‘They Accept Us as We Are;’ Christians Join Forces With Muslim Group Hezbollah to Fight ISIS in Lebanon
"We're in a very dangerous situation," said Rifit Nasrallah, a Catholic businessman. "The only people who are protecting us are the resistance of Hezbollah. The only one standing with the army is Hezbollah. Let's not hide it anymore."
The Iran-backed Shiite Muslim militant group Hezbollah, classified for many years by U.S. Intelligence as a terrorist organization, is training Christians to fight ISIS in Lebanon and the Middle Eastern believers say their new and unlikely allies “accept us as we are.”
Citing Lebanese sources, Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin says Christian villages in the Bekaa Valley area of Lebanon are forming militias to join Hezbollah fighters already
engaging ISIS and the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nursa Front in the Syrian Qalamoun mountains opposite villages in central and eastern Bekaa.
Rifit Nasrallah, a Catholic businessman who is part of the militias fighting ISIS in Ras Baalbek, discussed the alliance with Hezbollah in an International Business Times report last month.
“We’re in a very dangerous situation,” he said. “
The only people who are protecting us are the resistance of Hezbollah. The only one standing with the army is Hezbollah. Let’s not hide it anymore.” Nasrallah said
Hezbollah does not expect its allies to convert to Islam or create an allegiance to the group’s ideals. “They accept us as we are,” he said. “They do not impose on us anything. When there’s an occasion, they come to our children’s birthdays. The people here accept that Hezbollah comes and helps.”
This unlikely alliance between Christians and Hezbollah is a far cry from the adversarial relationship depicted between the two groups in the region. [...]
Source:
http://www.mintpressnews.com/they-a...up-hezbollah-to-fight-isis-in-lebanon/210088/