Topic: Hizbollah
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Just to be sure, I am not at all a supporter of Hizbollah's military means or ideals in terms of martyrship, or any violent, racist or sectarian ideas that strongly live in the organization. I am a supporter of humanity, including people living in the place that has once be defined as Lebanon.
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This comment was removed by a WiserEarth editor for the following reason:
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Sven, I realize that Hizbollah's activities and influence extend far more into society than its military activities and governance (as a political party in Lebanon), but because of these aspects, Hizbollah as a whole shouldn't be entered into the WE database. I feel that there is a line that shouldn't be crossed when it comes to organizations who legitimize the use of force, regardless of any reason why it might be considered essential. The term civil society has more than one meaning, some of which would involve an organization such as Hizbollah. But there should be a greater ideal that we strive for as a society, based on non-violent means to resolve conflict.
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A whole ton of organizations support the use of violence on the left, including almost the entire Democratic party and the 90-95% of liberal non governmental organizations who support it (ex. bombing Afghanistan, votes to fund the military, and the occupation of Iraq). On the radical left, you have revolutionaries who advocate for a violent revolution (many communist, socialist, trotskyite, and anarchist groups).
The support for violence is especially great in the case of self-defense, which Hizbollah is often doing (ex. defense against the recent Israeli military invasion). Hizbollah has roots in socialist movements in Lebanon (a large percent of the sucide bombers were socialists, and to some extent it's filling the vacuum left by the decline of the secular radical left) and, while not being a purely progressive force, is arguably doing more for Lebanon than the US democratic party and the liberal ngos who are ultimately, albeit indirectly, backing the invasion of Lebanon and the oppression of the Lebanese. Note: I'm a pacifist. The best reason perhaps to not include Hizbollah is that you might be in violation of US law. The government has a history of arresting people for running websites (SHAC 7, Monkeyfist.com). Otherwise, it gets very tricky when a group is a mix of progressive goals and not progressive goals. You can let a group use your system so long as they do their networking around things that are according to your values (eg. they focus on the part of their mission where your values coincide). |
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I suggest that we use the values in the Earth Charter to benchmark any organization's inclusion or exclusion in WiserEarth.
"It is an extraordinary document. It may be the first global vision to recognize that humanity’s environmental, economic, social, cultural, ethical, and spiritual aspirations are interconnected. But even more extraordinary than the document is the process by which it came into being. Over the course of 10 years, thousands of people in cities, villages, meeting halls, schools, and in the open air have been part of drafting the Earth Charter. It has been “the most open and participatory consultation process ever conducted in connection with the drafting of an international document,” says Steven Rockefeller, chair of the Earth Charter drafting committee. It grew out of the passions of people from around the world–experts and those rarely heard from–for a just, sustainable, and peaceful society." (Jan Roberts, in "Earth Charter" @ http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=401) The three central principles enshrined in the charter are: I. Respect and care for the community of life II. Ecological integrity III. Democracy, nonviolence, and peace In our Hizbollah case study, If we look at the 16th principle under "Democracy, nonviolence and peace" we would find: 16. Promote a culture of tolerance, nonviolence, and peace. a. Encourage and support mutual understanding, solidarity, and cooperation among all peoples and within and among nations. b. Implement comprehensive strategies to prevent violent conflict and use collaborative problem solving to manage and resolve environmental conflicts and other disputes. c. Demilitarize national security systems to the level of a non-provocative defense posture, and convert military resources to peaceful purposes, including ecological restoration. d. Eliminate nuclear, biological, and toxic weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. e. Ensure that the use of orbital and outer space supports environmental protection and peace. f. Recognize that peace is the wholeness created by right relationships with oneself, other persons, other cultures, other life, Earth, and the larger whole of which all are a part. So, to prevent "US democratic party and the liberal NGOs who are ultimately, albeit indirectly, backing the invasion of Lebanon and the oppression of the Lebanese", "Hizbollah's military means or ideals in terms of martyrship, or any violent, racist or sectarian ideas that strongly live in the organization", while simultaneously supporting the fight for justice that Hizbollah also stands for and addressing security concerns of the Israelis, we should find ways to implement principle 16 more globally and more effectively. So, under these benchmarks, neither Hizbollah nor NGOs supporting the Lebanon attack should be entered in the WE database. This, imho, I think is a more universal and appropriate reason than the fear of "violat[ing] US law." In time, I believe WiserEarth would grow larger in term of hardware/infrastructure so it is more robust and not dependent on the servers and internet backbone located in the US. |
1 to 6 of 6 Posts
A practical question with theoretical foundations. First of all I am very serious about this.
From a Lebanese perspective (which I adopt now since I'm Dutch), Hizbollah would be striving for social justice (building hospitals and houses), would be non-governmental, and although difficult it would perhaps be possible to join the organization as a non-muslim. Of course the organization has strong terrorist roots, but only consider Israel's July 2006 actions and the number of civilian casualties and this too places things in a slighter more nuanced perspective. More generally: one man's terrorist is the other man's freedom fighter.
Should there be a place for Hizbollah in Wiserearth's database?
Best,
Sven