The
Nationalism of Idiots
Hazem Saghieh
Al-Hayat - 25/09/07//
Every time that the criminals strike at a politician or journalist in
Lebanon, the name Michel Aoun immediately comes to mind.
The man, certainly, is innocent of assassination, whether in terms of
implementation or planning. However, certainly, he is not innocent of producing
the political circumstance that permits it, just as it permits the obstruction
of political life in general. Perhaps we can say that he is the most important
architect of what is happening today; it is a situation in which it is
impossible to see the country lay anchor on a clear and stable political quorum
that prevents murder. However, what is this Aounist phenomenon, which forms the
strongest bridges connected to the murderous confusion, and how can we explain
it?
Let us say, to begin with, that it is a combination of hatred and rancor.
Thus, the Aounist is one of three things:
He hates the Lebanese Forces because of the civil war, which was crowned
by the "war of elimination" (between Aoun and the LF).
Or, he hates the Hariri family and envies them - behind them stands the
Sunni community, in general, imitating the Christian sectarian model, which
grew to confront the Sunni sectarian model, just as the Sunni imitation of the
sectarian model arose to confront it, when the Shiites were marginalized in
terms of rights and political presence.
Or, he hates Walid Jumblatt, and behind him stands the Druze community
(with the exception of Wiam Wahhab, of course), due to the War of the Mountain.
Regardless of whether or not these feelings of hatred are justified, the
coming-together of various hatreds does not make a political program. In fact,
the weak political element that arises in these hatreds will quickly shrink,
gradually, in favor of trouble-making and seeking vengeance. To this
combination of hatred, didn't we see a very inflated ego, which doubles its
personal considerations and gives them prominence, destroying anything having
to do with objectivity? Needless to say, the "me" in question here is
only the famous ego of the general, who behaves, when it comes to the
presidency of the Republic, like a child who cares only about getting his hands
on a toy!
Between the self-obsession of Aounism and the explosive self of Aoun, a
state of political stupidity is spreading, the like of which is difficult to
find elsewhere. The Christian Aounists, who don't know political party work and
never once approached the complexities of political life, draw up their
political position in one or two expressions, which do not breed or reproduce;
they are unaffected by any transformation, change or circumstance.
As a comment on the political Lebanonization that overcame the Sunnis in
As a commentary on the assassinations, it's said that nothing has been
proven until now, while the razor is aimed at the government of victims,
accused of negligence in pursuing the killers and exploiting their blood for
partisan ends.
This is how, unexpectedly, we see the use of a language of persistent,
investigating judges, which is neither a trait of Aoun nor the generous
discourse of Aounism. One politician after another might be killed, or one
journalist after another, while the judge remains a persistent and
investigating judge, who repeats the same refrain.
A European thinker once wrote that "anti-semitism is socialism of
idiots," meaning those who complain, those who have been harmed, and the
exploiters who don't know the reason for their defeat, can easily blame it on
"the Jews." Thus, Aounism is the nationalism of idiots, a nationalism
that prompts its followers to ally with the true danger to the country against
false threats… to ally with the killer, against the killed