Huge protest brings Beirut to a standstill
I am currently having my eyes opened by Sophia into the simplistic way that the politics of Lebanon are portrayed to us by the western media. There is no better example of this that the BBC's coverage of the mass demonstrations taking place in Beirut at this moment.
The BBC report that:Hundreds of supporters of Hezbollah and its pro-Syrian allies have pitched camp in central Beirut near the offices of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.
However, when one looks at who is addressing the rally, that simplistic "pro-Syrian" argument becomes harder to accept:"I call on the prime minister and his ministers to quit," said opposition leader Michel Aoun, to roars of applause. Mr Aoun, who fought a 15-year campaign to rid Lebanon of Syrian influence and commands the largest Christian following, led the opposition speeches. The Hizbullah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, seen by many as a driving force of the opposition, did not make an appearance.
Indeed, many of the protesters were saying that the problem with the government was that nothing has changed since the Syrians evacuated:
"These are the same people that ruled under the Syrians - the same crooks. We want a new government that is responsible and actually works for the good of the country," said 36-year-old electrical engineer Raymond Khouri.
"This government had a year and a half and they didn't do anything for Lebanon. There is no work, there is no security, and there is no honesty from the Siniora government" said Hussein Fawaz, a 40-year-old stonemason from the south.
The government also came under fire over its relationship with Washington and its conduct during the summer's 34-day-war between Israel and Hizbullah.
"Our people were being killed everyday by Israel and they [the government] were taking orders from its ally, America. No one from this government has even visited the south yet," says Khaled Khadash, a 47-year-old marketing manager.
The British Foreign Secretary, Margaret Beckett, is planning to visit Mr Siniora during the day to express her solidarity with his government.It was similar protests some eighteen months ago that brought Siniora to power in a wave of protest against Syrian interference in that country - which is why it is so easy now to portray present events there as a longing for a return of Syrian influence.
However, Lebanon - long the battleground for other people's wars - appears to be actually complaining that Siniora is too pro-western. It does not follow that this is an automatic calling for a return of Syrian influence, rather than a longing for a removal of all foreign influence in the country.
It is a peculiar vanity of western politics to only see events through our own carefully selected prism. It was looking through this prism that blinded the US to the fact that Saddam could not admit he had destroyed his WMD because he feared Iran more than he wanted to terrorise the west.
Our sense of self importance meant that we never considered the fact that Saddam had other fears that we had never allowed to enter the equation.
Likewise, it is too simplistic to view what is going on in Lebanon at the moment through the pro/anti Syrian prism that is being employed by much of the media.
However, occasionally, amidst all the bluster, a modicum of truth spills out:
"They are letting the Americans interfere in our country and we don't want that. We want an independent Lebanon," said Bilal, a 17-year-old Hizbollah supporter.But will the west or the Syrians ever allow such a thing?
Click title for source.
tag: Siniora, Nasrallah, Lebanon, pro-Israeli lobby, US foreign policy, Syria
5 comments:
Kel,
I don't think I opened your eyes. They were already open. There is a wealth of excellent political analysis on this blog.
''The British Foreign Secretary, Margaret Beckett, is planning to visit Mr Siniora during the day to express her solidarity with his government.''
How does she think Lebanese will react in doing this ? She and Blair refused to ask for a ceasefire during the Israeli agression and now in supporting Siniora they are confirming that Siniora is the candidate of the people who are ennemies of Lebanon. If she really wants Siniora to stay, she should not do this.
Sophia,
Margaret Beckett's visit is a joke. British credibility in the entire Middle East is at a lower ebb than at any time since Suez. The British refusal to call for a ceasefire means that Blair has Lebanese blood on his hands.
However, as Blair's time in office nears it's conclusion, his relationship with political reality becomes ever more tenous; so I suppose we can expect more of these ridiculous gestures.
I mean, he says he intends to make the formation of a state of Palestine his legacy! A man with zero credibility, who has allowed Washington to use him as it's tool, now thinks he, somehow, has the leverage to solve a forty year old occupation.
He's simply delusional.
There was a time when he could have really influenced the Bush regime, when they desperately needed him to give them some legitimacy for their illegal invasion of Iraq. That was the time to push them on Palestine. Indeed, I remember claims that the road to a state of Palestine lay through Baghdad.
It came to nothing. If he thinks he can push the Bushites now to put pressure on the Israelis, he's off his head.
Kel,
Blair's advocacy for a solution of the Israeli Palestinin conflict seems to be a pretext everytime he is in trouble to make his party accept his unpopular decisions. The pretext came twice, once just before the Iraq war and once lately when there was huge pressure especially from the army chief to withdraw from Iraq.
The first time Blair said he would convince Bush to push for a solution in palestine and we all now know that it didn't work and the second time Blair said why ask for a withdrawal from Iraq lets find a solution for the Israeli Palestinin conflict and the violence in Iraq would die instantly...It's just rethoric and pretext to pull himself from a political difficulty.
I am not that much into internal UK poliitics but lately I got a glance at young Blair in the 'fiction' THE QUEEN. This movie is more about Blair than it is about the queen. One realises that Blair is an opportunist, that he does not have any political stamina and no real leadership. With the queen for example he exploited the fact that this woman was so far away from the values of modern society to make his way in the hearts of British with his 'the people's princess' as well as to score some political points against the queen. There was a quasi oedipian drive in his relation to the queen and as he realised that British monarchy was not inclusive he might have turned to a US texan style monarchy in his relation with Bush. He craved for recognition from people who incarnate natural or absolute authority. It is abvious in the movie.
Sophia,
I agree totally that Blair pulls the Palestinians out of the hat every time the party balks at his right wing policies, and the latest claim that he would make the establishment of a Palestinian state pivotal to his last few months in office is, again, simply a way for him to remain in power. It's so transparent.
And I also enjoyed the movie, The Queen. I thought Blair's attitude throughout this time was summed up well at the end when he describes what a bad time it was for all.
The Queen replied, "Not for you, Mr Blair. Not for you." She then went on to tell him that one day he, too, would be hated. I laughed out loud as the day has already come.
And he is a political opportunist. He always "sincerely believes" whatever is most politically expedient at any given time.
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