The Untold Story of the UAE and Hizballah

The town of Ufa, located on the bank of the Volga River in the region of Bashkortostan, is about 1200km east of Moscow. “Colors of an Old Beirut”, a series of short films based on old Beirut’s traditional souks and its history, interspersed with scenes from the present day, depicts the town and its culture as it was during the time of the Arab occupation. The town became a major tourism center after the war and continues to grow every year. “Colours of an Old Beirut”, which was shown at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, was among the best films of the year. It won four awards including best film and best director.

Presently the capital of the Volga River region of Bashkortostan, Ufa is known for its rich cultural heritage and the “blue mountains”. “colors of an old Beirut” combines snippets of current day movies with old folk dancing from the 60s featuring prominent dancers from Hezbollah and the Iran-Contra affair, with colorful computer animated shots of the town’s interior. As you would expect, some of the songs heard in both are references to both Israel and Russia.

In “colors of an old Beirut”, explosions in the upper floors of the old commercial buildings in Ufa’s downtown remind us of when Hezbollah controlled the city. The movie then goes on to present an apartment block where two teenage boys are forced to play sniper games against terrorists who hang around outside. After one terrorist is killed, the other tries to blow up a store, but a Free Agent named Razmik (Abbas Kadhavi) contacts him, claiming to be a friend. The two then take a bus to a cave that leads to an underground facility housing Israeli troops. There, Razmik kills the terrorist leader Butzon, who also dies a spectacular death which is displayed on the screen.

The interesting thing about this movie is that it not only mentions Russia’s support for Hizballah and Iran, but it also shows how these nations support each other by supplying weapons and money. The Ufa cave where Butzon and Razmik go is situated near the president hotel. So if President Obama had any qualms about arming Syria, he could have gotten information about the Russian military providing Hizballah and Iran with weapons via the President Hotel there in Ufa. We are also shown how President Obama’s State department set up a meeting between Russian and Iranian officials to discuss ways to stop shipments of advanced weaponry to Syria, including airlift transport and sophisticated weapons shipments.

Although Hezbollah did not receive airlift transport from Iran to carry out attacks on Israel, their own fighter planes attacked an Israel-owned oil rig in the Gulf of Aqaba on July 14th. So, the Russians did supply Hizballah with advanced weapons, including Russian-made Svirums, but apparently didn’t have any intention of attacking Israel. Iran has denied any knowledge of this operation. In other words, the Ufa affair reveals something about the inner working of the intelligence and military operations of both Syria and Iran. It is also another case of double standards and hypocrisy on the part of the Western world.

The message is clear. Stop aiding and abetting terrorists and rogue nation states, or you will be fighting alongside terrorists against us. The statements coming from Israeli officials should send a shiver down the spine of any American politician who voted for the authorization for war in Iraq. Israel has every right to defend herself. If the United States withdraws from its support for the military occupation of Iraq and allows Iran to get a nuclear weapon, what will happen next? Will the world once again be divided into spheres of influence, with regional puppet leaders ruling from Tel Aviv and Jerusalem?