Western Journalists Unfair To Lebanese Christians.

I second Michael Young in his well written piece. When Western Journalists write about Lebanese Christians, they do for some strange reasons “invariably resort to the word ‘fascism’ “. That is blatantly unfair.

The article’s first few paragraphs criticize the NY Times’ article that has already been ravaged on the Lebanese blogosphere. This why I suggest to the attention challenged to skip straight to the gold:

So why can’t Lebanese Christians ever seem to get a break from this tedious characterization? The common answer is that their main political organization after the 1930s, the Phalange, was influenced by European fascist movements, and that one of its later emanations, the paramilitary Lebanese Forces, reinforced the same tendencies. What are these? Loyalty to a dominant leader, an often parochial sense of nationalism, a centralized command structure, a willingness to employ force, a tendency to absorb the individual into a corporate identity, and so on. No doubt a few of these characteristics were or are present in a number of Christian parties, albeit in very haphazard and very undisciplined ways. However, they also happen to typify most other Lebanese political groups as well.

Mr. Young then asks, aren’t these the characteristics of Hezbollah?

There is one party, however, that fulfills all of these conditions to a tee: Hizbullah. And yet never will foreign journalists or observers refer to Hizbullah as “fascist” — nor would that be an accurate depiction of a far more multifaceted organization. To the anti-globalization left Hizbullah is a heroic vanguard against the United States and Israel; to many Western liberals it is a social service serving a deprived community.

So why is the Western media lenient on Hezbollah and critical of the Christians?

The thing is, the Muslim Hizbullah is regarded in Western consciousness as a “truer” product of Arab society than Christian parties, who have had to fight against a sense (sometimes self-inflicted, but mostly not) that they are interlopers. This has earned the party a reprieve from the “fascism” label.

Micheal’s article is a must read for anyone who regularly reads articles in English on Lebanon and the Middle East. Click here to read it.