[wvns] Tariq Ali: Canada & Hizballah
Canada, Hizballah and terrorism: An interview with Tariq Ali
Stefan Christoff
Electronic Lebanon
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9098.shtml
In 2002 Canada unveiled an official list of "terrorist" organizations,
strikingly similar to that of the the US government. Today the
Lebanese political movement Hizballah -- both the military and
political wing -- is officially considered a "terrorist" organization
by the government of Canada, a policy endorsed by only two additional
countries internationally -- the US and Israel.
In the Middle East, from Lebanon to Palestine, Hizballah is commonly
viewed as a national liberation movement, which in 2006 successfully
halted Israel's major military assault on Lebanon. As a political and
social force in Lebanon, Hizballah remains a major player at the
highest levels of government and in the most impoverished sectors of
society.
In Canada a public debate on the listing of Hizballah as a "terrorist"
organization was ignited in 2006 as Israeli military forces attacked
Lebanon, killing more than 1,100 civilians. Debate on Hizballah's
categorization as a "terrorist" organization draws attention to
Canada's post-9/11 "national security" laws and regulations that
included the formalization of a Canadian list of "terrorist"
organizations in 2002.
In an interview conducted in Montreal, novelist, historian and
political campaigner Tariq Ali discusses the history of Hizballah as a
political force in Lebanon and the Middle East, as well as Canada's
designation of the movement as "terrorist" in the post-9/11 political
environment.
STEFAN CHRISTOFF: Canada is one of three countries in the world which
categorizes Hizballah as a "terrorist" entity: Canada, the US and
Israel. I wanted to hear your reflections on Hizballah. What is your
perception of Hizballah -- the movement's role in Lebanese society and
in Lebanese history past and present? What do you think about the
categorization of Hizballah as a "terrorist" organization by the
Canadian government?
TARIQ ALI: Hizballah has developed and evolved over the years within
Lebanese society. When it first emerged as a political force it was
essentially an organization that spent a great deal of time wiping out
its rivals. One has to mention this, but as the situation in Lebanon
deteriorated Hizballah was the only organization in the country which
succeeded in resisting the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon.
Hizballah fought, as the Israeli military acknowledges, a very
persistent and sustained campaign of guerilla warfare against the
Israeli presence [in southern Lebanon] and it was their resistance to
the occupation of southern Lebanon that finally compelled Israel to
cut [its] losses and quit, winning Hizballah a great deal of respect
within the country and throughout the Arab world.
This history altered the common perception of Hizballah in the Middle
East, from being viewed as a factional organization to becoming a
national liberation organization. Hizballah today is seen not simply
as the people who drove the Israel out [of southern Lebanon] but as
the only [military] force capable of defending Lebanon when the
Israeli's mounted the 2006 invasion.
Lebanese military forces were incapable, while Hizballah defended the
nation, winning it support from Sunnis, from Shiites, from Christians,
from all those Lebanese who did not want their country reoccupied.
Israeli's actions in 2006 were deeply shocki ng because throughout the
war Israel attempted to destroy the infrastructure of Lebanese society
and their aim was to wipe out Hizballah which they couldn't do. They
were given another week to do it and they still failed to do it.
In fact, Israeli forces had to withdraw and we now know that the
entire pretext that was used to invade Lebanon was a [false] pretext
-- the capturing of two Israeli soldiers -- the war had been planned
for months by Israel with the backing of the United States and Britain
as a plan to try and wipe out Hizballah as a player in Lebanese society.
Now the categorization [of Hizballah as a "terrorist" organization]
doesn't cut much ice in that part of the world; every single
liberation organization has been categorized as terrorist. The British
used to claim that Archbishop Makarios was a terrorist, the British
used to say that the Mau Mau movement in Kenya was terrorist, the US
used to say the Vietcong were terrorist, the French used to say the
FLN in Algeria were terrorist. It's an old imperial game, categorizing
your enemies as such.
The problem is that no one in the Western world challenges their
governments [about] these categorizations. Hamas is categorized as a
terrorist organization and now Israeli writers are publicly calling
for negotiations with Hamas. So it doesn't help [the political
process] by giving this title "terrorist" to an organization that is
trying to keep their country free of foreign troops.
CHRISTOFF: Hizballah is often presented as being removed from Lebanese
society. The argument that Hizballah exploits Lebanese civilians by
hiding in civilian areas was constantly put forward by Israeli
authorities throughout the 2006 Israeli attack on Lebanon, each time
an apartment complex was pummeled with a missile in Beirut. So can you
comment on this attempt to publicly separate national liberation
organizations from the population, focusing especially on the case of
H izballah in Lebanon?
ALI: The goals [of] this categorization are to totally isolate the
resistance organization and try to show the population that it's not
acting in their interests. However, Israel failed miserably to do this
in the case of Lebanon. Hizballah won enormous respect from all layers
of Lebanese society as a result of what it did to resist Israel.
The problem is that if there was a proper census in Lebanon, as there
hasn't been a real census since the 1930s because [the Lebanese
government] is scared. If there was a census in Lebanon you would find
that Christians represent a minority, the Muslims are probably 70
percent of the population, and that the Shiite population, which forms
the basis of Hizballah's political support, are probably the largest
single group in the religious country.
So it's not going to be easy to separate Hizballah from the Lebanese
population, although attempts are still made to do this obviously, but
it very rarely works, this type of operation. The sooner that they
give up [the ongoing effort to present Hizballah as separate from
Lebanese society] to attempt political talks and negotiations the better.
CHRISTOFF: In Canada, Hizballah is still considered a terrorist
organization, along with only Israel and the US. Can you comment
further on Canada's position regarding Hizballah?
ALI: Basically the Canadian government has decided to drop any
pretense or show of independence from the United States at all. If the
Canadian government carries on like this a question of Canadian
independence is bound to come up sooner or later. What is the point of
Canada being an independent country? Why not join the United States
and then they can possibly participate more effectively in its
missions and global work.
In my opinion, what the Canadian government has done in relation to
Lebanon and in relation to Israel is disgusting. I mean the Canadian
government has completely caved in, losing all of its so-called
declarations of independence, especially under this government and the
consequences are not going to be good because this is a multi-
cultural society and has been for some time.
If Canada's intelligence services are given free reign to go and
victimize sections of society what does this offer to a future for Canada?
* Listen to an audio interview with Tariq Ali produced for Radio
Tadamon! http://tadamon.resist.ca/index.php/post/966
Stefan Christoff is an independent journalist based in Montreal and a
regular contributor to The Electronic Intifada and Electronic Lebanon...
===
Hezbollah leader says Israel's military exercises
preparation for new war on Lebanon
The Associated Press
Sunday, November 11, 2007
http://www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=8283208
BEIRUT, Lebanon: The leader of the militant Hezbollah group said
Sunday Israel's recent military exercises near the Lebanese border
were intended to prepare for a new war on Lebanon.
Sheik Hassan Nasrallah added that Hezbollah had recently held military
maneuvers in southern Lebanon in response to the Israeli drills and to
send "a clear message" to the Jewish state that his fighters were
ready to defend Lebanon if it was attacked again.
"The (Israeli) enemy has been conducting military maneuvers for
months. The latest maneuvers occurred a few weeks ago near the
Lebanese border in which 50,000 Israeli officers and soldiers
participated," Nasrallah told a Hezbollah rally in south Beirut.
"These maneuvers are to prepare for an attack on Lebanon," he said.
The pro-Hezbollah newspaper Al-Akhbar reported that thousands of
unarmed Hezbollah fighters took part in the organization's own
maneuvers, which was later confirmed by a senior Hezbollah official
who would not give further details.
Prime Minister Fuad Saniora downplayed the event as just a simulation
and U.N. peacekeeping force patrolling a zone along the border in
southern Lebanon said no maneuvers were observed in their area of
operations.
The newspaper said Nasrallah personally supervised the maneuvers,
which it said were carried out in the last three days without weapons
or uniforms, billing it as the biggest ever staged on Israel's border
by the Iranian-backed Shiite Muslim militant group.
"I tell the (Israeli) enemy that these maneuvers were real, serious
and big. I am not going to give details. There is a great deal of
readiness (by Hezbollah) which the enemy must understand," Nasrallah
said in his speech Sunday.
"These maneuvers were intended to send out a clear message to the
world which is besieging us ... and to this enemy that the resistance
in Lebanon possesses determination, men and the necessary and
sufficient weapons to defend Lebanon," the black-turbaned cleric said,
drawing cheers from the crowd.
Without elaborating, he added, "The resistance is ready to make a
historic victory for Lebanon that will change the region's face."
The rally, attended by several thousand Hezbollah supporters waving
the group's yellow banners and the Lebanese flag, was organized by
Hezbollah to mark the group's Martyr's Day.
Nasrallah, whose whereabouts are unknown because of fear that Israel
will attempt to kill him as they did his predecessor in 1992, did not
personally attend the rally.
The speech was broadcast live by Hezbollah's Al-Manar television on a
giant screen in the southern suburbs of Beirut, the Hezbollah
stronghold devastated by Israeli airstrikes during last year's war
with Hezbollah guerrillas.
Celebratory fireworks and gunfire erupted at the start and end of his
75-minute speech.
Nasrallah, whose group is leading the opposition against Saniora's
Western-backed government, criticized the ruling coalition for not
protesting the Israeli maneuvers at the U.N. and for failing to stop
the almost daily Israeli reconnaissance flights over Lebanon.
The Hezbollah leader also warned the ant-Syrian majority in Parliament
against electing a new president without the support of the opposition.
"The opposition will not recognize such a president," said Nasrallah.
"It will consider him a usurper of power."
Pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud's term ends on Nov. 24, and there is
widespread fear that the failure to agree on his successor could lead
to a power vacuum or possibly the creation of two rival governments.
*********************************************************************
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