[NYTr] Canada, Hizballah and terrorism: An interview with Tariq Ali

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Canada, Hizballah and terrorism: An interview with Tariq Ali

Electronic Lebanon - Nov 14, 2007
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9098.shtml

Opinion/Editorial 

Canada, Hizballah and terrorism: An interview with Tariq Ali 

by Stefan Christoff

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 shocking 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
Hizballah 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?


[Stefan Christoff is an independent journalist based in Montreal and a
regular contributor to The Electronic Intifada and Electronic Lebanon. ]