How does BDS silence Lebanese academics instead of Israelis?

Abir A Chaaban


I just came back from an academic conference, which aims at discussing new approaches to studying the Middle East and organized by the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies in London-United Kingdom. As an opponent to BDS, I made the decision and prior to the conference to send an article to Ariel University to signify my opposition to BDS and promotion for dialogue. 

Ariel University is a university located at the West Bank. When I sent my to article Ariel University, it was not yet recognized as a legal university by the Israeli Higher Education Council. I thought that this was a good opportunity as I am not violating the Lebanese laws by sending an article to the West Bank which is Palestinian Occupied Territories. This was important to me since I do travel to Lebanon frequently, where I conduct field work on my research. 

Ariel University which is situated at the margins of conflict was the space that gave birth to discourses emerging at the margins and this was well positioned within the framework of my research which works with knowledge produced at the margins.  I was thus able to send my point of view inside Israel, something I felt that BDS aims to prevent me from doing, as a Lebanese Canadian, in its campaign of boycotting Israeli academic institutions. In fact, BDS was boycotting Lebanese academics from making a difference and from being able to initiate dialogue with Israeli academics on issues of war and peace. 

To my surprise at the conference, I was faced by opposition not only by Arabs or by Palestinians, but also by Israeli and British academics. What seemed strange to me is that Israeli and British academics are the force that pushes Palestinians and whoever joins to boycott Israeli academics, even when the opposition they are silencing was actually Lebanese. This then started to raise some important questions: 

Why are Israeli academics mobilizing Palestinians to boycott Israeli academics?

Why are both Palestinians and Israelis joining arms against Lebanese interest in the regional conflict by silencing the Lebanese from being able to be heard and read inside Israel, or making their point of view reach the Israeli public?

The Palestinian naivety and lack of vision became clear to me in one panel that aimed at explaining the BDS objectives,  one of which, was the Palestinian demand calling for the application of GA Resolution 194 III, a General Assembly Resolution,  which is not legally binding. 

As I presented the panelist with the fact that there is a Security Council Resolution (73 ) 1949 which makes the demand for the application of resolution 194 (III) 1949, but it also positions Lebanon and Syria as negotiating parties with Israel on the issues of territories and refugees and not solely the Palestinians, the Palestinian Chair wanted me to be silent. This is the point when Palestinians become the enemy of the Lebanese and the friends of Israel. It is the point when the Palestinians are afraid to lose their centrality as the negotiator for peace. Naively, this they do at the cost of abstracting the authoritative Security Council Resolution 73, which would guarantee their return so that they may with their Israeli partners exclude Lebanon and Syria from being negotiators for peace. Abstracting Resolution 73 from the field of discourse would then position the Palestinians as the sole victim, and the sole negotiating party to the conflict and regardless to the weakness of their argument that depends on a non binding GA resolution. 

I addressed my concern to the Palestinians by asking why do Palestinians join Israelis in averting from demanding the implementation of the binding Security Council Resolution 73, if their target was clearly a demand for the application of the non-binding General Assembly Resolution 194. My question was not answered, in addition to the efforts of Palestinian panelists and their British supporters at silencing the question in the same way Israelis would like this question to be silenced. Both Israelis as well as Palestinians refuse to answer and refuse to admit that Lebanon and Syria are the main negotiating parties that may work on resolving the issues associated with disputed territories and refugees. 

The unity of Israelis and Palestinians on the BDS issue would certainly position the Palestinians as the enemy of Lebanon situated at the same camp with Israel where both parties reject peace and also reject negotiation with their neighbors. Both aim at abstracting mechanisms promulgated in international law on the one hand, and then claim of demanding the application of the law on the other hand. 

Taking that Palestinians and Israelis would join hands against the Lebanese in an academic setting to silence the Lebanese point of view and the Lebanese position in the regional conflict,  I ask the question if it is worth the Lebanese time and effort to defend the Palestinian cause instead of negotiating peace with Israel on their own terms. This Lebanese would do by penetrating the Israeli public space through academics that may initiate dialogue and reject BDS, which only harms the Lebanese by silencing them and not Israeli academics.

See more on this discussion @ https://www.oroom.org/forum/threads/how-does-bds-silence-lebanese-academics-instead-of-israelis.53678/ 

Failure of Israeli-Saudi Intelligence to Enunciate a Modality for Peace in Lebanon!

Abir A Chaaban

Ziad Itani is a popular Lebanese actor  and satirist. He was arrested for collecting intelligence related to normalization of relations with Israel, aka the Saudi peace initiative. His task was to collect data about Lebanese politicians, journalists, intellectuals and activists for an Israeli intelligence agent. 

Itani was spying on Lebanese journalists, intellectuals and activists. His target was individuals with peace and  nonviolence inclinations. The objective of this operation was to organize a liberal pro-peace movement from within these individuals through deception.  

This intelligence operation has now failed attempt. This does not mean though that this failure did not produce a form of a modality by statements proliferating on social media and are taking as their target of relations the objects of "peace" and "treason" into the public sphere nationwide inside Lebanon.

Itani provided Lebanese National Security with names of many people, all them are in the report that would make it to court. Depending on the court proceedings, some of these people may be called as witnesses. These people are not accomplies in the crime with Itani, but they are on the watch list as by Israeli intelligence as Itani was requested to provided information about them to an Israeli intelligence agent. 

The failed intelligence operation coincided with Prime Minister Hariri resigning his position from Saudi Arabia, which was seen by the public as the Saudi attempt to orchestrate a coup inside Lebanon. Discourse associated with this resignation also alluded to the Saudi peace initiative making the two events related and not a mere coincidence. This attempt also failed to produce the effect Saudi hoped for in Lebanon, which would at the first while appear to be a Sunni-Shi'a divide along loyalties to Iran and loyalists to Saudi Arabia within the field of discourse of war and peace with Israel. 

The miraculous effect was that Lebanon was united in the demand of the return of the Prime Minister, who withdrew his resignation at his arrival to Lebanon under public demand. Needless to say that a Sunni Shi'a unity developed as Hezbollah's Secretary General called for unity instead of division. Ziad Itani was tasked with providing intelligence about the street feedback related to the resignation and consequent events.

More events suggest an organized operation between Saudi and Israel. This may be inferred by the fact that these events also coincided with Saudi Arabia and some Arab States categorizing Iran and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations at the Arab League meeting on November 19, 2017, where they declared the formation of a counter military alliance in opposition to Iran by activating operations of the Islamic Military Counter  Terrorism Coalition on November 27, 2017, an  alliance composed of Sunni majority States.  

Israel and Saudi are certainly exchanging and coordinating intelligence to serve a common goal, This is implementing the Saudi peace initiative in Lebanon by manufacturing consent.  What is also certain is that this well coordinated Saudi-Israeli plot failed miserably at the intelligence level. It failed precisely at its capacity to articulate a modality favorable neither to Saudi Arabia nor to Israel. 

Saudi Piracy, Iranian Imperialism and Peace with Israel

Abir A Chaaban 

November 11, 2017

We should admit that neither Prime Minister Saad Hariri's nor Sayed Hassan Nasrallah's projects serve into the objective of the independence of Lebanon as a sovereign state.

Hezbollah has two faces. The first is positive as it supports the territorial independence of Lebanon. The second is negative as it serves into keeping this territory as non sovereign territories commanded by the sovereign state of Iran. Lebanese territories serve as territories within an imperial domain controlled by a militant proxy guided by religious and dogmatic leadership centered in Iran and loyal to al Wali al Faqih.

Hariri is a proxy leader appointed by pirates serving as Kings in Saudi Arabia. His task is the consolidation of the central power in Riyadh by Saudi Arabian dominance of the economic resources of the country through economic dependence on Saudi Arabia. This is a worst project. It is colonization through economic dependence.

The situation as it stands today is that no one can oppose Saudi due to its monarchy's dominance of oil resources in the Arabian Peninsula turning every state into a territory economically dependent on its hegemony. This is evident in the recent events arising from the resignation of Saad Hariri and voiced by Lebanon's paralysis and inability to make a firm stand against Saudi as the latter is threatening with the collective punishment of deportation of Lebanese expatriates working in the Kingdom in the case of disobedience. This is terror. Saudi Arabia is a state run by pirates. This is its monarchy.

Hezbollah's weapons are necessary for the defense of the state and the protection of its economic resources. 

Peace with Israel is the path that would make Lebanon in control of its oil resources without the need to be dependent on Saudi Arabia economically. Peace with Israel will create jobs inside Lebanon. 

Iran is the main obstacle for achieving economic independence and is the main obstacle to Lebanon's capacity of changing its position from a dependent territory to an independent sovereign state. Iran however, is the necessary partner for peace to come between Lebanon and Israel.

Syrian Opposition and its Lebanese Supporters' Communication Strategy: Hysteria

Hysteria is the communication strategy adopted by some radical and moderate Syrian opposition and Lebanese supporters. Hysteria is a form of propaganda. It communicates messages based on false fabrication of news around actual events. It frames this news as violations of human rights law and humanitarian law painted as consequences of a terrorist attack where the attacker is situated in place of the victim of the Syrian government. This it does by a hysterical visual campaign proliferating images of the injured and dead. The aim is to redirect global attention from the terrorist attack itself by sending messages positioning the adversary of the perpetrator of the campaign as the perpetrator of the attack and prior to any official investigation. Associated with the abricated message we see a proliferation of Photoshop images of children in distress, or bruised bodies of dead people as evidence of the narrative associated with the images.

Fake Sarin gas attack images of thousands of children allegedly killed by the Syrian Government emerged frequently as part of hysteria campaigns by some Syrian opposition factions.. The most recent of which was associated with an American attack the Syrian Government under the pretext that a hysteria propaganda campaign of a chemical attack actually happened, the decision of the attack was made without an investigation about the accuracy of the alleged hysteria campaign. Hysterical academics, lawyers and journalists join in hysteria campaigns.

The most recent campaign can be observed in the recent terrorist attack on the Lebanese Army by Syrian militants in Arsal.  The story can be narrated as follows. Radical factions of the Syrian opposition who operate from the Syrian refugee camp of Arsal in Lebanon launched a suicide bomber attack on the Lebanese Army as the latter was making an entry into the Syrian refugee camp in Arsal. Arrests were made. Four people died. To redirect media attention from the terrorist attack on the Lebanese Army, the Syrian opposition and its Lebanese supporters used fake Photoshop images of tortured bodies of dead soldiers. They claimed that these were the bodies of the four deceased Syrians. The claimed that Syrians died in the custody of the Lebanese Army under torture was not evidenced but was the story proliferating in the media. Pictures showing the detained Syrians portraying them like Jews in Nazi camps suggest that these images are clearly targeting a Western public.

 In fact, the four Syrians died in hospitals. They were 4 out of 13 people transferred to hospitals where a total of 350 Syrians were. The 13 people were transferred by the Lebanese Red Cross to the hospital as they demonstrated critical health conditions that may be attributed to a heat wave where the temperature was almost 42 degrees Celsius according to an official statement published by MTV.

 Academics and lawyers of specific support organizations, nevertheless join the hysteria campaign discrediting the official reports supporting the terrorists attack with claims of the violations of human rights and humanitarian law, when in fact the terrorists’ lawyers were working on obstructing the investigation into

the incident. Lawyers and academics proliferated statements about the brutality of the Lebanese Army, which happens to be the entity that was attacked by the suicide bomber.

In this discourse, the suicide bomber has rights. The suicide bomber and his supporters not only have the right to blast the Lebanese Army with explosives illegally possessed in the country, but also have the right to restrain the Army from taking action under the protection provided by the instruments of human rights, and humanitarian law. While, this critic does not undermine the importance of these instruments, it does shed light on their use as tools in propaganda campaigns in time of conflict.

Hysteria works at achieving one thing. Its aim is to redirect the objects of relations to its own advantage making use of human rights law and humanitarian law to protect the terrorists and gather international support to the cries of this that can spread the largest number of Photoshop images associated with fabricated media messages about an event.

New Political Party in Lebanon-Hezb Loubnan

I attended the presentation of Lebanon Party on July 3rd 2017. Like its sister Sabaa, the party's program is vague. It lacks originality. It does not touch on the material conditions existing within the issues associated with the state security and defense.

The meeting starting with a copy of the French Declaration of Citizen and Man born out of the French Revolution tailored for Lebanon is indicative of the simplicity by which their vision was presented.

This was the point of reference the party stated to advocate citizenship as the basis of belonging, renouncing sectarianism and the National Pact. In fact, we have a long history in Lebanon that could construct a local foundation as to why Lebanon should become a civic state. We do not need to borrow the French Declaration.

The most significant downfall in the party's program in the party's lack of vision regarding conflict with Israel. It advocates that it is a party for peace. Their strategy to achieve peace is "neutrality."

Neutrality is a non operational strategy. It lacks knowledge of the material conditions. It does not take material and actual conflict with Israel and armament on the ground as a result of this conflict. They did not seem to have a plan to tell us on how do they wish to deal with security, defense and armament or possible negotiations with Israel.

Neutrality does not bring peace. Negotiation on the issues of armament, borders and national security, refugees, and economic resources is what brings peace and coexistence.

The Muslim Brotherhood is Coming our Way

The choice is being made clear to all of us by the rapid shifts of alliances at the Middle Eastern Arab states and Egypt on the one hand, and material operations on the ground of conflict on the other. Clearly, alliances between the Arabs are being divided int two clear camps delineating ISIS supporter Saudi Arabia and Muslim Brotherhood supporter Qatar.

At the battle ISIS is diminishing, if true, its leader is killed. In Iraq they are losing ground. In Syria, we have a third group called the "rebels." These are Western and Israeli supported Muslim Brotherhood.

As much as I despise the Muslim Brotherhood, it seems to me they are coming to the front. This is why.

Originally the idea of the Muslim Brotherhood was pioneered by Jamal el Din al Afghani who worked in the service of the Sultan at the Ottoman Empire. His task was to recruit in India under the "Muslim" Mujahedeen identity against the British colonization of India. In Egypt and Syria Afghani promoted reformations similar to the English Reformations following the Protestant and Catholic religious wars.

Afghani also promoted a Muslim Brotherhood that would bond the Sunni Ottoman Empire with the Safavide Twelver Shi'a Empire. He suggested a system of collaboration and coordination between the two imperial theologies.

This history makes it very likely that Iranians would collaborate with the Muslim Brotherhood as the possible future governments in countries like Egypt and Syria.

Sisi is viewed negatively in Western academic circles, as well a,s in the United States. These spaces are taken over by the newly born academics Christians and Muslims from Egypt and Syria. These academics present themselves as the westerners that understand the legitimacy of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Muslim Brotherhood recruits at the social and popular level making it difficult to eliminate. They have a public at their side. This is unlike ISIS a militancy having no popular base.

The two evident losers in this picture are the Saudi King and Sisi. This is because the Muslim Brotherhood would collect Egypt and Saudi people to its own sovereignty.

أنطون سعادة العروبة أفلست 1949

أنطون سعادة
العروبة أفلست
1949
لم يخامرني قط شك في أن العروبة – عروبة "الوطن العربي" الممتد شريطة طويلة ملتفة ومتمعجة على شواطئ غرب آسيا وشمال أفريكة ، وعروبة "الأمة العربية" الموجودة في جماعات مختلفة الأجناس المتفرقة والبيئات المتباعدة ، والنفسيات المتباينة ، وعروبة "المجتمع العربي" الذي تنقصه كل خصائص المجتمع الصحيح الحي الفاعل وكل عوامل الاتحاد الاجتماعي وعروبة الأربعين أو الخمسين مليون عربي – قضية خاسرة في سورية، مضيعة لكل مجهود تقوم به الأمة السورية لحفظ كيانها ووطنها وتحقيق مطالبها في الحياة. وقد جزمت، بعد درس نفسية العروبة المذكورة في سورية – نفسية "القومية العربية" – في أنها مرض نفسي شوه العقل السوري والإدراك والمنطق. فلما وضعت تعاليم الحركة القومية الاجتماعية ودعوت الأمة السورية إلى وعي حقيقتها ووحدة حياتها ومصيرها، كان رد الفعل عند مرضى العروبة من نفس رد الفعل عند جميع المرضى النفسيين الميالين إلى الوساوس والهياج . فكانت تلك الموجة الأولى من النقمة الرجعية على بعث القومية السورية – على وعي الوجود السوري والحقيقة السورية وأهداف الحياة السورية!
لم يكن للأمة السورية مهرب من الخسارة في قضية "الأمة العربية" التي تعني، من وجهة الاجتماع الإنساني، معضلة كمعضلة الحركة الدائمة في مسائل الطبيعة والهندسة. فالعروبة في سورية الطبيعية هي عملية صادر بلا وارد – كما يقال بتعبير اقتصادي – هي عملية استنزاف قوى عقلية ونشاط روحي و إنفاق مجهود مادي عملي بلا تعويض. هي إضاعة الحقيقة في تيارات نفسية من الأوهام وفي خضم من الأضاليل. هي تضليل من قبل إقطاعيين ومتزعمين لحزبيات دينية لا يفتأون يثيرون نعرات تلك الحزبيات ويستغلون عماوة الغوغاء المستعدة دائماً للاندفاع في تيار قوة الاستمرار الرجعي، لأن ذلك أسهل عليه من تعود شئ جديد وممارسة حياة جديدة.
وقد أنبأت الأمة السورية بأضرار تلك العقلية العروبية الوهمية والاتكالية وشرحت في كتاباتي واقع العالم العربي الذي هو واقع أمم ومجتمعات متقاربة يسهل تعاونها وتشكيل جبهة تعاونية منها، لا واقع أمة واحدة ومجتمع واحد. وناديت الأمة السورية إلى النهوض بنفسها لتتمكن من الاشتغال في قضايا العالم العربي ولتكون قوة في تكوين الجبهة العربية، وحذرتها من عاقبة الاستسلام لوهم " الوحدة العربية " ومبالغات "الأربعين أو الخمسين مليون عربي" المذرورين على شواطئ قارتين. فقامت قيامة العروبيين ومستغلي العروبة على الحزب القومي الاجتماعي وأخذوا ينادون أن هذا الحزب، الذي يريد إنقاذ سورية من تخبطها وفوضاها وجعلها قوة ذات قيمة تعاونية كبيرة في العالم العربي "عدو العرب". ذهبت كيليكية فقلت أن على سورية أن تقوم هي بقضيتها القومية وتستعيد هذه المنطقة الشمالية الخصبة من الوطن السوري، وقال العروبيون: لا بأس فإن "الوحدة العربية" ستتكفل بإعادة هذه الأرض. ثم ذهبت الاسكندرونة ذات الموقع الحيوي الممتاز فقال العروبيون: لا بأس "فالوحدة العربية " متى تمت، تعيدها. وقال القوميون الاجتماعيون قد خسرت سورية الاسكندرونة كما خسرت كيليكية بسبب اهمالها قوميتها وعدم إقبالها على إقامة النظام القومي الاجتماعي الذي يوحد قواها ويعطيها فاعلية الحياة فيجب أن تنهض سورية بقوميتها لتستعيد الاسكندرونة. ثم جاءت أزمة فلسطين فكررت إنذاراتي بذهاب هذه البقعة الثمينة من الأرض السورية إلى اليهود وغير اليهود إذا استمر الشعب السوري في خيال العروبة الخيالية وهذيان "الوحدة العربية وجيوش العرب والعروبة"، لكن العقلية "العربية" اللاتعميرية في سورية الطبيعية ظلت مستمرة في قواعدها وأساليبها إلى أن وصلت بالقضية الفلسطينية إلى الكارثة التي أنبأت، في رسالتي إلى الأمة في 2 تشرين الثاني 1947، بوصولها إليها.
لم يجتمع العالم العربي أمة واحدة في فلسطين، كما كان يزعم السوريون العروبيون، ظهرت في فلسطين حقيقة الواقع أن العالم العربي أمم لا أمة. ومن صور هذه الحقيقة المؤلمة لغير المخدوعين، وللمخدوعين المستيقظين أن مصر كانت نظرياً، تحارب مع السوريين ضد اليهود في حين أنها كانت، عملياً، تشاطر اليهود احتلال أرض سورية فاستولت على منطقة النقب الغنية بالنفط والإمكانيات العمرانية، وعلى هذه المنطقة جرى أخيرا النزاع بين اليهود ومصر وتجري اليوم مفاوضات السلم بين مصر وإسرائيل.
لم تكن هناك حاجة إلى اشتراك مصر والعرب في الدفاع عن فلسطين لو أن الأمة السورية كانت ناهضة بحقيقتها التي تنادي بها الحركة القومية الاجتماعية ولو لم تكن صريعة الوهم العروبي ووهم – الوحدة العربية والخمسين مليون – الذي يحاول العروبيون أن يستعيضوا به عن نتيجة جهلهم واقع الأمة السورية وواقع العالم العربي.
في فلسطين أفلست العروبة وأفلست الفئة العروبية من فئات ال NEO رجعيين! كان إفلاس العروبة في فلسطين إفلاسا كاملاً، باهراً نادر المثيل، إنها أرادت أن تواجه قضية سياسية انترنسيونية من الطراز الأول بقضايا وهمية ومبادئ ميتة! بعقلية الجهاد الديني، الذي انتهى أجله ومضى زمانه، أرادت عروبة النفسية المريضة في سورية أن تعالج قضية قومية ممتازة ومسألة سياسية من أدق مسائل هذا الزمن، وفي حرب عصرية في عصر القوميات، أرادت أن تحارب بجيش من مثال جيش "اليرموك" وأن تحول أنظار السوريين إلى الصحراء العربية وأساليب العربة.
في فلسطين ودعت الأمة السورية العروبة الوهمية، العاجزة، الاتكالية وداعاً فاجعاً لتلبي دعوة الحركة القومية الاجتماعية إلى قوميتها الحقيقة ولترى بعين حقيقتها هي، واقع العالم العربي فتنهض بقضيتها السورية فتجد في قواها التي أهملتها زمناً طويلاً معيناً للنشاط لا ينضب ودافعاً إلى التقدم لا يصده شئ. بهذا الاتجاه تصير الأمة السورية قوة فاعلة في العروبة الواقعية التي أعلنتها – عروبة التعاون بين أمم العالم العربي.
جريدة كل شئ ، العدد 95 في 21 كانون الثاني 1949