Friday, May 31, 2013

On Hizbullah intervention in Syria

One of the dumbest, and most common refrain, in Western and some academic discussion of Hizbullah's role in Syria is the notion that the Lebanese Shi`ite community is up in arms about that intervention.  This has been the thread in Hariri media and is being circulated in all Western media. The same Hariri media (especially in Now Hariri and in editorials in Daily Star--owned jointly by Hariri family and Hamad bin Jasim) have been insisting since 2005 that the Shi`ites of Lebanon are about (in a week or to) to break with Hizbullah.  Just consult the Electoral Encyclopedia by Kamal Fghali.  Just check the numbers.  In fact, the opposite is true: the base of Hizbullah AND Amal have been pushing for intervention, and due to many reasons that don't exclude sectarian factors.  The intervention in Syria by Hizbullah has been quite popular by the base, and as reports in As-Safir and New TV have shown, is not viewed as one for the sake of Bashshar but for other larger political consideration, whether you agree with it or not--I know, most of you don't agree with an external intervention unless it has the stamp of approval from NATO.  For some reason, many Trotskyists--but not all--are very keen on NATO interventions.