One of the places I most desperately wanted to go to when I arrived in Lebanon was the Museum of the Resistance in Mleeta in the South. The museum was created in 2010 by Hezbollah to commemorate the ten-year anniversary of the retreat of Israel from South Lebanon. A museum on a given political organization created and maintained by said organization is the kind of surrealist self-serving enterprise I just had to see for myself. In mid-January, one of my classes got to visit the museum, an occasion that was exciting for the reasons mentioned above, and also because I thought class trips were only for middle-schoolers.
The museum is situated on top of a hill which used to be the location of a Hezbollah encampment during the fighting against the Israeli Occupation Forces. At approximately 1.5 km in altitude, my attitude of denial when it comes to wearing proper winter clothing proved particularly painful on this January morning. The hill was covered in thick fog that we were told used to be prime weather to attack Israelis without being spotted.
The museum has often been dubbed “Hezbollah Disneyland” by foreign journalists trying to be clever, which is completely inaccurate—I didn’t spot a single roller coaster, and no furry mascot greeted us for photo opportunities. All joking aside, this kind of headline-grabbing sensationalism annoys me. It is a clear sign that the authors of these articles came with a precise idea in mind about what they wanted to write before having visited the place, and their prose is constantly tinted with incredulity whenever an actual source is quoted as saying something that doesn't fit into their tidy narrative of Mleeta as a terrorist brainwashing amusement park.
This is not to say that our visit didn’t have its share of eyebrow-raising moments.
When we arrived to Mleeta, we were greeted by a guide, as well as cameraman/photographer who recorded us during the entirety of our visit. I’m not sure what this was for—perhaps Hezbollah was hoping to issue a press release after we left, titled something like: “GROUP OF WESTERN FOREIGNERS VISIT HEZBOLLAH MUSEUM, CONVERT TO CAUSE OF RESISTANCE.”
We were first led to watch a movie summarizing the struggle of Hezbollah during the Israeli Occupation. If I had to distill it, I would say it felt like watching the trailer for a summer blockbuster movie. I tried very hard to suppress hysterical laughter, which made me feel like an asshole, but I was helpless against the dramatic, “Saving Private Ryan”-like soundtrack as men planted pickaxes into the ground, harvesting Israeli helmets, ever the subtle metaphor.
After the movie, we went down to the Abyss, a large sculpture of sorts lying in a crater formed by an Israeli bomb. In the crater, remnants of Israeli artillery, tanks, bombs and helmets lay scattered, a symbol of Hezbollah’s victory over the occupation. The name “Abyss,” we were told, comes from a warning Israel issued to Hezbollah, saying it would be defeated and fall into the abyss. In one corner of the structure, a tall yellow wall bore the signature of Imad Mughniyah, a leader of the resistance, as well as the engraved silhouette of a bird.
We then moved on to the portion of Mleeta soberly entitled “The Path,” the trenches where the Hezbollah fighters lived and fought for years, through snow, heat and rain. I could barely handle the weather for a handful of hours, let alone imagine myself living like this for an extended period of time. Whatever one might think about Hezbollah and its cause, one has to respect the difficult circumstances through which they continued their struggle.
As we were shivering our way through the trenches, a girl from our group enquired about the role of women in Hezbollah.
“Oh yes, women have a very prominent role in Hezbollah,” the guide said. “They help with communications and cooking for the fighters.”
Collective dubious side glances.
“But are there women fighters?” the girl clarified.
“We don’t need women to fight, we already have enough fighters as it is,” the guide said. “Fighting is very hard, even for me, and my friends say I’m the least emotional of them all. I wouldn't want my mother or my sister to go through it.”
At this point, our guide clearly felt that he was not wading in sympathetic waters. In a last desperate attempt to redeem the situation, he added:“I mean, I think we can all agree that women are much more emotional than men, right?”
Dead silence.
“Well,” my professor piped in. “I think we’re a little behind schedule, we should probably move along.”
The response of our guide shouldn't have surprised us, Hezbollah not being particularly known for its progressive feminist positions. When you have aspiring candidates to the presidency of the United States spouting the same kind of bullshit concerns regarding the crippling handicap of women’s emotions in combat zones, it’s hard to expect better from a group actually called the Party of God. However, for all this talk of Hezbollah having a well-oiled PR machine in Mleeta, that there seemed to be no well thought-out script in case the topic was brought up was quite telling.
We then moved on to the hidden underground portion of the camp known as the Cave. The claustrophobia-inducing habitat sheltered a small kitchen, prayer room and communication center, as well as a long twisting and turning exit tunnel, constructed this way to minimize the impact of bombs should one explode inside.
At the end of our tour, we were generously offered some hot tea to warm us up. As we sipped the lemony-flavored beverage, us ladies could feel ourselves feeling already a little less emotional about the visit. A quick visit to the gift shop yielded treasures such as a puzzle of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, bright yellow mugs in his image, key chains, DVDs, you name it.
It is hard to describe how I felt after this visit. There is no doubt that this museum had a very specific point of view to sell, and I couldn’t help feeling snarky delight at the at-times overwhelming sentimentalism of the exhibit. But at the same time, seeing the amount of bad press Hezbollah is getting, can you fault them for trying to have some agency over their image? While this visit might not have radically changed my vision of Hezbollah, it was worth getting a closer look at their perception of the war, and the military legacy they are trying to build.
The museum is situated on top of a hill which used to be the location of a Hezbollah encampment during the fighting against the Israeli Occupation Forces. At approximately 1.5 km in altitude, my attitude of denial when it comes to wearing proper winter clothing proved particularly painful on this January morning. The hill was covered in thick fog that we were told used to be prime weather to attack Israelis without being spotted.
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| View from Mleeta |
This is not to say that our visit didn’t have its share of eyebrow-raising moments.
When we arrived to Mleeta, we were greeted by a guide, as well as cameraman/photographer who recorded us during the entirety of our visit. I’m not sure what this was for—perhaps Hezbollah was hoping to issue a press release after we left, titled something like: “GROUP OF WESTERN FOREIGNERS VISIT HEZBOLLAH MUSEUM, CONVERT TO CAUSE OF RESISTANCE.”
We were first led to watch a movie summarizing the struggle of Hezbollah during the Israeli Occupation. If I had to distill it, I would say it felt like watching the trailer for a summer blockbuster movie. I tried very hard to suppress hysterical laughter, which made me feel like an asshole, but I was helpless against the dramatic, “Saving Private Ryan”-like soundtrack as men planted pickaxes into the ground, harvesting Israeli helmets, ever the subtle metaphor.
After the movie, we went down to the Abyss, a large sculpture of sorts lying in a crater formed by an Israeli bomb. In the crater, remnants of Israeli artillery, tanks, bombs and helmets lay scattered, a symbol of Hezbollah’s victory over the occupation. The name “Abyss,” we were told, comes from a warning Israel issued to Hezbollah, saying it would be defeated and fall into the abyss. In one corner of the structure, a tall yellow wall bore the signature of Imad Mughniyah, a leader of the resistance, as well as the engraved silhouette of a bird.
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| A Mirkava-4 tank, nozzle tied up. |
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| The Abyss |
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| A cluster bomb, which were used indiscriminately throughout the South of Lebanon. |
We then moved on to the portion of Mleeta soberly entitled “The Path,” the trenches where the Hezbollah fighters lived and fought for years, through snow, heat and rain. I could barely handle the weather for a handful of hours, let alone imagine myself living like this for an extended period of time. Whatever one might think about Hezbollah and its cause, one has to respect the difficult circumstances through which they continued their struggle.
 |
| A small memorial for a fallen fighter. |
As we were shivering our way through the trenches, a girl from our group enquired about the role of women in Hezbollah.
“Oh yes, women have a very prominent role in Hezbollah,” the guide said. “They help with communications and cooking for the fighters.”
Collective dubious side glances.
“But are there women fighters?” the girl clarified.
“We don’t need women to fight, we already have enough fighters as it is,” the guide said. “Fighting is very hard, even for me, and my friends say I’m the least emotional of them all. I wouldn't want my mother or my sister to go through it.”
At this point, our guide clearly felt that he was not wading in sympathetic waters. In a last desperate attempt to redeem the situation, he added:“I mean, I think we can all agree that women are much more emotional than men, right?”
Dead silence.
“Well,” my professor piped in. “I think we’re a little behind schedule, we should probably move along.”
The response of our guide shouldn't have surprised us, Hezbollah not being particularly known for its progressive feminist positions. When you have aspiring candidates to the presidency of the United States spouting the same kind of bullshit concerns regarding the crippling handicap of women’s emotions in combat zones, it’s hard to expect better from a group actually called the Party of God. However, for all this talk of Hezbollah having a well-oiled PR machine in Mleeta, that there seemed to be no well thought-out script in case the topic was brought up was quite telling.
We then moved on to the hidden underground portion of the camp known as the Cave. The claustrophobia-inducing habitat sheltered a small kitchen, prayer room and communication center, as well as a long twisting and turning exit tunnel, constructed this way to minimize the impact of bombs should one explode inside.
 |
| Prayer room reconstruction. |
 |
| The emergency tunnel, which used to be half as big back when it was in use. |
At the end of our tour, we were generously offered some hot tea to warm us up. As we sipped the lemony-flavored beverage, us ladies could feel ourselves feeling already a little less emotional about the visit. A quick visit to the gift shop yielded treasures such as a puzzle of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, bright yellow mugs in his image, key chains, DVDs, you name it.
It is hard to describe how I felt after this visit. There is no doubt that this museum had a very specific point of view to sell, and I couldn’t help feeling snarky delight at the at-times overwhelming sentimentalism of the exhibit. But at the same time, seeing the amount of bad press Hezbollah is getting, can you fault them for trying to have some agency over their image? While this visit might not have radically changed my vision of Hezbollah, it was worth getting a closer look at their perception of the war, and the military legacy they are trying to build.
 |
| Monument to the dead. |
I didn't expect it to look quite so... cartoonish. Although that just might be because in the closeup pictures of the tanks and such it's hard to figure out the scale.
ReplyDelete“Oh yes, women have a very prominent role in Hezbollah,” the guide said. “They help with communications and cooking for the fighters.”
ReplyDeletebon bah tu vois, si jamais ca marche pas la politique/le journalisme, ta carriere est toute tracee :D
Tres bon article, as usual, my friend.
P.S.: School trips are NOT just for middle schoolers. We had a gew in high school, remember?
"perhaps Hezbollah was hoping to issue a press release after we left, titled something like: “GROUP OF WESTERN FOREIGNERS VISIT HEZBOLLAH MUSEUM, CONVERT TO CAUSE OF RESISTANCE" Well no I don't think so, they aren't naive to think that a simple visit from you to the museum will make you change your mind, plus they would never publish something which is not true about your visit.
ReplyDelete"I tried very hard to suppress hysterical laughter" maybe when the movie represents a part of life you wouldn't be able to even smile. So yeah Saving Private Ryan is just like any other movie but the thing is this isn't a movie. It's a true story.
Yeah the guide had a bad answer but as a future journalist I think you should search for other sources before making such a statement "Hezbollah not being particularly known for its progressive feminist positions"
"can you fault them for trying to have some agency over their image?" Have you ever found 90% of the media making a free publicity for Israel awkward? I may be wrong but I don't think so.
Hello Anonymous,
DeleteThanks for your comment. My suggestion for the press release was in jest, I definitely don't take Hezbollah for a naive organization, but I must admit I was somewhat surprised by the amount of recording devices surrounding us.
As for my reaction to the movie, I admit it was perhaps callous, but I am not the most receptive person to over-the-top depictions. This, however, does not mean that I am scoffing at what went on throughout the war, but for me the dramatic depiction cheapened the tragedy of actual events. But this is my personal opinion and you are free to disagree with me.
As to the comment on women, I stand by my statement that Hezbollah does not appear to be an organization with progressive feminist values, at least in the way I understand progressive feminism. However, it would be great to be able to write about the role of women in Hezbollah at some point if I have the chance, which could perhaps dispel certain notions shared by this particular person.
For the record, I don't fault Hezbollah for having its own museum, as I find it to have been an enlightening, if personally mixed, experience, and I have much distaste for the general pro-Israel slant in much of the international media.
Thank you for reading!