Bringing Hizbullah Side of the Story to the UK
Source: The Daily Star, 15-03-2008
BEIRUT: When Ibrahim Moussawi, the chief editor of the Hizbullah-affiliated newspaper Al-Intiqad, stepped up to the microphone to deliver his speech to a packed lecture hall in Bristol, England, he was promptly interrupted.
A young man, wearing a T-shirt bearing a Star of David and the word "Jew," invaded the stage as Moussawi started to speak and began shouting "Freedom of speech! Freedom of speech!"
Moussawi turned to his audience. "It seems that our brother has something to say," he said, "and I would love to give him my turn."
The audience members were less willing to allow for an unscheduled browbeating, and shouted "Out! Out!" until security guards escorted the lone protester away.
This spectacle was one of the more bizarre encounters Moussawi had with his critics during his recent speaking tour in the United Kingdom. Moussawi had been invited by a British peace group, the Stop the War Coalition, to speak to audiences of up to 800 people in eight different cities: London, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, Cambridge, Norwich, Cardiff and Liverpool. The World Against War Tour, which ran from February 28 to March 4, was part of the run-up to a massive anti-war demonstration scheduled to take place on Saturday in London and in other major cities around the world.
Moussawi was joined on stage in each of these cities by the head of the Iraqi Oil Workers Federation, Hassan Jumaa, who spoke out against the US-led attempts to privatize Iraq's oil sector.
Because of his ties to Hizbullah, though, Moussawi was more often the focal point of the events, which generated a handful of counter-protests and a storm of controversy in the British media.
Chris Nineham, an officer of the Stop the War Coalition, says that the British media and leading members of the opposition Conservative Party had "tried to whip up hysteria against Moussawi. But I think these meetings showed that they have failed."
The tour "was a fantastic success," Nineham says, adding that the rallies "attracted a wide range of people."
Both Moussawi and Jumaa "got a fantastic reception and received standing ovations" almost everywhere they spoke, Nineham adds.
Although Moussawi was well received by most of the members of his audiences, the tour brought him face to face with a few of his detractors at several stops along the way.
One of his more controversial appearances occurred at Cambridge University. According to the campus' student newspaper, Varsity News, the Cambridge University Jewish Society had filed an emergency motion with the student council to try to prevent the event from taking place.
When the motion failed, members of the student group decided to attend the lecture and demand that they too be given an opportunity to voice their views. One by one, about a dozen students took the microphone to raise a lengthy list of allegations against Hizbullah - accusations that Moussawi describes as "fallacies."
"They said Hizbullah is anti-Semitic, anti-Jew, homophobic and against the homosexuals," Moussawi says. "They said that Hizbullah wants to maximize the civilian casualties in 'Israel', and that Hizbullah is still fighting when Lebanon is liberated. They said a Hizbullah official has said that the resistance will continue to fight until all the 1948 territories are liberated."
During the lively debate that ensued, Moussawi says he gave a rebuttal to each of the charges.
In response to the accusation that Hizbullah wants to liberate the 1948 territories, Moussawi says, "I told them that Hizbullah officially and by the highest echelon of officials, even Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, as the leader of Hizbullah, has said that we are committed as a resistance movement to liberating every inch of territory that the Lebanese government says is Lebanese. And Shebaa Farms is a Lebanese territory and we are committed to liberating it."
"As for any other statement made by anyone, I'm not responsible for it, and Hizbullah is not responsible for it," he adds.
As for the criticism that Hizbullah is anti-homosexual, Moussawi says he told his audience that this was an issue that "has nothing to do with Hizbullah as a political party or a resistance movement."
He admits that homosexuality remains a taboo in the eyes of the Islamist party, and indeed those of many Muslims and Arabs, but he also points out that unfriendly views toward same-sex relations are common in many cultures and religions. "For example, what's the position of the church, and what's the position of the United States' secular system and vis-à-vis homosexuality? You cannot restrict this criticism to Hizbullah," he says.
When confronted with the allegation that Hizbullah intentionally sought to maximize civilian casualties during the 2006 war with Israel, Moussawi is unequivocal in his response.
"If this is the case, why is it that in 2006, Hizbullah killed more than twice as many 'Israeli' military personnel as civilians, while the Israelis, with all of their technology, smart bombs and guided weapons, killed more than 1,200 civilians and only 200 military personnel?" he asks.
Moussawi also categorically denies that Hizbullah has anything against the Jewish people or Judaism as a religion.
"When we resist, we resist for the sake of our dignity, our independence, our liberation and to protect our children, because we respect life, we respect human life," he says.
"When we fight the 'Israeli' occupation we don't fight it because they are Jews, we fight it because they are occupiers, and we will do the same with any occupation that will come to our country. It has nothing to do with their religion," he explains.
Asked whether his organization would invite Moussawi back again in the future, after the controversy that was generated by his recent visit, Nineham says, "Yes, absolutely. Yes, we definitely would."
"There's no doubt that the tour both kind of expressed and reinforced a real feeling of solidarity among people in Britain with those people and organizations in the Middle East who are opposing and resisting the 'war on terror' and the US agenda in the Middle East," Nineham says, adding that this war and agenda were "disgracefully backed by the British Labor government."
"There's a growing interest in the Middle East in Britain because of the war our government is participating in," Nineham says. "There's not just concern and interest in the Middle East, but also a growing sense of solidarity with people who are suffering from the war on terror that our government is prosecuting.
"There's a good deal of sympathy now among the British people for the Lebanese people and for their popular opposition and popular resistance against the 'Israeli' invasion. I think partly because of the growing understanding here in Britain of the situation in the Middle East, and partly because what Moussawi says is so eminently sensible, there was an awful lot of support for him," Nineham adds.
Although Moussawi had not expected to engage in a direct debate with his critics in the United Kingdom, he says it was not difficult at all for him to refute the "false" assumptions about Hizbullah. "Our cause is so just that anyone can defend it," he says.
"I thanked them, both those who were in favor and those who were against me, and maybe I thanked those who were against me more, because they made a lot of publicity for me," Moussawi says. "I questioned whether they did it for noble intentions, and I believe a segment of them did not do it for noble intentions, but I should still like to thank them for whatever position they took."
BEIRUT: When Ibrahim Moussawi, the chief editor of the Hizbullah-affiliated newspaper Al-Intiqad, stepped up to the microphone to deliver his speech to a packed lecture hall in Bristol, England, he was promptly interrupted.
A young man, wearing a T-shirt bearing a Star of David and the word "Jew," invaded the stage as Moussawi started to speak and began shouting "Freedom of speech! Freedom of speech!"
Moussawi turned to his audience. "It seems that our brother has something to say," he said, "and I would love to give him my turn."
The audience members were less willing to allow for an unscheduled browbeating, and shouted "Out! Out!" until security guards escorted the lone protester away.
This spectacle was one of the more bizarre encounters Moussawi had with his critics during his recent speaking tour in the United Kingdom. Moussawi had been invited by a British peace group, the Stop the War Coalition, to speak to audiences of up to 800 people in eight different cities: London, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, Cambridge, Norwich, Cardiff and Liverpool. The World Against War Tour, which ran from February 28 to March 4, was part of the run-up to a massive anti-war demonstration scheduled to take place on Saturday in London and in other major cities around the world.
Moussawi was joined on stage in each of these cities by the head of the Iraqi Oil Workers Federation, Hassan Jumaa, who spoke out against the US-led attempts to privatize Iraq's oil sector.
Because of his ties to Hizbullah, though, Moussawi was more often the focal point of the events, which generated a handful of counter-protests and a storm of controversy in the British media.
Chris Nineham, an officer of the Stop the War Coalition, says that the British media and leading members of the opposition Conservative Party had "tried to whip up hysteria against Moussawi. But I think these meetings showed that they have failed."
The tour "was a fantastic success," Nineham says, adding that the rallies "attracted a wide range of people."
Both Moussawi and Jumaa "got a fantastic reception and received standing ovations" almost everywhere they spoke, Nineham adds.
Although Moussawi was well received by most of the members of his audiences, the tour brought him face to face with a few of his detractors at several stops along the way.
One of his more controversial appearances occurred at Cambridge University. According to the campus' student newspaper, Varsity News, the Cambridge University Jewish Society had filed an emergency motion with the student council to try to prevent the event from taking place.
When the motion failed, members of the student group decided to attend the lecture and demand that they too be given an opportunity to voice their views. One by one, about a dozen students took the microphone to raise a lengthy list of allegations against Hizbullah - accusations that Moussawi describes as "fallacies."
"They said Hizbullah is anti-Semitic, anti-Jew, homophobic and against the homosexuals," Moussawi says. "They said that Hizbullah wants to maximize the civilian casualties in 'Israel', and that Hizbullah is still fighting when Lebanon is liberated. They said a Hizbullah official has said that the resistance will continue to fight until all the 1948 territories are liberated."
During the lively debate that ensued, Moussawi says he gave a rebuttal to each of the charges.
In response to the accusation that Hizbullah wants to liberate the 1948 territories, Moussawi says, "I told them that Hizbullah officially and by the highest echelon of officials, even Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, as the leader of Hizbullah, has said that we are committed as a resistance movement to liberating every inch of territory that the Lebanese government says is Lebanese. And Shebaa Farms is a Lebanese territory and we are committed to liberating it."
"As for any other statement made by anyone, I'm not responsible for it, and Hizbullah is not responsible for it," he adds.
As for the criticism that Hizbullah is anti-homosexual, Moussawi says he told his audience that this was an issue that "has nothing to do with Hizbullah as a political party or a resistance movement."
He admits that homosexuality remains a taboo in the eyes of the Islamist party, and indeed those of many Muslims and Arabs, but he also points out that unfriendly views toward same-sex relations are common in many cultures and religions. "For example, what's the position of the church, and what's the position of the United States' secular system and vis-à-vis homosexuality? You cannot restrict this criticism to Hizbullah," he says.
When confronted with the allegation that Hizbullah intentionally sought to maximize civilian casualties during the 2006 war with Israel, Moussawi is unequivocal in his response.
"If this is the case, why is it that in 2006, Hizbullah killed more than twice as many 'Israeli' military personnel as civilians, while the Israelis, with all of their technology, smart bombs and guided weapons, killed more than 1,200 civilians and only 200 military personnel?" he asks.
Moussawi also categorically denies that Hizbullah has anything against the Jewish people or Judaism as a religion.
"When we resist, we resist for the sake of our dignity, our independence, our liberation and to protect our children, because we respect life, we respect human life," he says.
"When we fight the 'Israeli' occupation we don't fight it because they are Jews, we fight it because they are occupiers, and we will do the same with any occupation that will come to our country. It has nothing to do with their religion," he explains.
Asked whether his organization would invite Moussawi back again in the future, after the controversy that was generated by his recent visit, Nineham says, "Yes, absolutely. Yes, we definitely would."
"There's no doubt that the tour both kind of expressed and reinforced a real feeling of solidarity among people in Britain with those people and organizations in the Middle East who are opposing and resisting the 'war on terror' and the US agenda in the Middle East," Nineham says, adding that this war and agenda were "disgracefully backed by the British Labor government."
"There's a growing interest in the Middle East in Britain because of the war our government is participating in," Nineham says. "There's not just concern and interest in the Middle East, but also a growing sense of solidarity with people who are suffering from the war on terror that our government is prosecuting.
"There's a good deal of sympathy now among the British people for the Lebanese people and for their popular opposition and popular resistance against the 'Israeli' invasion. I think partly because of the growing understanding here in Britain of the situation in the Middle East, and partly because what Moussawi says is so eminently sensible, there was an awful lot of support for him," Nineham adds.
Although Moussawi had not expected to engage in a direct debate with his critics in the United Kingdom, he says it was not difficult at all for him to refute the "false" assumptions about Hizbullah. "Our cause is so just that anyone can defend it," he says.
"I thanked them, both those who were in favor and those who were against me, and maybe I thanked those who were against me more, because they made a lot of publicity for me," Moussawi says. "I questioned whether they did it for noble intentions, and I believe a segment of them did not do it for noble intentions, but I should still like to thank them for whatever position they took."
