We
can always count on something like Facebook to oversimplify an
otherwise complex conflict that is now occurring in Lebanon into
a suitable environment for blind cheerleading. It is no longer a
matter of innocent civilians caught in the crossfire -- in this
case, Palestinians and Lebanese civilians caught in the
crossfire of a conflict sparked by many different agitators
(namely, independent militias, security forces, the Lebanese
army and Fath al-Islam), each with their own instances of flawed
conduct . One of which has been the sheer lack of concern over
civilian casualties ("collateral damage") beyond meaningless
rhetoric. This is in addition to the grievances of innocent
civilians within Palestinian refugee camps who have suffered for
generations after they were displaced from their homeland by
Israel. The Lebanese army have a long record of showing its
muscles only when it is against defenseless Palestinian
refugees. When Israel attacked Lebanon last summer, they were
nowhere to be found as a few hundred Hezbollah fighters -- the
only line of defense for the Lebanese people -- fought off what
seemed to be insurmountable odds.
Not a single
political party spoke out against the indiscriminate bombing of
the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared by the Lebanese
army. It has been nothing but a rush over who can show the most
support. Practically everyone is supporting a "decisive military
option" which means that the Lebanese army would be allowed to
invade Palestinian refugee camps.
It is fine to
show support towards a particular action, but to throw your
entire support on one side (a specific and identifiable party or
military apparatus and not some wide-reaching term) without
objectively observing the situation and finding faults within
each party is absolutely ridiculous. There is a difference in
stating that "Hezbollah is a legitimate resistance against
foreign occupation in Lebanon!" from "I support Hezbollah!"
While the former is specific in what action it is supporting,
the other paves the way to blind cheerleading.
I find it
mind-boggling that many people who have criticized such blind,
unquestioned support of the American population’s “Support the
troops!” mentality fail to see the same parallel associated with
blind support towards the Lebanese army. There is no need to
state that you support the Lebanese soldiers, that is a given.
All soldiers are subject to the state apparatus which utilizes
them to do its bidding without any question -- that is the
general framework of the relationship. In principle, each
soldier should be shown support, but support can also be shown
by opposing the states command. In other words, "I support the
army!" will always be a vague slogan that will fail to do
justice to the complexity of a particular conflict, while making
the state apparatus immune to any criticism.
All moral
human beings should always be on the side of the oppressed. In
this situation, it is innocent and defenseless Palestinians
primarily caught in the crossfire, as casualties continue to
rise. I am not saying for people to stop supporting any
particular action by the Lebanese military which includes
entering Palestinian refugee camps. Analyze the situation
yourself and come to your own conclusion which could be subject
to change at any moment. Nevertheless, again, you must look at
this issue objectively and avoid such divisive (and outright
idiotic) cheerleading. In this case, the cheerleading has
already been hijacked by many people seeking to strengthen the
solidarity of the Lebanese people with Israel in its offensive
against the Palestinian people. They play on anxiety, fear and
the classical racism towards Palestinians that has long been in
existence in Lebanon. You can also find people who are bent on
demonizing Islam and Muslims throwing their two cents in there
as well. They are opportunists, nothing more. And yes, sadly,
many have taken the bait surrendering their capacity for
critical thinking.
As of this
moment, it is hard to tell where this conflict is going. One
thing is for certain: innocent Palestinian and Lebanese
civilians must be protected from the bullets of all sides. In
this case, the superior firepower of the Lebanese army is the
biggest threat to human lives and its exercise of firepower
should be put into question. That is the general rule of thumb
when state firepower through the military is thrown into the
mix. There are terrorist organizations in the Philippines right
now, but no one will ever find me surrendering the complexity of
that conflict for a slogan like "Support the Philippines army!"
There are
better alternatives than being trigger happy and falling victim
to blind support. Fath al-Islam is a small fanatical group which
is primarily made up by foreigners (non-Palestinian) and many
observers argue that it could have been dealt with as a security
matter, without requiring the firepower of the Lebanese army.
Personally, I concur with this opinion.
On
the Blind Cheerleading of the Lebanese Army