Amer Khader Agha – Mtv
The state continues to delay reaching its afflicted citizens in the south, leaving a vacuum that will not remain for a long time, as experience has shown that it is quickly filled by sectarian forces, turning aid into a loyalty contract, and relief into a tool for reproducing legitimacy.
Circulating information indicates that the Hezbollah-affiliated Jihad al-Binaa Foundation has begun communicating with the affected families, requesting photographs of the damage and sending the necessary documents to prepare compensation files. Even if the disbursement mechanism or funding sources have not yet been announced, the mere start of the census carries a clear message that the “party” is still trying to establish in the consciousness of its supporters that it is the only authority capable of protection and care.
Since its establishment, “Jihad Al-Bina” has played a role that goes beyond traditional construction work. It gradually expanded in the areas of reconstruction, infrastructure, social relief, and support for farmers, leading to the restoration of thousands of housing units after the July War.
Hezbollah’s movement is not limited to the relief dimension, but rather falls within the framework of preventing any vacuum that might allow the state to regain its role, so that the “party” starts from the continuity of the incubating environment and its ability to withstand times of war, sanctions, and external pressures, so that the process of compensation and reconstruction becomes an extension of the role of the “resistance” itself, and the more it succeeds in appearing as the fastest and most effective party in meeting the needs of citizens, the stronger its argument that having a network of parallel institutions is not a passing option, but rather an existential and fateful necessity. Imposed by the weakness and inability of the state.
This is inseparable from the regional dimension. The international community links any broad reconstruction program in Lebanon to financial and administrative reforms and strengthening the role of the state and its institutions. Consequently, the expansion of the “party” may further complicate the relationship with donors who constantly stress that aid passes through state institutions and official mechanisms, which will enable the “party” to practically impose itself in any equation that could exclude its presence.
In this context, political writer Muhammad Barakat pointed out to the MTV website that “the activity of the Jihad al-Binaa organization in Nabatieh is due to two reasons: either Hezbollah is numbing the people in the south with promises, or it is waiting for an incoming deal between it and the American and Israeli sides to re-establish its security and political control in southern Lebanon.”
He explained that “the party currently has no money, but it is doing what it must do to prepare for the stage that will follow a complete end to the war on the south, and it still believes that it has a great potential to rely on money smuggling,” considering that “there is no solution to this problem except for the state to prevent the “Jihad al-Binaa” institution from doing what it is doing, because it violates the constitution, and it must quickly establish a state-run fund to compensate those affected and for reconstruction, away from parties and sects, and for state institutions to be The only reference and embrace for every citizen of southern Lebanon.”
