- Hiding the West’s ongoing neo-colonialism in Lebanon via blaming Iran (1/2) Archived Message
Posted by MikeD
on November 4, 2019, 8:28 am
|
Hiding the West’s ongoing neo-colonialism in Lebanon via blaming Iran (1/2) by Ramin Mazaheri for the Saker Blog I have spoken with many in France’s huge expatriate Lebanese community – and from all groups – and not a single person has ever claimed that Iran was the power behind the scenes in Lebanon. Without fail I was told that this title belongs to France. It shouldn’t be surprising: France completely devised modern Lebanon. Many Lebanese don’t like to be reminded of this, but Lebanon is an artificial nation which France constructed entirely on the basis of racism: just as Zionists to the south wanted a “Jewish nation”, Lebanon was hacked off of Syria in 1920 to create a new Christian-majority nation. That’s a “no longer relevant” tale of divide and conquer to some, even though a few centenarians may still remember the actual event. France also devised Lebanon’s sectarianism-enshrining, woefully unmodern constitution, which has ensured divisive identity politics ever since. Thus, just as Israel is a little part of the USA in the Middle East, Lebanon is the older, French version. The saying, “Beirut is the Paris of the Middle East” could not be more correct. And yet, were an alien to visit and read Western mainstream media coverage of the recent protests in Lebanon it would not imagine that France ever had any role in Lebanon, much less a prominent role there today. Instead, Western headlines and reports all push the totally absurd claim that Iran has somehow become the neo-colonial master in Lebanon. Somehow – and via the poorest, most marginalised sectors of Lebanese society, no less – Iran has been able to usurp a century of French power. Furthermore, despite the century of French involvement it is not France but Iran which is responsible for the corruption that has pushed so many Lebanese into the streets. Apparently Iran took power and also became corrupt so very quickly that the Lebanese themselves didn’t even realise it! The idea is laughable. Or perhaps: the Lebanese themselves don’t know what is actually going on in their own country – the West knows better. These are the kind of ideas only a Westerner could believe. The reason is simple: advertising works. Astute observers already realise that when it comes to the Middle East every problem – big or small – is blamed on Iran in the West. However, what’s rarely examined is how this very real Iranophobia allows the West to obscure places where their neo-colonial machinations could not be more obvious, such as in Lebanon.... http://thesaker.is/hiding-the-wests-ongoing-neo-colonialism-in-lebanon-via-blaming-iran-1-2/ |
| Message Thread:
|