Lebanon4AllLebanese said:
Thanks Dry Ice for the very intelligent and informative article on Fadlallah etc. explaining somewhat the different flavors and currents of modern Shiite ideology in Lebanon, and especially the Islamist one.
Dont listen to anyone who said it was too much.. I read it all.. Its important to have this context which isnt felt and is strongly misunderstood in different parts of Lebanon.
I strongly loathed the parts about the 'Israeli head and the Lebanese christian tail', and about the borders of Lebanon being false and drawn as an 'imperialist tool' to divide the Islamic nation.
For one, Lebanon existed as a culture and as a people long before Christianity, Islam, and even Judaism. And second, it was never a strong integral part of the Islamic nation but rather a conquered and rebellious province.. in fact it was a refuge for persecuted Shiites escaping the 'Islamic nation'. Now some of their descendants wish Lebanon - the land of minorities - to be the motor behind a new Islamic nation?
There's not even a hint of reality in this. Its just a hope and a rallying cry, a sense of identity and pride, but anyone Shiite or otherwise with a hint of intelligence knows that this will never happen in Lebanon because the immune system of the land will reject it just like it rejected Israeli, Syrian or general arab domination.
The sad state of affairs that led to this ideology was the dispossession, poverty and second class citizenship that was accorded to Shiites by arabs in general and Lebanese in particular before they found their voice in the seventies.
This is where we differ Dry Ice. I too loathe the idea of an Islamic state or anything to do with state and government that is non secular, no matter what religion or combination of religions. But still I dont fear or disrespect or even dislike Hezbollah, and am not paranoid about them or about my differences of opinion with them.
Instead of believing in differences, believe in the similarities of what all people want - prosperity and a better future, good governance absent of corruption that serves the people and not itself. If these things are provided, poisonous ideas wither and the majority of people find themselves much closer to the center.
First L4AL,
Thank you. Thank you for reading the whole article and acknowledging the poison of Hezbollah's ideology.
Secondly, I respect your position on believing in similarities with the people versus looking at differences. I believe in that too. I am not looking at the differences with my Shiite brothers, I am looking at differences with Hezbollah. Hezbollah is not the Shiites and the Shiites are not Hezbollah. The Shiites are Lebanon, then Mount Amel and Baalbeck. The Shiites are Moussa Sadr. The Shiites are not Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah. I believe in equal development for the entire republic (eder). I agree that those poisonous ideas will wither and people would become centrists, I am a centrist and I hope to remain as such.
Finally, my critic of the Hezbollah is not addressed to the Shiites nor Islam nor the poor rural people of Lebanon. It is addressed to Hezbollah per se, to the fundamentalists who really do not feel that they are being radical with their ideas, they believe that their ideas are righteous and fair, that for all humanity, Islam is the key.
Let us keep on looking at similiraties with the people, with the Shiites, with Muslims, with poor rural habitants, this will bring them to the center, I am sure of that - however let us also and always keep Hezbollah and ideologies like Hezbollah's in check: We know what they are up to and we should not sleep over it because the next 50 years might not be enough to curb the Islamic wave.
The Third Lebanese Shiite Force
Hazem Saghieh
Forging a new political Lebanese Shiite force is an advantage for them, for Lebanon and for the whole region.
First, let us say that the Shiites in Lebanon are likely the most isolated sect in Lebanon. One who knows the South, Beqaa, Jbeil and the South West Suburbs, knows very well this truth. In addition to the plurality of thoughts and social positions, the Shiite sect insists on refusing the unilateral or bilateral exclusive representation, just like it insists on refusing the political and ideological meetings that result from an unequal representation.
This is how the Shiites were before the occurrence of the civil-regional conflict, which led to scatter their belonging among many leaders. However, a margin always existed for the modern, leftist and other forces. Even the trend established by Imam Moussa Sadr, at the beginning of the 1970s, tried, before being driven by the winds of war, to contain the sectarian plurality through gathering a united popular movement, in addition to directions and people who have no problem with differences and plurality.
The modern meaning of "plurality," called for in the last "gathering," encompasses cultural, professional and economic forces that are considered to be of the same importance of the Martyrs' Square's one, both internally and externally. It is not senseless that the "Amiliyyah" hosts such a meeting, because it embodies the first Shiite attempts to build a new educational and civil institution.
On the other hand, the Lebanese Shiite are traditionally linked to forces abroad. In fact, they have tight relations with Iraq and Iran, both on the cultural and spiritual levels, which led to the occurrence of family ties and switching the residence place. However, these relations were never political ones. Never has the Lebanese Shiites history witnessed someone calling for a "unity" with Iraq, not to mention Iran, because of the sectarian relation. In other words, the "Third Force" is trying to restore this feature of the Lebanese Shiites history. However, by tracing the separation line between the political issues and the cultural-spiritual ones, it is paving the way to a balance that was not always easy between achieving benefits and sticking to cohabitation, and the fact that this sect is the largest one in the country and at the same time, bears a minority and democratic sense imposed by the nature and structure of the country.
The Shiites of the "Third Force" shall present a different Shiite model than those available in the region. Obviously, it is not the Iranian Khomeini model nor an attempt like that of Hezbollah to establish an Islamic Republic in Lebanon. Nevertheless, it is not also a model for the Iraqi Shiites who were driven by Saddam Hussein's savagery to ask for toppling him through the occupation that was thought to be the salvation. Should we add the party attempts made by the elite young members, we notice a Lebanese model, where internal issues play a significant role in changing toward developing a political life, sovereign and democratic, impossible without the Shiite participation.