Hezbollah is a fascistic, sectarian organization

So far, Pro and I agree that: There is no evidence of sectarianism of fascism in any of Hezbollah's official publications; In the 21 years Nasrallah has been leader of Hezbollah, he has never publicly argued for sectarianism. Pro used a "leaked" video from 25 years ago, the context of which is completely unclear; There is no evidence of Hezbollah calling Hashem Salman a "traitor". No news source ever made that allegation, and now Pro claims he didn't say it either; The murderers of Geha and Salman have never been named or arrested. To say Hezbollah is responsible is pure speculation. Hezbollah actions are typical of Lebanon Last round I invited Pro to show that the actions of Hezbollah is significantly different from other Lebanese groups. He has declined to do so, presumably because the behavior of "Hezbollah supporters" is very normal. For instance, Pro calls Dariyeh a "fascistic district", where Sunnis are shunned. He also complains about the rules against alcohol and indecent themes at poetry readings in Dariyeh. Last year in Tariq al-Jdideh - a district dominated by the Future Movement (a Sunni-majority political party) - there were armed clashes between Sunni gunmen and the Lebanese Army. The next day, reporters spoke to a "local strongman" who admitted being involved in the "protection" of the area, including blocking roads, who said he wanted the "strife and discord to grow". Meanwhile, residents of nearby Dariyeh felt unsafe going out into the streets because these Sunni activists. (1) Pro needs to show that the behavior of Hezbollah members is more fascistic and sectarian than that of other Lebanese nationals. On the evidence so far, it seems that Hezbollah members behave typically of Lebanese political groups, and may even be unusually tolerant and open. Hezbollah: dialogue and partnership Pro has been unable to link any official Hezbollah activity with fascism or sectarianism. On the contrary, all Hezbollah's rhetoric is about dialogue and anti-sectarianism. In Round 2, Pro said that Nasrallah praised fascism by praising the events of May 7, 2008. Nasrallah did praise the events of May 7 because they led to an end of conflict and not because "Hezbollah started a coup and many Lebanese were killed" as Pro falsely claims. From Pro's own source: "I tell the Lebanese, in particular Sunnis and Shiites, that the May 7 events put an end to war in Beirut," [Nasrallah] said. "The May 7 events safeguarded Lebanon's institutions and forced all Lebanese parties to go back to the [national] dialogue..." In the same speech Nasrallah said that he "welcomes partnership in government," he highlighted the need for a strong and independent judiciary, and he called for the abolition of sectarianism. He stressed his support for the Lebanese army and the government, and called for a united country. He added, "We do not replace the state and we have never exerted state authority in any area." (2) The content of the speech was totally the opposite of fascism and sectarianism, and Pro was misrepresenting his source when he claimed otherwise. Sayyed Mohammad Ali El Husseini: what persecution? Pro claims that Husseini was persecuted by Hezbollah, but I have read Pro's (rather long) source through twice and - once again - there is no evidence of this at all. Husseini claims that he has been threatened by lots of people, "Lebanese and Iranian," (he does not specify Hezbollah) and he continues to live and work in the middle of Dariyeh, which Pro claims is a "fascistic district" of Hezbollah. (3) This, despite Husseini's long-lived and consistent opposition to Hezbollah is clear evidence against the resolution. Hezbollah persecutes Olliak's...grandmother? Olliak used to be a member of Hezbollah, now he writes novels that criticize the movement. He has the habit of using his relatives as characters in these autobiographical novels, and these relatives/characters are often sharply critical of Hezbollah. Fires were lit at his uncle's house and his grandmother's house (not at Olliak's house, surprisingly, and nobody was hurt). How fortunate for Olliak that these "attacks" occurred two days before he was to host a book-signing, generating lots of publicity for him. (4) The transmission disruption at Future TV The Future Movement is a Sunni-majority political movement in Lebanon, directly opposed to Hezbollah. In May 2008, the government - lead by the March 14 Alliance which includes the Future Movement - announced it was going to shut down Hezbollah's communication network. (5) In protest, Hezbollah occupied the Future Movement's media outlets, including Future TV, and suspended transmission. This temporary disruption occurred with no fatalities and, according to Pro's source, with the cooperation of the Lebanese Army. Future TV was off air for four days, at which point the Doha agreement was reached between the Lebanese Army, Hezbollah, and the March 14 Alliance. Part of the agreement was that Hezbollah could keep its communications network. (6) Hezbollah's actions were in self-defense and proportional to the perceived threat. They were not trying to suppress free speech or censor the media but rather to defend their own communication network, which they believe to be essential to their defense against Israel. Attack on protesters at the Iranian Embassy Pro has provided us with several photos of Lebanese Option Party (part of the March 14 Alliance) protesters being attacked at the Iranian Embassy last month and, of course, with photos of Hashem Salman's corpse. Salman's death is not disputed, of course, but it is less clear who is responsible. The protest was about Hezbollah's involvement in Syria - a very divisive issue - and one of several protests that were organized that day by the Lebanese Option Party. The other protests, which were larger, seem to have gone ahead without incident. (7) Pro claims that the thugs that beat up the protesters have not been arrested because Hezbollah controls the security and justice systems. This is a huge claim to make, on no evidence. A more likely explanation is that the incident only occurred a few weeks ago and the police have been unable to find and arrest the perpetrators. This is a problem everywhere - in Chicago, for example, arrests are made in only 30% of shooting homicides. (8) Most news sources have assumed that the thugs were "Hezbollah supporters" because of their yellow armbands, and yellow is the color of Hezbollah's flag. Yellow is also a very noticeable color, and it makes sense for the thugs to have some means of differentiating themselves from the protesters so they don't accidentally beat up other thugs. The presence of yellow armbands might be indicative of Hezbollah's involvement, but it's hardly proof of it. Finally, even if Pro were able to prove that the thugs are members of Hezbollah (and I don't think he can), there's no evidence that Salman's death was intentional, or that the Hezbollah leadership supported the attack on the protest, let alone the killing of Salman. Every organization has supporters who act wildly or against the group's interests sometimes. Salman's death was absolutely horrible, yes, but Pro has not been able to show that this act was an inevitable consequence of structure and nature of the Hezbollah organization. (1) http://english.al-akhbar.com... (2)http://dailystar.com.lb... (3) http://www.michaeltotten.com... (4) http://now.mmedia.me... (5) http://news.bbc.co.uk... (6) http://news.bbc.co.uk... (7) http://www.dailystar.com.lb... (8) http://www.npr.org...