Word: haj
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Israelis jets circle high above, tiny silver specks against the blue sky, before taking turns to swoop and fire missiles into the South Lebanon village of Froun, two miles from here. The huge blasts and column of dirt and smoke that rise from Froun are watched intently by Haj Rabieh and Abu Mohammed, two veteran Hizballah fighters, who live among the bombed-out ruins of this village just south of the Litani river. An Israeli reconnaissance drone whines directly overhead and both Hizballah men know that the bombs pounding Froun could soon be directed against them if they are spotted...
...shadows. "We have a love for martyrdom, but we also have a love for life and we don't want to die," says Abu Mohammed, a wiry, bearded elementary school teacher in normal life who first picked up a rifle for Hizballah in 1985. He and his comrade Haj Rabieh, a baseball cap-wearing schoolteacher who has fought Israel since 1982, are part of Hizballah's military network in south Lebanon and they recently spoke to TIME and a few other Western reporters who were some of the only outsiders to visit this bombed out, nearly deserted village. Neither have...
...call someone and say let's meet at Bourj Anouni, no one outside the village will know what I mean," explains Haj Rabieh. "The Israelis won't know what we mean." Abu Mohammed gives another example, "If I say 'the olives are like vinegar and dough,' what does this mean...
...Hizballah has split the south into military sectors, the smallest subdivision consisting of two or three neighboring villages. Other than having noms de guerre such as Abu Mohammed, Arabic for the father of Mohammed, or Haj Rabieh, the fighters also are designated code numbers. Haj Rabieh extracts from his pocket a laminated piece of paper listing the positions and code numbers of local Hizballah men in his area. He is 103 and Abu Mohammed is 121. Haj Rabieh demonstrates by picking up his walkie-talkie and calling number "47" When "47" answers, Haj Rabieh says "God give you strength...
...Indeed, it remains murky what the department's powers would be, and where the money would come from to fund its workings. Nematullah Shahrani, the minister of Haj and Religious offices, has said it would focus on alcohol, drugs, crime and corruption, but those issues are already addressed by the country's criminal laws...