Objections to the Anti-War Anti-Globalization conference

from activists from imc beirut - 18.09.2004 17:28

This is a collection of arguments several grass root groups in Lebanon have repeatedly brought forward in meetings with the organizers prior to the conference. They are not a statement by one or several groups. Such a statement may follow once we find the time after the conference.

This conference is ignoring Lebanese politics and it is undermining the credibility the existing anti-war anti-globalization movement in Lebanon has gained in the last years. In a climate where most of the old parties have lost their credibility among the people, we see it as dangerous to put us in the same spot with them. This works against all our efforts to differentiate ourselves from them and addressing issues that matter to a society highly disillusioned about politics after 15 years of civil war.

Concerning the parties which were called “the most progressive forces in Lebanon” in one call for the conference:

We do not believe that Hizbollah represents either the Anti-War or the Anti-Globalization movement in Lebanon. They did not participate in any war related demonstration until the fall of Baghdad. They do not confront government politics which push for the total liberalization and privatization of Lebanon, even though they have strong influence in these politics. Furthermore they stand for politics which are disowning the Palestinian people in Lebanon, who are often not allowed to work, are prohibited from 72 professions, and don’t receive basic state services. As most may know, Hizbollah also stands for an ideology which suppresses women, persecutes gays and does not allow for democratic freedoms.

The Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) is part of the government. Their militia whose members still hold important positions, has committed atrocious war crimes which they have never been prosecuted for (well, in this they are not alone).

The communist party remains in its structure stalinist. Its politics can be called social democratic at best, but actually they don’t really seem to have any (anybody at the conference may have noticed when listening to their speeches)

We don’t have a problem entering into a dialogue with these parties and some of us have done so in the past. However, we reject the notion that they are part of the anti-war anti-globalization movement. We are certainly stunned that people outside of Lebanon seem to think they are the main protagonists in this movement in Lebanon.

Concerning the organization of the conference:

We don’t think the way this conference was set up reflects the open, inclusive, transparent principles which have been established within the movement and which are mainly responsible for its strength. Nahla Chahal, the person responsible for contacting the Lebanese movement, said in the opening: “This is not a festival of speeches but a workshop.” We think she was stating the opposite of what she is well aware of: We will hear many speeches, the program is designed to allow only for as little discussion as possible. Any consensus on a strategy paper could only be forced on such a diverse body of participants, with this little time of discussion.

All these concerns and objections have been brought forward to the organizing committee, however, it was either too late or they were not willing to discuss them.

In fact, we got the strong impressions that Lebanese grass root groups were excluded in a strange way from participating in the conference. While political and governing parties were contacted, grass root groups found out by coincidence (about three weeks before the conference). We were first informed by activists from abroad who had heard about it. The argument that the organizers did not know about us doesn’t hold in the face that there exist such groups as indymedia beirut and Attac Liban which are part of networks that have been on the forefront of the anti-globalization movement since its beginning. Several other groups have an internet presence. And there was an anti-globalization conference in Beirut three years ago, whose organizers were not contacted.

All this may have been due to poor organizing skills. However, we became certain that there was a conscious attempt to exclude these groups when we confronted the organizers. In a preparatory meetings two days before the conference with Lebanese political parties and the woman responsible for organizing the Lebanese “Anti-War and Anti-globalization” movement, the representatives of grass root groups were shouted down. They were called children, who are only a drop in the ocean of the movement. One person called them fagots, because they represented among other groups the group Helem, which struggles for Lesbian and Gay rights. A film by indymedia beirut was rejected, with the argument that it dealt with Lebanese politics and that other groups had a different interpretation of events. The later was said by a guy from the Hizbollah’s TV-station (of course they have a different interpretation!).

The film was later allowed after the international working group (the organizing body) watched it and didn’t find anything wrong with it (since when do we have censorship within the movement???).
However, we found out on Friday morning when we arrived to the conference that we were only allowed to have two delegates inside the conference representing six groups that had endorsed the conference.

We like to note that several people within the international working group were also very helpful and expressed that they believed mistakes have happened. In the end, we were able to participate in the conference and have our voice heard, probably due to these people and many others who believe in transparency, equality and diversity within the movement.

To these people who asked us what they could have done to avoid this we had some suggestions:
Don’t let one person be responsible to contact locals in a country. Anywhere in the world you run the risk that this person is biased, and in Lebanon especially.
Such a conference should grow out of a local effort and not be imposed from outside (or as in this case decided by a gathering of activists in on the WSF in Mumbai of whom no one lived in Beirut)