Wednesday, March 09, 2005

What I don't like about Hizballah's political stand

The worst thing to hit Lebanon since 1990 was the cropping up of a bunch of thug-politicians who were sponsored by Syrian occupation forces. For me, these individuals, who have no popular mandate whatsoever, are "collaborators" who need to be swept away with the Syrian Army & Mukhabarat. Nasser Qandil and Assem Qanso are, unfortunately, merely the tip of the iceberg.

I fear that Hizballah's call for Syria's "honorable withdrawal" consists of two components. The first is to show Lebanese, Syrians and the world that a significant portion of the population are against Syrian withdrawal. The second, and more dangerous component, is protecting Syrian polical/security/economic individuals and structures that will be left behind after the withdrawal. In short, Hizballah will not permit Syria's allies to meet the fate of Israel's.

You can see the consequences of their decision when brutes attend conferences hosted by Hizballah; or when they give speeches at Hizballah rallies. Basically, the party of God has signalled that it has taken them under its populist umbrella. Whatever their justification, Hizballah must be prepared to accept responsibility for whatever these individuals do in the future. For although they are not members of the party, they owe their necks to it!

Hizballah's neutrality in Lebanese politics has now come to an abrupt end.

2 comments:

gum said...

Hizballah is a political party and a military resistance group. how on earth are they supposed to stay neutral?!

Raja said...

Michel,

ever since Hizballah began officially participating in Lebanese politics, they've always (until now) been a neutral force. They've acted almost like China on the UN Security Council - never voting on any 'bills' or voting for/against any specific government.

Their decision was both wise and shrewd. By refusing to take sides on issues, they successfully portrayed themselves as a national resistance movement that was "above petty local politics." It was shrewd because, by never casting votes of confindence/noconfidence, or in fact, participating in governments, they could criticise without allowing themselves to be criticized.

That is my brief summary of how Hizballah maintained neutrality in domestic Lebanese politics throughout the past decade