Vision to Reality: The Reut Blog

According to an article in the Strategic Assessment journal, Hezbollah’s 2009 manifesto reflects a growing understanding of the importance of framing ideological objectives to appeal to the global political far left. This is one indicator of the growing synergy emerging between Islamist groups and leftist organizations that are driving Israel’s delegitimization.

The Reut Institute’s recently published report on Israel’s growing international delegitimization points to two parallel processes that drive this dynamic. The first is the increasingly effective mobilization of a movement comprising the mostly Europe-based radical left. Characterized by a fundamental objection to the Zionist model and calls for a One-State Solution, Reut refers to this movement as a Delegitimization Network.

The second is the coherence within the Resistance Network – which comprises Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, and other Palestinian and Islamist factions – of an implosion strategy, which aims for Israel’s internal collapse according to the apartheid South Africa model.

Reut’s report further claims that, while acting in the absence of any formal leadership structure or headquarters, the Delegitimization Network and the Resistance Network have begun to ‘discover’ each other, and in some cases to even develop cooperative mechanisms. One example of this is the Cairo Conference, an annual event that has taken place in Cairo and Beirut since 2002.

The Cairo Conference seeks to further strategic cooperation between the international antiwar movement and Islamic resistance groups in developing political means of combating Israeli and U.S. “imperialism.” This forum has brought together a diverse array of Western-based organizations and individuals – ranging from labor unions, solidarity movements, and political parties – and representatives from organizations such as Hamas, Hezbollah, Jamaat al-Islamiya, and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

The Hezbollah manifesto stands as a further example of the mutual influence of these networks in that it, according to the Strategic Assessment article, “reflects the organization’s growing understanding of international politics and its attempt to employ terminology and notions that are commonly associated with the ‘anti-globalization’ and ‘leftist’ movements…”

An analysis by Fida’ ‘Itani in the Lebanese al-Akhbar (12/2/2009) discussing the Manifesto describes Hezbollah as an adaptive organization, which has chosen to adopt Marxist discourse, e.g: “The domination by the forces of savage capitalism” leading to “the clash of identities, cultures, and civilizational patterns today, in addition to the clash between wealth and poverty.” The analysis claims the new discourse aims to harness the net of anti-U.S. elements globally, and that the party seeks to interact with other international revolutionary forces that using a common discourse platform.