11-10-2024: The world has witnessed with horror yet another Israeli provocation in the Middle East, with the obvious intention of inflaming a wider war. This time their target is Lebanon, following on from 12 months of genocidal war on Palestine. Yet Israel’s invasion of Lebanon is not just about Lebanon, or even primarily about Lebanon.[1] Israel’s war on Lebanon, as with its war on Palestine, is about igniting a regional war which could cause regime change in the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is plain to see that Israel, with a population of around 9 million, cannot wage war on Iran, with a population of around 90 million, on its own. Notwithstanding Israel’s known possession of nuclear weapons, Israel needs the US (United States of America), the UK (United Kingdom) and possibly France and Germany to enter the war on its side. The state of Israel is primarily a proxy force of the US ruling class, though not all Israelis accept this. The West’s outrageous provocations threaten World War III, alongside the threat of World War III stemming from continuous US provocations against Russia and China.
Shift in the Middle East
One year after October 7, 2023, Israel’s shift to also target Lebanon in addition to Palestine alters the political situation. Hezbollah (translated as “Party of God”) in Lebanon is in a totally different category to Hamas in Palestine. Hezbollah is a genuine resistance movement, created out of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon during the early 1980s, with Shia based nationalist politics. Hamas, on the other hand, was created by the Israeli state in the late 80s as a bulwark against secular nationalist Palestinian organisations. Hamas has Sunni extremist roots in the Muslim Brotherhood, an organisation ultimately subordinate to US and UK imperialism. While conservatives in the West accurately describe Hamas as terrorist (while simultaneously backing Israeli state war crimes), they incorrectly label Hezbollah as “terrorist”. However, it is only the governments of the US, Australia and some European countries that list Hezbollah as a “terrorist organisation”. The vast majority of the world does not, as they recognise that Hezbollah’s armed wing does not target or eliminate innocent civilians. In fact, even the government of France recognises the Hezbollah political wing, which has 13 members of the Lebanese parliament in a Hezbollah-led coalition of 61 seats out of a 128-member legislature.[2]
While Hamas in Syria fought with the IDF (Israeli Defence Force), ISIS and Al Qaeda for ten years, Hezbollah fought in Syria with Iran and Russia, i.e., Hezbollah fought against terrorism. Even though Hamas expediently restored some relations with the Syrian government, it refused to apologise for its actions.[3] Yet all of these state and non-state actors – the IDF, Hamas, ISIS and Al Qaeda – do not operate on their own. Behind them all are the deep states of imperialism – primarily the US and the UK. These forces also could not act without US backing in the region, for example, the 2500 US troops still in Iraq,[4] and the 900 US troops still in Syria without congressional authorisation.[5] The US ruling class uses many states and many terrorist groups as proxies, while claiming plausible deniability.
For genuine opposition to war
To reinforce this plausible deniability, the paid and unpaid scribes of the Western elites avoid mentioning what everyone can see – their system is in a state of rapid deterioration while the Eurasian powers are rising and even surpassing them. The upcoming BRICS annual summit in Kazan on the 22nd of October is set to be the most significant one yet held, with some stunning announcements set to be made. The BRICS alliance – Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa now joined by Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates – is a non-imperialist bloc which offers a vitally needed alternative to 500 years of Western capitalist exploitation and plunder. Some 40 developing nations are seeking to either join the BRICS or open friendly relations with it. Underpinning BRICS is the gargantuan manufacturing, industrial, scientific and technological power of the socialistic People’s Republic of China (PRC), but its links with Russia and Iran also play an essential role.
Even though the BRICS does not aim to supplant imperialism, much less progress to socialism, simply offering an economic and political option places it in the crosshairs of Washington and London. In fact, the West’s resort to war preparations in itself is an admission that it will never be able to compete with the PRC and its allies, which do not primarily organise their economies on the basis of private profit. A global war is their only hope, and even then, they can scarcely hope to “win” such a war. The aim is arguably to do as much damage as possible, even at the cost of the nuclear destruction of human civilisation. It is hardly an exaggeration to state that the ruling classes of the West would prefer the obliteration of the human species to the societal supercession of capitalism.
This is one reason why an anti-war movement should not focus on Lebanon and Palestine alone, despite their importance in themselves. For 12 months, the “Free Palestine” movement in the West has viewed Palestine in a vacuum, seemingly disconnected from the rest of the Middle East, and from the enormous provocations of Washington and their allies against Russia and China. In fact, arguably one reason for October 7 (2023) was to distract attention away from NATO’s losing war which arms Nazi battalions in Ukraine. Yet Israel/Palestine/Lebanon is a proxy conflict aimed at Iran, in the same way in which Ukraine is a proxy war aimed at Russia, and Taiwan is a potential proxy war aimed at China. Much of the Western left ignores these plans and urges action on Palestine (or now with Lebanon) only, while remaining silent or even quietly applauding sanctions against Moscow and Beijing.
What is required is an anti-war movement which opposes every theatre of the West’s global war on the East. This must be linked to opposition to the drastic cost of living crisis afflicting the masses, where housing, rent, food, healthcare and basic necessities have become virtually unaffordable, even to many of those who have full-time work. This war at home needs to be linked to the war abroad, as this is also one war. Authentic vanguard parties forged in Marxism need to provide guidance towards the enormous tasks of transforming the danger of imperialist war into a class struggle for internationally linked workers’ republics. Today, workers should demand: NO WEAPONS FOR ISRAEL, UKRAINE, TAIWAN! US TROOPS – GET OUT OF IRAQ AND SYRIA! ABOLISH NATO! ABOLISH AUKUS!
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[1] www.unz.com/kbarrett/zionists-invade-lebanon-to-accelerate-murder-expulsion-of-all-palestinians/ (09-10-2024)
[2] www.pbs.org/newshour/world/hezbollah-and-allies-lose-parliamentary-majority-in-lebanese-election (09-10-2024)
[3] www.middleeasteye.net/news/hamas-syria-assad-restore-ties-backlash (09-10-2024_
[4] www.apnews.com/article/iraq-us-troops-military-withdrawal-iran-a79aa83dca8f776f87a138bfe5697fa3 (09-10-2024)
[5] www.nationalinterest.org/feature/what-point-us-military-presence-syria-209945 (09-10-2024)
Image: The aftermath of an Israeli strike on central Beirut in Lebanon on October 10, 2024. Image from Bilal Hussein – AP
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