by Sam Husseini – journalist
Sep 29 – I arrived in New York City a week ago. I immediately went to a protest in Astoria, Queens. It started in “Little Egypt” and weaved through the immigrant neighborhood there.It ended with a banner — “Glory Glory to our Martyrs” held up before a memorial in a waterfront park with Jesus Christ’s words etched in stone: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Above was a figure with sword in hand.
I then spent much of this week at the United Nation where “diplomats” talk and then talk about how talking doesn’t actually change anything and then cut self-serving deals they avoid talking about.Hasan Nasrallah acted. He will be remembered long after virtually ever other leader of our era is either forgotten or rendered despicable.Indeed, the “international community” made “decisions” — like calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, without teeth. Hezbollah and Ansar Allah effectively see themselves as providing the teeth.
As Nasrallah said, “only military strength” can protect “vulnerable populations”Now some weep: “He is an immortal. … Living inside each one of us.”And it was from the United Nations that Netanyahu, where diplomats walked out on him, would apparently order the bombing that slaughtered hundreds including Nasrallah.
Every time there is a legal move against Israel, it inflicts yet another atrocity.
The Shia of Lebanon, the poorest group of a tiny Arab country, produced Hezbollah. It has challenged Israel as the Egypt, Jordan and the Gulf states sold out. His speeches, rigorous and full of wit, were listened to like nothing else and transcended sect.He became leader of Hezbollah after a founder of the group, Abbas al-Musawi was assassinated by Israel in 1992 and if anything he proved more capable. He was brilliant in 2006. I’ve had a mixed assessment of him since Oct; head and shoulders above other Arab “leaders” — but that’s not saying much. I sensed that if you’re going to poke Israel you have to hurt it. An all out attack just after Oct 7 — by Hezbollah and Iran — may have compelled a sort of melt down in Israel.
Just after Oct 7, you had immediate visits to Israel by Biden et al telling Israeli Jews they had nowhere else to go. The Empire feared a mass migration out of Israel. I don’t know if Hezbollah (and Iran) could have acted in that moment to trigger that, history doesn’t give its alternatives.
Israel’s mantra that Iran is the author of solidarity with the Palestinians is a big lie, as As’ad AbuKhalil noted, Nasrallah’s attacks on Israel were contrary to the Iranian will that wanted to distance itself.
Part of Nasrallah’s doom was paved by loads of propaganda, conflating armed resistance with “terrorism”. Most recently Hezbollah was smeared as being responsible for a strike that killed Arab children on the Golan Heights. Even critics of Israel ignored Hezbollah’s recent strike on Israel’s assassination factory.
But it may not be doom. The ramifications of martyrdom could be unending.I was not surprised by Nasrallah’s killing having listened to his final speech which foreshadowed it. But he has had this refrain for many years. “A movement whose leader is martyred will not be defeated” he said in 1995.Bashir Saade, author of Hizbullah and the Politics of Remembrance has said: “What I proposed to call the politics of remembrance is at the heart of the production of coherence, where Hizbullah produces understanding of its political environment and of itself by constantly rearticulating the past, but also by experiencing this conception of time in different ways.
Hizbullah remembers its past legacy, its martyrs, through a series of commemorations during the year, and this human heritage haunts a present by providing ideological coherence conducive to community building. Hizbullah has a long tradition of Islamo-Christian dialogue that owes a lot to the social environment in which the party develops.”I remember my dad telling me how Nasrallah, prior to his son Hadi’s being killed by Israel, would recount how he felt a measure of embarrassment when he would meet with the families of martyrs. His own son’s killing seemed to focus him.The notion that the death of someone like Nasrallah creates many more like him is perversely embraced by Israel in its genocidal “logic” — they become more people to kill.
But I would say that some were guilty of a glorification of armed struggle. Equating “the resistance” to “armed resistance”. There’s lots of forms of resistance to oppression. Writing, organizing, protesting, etc.And many martyrs.Gaza is filled with martyrs, I know just a few — like Refaat Alareer.
And now Lebanon.
When Ayşenur Eygi was recently killed by the Israeli military, the International Solidarity Movement quickly declared: “She is now one of many martyrs in this struggle.” But in its coverage of her killing, Democracy Now, for example, didn’t use the term.Norman Finkelstein’s most recent book is titled Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom.
Nir Rosen’s book on Iraq is The Triumph of the Martyrs. Rosen’s title echoes that of one of the most important books of the 19th Century: François-René de Chateaubriand’s The Martyrs, Or, The Triumph Of The Christian Religion. And of course there’s Foxe’s Book of Martyrs and much else. And obviously Jesus and other martyrs of the New Testament such as Stephen.
Nor is martyrdom unique to the religious. Nathan Hale is regarded by American Revolutionary tradition as a hero and a martyr. He is supposed to have said before his death, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country,” a remark similar to one in Joseph Addison’s play Cato.Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death” may as well be the national motto of Palestine.
Of course, the establishment hopes that martyrs will be forgotten or misused. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and the Kennedy brothers were killed with insufficient understanding or ramifications as to why. So far.The notion of martyrdom seems at odds with a modern age to some even though Christianity and the U.S. were arguably built on it. J
esuit priest Daniel Berrigan would comment “I think in Christianity that something very great has been lost.” He was thinking of self-immolation, adding: “Jesus’ death, I think, in a very deep sense can be called a self-immolation.”One clear example of that is Matt Nelson, who immolated himself on Sept. 11 across from the Israeli consulate in Boston. The media attention to his immolation was trivial. And the Boston police effectively hindered any reporting on it.
I was falsely told that he was still alive by the Boston police on Sept. 18. In fact, he had died on Sept. 15. The false information put out by the Boston police was seemingly unending.
The Cape Cod Times reports: “Nelson, 45, lived in Centerville and Hyannis for much of his life, and attended Centerville Elementary School and Barnstable High School, according to a long-time friend Owen Flood. Most recently, said Matthew Bailey, another close friend of Nelson’s, Nelson lived in Chatham, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.”Life is burned and demeaned by ignoring what sacrifice someone has made, and why. And life is honored by hearing of martyrs, for no one knows what might rise from their ashes.
by Sam Husseini
When they claim Nasrallah was driven by antisemitism, watch this clip. He was driven by an anti-imperialist understanding of Israel’s place in the world system. That is simply a fact. Ignore the lies and misinformation from the know-nothing pundits.
@freedomrideblog
·Remember when Nasrallah blew up universities, left babies to die in incubators, starved thousands of people, targeted journalists and their families for assassination, killed little girls and ambulance drivers rescuing them, and defended rape and torture? I don’t remember either.
This picture is not of Sayed Hassan Nasrallah. This is Sayed Hashem Safiyedeen, the man groomed for years to succeed him. The two men are cousins. They look like brothers. Even their voice is the same. And yet, there is some difference. Nasrallah, throughout his leadership, has been regarded as a moderate within the context of the broader resistance movement. While his influence and stature as a historic figure are undeniable, his approach has often been characterized by pragmatism. Safiyedeen has all the intellectual and management qualities of Nasrallah but will likely adopt a more aggressive stance, moving from Nasrallah’s diplomacy-focused leadership to a more militant posture. Netanyahu may come to regret that he assassinated Nasrallah.
Newsweek: Nasrallah’s Death Mourned by Lebanese Christian Leaders: ‘Legend Is Born’
Prominent Christian political leaders in Lebanon released statements on Saturday eulogizing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah after he was confirmed killed in an Israeli attack.
Speculation that Nasrallah had been killed began swirling shortly after Israel carried out a massive strike on Friday, which leveled multiple buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs. Hezbollah, a group allied with the Palestinian militant group Hamas and backed by Iran, confirmed the death on Saturday.
Considered by some as the most charismatic leader in a network of proxies that projected Iran’s power across the Middle East, Nasrallah rarely appeared in public but cultivated a cult-like following with his televised speeches. Israel and the United States have designated Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.
While Hezbollah is a Shi’ite Muslim political and militant group in Lebanon, some of the Middle Eastern nation’s Christian leaders are allied with the movement.
Sleiman Frangieh, leader of Lebanon’s Christian political party Marada and Hezbollah’s preferred candidate for the presidency, posted a brief statement on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday.
“The symbol is gone, the legend is born, and the resistance continues,” he wrote.
Former Lebanese President Michel Aoun, a Christian and founder of the Free Patriotic Movement party which is allied with Hezbollah, posted a lengthier statement praising Nasrallah as a martyr for the country.
“With the martyrdom of His Eminence the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Lebanon loses a distinguished and honest leader who led the national resistance on the paths of victory and liberation. He was faithful to his promise and loyal to his people who reciprocated his love, trust and commitment,” he wrote on X.
The former Lebanese president described Nasrallah as “an honorable friend.” He also warned against the “dangers” Lebanon is “witnessing as a result of the ongoing Israeli aggression,” calling for national unity.
“May God grant the great martyr a spacious place in heaven, and condolences to his family, the resistance, all his loved ones, and all of Lebanon,” Aoun wrote.
Under Lebanon’s sectarian power-sharing government system, the president must always be a Maronite Christian. Aoun was the nation’s most recent president, with his term ending nearly two years ago in October 2022. His successor should be chosen by Lebanon’s parliament, but political deadlock has left the country without a head of state.
Lebanon has a relatively large number of Christians, with a 2019 State Department report estimating them to make up north of 32 percent of the country’s population. Historically, Lebanon was more evenly split between Christian and Muslim sects, with Christians long having held significant political and economic power.
Firas Maksad, a senior director for strategic outreach at the Middle East Institute, told Newsweek that Nasrallah’s death “leaves a big void and raises serious questions about the future role of the [Shi’ite] community within Lebanon’s archaic sectarian system.”
Despite representing the Shi’ite community in a country riven by sectarian feuds, Nasrallah became a revered figure nationally when Israel ended its 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon in 2000. Hezbollah also built a strong political presence in Lebanon with a powerful faction in parliament.
“Short-term, the Lebanese army and the country’s veteran communal leaders will have a key role to play in stabilizing the system and the situation on the ground,” Maskad said.
There have been tit-for-tat attacks between Hezbollah and Israel following the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas into southern Israel that preceded the bombardment of Gaza.
Nasrallah spent his last days increasingly isolated as Israel disrupted the militant group’s communications and wiped out a generation of its most experienced commanders. He held the same position on Israel as Iran and refused any conciliation with the country.
“Israel’s relentless campaign of the last ten dates has virtually decimated Hezbollah’s leadership, hampered its ability to communicate, and raised questions whether the group is to maintain command and control in a major war with Israel,” Maskad said. “Hezbollah is clearly reeling from the significant blows it has suffered, perhaps encouraging Netanyahu to risk further escalation.”
Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging heavy fire ever since electronic device attacks on Hezbollah last week killed dozens and injured thousands more. Israel is widely thought to have launched last week’s attack, but it has not taken responsibility for it.
“We settled the score with the one responsible for the murder of countless Israelis and many citizens of other countries, including hundreds of Americans and dozens of French,” Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday in a statement on Nasrallah’s killing.
Newsweek has reached out the Lebanese government, Iran and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment.
Update, 9/28/2024 at 3:18 p.m. ET: Netanyahu’s statement was added.
·85 bunker buster bombs were used to assassinate Hassan Nasrallah. Each containing 1 ton of explosives. Israel’s assassination on foreign soil had absolutely no regard for the cost of innocent civilians. The intention- war throughout the entire region.