JUST ANOTHER DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL PARTY:

Matar and Khatib highlight that the Lebanese 'Party of God' evolved from an Islamic jihadi group to a mainstream political party after the end of the fifteen-year civil war. Its policy of infitah ('opening up') and participation in successive national elections aimed to portray its nationalist identity and its transformation as authentic and legitimate. Hizbullah was successful at reaching out to constituencies beyond its initial Lebanese Shiite followers. The May 2000 Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon and the July 2006 war with Israel considerably strengthened its identity as a national Lebanese party. In the latter case, it also propelled its image as an Arab nationalist force.

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