[Marxism] The Left and Support For Islamic Resistance - an unsatisfying response

[Jscotlive@xxxxxxx]

Dbachmozart:
 
Because of the combination of political failure by the left and secular  Arab 
nationalist movements to link up to and provide solid leadership on the  one 
hand, and their repression by pro imperialist regimes on the other,  there is 
a 
political void. Religious Muslims have successfully filled this  void and 
are leading the struggle. Like it or not, this is reality - what do  we do? 

Reply:
 
I agree with your historical analysis and reasons for the emergence of  
Islamic influenced resistance movements to fill the vacuum left by the  
destruction 
and dissipation of Arab nationalism in the region. A wave of  anti-modernity 
throughout the Arab and Muslim world has arisen in line with a  tightening of 
western imperialist domination of the region and its support for  corrupt, 
autocratic regimes.
 
What do we do?
 
We offer our full solidarity with those on the front lines. There is no  
pure, secular resistance waiting in the wings. Without resistance imperialism  
advances at the expense not only of the Arab and Muslim world, but also at the  
expense of the international working class. If there had been no Iraqi  
resistance to the US led invasion and occupation, the Bush gang would have won 
a  
huge victory with ramifications for the entire world, especially the developing 
 
world. Iran or Syria, perhaps both, would have been next, and the threat of  
intervention in Latin American would have increased.
 
Dbachmozart:
 
Why has the US/European left been so unable/unwilling to forge strong ties  
to an oppressed and combative segment of its population - a natural ally? Is  
this related to the notorious inability of the US left to become more  
Black/Brown?

Reply:
 
I certainly believe there's an unconscious chauvinism at work  
psychologically amongst sections of the US/European left. The pressure brought  
to bear by 
our own governments should not be underestimated either. The mass  media has 
done a pretty good job in repeating government orthodoxies both in the  US and 
throughout Europe on the nature of the struggle, a Manichean struggle  against 
the dark forces of barbarism, a struggle that began on 9/11, abstracting  in 
the process the past 60 years of Western imperialism in the region. In this  
they've been ably aided and abetted by the pro-war left, Hitchens and Co, etc.  
In fact, I was just watching the You Tube of the Hitchens/Galloway debate  
that took place in the US a few years back. I was struck by how confused and  
shambolic Hitchens was as he attempted to chart an intelligible course through  
the swamp of his own obvious hatred of the Muslim and Arab world. I mean, he's 
a  smart guy, who wrote some fine books when he was still a member of this  
parish.
 
I wonder what happens to these people.
 
 
 
 
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