Lebanon: Not civil war — war against the resistance

May 17, 2008
Issue 

Below is abridged from a May 12 post to . Nadia Hasan is a Chilean-born Palestinian activist, who maintains the blog http://palestinaresiste2.blogspot.com.

What is going on today in Lebanon is just an extension of the situation in the entire region. The US and its Western allies are trying to show everyone that religion is the main factor of this dispute. They are trying to cover the political motivations and especially economic interests involved in the whole process.

There are two main positions in Lebanon today. On one hand, a colonialist project supported by the US and its principle ally in the region, Israel — whose spokesman is the Lebanese government itself. On the other hand, a project of sovereignty conducted by the resistance movement.

In fact, this is a war of those who are simply patriotic against external agents. That is why both camps are composed of several currents simultaneously — religious, sectarian, ideological, etc. It is important to note that siding with Hezbollah are the communist parties, the nationalist Qornet Shehwan and former prime minister Michel Aoun, whose Free Patriotic Movement Party is largely Christian-based.

The pro-imperialist Lebanese government aims at pitting the National Army against the people and the resistance. Their goal is to hide behind the army because they lack popular support. It should be noted that the army establishment is still led by nationalists.

Western pressure

Prior to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 2006, there was a lot of internal and external pressure to dismantle the legitimate movement of resistance in Lebanon, which is Hezbollah.

This pressure increased after Hezbollah defeated the Israeli army and restored the hopes of other resistance movements in various parts of the Arab homeland. This victory demonstrated without a doubt that resistance against "globalism" on the one hand, and guerrilla war on the other, is still possible.

A few days ago, after the longest session in the history of the Lebanese parliament, the pro-Western coalition voted to make Hezbollah's communication network illegal — a system that was very effective against the Israeli army during the war.

This "declaration of war" against the resistance is just another example of how the local puppets of the US and Israel are fighting against their own people. Through this action, the government is actually dismantling the main tool the resistance has to fight against the colonialist project in the region.

This is not a minor issue. It is the first time since the Taif Accords in 1989 that put an end to the civil war in the country and consecrated the legitimacy of the armed resistance of Hezbollah against Israel, that the government condemns a communication network which is part of the security apparatus of the movement and considers it an "illegal threat against the State".

What the Lebanese Government is doing today is nothing less than the dirty work of Israel, just a few days after the US government declared once again that Hezbollah is a terrorist organisation, keeping it on the "blacklist".

Colonial agenda

The aim here can only be to give to the US control of the airport and all communication systems within the country, with the result of undermining the legitimate resistance of the people against their main target, Israel.

The colonial agenda is advanced by provoking internal fights, which are easy to add to the confusion of religious disputes — in the way already being done in Iraq and Palestine.

The biggest threat for a colonialist project in the region, including both the Arab ruler regimes and the Western supporters, are the people and their power of resistance. To undermine this power and to create a constant climate of internal tension is the goal of anyone who is against a unified Arab nationalistic movement in the Arab homeland.

How we can explain in any other way the several accusations of Iranian interference in Lebanon (even asking for the expulsion of its ambassador and to paralyse all the flights to and from Iran due to the support of the Iranian government to Hezbollah), but not a single word uttered against the external interference of the US in Iraq and not a word against the allowance of a third of Qatari land in order to house a US base? Also, not a word against external forces, armed to the teeth under the false pretext of "safeguarding democracy", ignoring respect for Lebanese territoriality.

Former colonial rulers France, the "motherland", keeps an important military presence in the area, focused mainly upon seeking the recuperation of the colonialist project and once again doing the dirty work of an entity, Israel, that has been oppressing an entire people for more than 60 years.

A ministerial meeting will take place in Cairo, convened by Egypt and Saudi Arabia, for what reason other than to condemn once again the right of people to resist the oppressor, as Hezbollah is doing successfully in Lebanon. Certainly, these ministers will discuss ways to stop the "negative" influence that the supporters of resistance have inside the country.

Finally, it should be noted that Palestine is at the core of the conflict in Lebanon. The termination of resistance has never been devoted to "building" or safeguarding Lebanon, but to protecting Israel and making it a "normal" state in the Arab homeland. The first decision of the colonial agents, if they succeed, will be the re-settlement of Palestinian refugees from Lebanon to ... anywhere else but Palestine.

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