GUILTY BY ASSOCIATION   Jihad al-Bina's Reconstruction Terrorism   Interview			No. 3 - 2008
(page 6 of 6) So where does the loaded word terrorism fit into all of this? My interlocutor falls silent. There is muted resentment and indignation in the air no matter how much this short and stocky man refuses to acknowledge the emotional brunt of being labeled a terrorist. In an attempt to buy a few seconds to recollect his thoughts, he apologizes for forgetting to offer me coffee or tea. I ask for water. Our work brings economic autonomy to people, which directly translates into political autonomy. Local politics in Lebanon are a mask for profiteering and personal interests: The country’s politicians and leaders are essentially businessmen and businesswomen who are not genuinely concerned with the public good. They want the population to engage in the endless pursuit of dollars and cents, to wake up, to labor, to go to the bar, to sleep then wake up again like automatons and modern slaves. One is forbidden from having control over one’s economic destiny, political identity and the freedom to choose. Rafic Hariri borrowed vast sums of money for urban reconstruction projects. He borrowed on behalf of the corrupt Lebanese government and a public sector ridden with debt. He kept borrowing until the national debt suddenly reached $47 billion. By the time of his death he had managed to literally own downtown Beirut. Meanwhile, relatively little money—if any at all—was allocated for development projects. During the same period, $10 billion was invested in gas and diesel-based generation of electricity. Lebanon has enormous water resources but not a single ounce of natural gas or a gallon of diesel. No attempts were made to build dams for electricity generation at a much lower production cost. Who wants Fouad Siniora? George Bush does, because Siniora, a Hariri staffer, is part of American national security. And if we raised our voice in protest we would be called terrorists by a superpower that was emphatic in its refusal to define the term “terrorist” during a U.N. session in New York (footnote 8). I am guessing that the U.S. wanted to retain the prerogative to slap the terrorist identity on anyone, anywhere and anytime the label served its national interests. Imagine how celebrated our work would have been by the entire world, had JaB complied with the American agenda in Lebanon and the region. In the end, let the American government label us all it wants, our identity and our success are rooted in our loyalty and dedication to our people. Coincidence has it that his phone rings at that point; it’s “people” on the other end making a donation. “People” offer 50 barrels of diesel for the poor. From the one side of the conversation I can hear, the donor must have simply introduced himself or herself, then specified the type of donation and its location at so and so gas station. It is waiting there for JaB to pick it up and administer the distribution according to its lists. Kassem Alleik hangs up the phone, beaming, No foreign president or congress in the world could determine our identity for us. Our people grant us the legitimacy we value and honor. Footnote 8: In an attempt to define the term “terrorism,” the UN General Assembly passed a resolution in 1987 with the following votes: 153 countries in support, 2 countries (Israel and the United States) in opposition, and 1 country (Honduras) abstaining (GA Res. 42/159, 7 Dec. 1987). “Explaining their negative vote, the US and Israel identified the fatal flaw: the statement that “nothing in the present resolution could in any way prejudice the right to self-determination, freedom, and independence, as derived from the Charter of the United Nations, of people forcibly deprived of that right..., particularly peoples under colonial and racist regimes and foreign occupation...” That was understood to apply to the struggle of the African National Congress against the Apartheid regime of South Africa (a US ally, while the ANC was officially labeled a “terrorist organization”); and to the Israeli military occupation, then in its 20th year, sustained by US military and diplomatic support in virtual international isolation. Presumably because of US opposition, the UN resolution against terrorism was ignored.” (Noam Chomsky, “Who are the Global Terrorists,” Palgrave Macmillan, May, 2002). (return to corresponding paragraph)			One of thousands of leaflets in Arabic dropped by the Israeli airforce over Lebanese towns during the war on Lebanon in 2006 (the original above was written in bad Arabic--translated into English below word for word by Publio). To the Lebanese Citizens Hezbollah, serving its Iranian and Syrian masters, lead you to the brink of disaster. Hezbollah, with its separatist, irresponsible and deceptive policies, brought many achievements to you: devastation and destruction, displacement and death. Can you afford paying this price again? Know this! The Israeli defense army will return and work with the necessary brutality against each terrorist act initiated from Lebanon against the state of Israel. (signed) The state of Israel
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