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Hezbollah

(Encyclopedia)Hezbollah [Arab., = Party of God], Lebanese Shiite political party and militia. Founded in 1982 with Iranian help to oppose Israeli forces occupying S Lebanon, Hezbollah launched guerrilla attacks...

Nasrallah, Hassan

(Encyclopedia)Nasrallah, Hassan häˈsən näsräˈlä [key], 1960–, Lebanese political and religious leader. A Shiite Muslim cleric, he became politically active in the 1970s and joined the Amal militia. After I...

Hariri, Rafik

(Encyclopedia)Hariri, Rafik or Rafiq räfēkˈ härēˈrē [key], 1944–2005, Lebanese tycoon and political leader, b. Sidon. The son of a poor Sunni Muslim farmer, he moved to Saudi Arabia in 1965. After teaching...

Aoun, Michel Naim

(Encyclopedia)Aoun, Michel Naïm, 1935–, Lebanese military and political leader. A graduate of Lebanon's military academy (1958), he fought in several major battles during the civil war (1975–90), rising to the...

Lebanon, country, Asia

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Lebanon lĕbˈənən, –nŏnˌ [key], officially Lebanese Republic, republic (2015 est. pop. 5,851,000), 4,015 sq mi (10,400 sq km), SW Asia. The country is bordered on the west by the Mediter...

Revolutionary Guards

(Encyclopedia)Revolutionary Guards, officially the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) or Pasdaran, Iranian military group formed in the aftermath of the 1979 revolution by young Islamic activists loyal to Ayato...

Grossman, David

(Encyclopedia)Grossman, David, 1954–, Israeli writer and peace activist, b. Jerusalem. He is widely recognized as the finest novelist in the generation that followed Amos Oz and A. B. Yehoshua. The son of a Polis...

Baalbek

(Encyclopedia)Baalbek bälˈbĕk [key], ancient city, now in Lebanon, 35 mi (56 km) NW of Damascus, in the Al Biqa (Bekaa) valley. Originally it was probably devoted to the worship of Baal or Bel, the Phoenician su...

Haifa

(Encyclopedia)Haifa hīˈfä [key], city, NW Israel, a port on the Mediterranean Sea, at the foot of Mt. Ca...

Mohammed bin Salman

(Encyclopedia)Mohammed bin Salman, 1985–, crown prince of Saudi Arabia, b. Riyadh. The son of King Salman bin Abdul Aziz, he received a law degree from King Saud Univ. (2007) and then worked in government and for...

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