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Hezbollah: A Short History by AUGUSTUS RICHARD

Article in Middle East Studies Association Bulletin · January 2007

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Melani Cammett
Harvard University
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Nassib grasps and offers us the experience of singing and of the essence of sung poetry. “All that
mattered was the stage. She abandoned her body to a trance, as if that were the only way she could
feel she existed. Through the trembling of her belly, the intoxication of her own voice, the shouts
of love which covered her in return … only then … would she release the brakes and let herself go
until morning” (p. 208). This passage is followed by a description evocative of her concerts (p. 209).
Interestingly, and for some of us usefully, Nassib’s description of Umm Kulthum’s concert in Morocco
(p. 232-33) matches the portion of that performance included in Michal Goldman’s film “Umm
Kulthum: A Voice Like Egypt” (Filmmaker’s Collaborative, 1996). This footage is the best I have ever
seen of Umm Kulthum singing.
Readers familiar with the story may find the literary liberties taken in Nassib’s telling to be a bit
jarring, as I did. “Biladi, biladi,” for instance, did not become the Egyptian national anthem until
after the Camp David Accords (Nassib uses it to open the national radio station in 1934.) Zakariyya
Ahmad had been dead for years by the time of Nassib’s wonderful imaginary consultation in the late
1960s. I had to continually re-group mentally, reminding myself that facts did not matter much to
this enterprise, which is, as the author reminds us, “imaginaire,” evocative of time, place, and people.
In this regard, it succeeds quite well.
Virginia Danielson
Harvard University

AUGUSTUS RICHARD NORTON. Hezbollah: A Short History. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
Press, 2007. 187 pages, footnotes, glossary, bibliography, additional reading list, index. Cloth US$16.50
ISBN-13 978-0-691-13124-5, ISBN-10 0-691-13124-4

Augustus Richard Norton’s Hezbollah: A Short History is a clear and concise primer on the origins, rise
and evolution of Hezbollah in Lebanon. The first three chapters of the book situate the organization
in historical perspective with a description of Shi`i politics from the 1950s until the outbreak of the
Lebanese civil war in 1975. These chapters provide basic information on the socioeconomic status
and demographic characteristics of the Shi’i population, highlighting its relatively marginal status
in the distribution of resources in post-independence Lebanon. Norton also acquaints the reader
with the evolving political organization of Shi`i communities, which were dominated by zu`ama or
powerful families through the 1960s and gradually shifted their support to leftist and other secular
opposition movements. This background contextualizes the rise of diverse Shi`i movements and lead-
ers in Lebanon since the mid-twentieth century, including Imam Musa al-Sadr’s “Movement of the
Deprived,” the Amal movement, Sayyid Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah, and of course Hezbollah.
Chapters four and five trace the activities and tactics of Hezbollah as the key force in the resistance
against the Israeli occupation and the organization’s post-war evolution into a political party partici-
pating in elections and a social welfare provider. In the final chapters of the book, Norton provides
the necessary background to understand the contemporary paralysis in Lebanese politics beginning
with the post-war rise of Rafiq Hariri, his assassination in February 2005, the 2006 Israeli-Lebanese
war, and deepening splits among key political parties and leaders. His access to sources, including
214 MESA Bulletin 41F2 2007

“ordinary” Lebanese people as well as elites, enable him identify key moments and events that have
contributed to domestic and regional tensions (see in particular pp. 132-35) and to capture the
regional and geopolitical context succinctly (p. 136-7).
Norton brings experience and deep knowledge to the subject, having spent years working in and
studying Lebanon as well as advising on policy towards the country and the region. The author is at his
best when describing the subtle rules of interaction between Israel and Hezbollah, a subject he knows
well given that he was a military observer for the United Nations in southern Lebanon when Hezbollah
and other Shi`i organizations were emerging in the early 1980s. He is also a former U.S. Army officer
and West Point professor, and his knowledge of military strategy and tactics provide an on-the-ground
understanding of the nature of military clashes across the Israeli-Lebanese border (p. 139).
Among the most valuable contributions of the book are its nuanced depictions of both the Lebanese
Shi`i population, whose “political affinities are multilayered and constantly shifting” (p. 5), and of
Hezbollah itself. Norton therefore presents a more complex view of the Hezbollah than is found in
many mainstream media and other accounts of the organization. Recognizing the group’s multiple
roles as political party, social welfare provider, militia, and resistance leader, Norton contends that
the blanket usage of the term “terrorist” to describe Hezbollah is not appropriate.
In the present ideologically and politically charged climate, Norton will undoubtedly make some
enemies with his rejection of the comprehensive description of Hezbollah in purely “terrorist” terms
and in his discussion of the effects of Israeli military actions in Lebanese territory. For example, he
explicitly distinguishes between Hamas and Hezbollah, noting that “Whereas Hamas has intention-
ally targeted Israeli civilians, not least in suicide bombings, Hezbollah usually did not do so over the
course of Israel’s long occupation in Lebanon” (p. 86). Further, Norton argues that Israeli forces
killed far more civilians “by accident” than did other armed groups, including Hezbollah, operating
in southern Lebanon during the two decades of Israeli occupation (p. 87) and deliberately targeted
non-military targets to force out all civilians in parts of southern Lebanon during the 2006 war (p.
138). It would be misleading, however, to accuse Norton of unequivocably supporting Hezbollah.
For example, he acknowledges the role of groups linked to “if not directly controlled by” Hezbollah
in kidnapping foreigners during the 1980s (p. 41-2) and argues that Hezbollah “provoked” destruc-
tion in the July 2006 war (p. 158) and made a “major miscalculation” by “stretch[ing] the rules of
the game” (p. 135-36) when it kidnapped two Israeli soldiers on July 12, 2006.
For those who follow Lebanese politics and are familiar with the substantial literatures on Hezbollah
and on modern Lebanese history and politics, including the author’s Amal and the Shi`a (University of
Texas Press, 1987), there is little that is new in this book. But Norton’s Hezbollah is essential reading
for anyone from the scholarly and policy-making communities or from the general readership who
wants to learn more about Hezbollah and gain a deeper understanding of contemporary develop-
ments in Lebanon. Norton has pulled off a noteworthy feat by producing an accessible yet nuanced
study of Hezbollah – a rare achievement in academic research.
Melani Cammett
Brown University

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