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Nasrallah's birthday: He's not going out with friends to Dahiya
Secretary general of Hizbullah refuses offers to celebrate his 46th birthday in Dahiya quarter of Beirut. Nasrallah explains that he 'prefers marking his birthday with Hizbullah fighters, in manner allowed by security considerations'
Roee Nahmias
Hizbullah
Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah refuses
to celebrate his 46th birthday Thursday in a decadent celebration in the Dahiya quarter in Beirut.
A source in Hizbullah reported to Egyptian newspaper al-Ahram that youth from various political streams in Lebanon sent Nasrallah a number of offers to mark the special occasion with a ceremony in the Dahiya quarter, but he refused, explaining that he "refers to mark the day surrounded by Hizbullah fighters, and in a manner allowed by security considerations."
Nasrallah – or, by his full name Hassan Abdel Karim Nasrallah – was born on August 31, 1960 in Bazuriyah in southern Lebanon, and grew up in the al-Karantina neighborhood in Beirut. He was later married and had five children, the oldest of which, Hadi, was killed in battle against Egoz commandos in 1997. IDF soldiers took his body without knowing his identity, and only when the corpse arrived in Israel did they understand who it was. Nasrallah is also known as Abu Hadi after him.
In 1975, with the outbreak of civil war in Lebanon, Nasrallah's family returned to Bazuriyah, where Nasrallah joined the Amal militia. While still in high school, he was appointed responsible for the Bazuriyah area within Amal.
However, Nasrallah didn't stay long in the ranks of Amal because of differences of opinion with the leadership. He left the organization in 1982 together with other members identified with a more radical line. These same members founded Hizbullah after receiving the blessing of the Iranian imam, Ayatollah Khomeini, and in effect served as the vanguard of the Islamic Revolution in Iran.
Nasrallah stood out in the new movement. After Israel assassinated Abbas Mussawi, Nasrallah's predecessor and teacher, Nasrallah was chosen to stand at the helm of the organization even though he was the youngest member of the consultative council (majlas al-shura) of the Shiite militia.
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