>
> > In the present conflict, a secular egalitarian democrat such as I,
> > has no real place for representation or maneuver. Neither have I
> > and my ilk succeeded in carving a space for ourselves, nor have the
> > prevailing forces (the two poles) agreed to making allocations for
> > us. That is our defeat and our failure. In Lebanon, we are caught
> > in the stampede and the cross-fire.
This reminded me of something Tariq Ali said when Doug interviewed him:
>The Islamic world is no different from any other. All the wars and
>revolutions that shaped the 20th century had their influence on the
>Muslim world as well. One of the largest Communist Parties in the
>world was in the Muslim country of Indonesia. The most gifted
>intellectuals were in the Iraqi Communist Party - before Saddam
>wiped them out, at the behest of the U.S. This world has been like
>any other. Since the collapse of Communism, we see developments very
>similar to those in Western Europe: a lot of people become dejected,
>withdraw from political life, others move to the right, and you see
>the growth of new semi-fascist organizations. In Italy, just to give
>you one example, there are two fascist organizations in Berlusconi's
>government. This doesn't upset anyone. In the world of Islam, the
>groups which are like the fascists are radical Islamists. They have
>very similar philosophical beliefs about blood and soil and
>religion. And the causes are the same - the collapse of the left,
>big social vacuum, neoliberal politics. The old parties of the
>center-left and center-right are indistinguishable.
http://www.leftbusinessobserver.com/Ali.html