Three years ago, in May 2010, Jihadology.net was established to provide easy access to primary source materials from Sunni global jihadi groups affiliated or sympathetic to al-Qaeda’s worldview. I never would have imagined how large this site would become and want to thank everyone for that support and I hope it has been a useful resource. That being said, one of the largest conflicts embroiling the greater Middle East is the current civil war in Syria. As a consequence of the sectarianization of the war, non-state Shia jihadi groups aligned with the Iranian regime and Hizballah have joined the fight on the side of the Assad regime. It is important to note, that while both AQ-sympathetic and Iranian/Hizballah-sympathetic are  ’jihadi’ in nature, this site is not conflating these two separate movements and strands of thought. Due to the dearth of information on Shia jihadi organizations, Jihadology hopes to fill the same type of gap it did when covering the study of AQ-type groups. For more on this new project (which will take a slightly different approach to what I have done as it relates to Sunni global jihadis), see the introduction to it below from Phillip Smyth.

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What is Hizballah Cavalcade?

The new and improved Hizballah Cavalcade has now moved to its new home and will present new information here at Jihadology. Beginning as a humble Twitter hashtag (#HizballahCavalcade) by Phillip Smyth, Hizballah Cavalcade initially sought to post photos of Lebanese Hizballah members killed in Syria and their funerals.

Hizballah Cavalcade will now also focus on (but is not limited to) organizations such as: Lebanon’s Hizballah and Harakat Amal (Amal Movement); Iraq’s Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq’s (League of the Righteous), Kata’ib Hizballah (Hizballah Brigades), and Liwa’a al-Yum al-Mawud (Promised Day Brigades); and Syria’s new Liwa’a Abu Fadhl al-Abbas (The Abu Fadl al-Abbas Brigade).

By utilizing data found on sympathetic Facebook pages, YouTube accounts, and on forums, the new Hizballah Cavalcade will attempt to display available photos of all funerals and martyrdom posters belonging to Shia groups which are fighting in Syria. In addition, funeral, combat, and even music videos belonging to these groups pertaining to the fighting in Syria will also be posted.

About the Author:

Phillip Smyth is currently a researcher focusing on Hizballah for University of Maryland’s Institute for Advanced Computer Studies’ Lab for Computational Cultural Dynamics.