As the Netanyahu government drives towards a regional war, the most important task of socialists is to understand the nature of this ongoing catastrophe, how it got to this state of affairs, what might develop and, based on that, what working class socialists can do and should advocate.

Israel kills Nasrallah, and many others in Beirut

Israel has stepped up its state terrorism following the pager attack that killed at least nine, including an eight year old girl and wounded thousands more. Now it has assassinated the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, killing at least 136 others. Israel’s bombings of Southern Lebanon have displaced thousands. Foreign Policy reported that after that bombing in Beirut “all hell broke loose”. They quote one Lebanese woman, Jinan: “ ‘We immediately left (after Israel’s warning), and shortly after, the house next to my sister’s was targeted. Our home here in Beirut is now damaged. We can’t live there. We have nowhere to go.’ She sits on a bench overlooking the Mediterranean, her three children beside her, their car packed with a handful of belongings. Several thin mattresses are strapped to the roof.”

One key problem of Netanyahu’s is the fact that there are some 50,000 Israelis displaced from their homes in northern Israel due to the shelling and rocket attacks by Hezbollah. But Israel’s terrorist attacks inside Lebanon will not solve Netanyahu’s problem. That’s why he has now ordered a military “incursion” into southern Lebanon, possibly up to the Litani River, which is about 18 miles from the border.

Biden
President Biden is hemmed in between trying to prevent a wider war, which would weaken US imperialism among other things, and his romanticized vision of an Israel of 50 years ago (which never really matched that vision even then) plus the fact that Harris is wooing the Dick Cheney wing of the Republican Party. Nearly a week ago, Biden warned Netanyahu against provoking a regional war. Netanyahu’s response was to assassinate Nasrullah and then invade Lebanon. On Sept. 30, CNN featured an interview with Ian Bremmer of the Eurasia Group. Bremmer said Biden’s warnings have been “ineffectual. He is seen to be weak on this issue, not just by the Israeli Prime Minister but around the world, and his policies haven’t worked out that well.” The fact that CNN gave him so much air time is significant.

Just the day prior, the influential journal Foreign Affairs ran an article entitled “America

Israel soldiers in Gaza. Even Foreign Affairs pictures the catastrophe Israel has visited on the people of Gaza.

Needs a New Strategy to Avert Even Greater Catastrophe in the Middle East”. It was written by Andrew Miller, who until last June had been a high ranking State Department official under Biden. Miller wrote: “The reputational damage to the United States, as well as to Israel, is also steadily building, with negative consequences for other global priorities shared by both countries.” He actually advocated that Biden should  “threaten to withhold additional weapons systems that have been implicated in civilian casualties in Gaza and deemed unessential to Israel’s security, such as white phosphorous shells.” And as if on time, Senator Bernie Sanders introduced a resolution to block arms sales to Israel. The significance lies in the fact that Sanders is joined by the more mainstream Senators Peter Welch (Vermont) and Jeff Markley (Oregon).

Working class crisis
Oaklandsocialist has commented numerous times about the crisis in the US working class. That crisis pales in comparison to the crisis in the working class in South West Asia North Africa (SWANA). There, sectarianism plays a powerful role. That grip stems first and foremost from the role of Zionism starting over 100 years ago. Then, as Oaklandsocialist outlined, “Labor” Zionism played the central role, driving the Jewish working class in Palestine into the grip of Jewish capitalism and British colonialism. This had the effect of driving the Arab working class into the arms of the Arab land owners and capitalists. The collapse of the Soviet Union as a working class force consolidated this process, and things have degenerated from there. Last December, Oaklandsocialist published the article “What is Hamas? How did it originate? Should socialists give it any support?” We showed that Hamas puts workers under the thumb of the capitalists and that the Palestinian capitalists will always try to make a deal with the oppressive State of Israel. 

We explained, “Neither individual terrorism nor its mirror image opposite – administering on behalf of the oppressor (for example the Judenrat [under the Nazis] or the Palestine Authority) – offers any way forward. Even on the level of October 7, these tactics are a mere pinprick to the oppressors. Nor will Israeli state terrorism be overcome simply by mass armed struggle. Who would organize and lead such a struggle? Groups like Hamas will never be able to. Nor will the reactionary Arab states have the willingness or the capacity. Israelis would fight to the bitter end, up to and including the use of atomic bombs. Even if the Arab states or groups like Hamas could or would overcome Israel militarily, the regimes they would impose on Palestine would hardly be any better than what exists there now.”

Hezbollah, which was formally founded in 1985, is similar but also different.

The socialist Syrian intellectual presently based in Europe, Joseph Daher, is one of the best sources for information on Hezbollah. He explains that although Hezbollah had roots among the poor Shi’a population, it also was linked to the Shi’a capitalists in both Lebanon and Iran. In other words, it was a “popular front”, which always means the capitalists dominate. From its populist roots, Hezbollah became transformed. Daher writes: “This transformation appears most clearly in the party cadres, which are no longer composed of lower middle-class clerics, but are now largely drawn from a professional class who hold secular college degrees…. 

“A new fraction of the bourgeoisie linked to the party through Iranian capital and investments was created, while the rest of the Shi’a fraction of the bourgeoisie, whether in Lebanon or in the diaspora, came increasingly under the umbrella of Hezbollah — or at least close to the party because of its political and financial powers.”

Daher estimates that Hezbollah receives up to $400 million per year from Iran, as well as money from the Lebanese bourgeoisie and middle class.

Daher continues: “Ultimately, like Khomeini [in Iran], Hezbollah believes in the unity of the community and cooperation between classes,… Class struggle is seen as fragmenting the community (the Ummah).” 

In another article, Daher explains that Hezbollah has achieved its monopoly over the Shi’a community through distributing social services and “coercion”. Daher gives the example of Hezbollah’s actions following the mass protests in Lebanon in 2019: “Initially it rallied its supporters and members to intimidate the demonstrators in different localities and to attack them in downtown Beirut or in the city of Nabatiyeh, in southern Lebanon.”

Hezbollah does control a union, the al Wafaa, whose name translates significantly into “Loyalty Union”. They play a duplicitous role, at times supporting smaller, local struggles, but opposing or undermining wider struggles of the Lebanese working class. Daher gives the example of the struggle against privatization of the Middle East Airline in 2003. The workers went on strike in defiance of the leadership of the CGTL, which is the main union federation in Lebanon. The refusal of that leadership opened the door for the Lebanese army to suppress the strike, including shooting and killing several strikers. Hezbollah defended the army’s actions and claimed that the strike was U.S. inspired. (Where have we heard that sort of thing before?)

Syria

Syrians in Idlib celebrating the death of Nasrallah

When Nasrallah was killed, Syrians in Idlib province – which is not under Assad control – celebrated. It was “the most beautiful day of my life,” said Ahmed al-Ali, 30, Yasmin Muhammed, also 30, said, “I consider this revenge for the thousands of Syrians who were killed by Hezbollah, the main support of Bashar al-Assad. Hezbollah committed the most heinous massacres against Syrians, and it also participated in the starvation and displacement of thousands of Syrians.”

 And no wonder. As we know, a revolution against the corrupt and repressive Assad regime got under way in 2011 in Syria. By 2013, Assad was on the ropes, and then Russia intervened. From that time until 2021, the Syria Observatory for Human Rights estimates that there have been 606,000 Syrians killed. This includes, for example, 31,227 civilians, including 214 children under the age of 18, who were killed under torture in regime prisons; and 9,944

Artist’s rendering of Sednaya Prison. One former prisoner there likened it to Auschwitz. Hezbollah bears some of the responsibility for it.

civilians, including 2,321 children under the age of 18 and 1,139 females over the age of 18, were killed by regime forces. Al Jazeera estimates that up to 100,000 political prisoners have been killed – most, if not all, under torture – in Assad’s prison camps, the most notorious of which is the Sednaya Prison. Assad’s most notorious crime was his use of sarin gas against the people of Ghouta in April of 2017. And make no mistake, it was Assad who was responsible, contrary to his denials, which were disgracefully parroted by many on the “left” around the world.

Oaklandsocialist has discussed the presence of an anti-capitalist revolution in the Syrian revolution. All imperialist forces combined to crush that revolution. That includes US imperialism, which actually collaborated with Assad. Some point to the terrorist role of the Islamic State and similar groups in defense of Assad. But Assad consciously and systematically helped the rise of these groups, first of all by releasing their members from prison shortly after the revolution started. Russia, of course, was Assad’s main backer and together they have carried out a systematic attack on Syria’s hospitals and other health care facilities, among other targets. Wikipedia writes, “Russian and Syrian government forces have conducted a campaign that has focused on the destruction of hospitals and medical facilities within areas not under the control of the Syrian government.” Those attacks continue to this day against such facilities in Idlib province, which is not controlled by Assad.

Assad’s remaining in power is critical for the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) explains “Iran cannot afford to lose its most important foothold in the Levant, and Hezbollah cannot risk losing its access to critical Iranian and Syrian support. Syria’s importance to Hezbollah, however, is not limited to its role as a conduit for financial and material support; the Assad regime has provided safe haven for Hezbollah training camps and weapons storage.”

Whereas Russia mainly provided the planes and bombs, Hezbollah has provided ground

Hezbollah fighters in Syria supporting the fascistic Assad regime.

troops for Assad. The ISW further wrote: “Hezbollah fighters train NDF paramilitaries at military bases across Syria. This training has proved instrumental in cultivating a light infantry force that can help the regime hold cleared terrain. Another way Hezbollah fighters have augmented Syrian forces is through acting as advisers and trainers for the Syrian military and paramilitary forces, either in an embedded or partnered capacity. Hezbollah fighters have also led units comprised of Iraqi Shi‘a militants, especially in Damascus.”

In addition to the suffering Hezbollah has imposed on the people of Syria, they have also played a most divisive role, creating tensions (to say the least) between Syrians and Palestinians. A Syrian refugee living in Germany explains “They [Palestinians outside of Gaza] have no excuse or justification for supporting them [Hezbollah], especially when they are fully aware of the crimes Hezbollah committed against both Palestinians and Syrians.”

Celebrations inside Iran over death of Raisi. Hamas supported him.

Hamas has played a similar divisive role in enabling the Iranian regime to wrap itself in the Palestinian flag. In May, when Iranian president and mass murderer Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash, Iranians celebrated. Hamas, on the other hand, sent a message of condolence. “We express our shared feelings of grief and sorrow with the brotherly Iranian people and our full solidarity with the Islamic Republic of Iran in this painful incident,” they wrote. (Hezbollah sent a similar note.) The result is that many Iranians feel alienated from the struggle against Israel’s oppression of the Palestinians.

The “anti-imperialist left”

Post from Jewish Voices for Peace

The “anti-imperialist left” has once more covered itself with shame regarding the death of Nasrallah. The University of Michigan chapter of Jewish Voices for Peace issued a statement saying that “when a leader [presumably Nesrallah] departs another replaces him.” They were not alone. The “Arab Feminism Movement” reportedly wrote: “The Arab Women’s Movement mourns Secretary-General of Hezbollah, His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. The leader who confronted all the colonial powers in the world, supported the oppressed of our Arab nation, offered his sons as martyrs for the liberation of our homelands, and refused to ascend except as a martyr.” The pro-Putin/pro-Assad and so-called “revolutionary” Workers World proclaimed “Nasrallah’s legacy is one of solidarity and resilience.” And “independent left” presidential candidate Jill Stein simply sees “diplomacy” as the solution. That means that all the counterrevolutionary jackals of the region should join together to decide how to

A proper question regarding the murder of Nasrallah

divide up the prey, which is the people of Palestine, Syria and whoever else might get caught in their clutches – just so long as it is done peacefully and through “diplomacy”. The mainstream Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has studiously avoided commenting. The most likely explanation is that they “represent” both Palestinians and Syrians in the United States.

Perspectives
Israel has now sent ground troops into southern Lebanon. Their intent is to carry out a limited “incursion”, but that is highly questionable. In any case, it will mean even further suffering for the people of Lebanon. As for Israel itself, Moody’s recently downgraded its credit worthiness by two full points. The Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz sounded an alarm. “The necessary conclusion from reading [Moody’s] report is that this government’s time in office must end,” they wrote. In other words, the Netanyahu regime is out of control of the major wings of even the Israeli capitalist class! The far right sectarian populist forces upon which the Israeli regime is based mirror Hezbollah, Hamas, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Modi, Putin and Trump here in the United States – among others.

Two months ago, Oaklandsocialist published a pamphlet on the nature of this period. We were forced to conclude that counter-revolution seems to be getting the upper hand as the whole situation threatens to spin out of control. The Iran regime, which considers itself to be the center of the “Axis of Resistance”, will feel pressure to retaliate against Israel’s latest military aggression. That is likely to bring an even greater response from Israel and possible direct intervention from the U.S. 

Exactly at the time when a serious socialist movement is needed more than ever, the majority of socialists mirror the crisis in the working class. In our article on Hamas, Oaklandsocialist explained that the only way forward was through a renewed, working class-based and anti-capitalist “Arab Spring”. That concept of international working class solidarity must be at the core of any working class socialist movement. 

Nearly 150 years ago, Leon Trotsky warned: “History says to the working class ‘You must know that unless you cast down the bourgeoisie (the capitalist class), you will perish beneath the ruins of the capitalist civilization.’ Try, solve this task!” A first step in solving this task must be to throw off the influence of all wings of the capitalist class and the sectarian divisions within the working class. That means no support for Zionism, Hezbollah or Hamas. These three both oppose and lean on each other at the same time. The only alternative is international working class solidarity.

Further reading:

• Can Israel crush its “democratic” form of rule? An interview with Israeli anti-apartheid activist Ofer Neiman
• What is Hamas? How did it originate? Should socialists give it any support?
• The theory of permanent, or uninterrupted, revolution and Syria

Israel kills Nasrallah, and many others in Beirut