t.p.d. . rock n roll. me romance of stolen beethoven. of course the subconscious always. look at the world series without the biggest composer of all time i can't begin to imagine a world class horn player centralist on a musical journey of discovery. world without. a start september 16th on t.w. . levanon has struggled for years under a severe economic and political crisis a country on the edge of the abyss. then on august 4th disaster struck $2750.00 tons of ammonium nitrate

exploded reducing large parts of the city to rubble. this footage was filmed immediately after the explosion buildings lying in ruins there's broken glass everywhere people are in shock. thinking ok i don't believe god i think they are very close hello. les but it's taken the both everything i so good but the reason. i was opposed to this is all those 911 more than 150 people are dead and thousands injured many others are still missing. the suspected cause of the blast incorrect storage of highly explosive chemicals. from. the porch where the explosion took place is thought to be largely under the control of hezbollah state structures have see. to exist in many parts of

lebanon and the shia as well law or party of god has exploited the power vacuum for years undermining lebanon's political system supported and financed by iran hezbollah is dividing the country. as far as critics would say yes so this does be stabilized the region hezbollah's opposes would say that as well as military strength as an asset for loveman because that keeps israel away in the war in syria has pulled off fought successfully on the side of president bashar al assad helping to keep him in power. back home in lebanon the group has emerged stronger than ever the more they're fighting to defend is the model of bashar assad which this is it's a shift. so to what extent does hezbollah determine the course of politics and lebanon.

even before the beirut explosion the city still bore the scars of a civil war that for more than 15 years crippled the capital and the country as a whole. xians are was among those who fought back that. he was 16 years old when he 1st held a weapon in his hands. the lebanese civil war erupted in 1975. beirut became a battlefield as did virtually the entire country. the war initially saw christian militias fighting against the palestinian liberation organization or p.l.o. which was threatening to take control of beirut. the hostilities then escalated into. broader conflict between christians an arab nationalist eventually in 1902

israel invaded and occupied southern lebanon in order to expel the p.l.o. from the country it was during this time that hezbollah was formed in resistance to israel the war claimed tens of thousands of lives and left the country devastated zeolites are believed his generation has a lot to answer for the bad thing theo's was a person who where might a very they know but they don't speak about that. that's why every 1520 years something someplace. to go. they know. how to throw the building so that they don't move to make a smaller house where they go they don't know anything about life except to try to. among the biggest losers of the civil war for the maronite christians who are

affiliated with the roman catholic church. in 1943 france had relinquished its mandate over lebanon and the country became independent for decades afterwards the maronites held sway and lovenox muslims druze orthodox christians and all other religious minorities had to accept the political and economic supremacy of the maronites. defeat and the civil war had far reaching consequences for them as middle east analyst daniel gallo explains. the event on board in the state of lebanon was created in order to guarantee a christian majority it's an absolute exception in the history of the middle east was on a state was created with the help of the west and also the league of nations in which christians were in the majority and unique and asked by able to determine political development speak before the lebanese civil war. the christian side

enjoyed guaranteed privileges including a majority in parliament to the wall and through the agreements that was signed in its wake this changed today the christians no longer have those privileges you need now after the civil war but cards were reshuffled lebanon system of shared power was revised to give the muslim population equal representation. each religious group was granted posts and privileges but those groups tend to look after their own interests rather than working for the benefit of the country sectarian networks have thrived fueled by corruption and nepotism making the whole system resistant to change. the party of the maronite christians is led by sam who comes from one of lebanon's most prominent political dynasties. both his uncle and brother were assassinated. nevertheless the mile believes and lebanese

democracy. we have a history of 80 years of democracy the only maybe country in the region where you have ex-president living in peace in their own country you have every 4 years in the election you have. governments are being formed even if it takes time even if it's difficult to do it every time but at least you are doing it and it's a democratic process and this is a model that. the through a ruling to defend. the political system in lebanon is now under greater threat than ever before the shia has meant is growing in strength. many of its supporters despise the lebanese state. on the last friday of ramadan has been lost celebrates could or jerusalem day which was. first instituted

by the iranian leader ayatollah khomeini in 1979 as a day of resistance to israel but doma the rock in jerusalem has become a symbol of that struggle. hezbollah calls itself the party of the resistance opposing not only israel but also its own seemingly powerless state. only resistance has proved successful but by hezbollah not the state this resistance movement emerged the moment it became clear that the state was powerless to do anything for the state let the occupying israelis humiliate us to the extreme in the south of the country on a daily basis the resistance movement consists of all these people here live on how they denounce them hezbollah as base is made up of the many or shiites who constitute roughly one quarter of the population of lebanon. hezbollah's secretary general hossam nasr allah is the man they look to for decades he's been the head of

the party and the armed militia it's been years since now israel has appeared in public due to the risk of assassination the list of not all those enemies is long israel regards him as a chief terrorist. on this occasion his supporters only get to see him on a big screen he sent a video message from a hiding place in the mountains. we have precision missiles capable of hitting all essential targets in the zionist entity. and hezbollah doesn't just make empty threats over the years it's carried out attacks in many parts of the world targeting the us french and above all israeli interests. the u.s. and israel have designated hezbollah a terrorist organization in. some european countries have completely banned the group. called the european. union only calls hezbollah's military wing

a terrorist organization. hezbollah has mounted numerous attacks on northern israel near the border with lebanon ducting soldiers targeting and killing civilians firing rockets and using suicide bombers. to move who. works at the institute for national security studies in tel aviv. definitely the most dangerous organization but it's not only organization isabella is the political the it's the social network it's. really just spotty and it's also an army it's a very well equipped army advanced ami was sophisticated weaponry which we were

provided by the iranians and the syrians. hezbollah was formed in the 1980 s. and the col valley on the border to syria. today the group also controls parts of beirut and the south of the country. during lebanon's civil war the hezbollah militia began fighting against israel after it occupied the south of the country. faced with a guerrilla war of attrition the israeli army eventually pulled out of lebanon in 2000 hezbollah claimed victory. nicholas blanford as a british journalist. during the 1990 s. he was writing for lebanese daily newspapers back then there was a general consensus within lebanon to support. has followed to support hezbollah as

resistance like that is including from those the view has followed with some distrust. and there's a long list organization with links to iran but the resistance of credentials helps has followed game popular if you cross the country. has been lost version of history is that israel occupied southern lebanon and that hezbollah put up resistance until the israelis withdrew. in fact as the law also mounted repeated attacks on its arch enemy after that time. in 2006 as pull off began firing rockets into northern israel. then crossing over into israel hezbollah militants killed 3 israeli soldiers and abducted 2 more . israel hit back launching a ground invasion of southern lebanon and a series of airstrikes reaching as far as beirut. more than

a 1000 lebanese were killed most of them civilians. the war also cemented hezbollah's status as one of israel's principal enemies. the israelis faced with these challenge by an army these using those guerrilla tactics that's why they call the thing. and it is very well trained very well equipped. with money intentions any jeopardize the stability of the region and it may create a war between israel and lebanon on the state of living on which case by law has basically igitur. united nations troops had been stationed in southern lebanon since 1978. their mandate

to guarantee peace and security in the contested region. but it proved an impossible task for a u.n. force that was far too small. the lebanese army was in a pitiful state after the civil war and controlled by different religious groups. only when 6 un peacekeepers were killed in the 2006 war between israel and hezbollah did the united nations change its policy. since 2006 the un forces have had what's known as a robust mandate which allows greater scope for the use of force if necessary. for years things were pretty quiet along the border but recent months have seen a number of armed skirmishes leading to a renewed rise in tensions to this day a state of war still exists between israel and lebanon and the 2 countries have no diplomatic relations. tel aviv lies

150 kilometers south of that border with lebanon on. its israel's biggest city and it now lies within the range of hezbollah missiles and. that's one of the reasons why the israel defense forces have chosen to locate their center of operations deep underground beneath their headquarters. israel is such a small country that a short reaction time to attacks from outside is deemed. deprival to its survival. these really army monitors the activities of hasbro law closely its findings show that hezbollah has grown in strength partly through the experience it has game fighting in the war and neighboring syria. israel sees hezbollah law in a wider strategic context. it views the shia militia 1st and

foremost as a proxy for the implementation of iranian plans. many analysts say iran is trying to establish a land corridor from its own territory to the mediterranean with the aim of projecting an extended sphere of influence were the regime in tehran now has close allies over a wide area reaching from iraq and syria through to lebanon with hezbollah. we see a rainy and attempts to create a land corridor from iran through about a 1000 kilometers more or less from iran all the way to lebanon through iraq and syria when we look out events in syria we care less about if the dictator. regains control over the country or not what we're interested in is whether the

iranians will be able to make this into yet another iranian. outpost military outpost against this one and we have said very clearly that we have no intentions to allow the iranians to do so. in recent years israel has launched hundreds of attacks on suspected iranian targets in syria. supplies destined for hezbollah lot have also been bombed in a low level war that's never been officially declared. back to pay. route. assura or day of remembrance is one of the most sacred dates on the shia calendar. here in the lebanese capital it's the time one veteran sub the hezbollah militia are honored many of these men fought in syria it's estimated that has lost more than $1500.00 fighters in that war together with iranian forces they helped to keep

the regime of bashar al assad in power. good it was slow to go out of the gun. was the families of those who have died in combat for hezbollah are given financial and material support hezbollah also runs schools and hospitals and has become an important welfare institution and love and i so how is the organization financed. with the iranians voice been the main bankroller of hezbollah hezbollah years ago diversified his portfolio and they have all kinds of revenue streams coming directly into the organization so a lot of it is chargeable donations from wealthy shia businessmen who support hezbollah respect the same applies on a smaller scale to has follows base but they also have a whole array of business networks and. hezbollah continues to grow in power and influence and is shifting the

denominational power structure in lebanon in favor of shiites. wealthy christian and sunni muslim families fear losing their influence. corruption and nepotism which are widespread in lebannon have also served to guarantee many of them a luxurious lifestyle. for years the sunni's had hoped they could keep hezbollah under their control. lebanon's former sunni prime minister saad hariri was no exception he followed in the footsteps of his father rafi career. and just like his father he tried to unite the lebanese under sunni leadership to this and he was prepared to make concessions to has belonged. to. the billionaire building contractor with lebanese saudi and french citizenship wanted to build on the legacy of his father who had been a dominant force in bunny's politics off for profit curry was assassinated in

2005. even. kerry had been a beacon of hope not only for lebanon and its national agenda as a new unit he was also a figure with whom the sunni's identified the man who brought the cosmopolitan sunni elites back to the country well and who had also given greater emphasis to the sunni identity of lebanon model. but saad hariri is tolerance of the shia hezbollah movement did not go down well with saudi arabia the self-appointed protector of the sunni's. for years the saudis urged hurry to exert more pressure on hezbollah. the group's closeness to saudi arabia's bitter rival iran was enough to win period the kingdom because i mean by a movie can force the saudis were always eager to have a foot in the door to wield power in lebanon and they've achieved this in diverse ways vajra investments property and government bonds that they purchased the saudis

big problem was that hariri who they placed so much faith in had not managed to suppress the interests of other powers in favor of saudi interests and all different person. really did nothing to rein in hezbollah then during a state visit to the saudi capital riyadh in november 27th team he suddenly announced his resignation in a statement that completely contradicted his previous political line. and any law out of the. i am stepping down big. as i cannot accept disappointing the lebanese people. over the last few years and decades with its arsenal has repeatedly presented us with a fait accompli because that is sad enough. for a little walk but then it claims that these weapons are for the resistance when in fact they are being used against our brothers in syria and yemen even against

lebanese. where you know many years. i'm in the 19. to this day it remains unclear whether hariri was forced to step down but it took the intervention of french president emmanuel mcfaul before hariri was able to leave saudi arabia once back in lebanon he rescinded his resignation these political machinations only served to boost has been lost position a few months later the group had a strong showing in elections and a government led by hariri as well law had 2 cabinet posts for the 1st time. look at the party today is the only o. position. real refused to be part of the deed the managed to get the has to control the country. and today we are fighting alongside with

a lot of independent personalities and the some groups from the civil society in order to form a large position to the to the way lebanon is being governed today. but perhaps the loudest opposition to the government has come from the streets with the country's economy deteriorating fast hundreds of thousands turned out to protest in october 29th team in beirut and across lebanon. they blamed the political elite for the country's problems they demanded more jobs working administration and called on the government to resign many protesters were hoping for an end to lebanon's sectarian divisions and power structure hezbollah was quick to respond sending in its supporters to intimidate the protesters. asanas rolla was once again in evidence. the police sought to keep the 2 sides apart but the

peaceful demonstration soon descended into violence. on october 29th saad hariri resigned as prime minister the rest of the government remained in office including has been lost to ministers. despite repeated requests for an interview no representative of hezbollah was willing to talk to us so instead we met with us senior bear he's a shiite and a longstanding member of parliament. he sees has blog as indispensable. this is the woman is the seen by living people as a part of the the health of the feet isis the liberty the lebanese the and the with all the threats. continuously for the israelis the little bit that could be

a at least the better thing. there has been a politician for many years and has also held cabinet posts. he currently chairs the parliamentary foreign affairs committee. when meeting with representatives of the us government or international organizations like the world bank as seen here he resists all attempts to try to exert pressure on the lebanese government because it has been long. washington is once again seeking to limit hezbollah's power and cut off its funding channels something job there finds inappropriate. to do his followers are presented in parliament. clearly focused following the same building there was of the good and government and they have a good prison facial in their prison the chunk of people in the country so as lebanese i mean all the lebanese the factions have stayed to the mean.

raising this issue in the negative way or just to put pressure here over who will lead to the confrontation to a conflict within the country. but even many who up until now accepted hasbro law as a legitimate defender against israel are now realizing how dangerous the group's course could be for lebanon. glory high time on is a popular blogger and activist she criticizes hezbollah's policy of sending its militia into conflicts elsewhere in the middle east because she believes it increases the chances of lebanon becoming embroiled in a war. you have to swallow it is the lebanese hezbollah woods defense that been on . this is reality if and this in. the same time there is has valar woods is the regional player and this is where the division comes. the

fact that hezbollah has become a state within a state is perhaps only part of a wider problem faced by lebannon that of politics being defined by religion and. laurie high tie on organizes meetings for women who want to bridge the divide between the religious groups. that are here christians and muslims are sitting at the same table. they believe this is the only way the country can progress. in the office so let's shovel it and then he and the lebanese people have no voice and condiment apart from one or 2 politicians with a microphone in front of them of course everyone speaks the name of the lebanese people but in reality no one represents us politicians are only concerned with defending the interests of their particular religious group adnan has a lot of friends who saw it has to be possible for us to live in this country and

have our own convictions then there is hope of changing things but that can only happen if we challenge the political and sectarian regime we need a secular state which also respects the interests of civil society and any that and walked in the deep divisions within lebanese society have a long and violent history the challenge for any new reforms will be how to overcome them the explosion in beirut has thrown everything into question the government has resigned paving the way for new elections and the protesters are back out on the streets they want an end to the sectarian divisions that many blame for the destruction of their country.

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