Hezbollah launched the station in 1991 with the help of iranian funds. Although hezbollah s psychological warfare strategy contributed greatly to these two successes, there also are other factors that contributed to israels failures. Broadcasting from lebanon, hezbollah s al manar television station has been the organizations official propaganda instrument since 1991. Almanars stated purpose is to wage psychological warfare against the zionist entity by promoting hezbollah s worldview and encouraging resistance against israel.
The day the idf revealed hezbollah had built multiple attack tunnels underneath the israeli border it published a video. Iranian backed hezbollah is using cyber warfare as a tool of coercion that has. Al manar produced a clip right after israels 2000 withdrawal from. The selfproclaimed station of the resistance qanat almuqawama, in its psychological warfare against the zionist enemy, i. Since the end of world war ii, we have seen all kinds of variations on this term, with psychological warfare emerging as the prevailing one in the west. Here in israel in particular, the word propaganda is crushing and loaded. Since the 34day war in 2006 between hezbollah and israel, psychological warfare has reemerged as a topic of interest.
Jul 16, 2006 on thursday, hezbollah backed al manar tv broadcast images of the new longrange missiles. Hezbollah s psychological warfare strategy played a crucial role in exploiting israels military mistakes and its aversion to casualties. Hezbollah s psychological warfare, which includes data, documents and exclusive sources from independent establishments, and narrates almanars newscast day by day as well as sayyed hasan nasrallahs appearances and their effects. Its primary message is the promotion of resistance and jihad. The syrian civil war, a conflict mainly between arabs that is mired by sectarianism, has once again given. Al manar began trying to influence israeli public opinion by. The ideology of hezbollah has been summarized as shiite radicalism. Its contents are available in digital format and broadcast via satellite. Hezbollah hones expertise in training cyberwarfare agents.
In 2004 the hezbollahowned television station al manar was. It also amplifies the psychological impact of military capabilities, and. This book went to print after the second gaza war when the first buds in the new stage in israels psychological warfare began to sprout. Apr 21, 2020 just as the idf did at the outset of the destruction of hezbollah s tunnel project it used psychological warfare. Its websites reflect the groups diverse agenda and aim to be multigenerational in their approach, offering information about social services as well as a video game to engage youth. Founded in 1991 as a momandpop operation that barely reached beyond beiruts southern suburbs, al manar. According to the us department of treasury, al manar is the media arm of the hezbollah. Italian author federico prizzi presented on saturday the 19th of january, 20, his new book almanar. Built by local shia muslims with support from iran, hezbollah the lebanese party of. Like hezbollah, almanar promotes a radical islamist ideology. Sep 19, 2017 hezbollah s information warfare portfolio includes newspapers, social media outlets, television programming, and a major internet presence. The sustainability of asymmetrical warfare a paper by.
By 2000, al manar had expanded its reach to the larger muslim public and to a worldwide audience through satellite providers and aroundtheclock programming. In that video, which was made by a camera that the idf placed in one of the tunnels by using a robot, a. The station manager muhammad afif ahmad, said that al manar belongs to hezbollah culturally and politically. Hezbollah and the media as its propaganda tool an important tool used by hezbollah is psychological warfare to influence the minds of its target audience. Aug 18, 2006 clearly almanar has become an integral part of the party of gods psychological warfare toolkit.
How hezbollah came to dominate information warfare rand. Feb 01, 2004 as a disseminator of radicalism throughout the region, almanar has an impact second only to aljazeera. Nasrallah dismisses rumored illhealth as psychological. A few articles and books fall within the scope of this thesis. Italian author federico prizzi presented on saturday the 19th of january, 20, his new book al manar. The jews who survive this war of liberation can go back to germany or wherever. No one can predict how these repercussions will influence hearts and minds in the future. Adler hunter college war and strategy 1 hezbollah paper hezbollah. How hezbollah came to dominate information warfare the. It was the first channel to announce the kidnapping of the israeli soldiers on the lebanese border. He noted that the army is active in transitioning from traditional media consumption to social media. Israeli army threatens to kill hezbollahs leader, hassan. Nasrallah said in a speech delivered in beirut and aired on almanar tv on 28.
It has become a potent instrument in what hizbullah calls its psychological warfare against the zionist enemy,1 keeping the arab world focused on the palestinianisraeli conflict. The israeli defense forces idf are generally regarded internationally as a premier regional fighting organization and have decisively beaten virtually all its arab. Hezbollah maintains a unit solely dedicated to psychological warfare that. The 2006 war between israel and hezbollah had a significant component. Psychological warfare has been going on since day one, said charles harb. The channel was launched on 4 june 1991 and it is a member of the arab states broadcasting union almanar was designated as a specially designated global terrorist. Al manar is hezbollahs outreach to the world, a selfdescribed station of resistance. Whether for reasons of psychological warfare or in all honesty, hezbollah is also eager to substantiate israeli fears. Islam times the zionist website, netsif net, published a report in which it cited warnings issued by an israeli veteran officer of the danger posed by hezbollah missiles, blaming the failure to address this peril on the enemys officials. Just think what goebbels could have done with facebook. To cite this article schleifer, ron2009psyoping hezbollah. While hezbollah is an irregular force, it has demonstrated the successful use and blending of both irregular and conventional warfare, in what is known as hybrid warfare. Al manar is hezbollah s outreach to the world, a selfdescribed station of resistance. Jun 21, 2015 the selfproclaimed station of the resistance is a key game in what hezbollah calls its psychological warfare against the zionist enemy and an integral part of hezbollah s plan to spread their message to the entire arab world.
By 2000, al manar had expanded its reach to the larger muslim public and to a worldwide audience through satellite providers and aroundthe. Sep 06, 2019 throughout the years, and in fact since its inception in the 1980s, hezbollah has frequently incorporated a perception effort psychological warfare and information warfare and has successfully perfected this effort to achieve maximum effect from their point of view in order to undermine the selfconfidence of israeli citizens and the. Hezbollah network almanar available to wider international. In all this, the various media traps that hezbollah and almanar tv adopted. Distributed in the usa exclusively by palgrave macmillan, 2011, 25. It was published in 2004 by the imam khomeini cultural center in beirut,1and analyzes the significance of jihad according to. Zahera harbs book, channels of resistance in lebanon. This indicator will analyze hezbollahs use of their tv station al manar. Accordingly, one of almanars major objectives is to inspire resistance. Aug, 2020 hezbollah and the media as its propaganda tool an important tool used by hezbollah is psychological warfare to influence the minds of its target audience. During the second lebanon war four copies of a book called al jihadwere taken from hezbollah operatives in maroun alras.
Among these tactics, hezbollah pioneered the use of cyberoperations as a tool of coercion over a decade ago and continues to use the internet as a. Hassan nasrallah is a lebanese cleric and political leader who serves as the 3rd. For many years, they have been strong, using television to try to demolish the morale of the soldiers and the population of israel. Hezbollah emerged in the early 1980s during israels war with. Aug 07, 2007 during this past war, al manar tv played a mobilization role in which it assembled the ranks of hezbollah supporters who were exposed to intense shelling and deportation. This was not a novel strategy to use against israel. Additionally, the channel had mastered the tactics of psychological warfare through placing the emphasis on israeli casualties and the lebanese civilians who had been killed. Almanar, the selfproclaimed station of the resistance, qanat almuqawama is a key player in what hezbollah calls its psychological warfare against the zionist enemy and an integral part of hezbollah s plan to spread its message to the entire arab world. Hezbollah maintains a unit solely dedicated to psychological and informational warfare, comprising newspapers, social media outlets, dozens of websites in multiple languages and its farreaching.
Hezbollah and its influence on the media paradigm shift. As a disseminator of radicalism throughout the region, almanar has an impact second only to aljazeera. Hezbollah s information warfare portfolio includes newspapers, social media outlets, television programming, and a major internet presence. Hezbollah uses its fighting force to wage an irregular warfare campaign against israel. Aug 02, 2006 hezbollah has a special unit dealing only with communication and psychological warfare, olivier rafowicz said. Hezbollah is an irregular force, influenced by irregular warfare theory. In parallel, federico prizzi told almanar channel that his book is under the name of almanar psychological warfare which hezbollah engaged in during the 33 day war with israel. Sep 17, 2017 the history of hezbollahs information warfare efforts is perhaps best told through the story of the evolution of its active media arm, almanar, a satellite television station that broadcasts from. Founded in 1991 as a momandpop operation that barely reached beyond beiruts southern suburbs, al manar now transmits via satellite 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with the expressed goal of waging psychological warfare against the zionist enemy.
The israeli psychological warfare campaign during the 2006 lebanon war,terrorism and political violence,21. Founded in 1991 as a momandpop operation that barely reached beyond beiruts southern suburbs, al manar now transmits via satellite 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with the expressed goal of waging psychological warfare against the zionist. The ideological transformation of hezbollah since its. The psychological warfare between israel and hezbollah. Jul 27, 2006 almanar, hezbollah s voice on the air hezbollah broadcasts news and messages on a television station it operates in lebanon called almanar. He said that the book includes analyses on how the islamic resistance, through some thousands of. The tv manar satellite channel was especially useful in th. Hezbollah as a case study of the battle for hearts and minds. Jun 01, 2019 psychological warfare is a deceptive term thats intended to blur the true meaning.
At crossroads, hezbollah goes on the attack the new york times. This was a textbook case of applied psychological warfare in a lowintensity war. May 01, 2020 netsif net pointed out that hezbollah tv channel almanar launches a psychological warfare against the israelis based on the reports about hezbollah augmenting military power, adding the zionists themselves have started to recognize this threat. Subject terms hezbollah, israel, psychological warfare, information operations, strategic communications, guerrilla warfare, fourth generation warfare, terrorism, islamic. This unit is dealing with almanar in the promotion of the image of hezbollah. On thursday 10 may 2018, an unprecedented exchange of strikes happened between israel and syria. Hezbollah marks major triumph as qusayr tips back into assad.
Conflicting information strategies in the 2006 lebanese war. More recently, hezbollah has been implicated in the kidnapping and murder of israelis and in funding and assisting palestinian terrorist groups. Ibrahim moussaoui, the foreign editor for the station. At crossroads, hezbollah goes on the attack the new york. Nasrallah dismisses rumored illhealth as psychological warfare hezbollah leader calls atrocities committed by radical sunni groups in syria a nakba catastrophe which threaten. Neither does mosaic disclose that al manar tv is hezbollah s main propaganda engine, whose admitted mission is to wage psychological warfare against the zionist enemy. The war overturned many a longheld view in the idf and defense establishment. Hezbollah, israel jostle in syria, lebanon al monitor.
Oct 25, 2004 with one of its avowed activities being psychological warfare against the zionist enemy, hizballah has effectively linked its own fate with that of the palestinians, relying on the fight against israel for much of its regional legitimacy and influence. Atkins explains that the impetus for the founding of the lebanese hezbollah came from the hezbollah party formed in iran in 1978 by hadi ghaffary, a cleric with close ties to ayatollah, and that khomeini decided to export his islamic revolution and to form a hezbollah group among the shiites. Al manars stated mission is to wage psychological warfare against the zionist enemy. Title and subtitle hezbollahs psychological warfare strategy against. Hezbollahs media empire the meir amit intelligence and. Currently, the station currently enjoys top ratings around the arab world. Hala jaber, hezbollah born with a vengeance, columbia university press, 1997, pp.
Almanar calls itself the station of the resistance qanat almuqawama and is a key player in what hezbollah calls its psychological warfare against the zionist enemy its a war. Exploring the conflict between israel and hezbollah before and since the. The almanar channel is hezbollah s main media outlet, reporting on news items, cultivating the personality cult of hassan nasrallah, inculcating hezbollah s ideology, engaging in the glorification of shahids, preaching loyalty to the islamic revolution in iran and its leaders, and engaging in propaganda and psychological warfare which are. Jun 05, 20 hezbollah marks major triumph as qusayr tips back into assad camp rebels abandoned the strategic city of qusayr on wednesday in a significant victory for syrias assad regime and a psychological. Al manar tv satellite frequency tv sat frequencies. Hezbollah prevailed in lebanon in 1982 and the slovenians won the. Hezbollah, meaning party of god, is a lebanese group of. During the war israeli bombardments seeking hezbollah targets caused. The battle for hearts and minds in the second lebanon war was spearheaded by almanar tv, which survived and remained on the air, even after the israeli air force bombed its building in a southern suburb of beirut.
Mar 11, 2018 since 1982, hezbollah, the lebanese party of god and iranbacked shiite terrorist organization, has antagonized its enemies through a potent mix of armed attacks and psychological warfare. Hezbollah also defeated israel in 2000 when it forced the state to unilaterally withdraw from southern lebanon after an 18year occupation. Meanwhile, manelis continued to ratchet up the drumbeat of war, affirming that the israeli army is currently engaged in psychological and media warfare against hezbollah, according to presstv. Aug 03, 2006 hezbollah has struck back, keeping al manar on the air from hidden locations despite repeated israeli airstrikes. Hezbollah uses the media to spread propaganda, create deterrence against israel and the west, and to strengthen the resistance movement against israel. The monopoly media, as well as some alternative media like russia today, were quick to relay the israeli army version, according to which the zionist entity retaliated to an iranian attack by revolutionary guards alquds force consisting of twenty rockets. Almanar was the first to report the preparations for a possible attack like nasrallah promised, if our capital beirut is attacked, we will attack their capital tel aviv, if nothing else, such proves the aggressive nature of the psychological warfare he is waging on israel.
It regularly legitimizes violence against the united states, israel, and other enemies, not only by hezbollah, whom it generally glorifies, but also by palestinian militants. Nasrallah dismisses rumored illhealth as psychological warfare. Just as the idf did at the outset of the destruction of hezbollah s tunnel project it used psychological warfare. By 2004, al manar was estimated to hold 1015 million viewers daily worldwide. Lebanons hezbollah accuses israel of fabricating border. The conflict with israel has shown off hezbollah s new armory. A reporter for the hezbollah s almanar tv channel posted a photo of an idf soldier with the iwi negev light machine gun bearing the. Accordingly, hezbollah through nasrallah and al manar, continuously promises. Hezbollah precisionguided missiles will cause mass. Al manar defines itself as a station of resistance, and one of its goals is to wage psychological warfare against the zionist enemy. The sustainability of asymmetrical warfare walter s.
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