US lawmakers urge EU to fully proscribe Hezbollah as terror group
Some legislators have noted that Hezbollah has used Europe a a base to launch criminal and terrorist activities.
By LAHAV HARKOVUpdated: JULY 18, 2023 19:21 Iraqi Shi'ite Muslim men from the Iranian-backed group Kataib Hezbollah wave the party's flags as they walk along a street painted in the colours of the Israeli flag during a parade marking the annual Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day, on the last Friday of Ramadan, in Baghdad. July 25, 2014(photo credit: THAIER AL-SUDANI/REUTERS)
The European Union should designate Hezbollah, in its entirety, as a terrorist organization, a bipartisan group of US lawmakers stated in a resolution introduced on Tuesday.Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Reps. Brad Schneider (D-IL) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) proposed the resolution, addressing the fact that the EU only proscribed Hezbollah’s military, not its political wing, though the Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist group itself does not make that distinction.The legislators noted that Hezbollah has used Europe a a base to launch criminal and terrorist activities.
Rosen said that “eleven years ago today, Hezbollah…launched a deadly bombing in Bulgaria. Since then, they have only expanded their web of terror across the globe. It’s clear that there is no distinction between Hezbollah’s political and military wings….and it’s past time that the European Union fully designate it as a terrorist organization.” A Hezbollah terrorist attacked a bus carrying Israeli tourists from the Burgas, Bulgaria airport in 2012, killing six and wounding 32.
Kataib Hezbollah Iraqi militia gather ahead of the funeral of the Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was killed in an air strike at Baghdad airport, in Baghdad, Iraq, January 4, 2020. (credit: REUTERS/THAIER AL-SUDANI/FILE PHOTO)Hezbollah's impact has a larger reach than hoped for
American Jewish Committee Senior Director for Policy and Political Affairs Julie Fishman Rayman pointed out that “Hezbollah is a single, united terrorist entity and recognizing that there are no distinct wings…is crucial to address the terrorist infrastructure that Iran’s deadly proxy has established across Europe and beyond.” Earlier this month, departing French Ambassador Eric Danon explained the logic behind the ban on only the military wing of Hezbollah.“Seeing that Hezbollah took part of the power in Lebanon, we have to talk with the political branch one way or another. This is the reality,” Danon said. “It doesn’t mean we accept violence from Hezbollah.”
