What are Hezbollah’s ”political” and ”military” lines being ”blurred” here, seeing that terrorism is in fact political motivated violence, and the Heznazis are dedicated fanatical jihadi terrorists? The two co-writing the article call themselves journalists?
Hezbollah website has local links
- CHRISTIAN KERR AND MARK SCHLIEBS
- THE AUSTRALIAN
- FEBRUARY 12, 2014 12:00AM
SUPPORTERS of Islamic militant group Hezbollah are operating a well-resourced English language website in Australia, sparking fears it is attempting to radicalise younger Arab-Australians. Only the military wing of the Lebanon-based organisation is banned in Australia, but the site, Electronicresistance.org, appears to blur the line between Hezbollah’s political and military activities, prompting a warning from Attorney-General George Brandis that incitement or facilitation of terrorism are both federal offences.
SUPPORTERS of Islamic militant group Hezbollah are operating a well-resourced English language website in Australia, sparking fears it is attempting to radicalise younger Arab-Australians.
Only the military wing of the Lebanon-based organisation is banned in Australia, but the site, Electronicresistance.org, appears to blur the line between Hezbollah’s political and military activities, prompting a warning from Attorney-General George Brandis that incitement or facilitation of terrorism are both federal offences.
The sophisticated and professionally designed website, which appears to be the work of an individual i n southwest Melbourne, contains ‘‘resistance’’ songs accompanied by military-themed videos with titles such as ‘‘Write Resistance with Blood’’, ‘‘Hezbollah the Victorious’’, ‘‘Woe O Occupier’’ and ‘‘Al-Quds (Jerusalem) is Ours’’.
Another is entitled ‘‘Khaybar Will Return, O Jews’’, an ominous reference to Mohammed’s seventh-century victory over the Jews of Medina — in modern day Saudi Arabia — that led to their expulsion from the region.
The site carries documentaries from Iranian and pro-Hezbollah Lebanese television praising the organisation’s military activities, along with a series ‘‘on the lives of individual martyrs’’ entitled ‘‘Alive with their Lord’’ and a series of filmed final messages from Hezbollah fighters killed in combat, ‘‘Testament of the Martyrs’’.
The site is actively supported and promoted on social media through Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
Facebook’s own analytics say the page there has received the most ‘‘likes’’ from 18 to 24-yearolds in Sydney.
The Facebook page says: ‘‘We at Electronic Resistance are dedicated to bringing our viewers translated videos of the Islamic Resistance of Lebanon’’ — an indication its target is younger Arab-Australians who do not speak Arabic — but throws its net out beyond the Lebanese community.
Recent posts include a promotion for a rally in Sydney this coming weekend to mark the 35th anniversary of the Islamic revolution in Iran.
Another carries a picture of the Syrian dictator with the caption, ‘‘Bashar Al-Assad is being targeted by the West because he is a staunch supporter of Palestine and a true enemy of Israel.’’
Electronic Resistance follows Russia Today on Twitter, the news channel that has carried WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s program. Representatives from the WikiLeaks Party, including Assange’s father John Shipton, have recently visited Syria.
While data about the site is masked, its domain name is registered through a Sydney-based company and it appears to be hosted on Australian-based servers. Much of the development of its internet and social media presence appears to be the work of one individual working from Melbourne’s southwest.
The volume of material posted on the site and on Facebook indicates Australian and international collaboration.
Senator Brandis said the government did not comment on specific investigations.
‘‘Australia is a free country and there is no legal limitation on comments on the merits of the Syrian civil war as long as the commentary does not involve incitement to terrorism,’’ he said.
But Senator Brandis warned ASIO and the AFP monitored the internet to identify websites that might be involved in the incitement or facilitation of terrorism, which are against the commonwealth criminal code.
Jeremy Jones from the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council described the site as ‘‘completely unacceptable within Australia’’.
‘‘The tolerance we have had in creating such a wonderful multicultural country should not extend to tolerating people who are using that freedom to incite not only ill-feeling but violence towards others,’’ he said.
‘‘We know there are people (in Australia) open to manipulation by those who want other people to go and fight their wars for them.’’
H/T: HR
