel (rockets & raids), and assumed de facto control. This is where Hezbollah settled, as they ignored Lebanese sovereignty and displaced locals (including Lebanese Christians). This is why people say Iran operates “with its proxies”. Iran’s own ’79 revolution, Hamas in Gaza, and Hezbollah in Lebanon, all have a shared history. Their alliance continuously pushes for endless “revolution” and is therefore a key source of destabilization in the region.
You must remember that many Lebanese Christians (Maronites, etc.) view Hezbollah negatively. They criticize it for its Iranian ties, blame it for dragging their country into wars not in Lebanon’s interests, and remain concerned about the shifting demographics that Hezbollah’s presence brings, with political power trending towards Shia segments (the religion of Iran’s leadership) and away from Christians or others. There have even been allegations of Hezbollah using Christians as human shields, which is a known tactic of the IRGC/Hezbollah/PLO/Hamas alliance. Christian political leaders generally view Hezbollah as a threat to their country’s sovereignty.
Therefore, instead of “attacking Christians,” Israel is attacking an anti-Christian occupying Islamic force. While I acknowledge that “defending Christians” isn’t explicitly Israel’s goal in regards to Hezbollah, since Israel’s interests are primarily their own defense, any effort to blunt Hezbollah is congruent with concern for Lebanese Christians. That’s relevant context for anyone professing concern over the mistreatment of Christians.
