Sunni Mufti Of Mount Lebanon Sheikh Muhammad Ali Al-Jozo: Hizbullah Deals With Drugs And Is An Obstacle To Democracy And Freedom In Lebanon; It Strives To Implement An Iranian Enterprise In The Region

Sunni Mufti of Mount Lebanon Sheikh Muhammad Ali Al-Jozo said in a May 7, 2022 interview on Al-Arabiya Network (Saudi Arabia) that Hizbullah is an obstacle to democracy and freedom in Lebanon. He elaborated that Hizbullah wants to implement an Iranian enterprise in the region, and that this would bring the entire region to a sectarian religious conflict. He also said that the decay, weakness, bankruptcy, poverty, and hunger in Lebanon are because of Hizbullah. For more information about Sheikh Muhammad Ali Al-Jozo, see MEMRI TV Clips Nos. 9506, 2654, 2538, 1326, 1299, 844, 778, 662, and 244.

Ali Al-Jozo: "Hizbullah wants to impose its control over the Lebanese scene, in order to implement an Iranian enterprise, which would take the entire region, not just Lebanon, backwards, towards a pointless conflict between classes, sects, and religious denominations. This conflict has nothing to do with Islam. It is mere fitna, which leads to the wholesale killing of people, and sends us back decades, I am sad to say.

"Therefore, the existence of Hizbullah has become an obstacle in Lebanon's path towards democracy and freedom. This has caused everything that we witness in Lebanon – the decay, the weakness, the bankruptcy, the poverty, the hunger, the disturbances, the problems… All of these are the result of the so-called Hizbullah phenomenon. Hizbullah was originally Lebanon, but it assumed Iranian identity.

"It is no longer Lebanese. It has begun working for Iran, its interests, and its vision of taking control of the Arab countries.

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"Even if we succeed in the elections, and several new MPs are elected, Lebanon will continue to face the same circumstances. Hizbullah undermines political life in Lebanon. It undermines democracy, justice, and the possibility to lead dignified life in Lebanon. So we cannot pin much hope on there being any change, because Hizbullah does not want any change. Rather, it wants to abolish the civilized phenomenon [of democracy] in Lebanon.

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"There can be change if we elect a Lebanese president with awareness, knowledge, and a practical vision. The current president lacks all these. That man treats Hizbullah as a partner in ruling the Lebanese scene and in abolishing normal life in Lebanon.

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"Hizbullah is a major drug dealer. It has a lot of money because Iran pays it one billion dollars every year. With all this money, it tries to buy loyalties."