A cursory search for the word “resistance” at the Socialist Worker website suggests that the SWP considers it– everywhere and without exception– a Good Thing.
On the one hand, the SWPers have a rather narrow interpretation of “resistance,” a word it would never apply to, say, the democratic opponents of the Chavez government in Venezuela or the Castro government in Cuba. On the other hand, they can be very generous in awarding the term to those perceived as opposing US, British and Israeli “imperialism.” Thus the reference in the latest issue of The Socialist Worker to “the Lebanese resistance group Hizbollah” suggests a degree of approval for that fascist organization.
Is “fascist” too strong a word? Well, the stiff-armed salute has a long and tangled history, but it’s hard to believe that any organization which sanctions it in the post-Nazi era is unaware of the implications.
Not enough evidence? Watch these Hezbollah videos from last year’s Parliamentary elections in Lebanon (complete with more stiff-armed salutes). Can anyone tell me what is not fascistic about them? (And no, there are no Israeli election videos like this.)
And of course awarding Hezbollah the SWP’s coveted”resistance” label makes it rather difficult for the SWPers to challenge Hezbollah’s TV’s broadcast of a series about a global Jewish conspiracy based on “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” or leader Hassan Nasrallah’s assertion that “The Jews invented the legend of the Nazi atrocities.” (Any rightwing political group in Europe or the US which made similar broadcasts or assertions would, I assume, be automatically labeled fascist by the SWP and its apologists.)
So a group of militaristic fascists attacks a highly-imperfect, sometimes mistaken, but essentially democratic country, and a party of the “Left” sides with the fascist attackers. And nobody regards this as unusual anymore.
Let’s keep a watch for similar “leftwing” support for the fascist Hezbollah in the days ahead. Please email me with examples.
Update: My case for labeling Hezbollah a fascist organization is not based entirely on the photo above. However, since some commenters seemed to like it so much, here is a photo of a Hezbollah swearing-in ceremony:
And here is a still from a Hezbollah election video:
