Letters Page

Editors: Barry Rubin’s ‘Confessions at a Funeral’ (Democratiya 12) includes a serious mischaracterisation of recent pronouncements by Hezbollah. Rubin makes much of Hezbollah’s posthumous praise of recently assassinated Imad Mughniyyah and the revelation that he was one of its leaders. (The author apparently is unaware that Hezbollah had long praised Mughniyyah but refused to confirm his membership in the organisation due to a security policy concerning the makeup of its armed wing. Now that Mughniyyah is dead, Hezbollah can openly claim him.) Rubin’s central argument is that in confirming Mughniyyah’s membership and praising his actions, Hezbollah has admitted to involvement in terrorism, and that the same holds true for Hezbollah’s backers Iran and Syria.

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