DANGERS OF MERGING HEZBOLLAH AND IRAN (written in September 2011)

A little piece from 2011 that I had forgotten about and found the other day...

DANGERS OF MERGING HEZBOLLAH AND IRAN

By Ghassan Kadi , 21 September 2011.

As someone who cares about Palestine in specific and in justice in general, I find that the main purpose behind any writing I do is to serve this objective. The road towards such an objective is long and narrow and can get at times foggy. In other instances, one may have to make interim alliances that serve a common objective. The eyes have to be wide open and the mind needs to be alert.

Israel and its lobby have been running a very diligent propaganda campaign for decades and there is nothing new in this. The campaign is multi-faceted and does not always necessarily come out as black and white. Some of it is very covert and subtle and hard to identify as Zionist propaganda.

Perhaps whole books can be written about this subject, but the main objective of this note is to highlight a danger that Israel is capitalizing on, namely the issue of the relationship between Iran and Hezbollah.

In its attempt to gain international sympathy and support, Israel is always trying to portray that it is surrounded by ruthless and powerful enemies. Iran is now being portrayed as the big bully that is threatening Israel. It is also trying to make Hezbollah and Iran appear as inseparable entities; twins, and hence is always trying to promote the idea that Hezbollah is a terrorist organization and should not have any representation in the Lebanese cabinet even when it wins votes with an overwhelming majority.

But this view of Hezbollah does not only serve the Israeli propaganda, but it also plays on domestic Lebanese politics which are very vulnerable and always underestimated.

The anti-Hezbollah camp in Lebanon is also constantly trying to portray Hezbollah as an Iranian satellite. They argue that any support for Hezbollah means a support for the regional Iranian rise to power and its hegemony. When sectarian Sunni/Shiite passions are added to the argument, the final cocktail becomes very easily taken in by Sunnis who feel fearful about what has been recently dubbed “Tashyeeh”, a word that is best translated as Shiit-ification.

Hezbollah is an organization that is protecting Lebanese sovereignty by guarding the Lebanese borders from Israeli incursions. The liberation of South Lebanon from Israeli occupation in 2000 and the subsequent defeat of Israel in July 2006 were thus far its greatest achievements.

Hezbollah undoubtedly relies heavily on Iranian and Syrian support, but within Lebanon, Hezbollah has its own independent political modus operandi that finds it having common grounds with the Tayyar movement, a political party headed by the ex Army Chief (General Aoun) who is a Maronite Christian.

Whether one supports Hezbollah, Syria, Hamas, the PA, Turkey, General Aoun, Iran or any other power player within Lebanon or the region as a whole, facts dictate that there are two major political and military forces in the Levant; one that supports Israel and its agenda, and one that is against it.

Sadly, there are many divisions within the latter side. Those divisions are so powerful at times that they push some very staunch anti-Israelis to argue and fight within themselves.

In the ideal world, those who oppose Israel and its oppressive policies should be united by that cause and be able to realize that what unites them is far stronger and more substantial than what divides them. When they cannot work together, the least they can do is not to work against each other and not to get into propaganda war against each other throwing around accusations of corruption and treachery.

Sadly also, a very active FB member, under a nom de plume, is very active in  strongly promoting the concept of unity of Hezbollah and Iran. This very vehement affirmation can easily serve Israeli propaganda and can also inflame anti-resistance sentiments and more divisions within Lebanon. 

The regurgitation of Israeli propaganda and the divisive rhetoric of ultra right wing Lebanese politics cannot be of any good in serving the main objective of the struggle against Israel and ensuring justice for Palestinians. 

The objective here is not to slander that particular person and/or get into a tit-for-tat FB war with any one. This is about offering a view about a very seemingly benign issue in the hope that its ramifications can become clearly visible.