Jihad Open Air Museum

The Hezbollah Resistance Museum, officially known as the Resistance Monument, is an open-air display created by the Islamic military organization Hezbollah to commemorate the battles against Israeli forces that took place on the grounds that the museum now occupies. This attraction is located in the southern Lebanese city of Mlita, 50 km north of the Lebanese border with Palestine. Between 1982 and 2000 the region was literally torn apart by military strife between Hezbollah forces and the Israeli military.

1. Opened in 2010, this strange museum-monument covers over 60,000 sq.m. on which there are paths and green spaces and another 5000 sq.m. the area where the buildings are located. All tours are started by guides, welcoming tourists to the "territory of confrontation, purity and jihad."

2. Tour guides constantly emphasize that Hezbollah was the only defender of Lebanon in the war against Israel, and only thanks to them the invaders left the country (18 years after the invasion in 1982). They also claim that all the activities of the Hezbollah fighters were carried out solely for the purpose of protection.

3. “If the Israelis don't attack us, we won't attack them. We are not terrorists, we are a peaceful people, and we also have the right to live like any other nation.”

4. Museum visitors are then shown a video of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's welcoming speech: "We hope that this jihad tourist center will be the first step towards preserving the history of our heroic confrontation."

5. Another film is then shown, about the Lebanese-Israeli conflict, which ends with Nasrallah's speech and the "strong declaration" of the assassinated Hezbollah leader Abbas al-Musavi that "Israel has fallen."

6. The main attraction of the museum is the "Abyss" - a depression filled with various types of military equipment of the Israeli occupying forces, among which there is a helicopter and the famous Israeli tank "Merkava" with a muzzle tied in a knot.

7. All local exhibits are vehicles and weapons left by the Israeli army and its allies.

8. A sign next to the "Abyss" reads: "This is a structural pictorial work of art, symbolizing the defeat of the Zionist unity."

9. There are reenactments of battles in the surrounding forests - it shows how the soldiers fought in the mountains, tunneling through the rocks so that they would not be fired upon from the air. Visitors can see the bunkers and walk through the 200-meter tunnel that was used during the 2006 war.

10. The bunker has beds, kitchen utensils, power generators and other equipment, including an office with telephones, radios and computers. So museum guests can briefly "look into the life" of Hezbollah fighters. Another exposition called "The Hill of Martyrs" is a garden decorated with weapons and shells. It is dedicated to those Hezbollah fighters who gave their lives in the fight against Israel.

11. Hezbollah plans to expand the museum to include swimming pools, spas, playgrounds, hotels and campgrounds so that people "can come here and relax." They claim that the people of Lebanon have been deprived of such amenities for many decades.

12. It is also planned to build a cable car that will connect the park and the city of Mlita with the neighboring town of Soyod.