MGLE01: SHIA CLERIC TELLS OF HIZBALLAH DOMINANCE,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIRUT 001483 SIPDIS SIPDIS NSC FOR WERNER/ABRAMS/DORAN/SINGH E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/11/2015 TAGS: KISL KDEM PHUM SOCI SY SUBJECT: MGLE01: SHIA CLERIC TELLS OF HIZBALLAH DOMINANCE, BUT OTHER VOICES Classified By: Jeffrey Feltman, Ambassador. Reason: Section 1.4 (b). ¶1. (C) Sheikh Ahmed Taleb describes himself as a member of a small group of apolitical Shia clerics. He came to the embassy to "set the record straight' about his relationship with Hizballah and his connection to his father-in-law Sheikh Mohamed Hussein Fadlallah, the doyen of the spiritual and political guides of Hizballah and the radical movements that preceded Hizballah. Sheikh Taleb was neither shy nor apologetic in describing his stand on religion and politics. His story is that of a young man, sent to Iran to study, who returned to Lebanon as the resistance to the Israeli occupation was at its most fierce. He stepped into the shoes of more radical clerics and into a conflict that included, for him, the United States. Now, a seasoned observer of the Lebanese political scene, Sheikh Taleb claims that he sees politics as a betrayal of religion, and the present powers in the Shia as a repressive mob, out for their own power. He is afraid, however to voice his opinion. Even speaking to us in the confines of the embassy, Sheikh Taleb never said the word "Hizballah" referring only to the "power in the Shia community" Sheikh Taleb told us that he has received barely concealed death threats when his own sermons do not fall into line with the Hizballah political truth. ¶2. (C) "When I was young, I thought America was the enemy and all the Jews should be killed." As a student, Sheikh Taleb traveled to Qom in Iran to prepare himself for the clergy. There he learned a particular version of Islamic history. Returning to Lebanon at age 23, Sheikh Taleb took over a mosque in the village of Jibcheet after agents of Israel kidnapped the previous mullah. As an impressionable young cleric, surrounded by a radicalized congregation and a Hizballah dominated hierarchy, Sheikh Taleb taught a Lebanese Shia version of liberation theology; its rhetoric colored with insults aimed at the U.S. and Israel. Sheikh Taleb never joined Hizballah or any other political movement, preferring to keep his religious credentials unsoiled, but he supported Hizballah with words and by delivering the sermons he was directed to deliver. ¶3. (C) Sheikh Taleb explained that the Shia establishment is still fostering a mentality of hatred in Lebanon. He sees the Shia religious power structure supporting and encouraging this hatred. But over the years Sheikh Taleb's own views have mellowed, and become more nuanced. The views he was taught as a young man are political, he said. They have no role in religion and he has learned that. Moreover, Sheikh Taleb teaches in his Mosque that hatred is not a part of the religion, and neither is martyrdom. He told us that many in the Shia community are using fallacious examples of martyrdom in the Islamic past to justify terrorism today. He speaks out against these teachings. But Sheikh Taleb says that he is not alone in his opposition to what he condemns as the corruption of religion by politics. In the south of Lebanon, clerics living under Hizballah's thumb meet privately to discuss their own version of an apolitical Shia Islam concentrated on teaching the religion and leaving partisan politics aside. This position is not popular with Hizballah and so has to be discussed secretly. "The others are also afraid to discuss their views openly," Sheikh Taleb said. ¶4. (C) The progressive sounding views that Sheikh Taleb expressed were helped by a visit to Los Angeles. He was complimentary of the U.S. and its tolerance of differences in faiths. Sheikh Taleb repeated an often-heard phrase here that no Islamic country protects religion as well as America does. Sheikh Taleb had no illusions about the present state of Shia politics. As the son-in-law of Fadlallah, one of the community's more revered, living thinkers, he has to be loyal to the religious ideals of his community as described by the establishment represented by his father-in-law. However, Sheikh Taleb has tried to steer clear of the political system and goals that govern Hizballah. He said that all of his efforts to teach others are made more difficult by the political hold Hizballah has on the Shia population. This hold aggravates the fears among the other confessions in Lebanon. The leaders of all confessions feed these fears to maintain their power. So when someone like Sheikh Taleb speaks out publicly, he has no natural allies. That hasn't stopped Sheikh Taleb from speaking out. He left us with a DVD of a presentation he delivered at UNESCO on the role of Islam that earned him yet another death threat from more conventional Hizballah supporters. Sheikh Taleb has no illusions that he can change the world, or that his outreach to the U.S. will result in any change in Lebanon. But he is hopeful that if he can change some people's views, his BEIRUT 00001483 002 OF 002 continued efforts might make a difference to a few other minds prepared to think differently about religion. ¶5. (C) Comment: Sheikh Taleb is not the first orthodox, Shia cleric who has come to us to voice opposition to Hizballah. Clerics like Taleb are loyal to the Higher Shia Council and operate in areas in which Hizballah supplies the material needs of their congregations. Hizballah expects Sheikh Taleb and men like him to preach what they are told, and to remain silent on political issues. It would be inaccurate to describe these men as moderates. They are very doctrinaire in their approach to Islam. However, they see the political goals of Hizballah as a diluting of religious principle, and they see the United States as more than just the chief ally of Israel and enemy of Iran. Among the grassroots of the Lebanese Shia, then, there is more than one voice. End comment. FELTMAN