The horrific terrorist attacks by Daesh on civilians in Lebanon and France must be condemned. Words do not do justice to my horror and grief, but I will try. We must stand in solidarity with all victims, their loved ones, their families, their communities from wherever they may be. These are victims of collective punishment and the nightmare that is Syria is a creation of both the historical and current actions of imperialist governments (military, political, and economic). These actions have led to the rise of groups like Daesh; there is barbarism on both sides, and we cannot discuss the barbarism of Daesh without looking at the barbarism which created it. This does not excuse Daesh for its actions, but it also recognises that this situation does not arise in a vacuum.
I watched the news yesterday and somehow while the barbarism that is Daesh is being discussed, the barbarism against the Syrians by foreign powers is never seen as such. The bombings of various governments and coalitions (from the Syrian government, to NATO and to Russia) and military groups (Daesh) have caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands, led to people fleeing the country (to Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan) and the region in search of safety in Europe. We are seeing a conflict of barbarism against the people of Syria.
I am not someone who rejects the use of terrorism as a tactic in all situations. There are reasons why groups engage in this tactic and while I oppose the killing of civilians in a conflict there are times when it is appropriate as a tactic (an obvious example is against the citizens of an occupying power). It is not a tactic that I would support generally, but I do understand why people use it. I am strongly opposed to the use of terrorism as a strategy.
What do I mean by terrorism? Let me start by telling you what terrorism is not: an attack on government buildings, military members, representatives of an occupying power and their military headquarters is not a terrorist attack. It is a direct attack on the power of government and military that you are opposing. So, the Warsaw Ghetto uprisings were not terrorist attacks, the attacks of freedom fighters fighting colonialism and against headquarters and occupation troops are not a terrorist attack, the use of violence by the Kurds fighting for self-determination and self-defence attacking troops from Daesh, from the Turkish government, from any other government is not terrorism. However, the attempt to kill civilians or to terrorise a whole population to achieve your aims is a terrorist attack and is essentially collective punishment of those you are attacking; you are holding a whole country responsible for the actions of its political and economic rulers and military.
Terrorist attacks are clearly not limited to what are normally thought of as situations of war; the bombings of abortion clinics and the murders of doctors performing abortions are terrorist attacks and we need to call them so. The same holds for the burning of churches with black congregations and lynching of black people by the KKK and for death squads murdering trade unionists and political opposition. This is also not limited to the right wing; the use of terror by the Red Brigades to kill Aldo Moro (for example) served no one’s interest except the Italian government who could use their actions as an excuse to undermine democratic processes and civil liberties.
We also need to talk about state terrorism and the use of collective punishment, by which I mean the use of military power of a government or state against civilians; this serves any number of purposes. It could be an attempt to pressurise a population into accommodation of the aggressor military or a government (how many times have you heard the argument that a group which is living in an area is using the population as human shields? The justification of the attacks on the civilians of Gaza, for example, is that they are human shields for Hamas and civilian deaths while regrettable are unavoidable because members of Hamas are hiding behind human shields … well no, they actually live there), it could be used by a government against protesters opposing government policies (e.g, Kent State), it could be part of an attempt to weaken opposition and destroy a people’s spirit (e.g., the Blitz in WWII, the bombing of Dresden) and the purpose of genocide (e.g., Armenians, the Jews, the Roma, Native Americans, and Palestinians). In all cases, those that are attacked are facing collective punishment for ideological reasons, for the actions of a few, or as an overall attempt to terrorise populations that are themselves facing hardship under either their own governments or those that have occupied their country, or are fighting for their civil and human rights.
The Syrian civil war is a civil war; there are opposing sides. There is Bashir Al Assad, there are secular (e.g., Free Syrian Army) and religious forces (e.g., Al Nusra) ,opposed to Assad, there is also Daesh who have declared themselves a Caliphate and are ruling parts of Syria that they have occupied, and there are the Kurds fighting for their existence. And then there are the Syrian people who are caught between these sides (they may support one side or not; but either way, they are caught in an armed conflict where the murders of civilians happen routinely. In addition, there are foreign powers that have political and economic interests in Syria for various reasons.
When foreign bombers bomb areas controlled by Daesh, there are inevitable civilian casualties; these include unfortunates living under this group’s power who could not flee when they came and occupied their villages and cities and are now living in a nightmare. While many have fled and are living as refugees, there are those who couldn’t or didn’t want to flee into an uncertain future. They have not volunteered to live there for the most part; they are stuck there in a living nightmare.
Neither NATO nor Putin (who is bombing Assad’s opponents to prop him up in power) are allies of the Syrian people, we must oppose this bombing which only makes more innocent victims. Daesh itself has an ideology in which large numbers of Syrians do not fit (this includes those following other Sunni sects, Shi’ites of various sects, Yazidi and secular and left-wing people living there (including the Kurds).
The violence of imperialist countries merely strengthens the hands of Daesh. We also need to condemn the use of extra-judicial killings, not because those killed are nice people or we agree with their beliefs and actions by any means, but because those that commit extra-judicial killings are playing the role of judge, jury and executioner (this is the action of the powerful) and they also will create martyrs of people who think martyrdom is a positive thing and want to be martyrs (and this has nothing to do with my opposition to the death penalty). This is not justice, this will not bring those murdered back, and it will not hold those responsible for doing what they did.
There were two horrific terrorist attacks conducted this week by Daesh for which they claimed responsibility: the first against the Shi’ite community in Beirut Lebanon (November 12th); and the second against civilians in Paris (November 13th).
Burj al-Barajneh in Southern Beirut is an area in which there is a majority Shi’ite population in Beirut and is a stronghold of Hezbollah. Twin suicide bombing blasts killed 43 people and wounded 239 people (www.theguardian.com/...).
The second terrorist attack, on Friday the 13th of November in Paris, a series of 6 attacks against people in the 10th and 11th Arrondissements, in the Bataclan concert hall (www.theguardian.com/...) where an American band, The Eagles of Death Metal, were playing a concert (89 people died there), at the National Stadium where a friendly international football match between Germany and France was being played (two suicide bombers blew themselves up outside) has led to the deaths of 132 people and wounding 350 people, many of them seriously wounded (www.reddit.com/...).
But we must never reduce victims to numbers, they are human beings … lives cut short … they are from many nationalities (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34821813), many ethnicities, many religions and there are those still unidentified. What is disturbing at times are the pictures available of the victims in Paris, we also must show the victims in Beirut as well as for many they are merely numbers without meaning and we must humanise the victims of atrocities like these … unless we break the idea of human beings as numbers, people will not be able to empathise with atrocities like this; I am not calling for death porn of pictures of dead bodies, I want us to realise that these numbers are human beings.
In both cases, civilians were targeted due to the actions of a militia (Hezbollah) or government (France) attacking Daesh. Hezbollah has been supporting Bashir al Assad since the beginning of the civil war and, as we know, the French government has been participation in bombings of Daesh with NATO.
Neither of these attacks is more important than the other; these attacks are collective punishment against civilians who are not responsible for the actions of their governments or militias; their purpose is to terrorise and to attack those they view as hostile others – those that are attacked are not human subjects, they are objectified, they are “the enemy,” they are things that need to be eradicated, to be terrorised, and also to demonstrate an ideology and hopefully to win sympathisers. Look how strong we are, we can strike in your capitals, we can kill people, we can destroy you even though we are from another place.
Terrorism is not a tactic of the strong, it is a tactic of the weak; it has always been so. If you are powerful, you do not have to resort to this tactic, let’s be serious and that is why the notion of state terrorism (as that state is the far more powerful) is disputed and often not recognised and rarely why acts of state terror are called out irrespective of their breaking the Geneva Conventions.
My first three reactions to hearing about what happened in Paris (and I only heard about it initially from a comment while watching a friendly football match which sent me running to the news stations and on-line newspapers) were:
- I hope my friends and comrades in Paris are ok;
- They (French and European governments) will use this to stop the flow of refugees fleeing Syria. The right in Britain (among others in Europe) has been complaining about the danger of people coming in as migrants with the purpose of terrorism in mind (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/15/g20-cameron-world-leaders-turkey-paris-attacks-syria); and
Finally, this will provoke a nightmare against Muslims living in France and with Marine Le Pen (of the National Front) topping polls for French President (http://www.breitbart.com/london/2015/11/13/marine-le-pen-tops-another-french-presidency-poll/), the French far-right will win further support (www.theguardian.com/...) and the current French government will use this horrific attack as an excuse to clamp down on democratic freedoms of all those in France and further attack French Muslims. This is especially so as it seems that these attacks were mainly from French or Belgian born citizens rather than “foreigners” (read as migrants or refugees).
These reactions are obvious (I do not claim that I am a special snowflake that has unique reactions), but so were the responses from Governments and the mainstream media to such a horrific attack. How those foreign powers now will react to what has happened in France and what will they propose?
Francois Hollande’s speech following the attacks was not a great start to the French response (and we can even expect worse from the National Front who will use this to drum up racism and Islamophobia creating hate between the people of France, as an understatement, and contained all the jingoism expected in an attempt to unite the country behind nationalism.
“In the aftermath of the attacks on Paris, the French President, François Hollande, said terrorists strikes were an “act of war” on France, “organised and planned from the outside”.
He said the attackers wanted “to scare us and fill us with dread”, but warned France’s retribution would be swift and unflinching.
“We are going to lead a war which will be pitiless. Because when terrorists are capable of committing such atrocities they must be certain that they are facing a determined France, a united France, a France that is together and does not let itself be moved, even if today we express infinite sorrow (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/16/france-launches-massive-airstrike-on-isis-stronghold-in-syria-after-paris-attack).”
A nasty thought comes unbidden to my mind: imagine their horror when they realised that people born in Europe were responsible for the attack.
Cue Les Marseillais, the French government sent 12 planes to bomb Raqqa in Syria (the stronghold-capital of Daesh). Will this bring justice to the victims? Will this end the cycles of violence or just ramp them up further?
There is talk of continuing the meetings in Vienna addressing the situation in Syria. Will all groups be represented at a meeting discussing the situation in Syria? ” Will opponents to Assad be allowed to participate? A solution imposed by foreign governments will not be a lasting solution. Daesh itself has not arisen out of thin air and it has support. Unless the Syrian people themselves have the ability to participate in any political solution, there is nothing to suggest that the situation will miraculously stop being a nightmare for them. We need to demand self-determination for the Syrian people, self-determination for the Kurds, and the end to foreign interference from both western imperialist countries and Russia.
End Foreign Intervention in Syria!
Self-determination for the Syrian people! Let the Syrian people determine their own political and economic future(s)!
Self-determination for the Kurdish people!
I am ending with a link to a statement from the NPA in France:
“The horrible attacks which took place in Paris on Friday evening, killing 120 people, causing dozens of casualties, this blind violence, provokes revolt and indignation. The NPA shares these feelings and expresses its solidarity with the victims, with their close relations. This tragedy is even worse in that it hit innocent victims, the murderous attacks were aimed at the population.
This contemptible cruelty in central Paris responds to the equally blind and even more fatal violence of the bombings by French planes in Syria following the decisions of François Hollande and his government. These strikes are supposed to fight the Islamic State, the terrorist Jihadists, in fact, with the Russian intervention and bombings, they protect the regime responsible of the martyrdom of the Syrian people, the dictator Assad .
And in fact there too the civil populations are the first victims condemned to live under terror or to flee at the risk of their lives.
Imperialist cruelty and Islamist cruelty feed each other. And do so to control oil supplies.
In a pitiful intervention, Holland broke down and stammered some words on the Republic. He who plays the war leader and carries an enormous responsibility in this new tragedy asks for “confidence”. He decreed a state of emergency throughout France, considering that the answer was to trample on fundamental freedoms. He was immediately supported by Sarkozy. The political authorities can thus from now on ban public meetings and control the press.
Once again, main people responsible for this surge of barbarian violence are calling for national union. They are trying to turn the dramatic situation to their advantage to choke off indignation and revolt. They have a ready-made scapegoat, Muslims. We reject any national union with those responsible for wars, the bourgeoisie, Hollande, Sarkozy and Le Pen. We denounce the racism that the State vehicles in the name of alleged “values of the republic” at the time when, in the guise of fight against terrorism, in fact democratic rights are threatened. We ask for the lifting of the state of emergency.
The only response to wars and terrorism is the unity of the workers and people, over and above their origins, their skin colour, their religions, across the borders, to fight together against those who want to silence them, to dominate them, to do away with this capitalist system which generates cruelty.
To put an end to terrorism, it is necessary to put an end to the imperialist wars that aim to perpetuate the plundering of the wealth of the peoples dominated by the multinationals, to force the withdrawal of the French troops from all countries where they are present, in particular in Syria, in Iraq, in Africa (www.internationalviewpoint.org/...).