Well, doesn't it bother you that while talking with your friends, then someone jumps in the room and yells: "Are you the good guys or bad guys?" You turn around and ask the person and say: "Define Good" and that person would reply 14th or 8th of March are good guys (depending on what affiliations he/she belongs to).
You take a look and get disgusted with the re-writement of history. For example, Annahar depicts that Kamal Junblatt and Bashir Gemayel fought to establish a 14th of March (which is not true because they slaughtered each other). 14th of March wants to bury Lebanon in the laps of the United States (with Walid Junblatt flying like a pendalum from Beirut to Washington) and Seniora got the WTO agenda as a reform policy for Lebanon's public sector.
Moreover, you have the Democratic Leftist knuckleheads defending the Lebanese Forces as secular and progressive while pitching in the re-writement of history of the war that the LF were freedom seekers. They seem to forget that Elias Attallah's boss, Walid Junblatt, was a Syrian puppy that day and now he is a US puppy. Actually, the DLMers do not believe in class struggle, they justify their leftism as Secular & Nationalistic (still wondering where the left is in this matter).
If you are a leftist and not affiliated with 14th of March, who are made of thieves compiled togather as anti-Syrian, then you are not a leftist but a Syrian agent. They do not accept the fact that both factions of Lebanon are reactionary and elitest because they are aware that their puny movement would drop dead the moment 14th of March crumbles. Hence, they would call you a traitor to Lebanon.
Meanwhile 8th of March is not better. Like 14th of March, they got the reputation of being thieves as well, and like 14th of March, they were Syrian loyalists at a one point of time, only difference they remained loyalists with the logic to oppose Israel. They also were corrupt and like 14th of March, they follow favoritism when it comes to the private/public sector. Different parties still argue they are Syrian loyalists, while the 14th of March argue they are independent but continue to travel to DC for instructions and confirmations.
This is your nation! Two blocks: One that wants to bury Lebanon inside the laps of the United States through the WTO (if not directly) while the other wants to be bury Lebanon into the arms of Damascus. Personally, they are both reactionary and elitest (well the leadership that is), and both should be denounced by the leftists. Most of those "traditional" leaders who act they are against both end up adopting Syrian slogans, like Khaled Hdaidi sitting front raw at Aoun's conference.
So, I guess now I am labeled as a traitor for demanding the rights of the workers but that is ok. No reactionary movement lives for ever, the only way is emancipation from below (no matter how much time it takes) to achieve the goals. Elites are elites whatever their nationalities are.
Marxism knows no borders of nationalism. It is beyond 14th and 8th of March movements that want to lie to the people in order to attain power and maximize their profits.
MFL
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7 comments:
You might find it ironic, but I believe that Hizbollah are much closer to marxism than all the marxists I know (in egypt, that is)
Wasn't their *emancipation from below*? Aren't they the ones who are now fighting for the poor and against injustice?
All my life I've tried to stay as far as I can from anything that has as much as "the smell of religion" in it, especially that the only religeous movement we've experienced in Egypt has a long history of corruption and superficiality (the ikhwan -muslim brothers movement). But today I find myself standing on the same line with an "Islamic" movement. Sayed Hassan Nasrallah echoes my thoughts and beliefs and acts upon them representing everything I've always believed in, but never in my wildest dreams had I imagined it to come from an Islamic background.
Sorry for the long comment.. your post just got me thinking out loud :)
Really good far sighted post.
I'm sure you are used to taking a position, outside the mainstream.
Dear Samia
first welcome to my blog and I hope you will contribute as much as you want...
I do not find it ironic, Hezbollah grew strong because the bourgoeisie in Lebanon never gave a crap about the South (Actually by 1970, only 0.7% of the government budget were dedicated to the South).
Hezbollah fight the Israelis, not the poor, as Lebanon has poor from all Sects, but because Hezbollah represents a sect and hence their aim is directed towards that Sect. Their legitimacy of carrying arms is due to their grass root organization. Yet progressive? Well the party did evolve since 1992 (deciding to participate in a party) but the emancipation is not to the poor. For starters, you do not find a person from another Sect.
Don't get me wrong, the sight of Israeli Mirkavas poping up to kingdom come was an amazing site, but again take a look one post below and you will understand what I mean.
To dwell a little bit more, Hezbollah is the balancer of power for the 8th of March (ie Syrian). Problem is that the party, like any party seeks its own interest first, being a resistence movement does not justify their political actions. For example, Hezbollah were among the parties that fought the implementation of Civil Marriage in Lebanon to break sectarianism.
I know exactly the impact of Qutb in Egypt, and I really admit there is a big difference between Hezbollah and the brotherhood. Hezbollah is not dumping anyone of the other sects into the sea and evolved rather to demand a single Islamic nation (even though the Khomeini ideology exists and that is why there is a minor distance between Fadlallah and Hezbollah).
Again, 8th of March and 14th of March are destroying Lebanon. Keep in mind Hezbollah is not only involved in resistance alone.
Although now you mentioned it Samia, their means of growth were similar to the brotherhoods of others (Hezbollah expanded on adopting welfare system for the poor). Marxism tends to emancipate the whole workers from everywhere, sadly reactionary leaderships have sank that into kingdom come (specially during Stalin's reign of terror which transformed most of the Arab Communist Parties to USSR foreign policy as well as Nasser butchering the Marxists in Syria, Egypt, and Lebanon.
It is rather a complicated issue, but I welcome your visit to my blog friend.
MFL
Thanks for your input. It sure makes a difference when one gets some insight from sources other than the media and the screaming fannatics on both sides.
However, I still can't help but feel that Hezbollah -being a religeous movement- have evolved tremendously since they started and have out-smarted all other similar movements in the whole world, if I may say. 6 years ago Al-Manar wouldn't make an interview with Dr. Radwa Ashour (famous egyptian novelist and Univ. Professor) unless she wore a veil. However, 3 years ago, she did that interview wearing short sleeves! And it's obvious how much more flexible these people are now. Not to mention the fact that Hizbollah's *khitab* is the least "sectarian" I've heard in the Arab world for a very long time. See for example these excerpts from Nasrallah's speech in 2003 before the invasion of Iraq. One can't help but admire the guy! Being a rather liberal person/woman in Egypt and having suffered from extremist ways of thinking, I find myself applauding for that kind of *khitab*.
And from what I understand, Hizbollah worked on the re-building of most parts of the South (not just the shiites). So not only are they not dumping them in the sea, they're also not asking them to change their habits and ways -as is in Egypt. They're not calling everyone who doesn't pray five times a day a "kafir" and they're not making every christian in Lebanon feel threatened by Islam (as the Copts in Egypt are).
It's a long and complicated issue as you said... and we could find ourselves jumping from one aspect to another.
I'll be visiting you more often :) But don't worry I won't be that talkative every time! Hehehe
Dear Samia
I will reply later, I just wanted to say please as much as you want :)
MFL
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