tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13622622.post115661102019064907..comments2023-12-22T08:44:24.389-05:00Comments on threewayfight: Further thoughts on HezbollahMatthew N Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15664330735255207352noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13622622.post-948490711766602922016-11-04T14:56:02.550-04:002016-11-04T14:56:02.550-04:00Anonymous: The blog post you are criticizing was w...Anonymous: The blog post you are criticizing was written over ten years ago. In it (and in related posts around the same time) I attempted to present an accurate, nuanced sketch of Hezbollah based on the best information available to me at the time. It's quite possible that parts of what I presented were inaccurate, or no longer accurate, and I would be very interested if you could point me to specific reliable sources that address this. While it hasn't been a major focus for me since then, I have tried from time to time to find good reporting about what life is like in areas of Lebanon controlled by Hezbollah, but this has been difficult. Unfortunately, I don't read Arabic.<br /><br />Hezbollah's involvement in the Syrian Civil War, which I believe started in 2012, is a huge shift. Before that, Hezbollah could plausibly claim that it was a resistance organization combating Israeli aggression. But since 2012 it has acted as mercenaries aiding the brutal Assad government's war on inside Syria, which has involved horrific targeting of civilians.<br />Matthew N Lyonshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15664330735255207352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13622622.post-3882567658256376092016-10-31T23:48:01.961-04:002016-10-31T23:48:01.961-04:00Hezbollah worships Khomeini and Khamenei. Therefor...Hezbollah worships Khomeini and Khamenei. Therefore, the views of the Ayatollahs' are the views of Hezbollah.<br /><br />They are ant-jewish (they have blown up jews around the word, not just in Israel). But just as troubling, they have pledged to slaughter the Jews in Israel. <br /><br />They hate homosexuals. <br /><br />They are for executing little girls that are victims of rape.<br /><br />How are they different than ISIL other than being Shia? Their ideology is just as insane and they have committed horrific acts of violence.<br /><br />The amount of mental gymnastics a "progressive" has to go through to defend Hezbollah is absolutely mind boggling. <br /><br />Why are you defending these terrorist thugs?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13622622.post-76933741002672919212007-11-09T12:00:00.000-05:002007-11-09T12:00:00.000-05:00It took me a while, but here's my response to Math...It took me a while, but here's my response to Mathew's My Enemy's Enemy and Michael Staudenmaier's Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and the Three Way Fight:<BR/><BR/>http://www.leftturn.org/?q=node/845<BR/> <BR/>Islamism is not Fascism: A Critique of the Three Way Fight<BR/>By Rami El-Amine<BR/>Published on: October 30, 2007<BR/><BR/>Author's note: The following article is from Issue #5 of the journal Upping the Anti. Please help support this "Journal of Theory and Action" by ordering hard copies and a subscription at http://www.uppingtheanti.org.<BR/><BR/>Michael Staudenmaier's talk Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and the Three Way Fight presented at the 2007 National Conference on Organized Resistance (NCOR) uses an article I wrote for Left Turn magazine, Anti-Arab Racism, Islam and the Left, to critique what he refers to as a "bi-polarity" common on the left. Staudenmaier defines bi-polarity as "the dualistic and anti-dialectical tendency to reduce complex situations to two opposing, and static, sides." He says that I offer an "us" (anti-imperialists) vs. "them" (the imperialists) approach to analyzing events in the Middle East and Islamist movements more specifically. His main proof of this is my criticism of Defending My Enemy's Enemy, a posting by Mathew Lyons on the Three Way Fight blog during Israel's 2006 war on Lebanon in which Lyons characterizes Hezbollah as "essentially a right wing political movement." Staudenmaier singles out (and is particularly irritated by) my suggestion that Lyons' argument may one day be used by Hillary Clinton or Bush in justifying an attack on Hezbullah and/or Iran.<BR/><BR/>However, the purpose of his talk seems to be more about showing the superiority of the Three Way Fight (TWF) theory in making sense of the world today, particularly with respect to the Middle East and US imperialism. Staudenmaier argues that the TWF approach is a much more dynamic and useful way of analyzing the world because it sees things not just in terms of "us" and "them" (a two way fight) but in terms of "us," "them," and "them" (a three way fight). In this three way fight, "the two sets of 'them'...represent the capitalists and the fascists, and the 'us'...the anti-authoritarian revolutionary left." So in the case of the Middle East, he argues, "Zionism represents a particular example of global capitalism, while some (but definitely not all) versions of Islamic fundamentalism serve as examples of contemporary forms of fascism." Therefore, what's needed and what TWF has to offer is both anti-fascism and revolution rather than just revolution, which is, according to Staudenmaier, a weakness of the position of Left Turn and others on the left.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17461564577189930043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13622622.post-1156824201510295752006-08-29T00:03:00.000-04:002006-08-29T00:03:00.000-04:00Hey,I've just written a piece on the same topic on...Hey,<BR/><BR/>I've just written a piece on the same topic on my blog, Anarchia. Quoted you too ;)<BR/><BR/>My enemy's enemy sure as hell isn't my comrade - http://anarchia.wordpress.com/2006/08/29/my-enemys-enemy-sure-as-hell-isnt-my-comrade/<BR/><BR/>Ahava v'Mahapecha (Love & Revolution) from Aotearoa, keep up the good work!Asherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01782227406470450089noreply@blogger.com