This blog is a few days late. I had intentions to post earlier, but now I'm glad that I haven't. On my flight home to the US, I sat at the airport with a Lebanese friend. On Monday, Lebanon had elected a new president after several years without a president. (Lebanese friends assured me that this is not as bad as it sounds and reminded me that Americans should keep this option in mind if the election goes poorly on Tuesday). Finally, they elected a president, Michel Aoun, with a fascinating coalition coming together to get him elected. As we talked about the process, my Christian friend from South Lebanon explained simply to me that Aoun had captured the support of Hezbollah and this friend's Maronite Christian political party. Excuse me what? Hezbollah, what my country calls an international terrorist group, and my reasonable, humanitarian aid worker friend, were on the same side?
On this flight this got me thinking two things. One, the Middle East is so complicated and as an American it gets explained to me at home as if it's simple good guys, bad guys, and oil. Second, and more relevant to class, it got me thinking about the Williams article and about organized crime. Can organized crime become something akin to a state? How does this process work and what does it mean for the conclusions Williams comes to? Hezbollah and Hamas both began as organized crime groups, whether you call them terrorists or revolutionaries, they started out as organized crime for a political purpose. While Williams talks about the methods organized crime groups in Colombia and Italy leading to an erosion of public support, Hezbollah and Hamas have developed broad public support for their cause over time. These groups have used force, propaganda/messaging, and money to cultivate authority and a degree of legitimacy.
While seen by many outsiders as criminal terrorists, on the ground in the territories they control, they are legitimate and wield force and authority over inhabitants. Williams' points out that organized crime flourishes when the "primary points of loyalty are family, kinship, clan, or patron/client" (p. 179). This could certainly describe the fabric of society in Palestine and Lebanon. But these points of loyalty have gone far beyond just enabling illegal activities to occur. Hezbollah is now the lynch pin in getting a Lebanese candidate for President into office. Hamas now has control of territory and is attempting to function like a state and run schools, maintain roads, maintain a military, etc. What started as the thorn in the side of the state, organized criminal units, have now become, in the case of Hamas, the government of a territory, and in the case of Hezbollah, a legitimate political party. These groups continue some of their criminal activities and militancy, but have developed into something different. What does that mean for statehood, for states with similar organized crime groups? What does it mean that these blossomed under a relatively strong state, Israel? Things I'd like to ask Williams' over coffee!
Erica, your first paragraph sadly made me laugh out loud (as well as your last sentence). I do wonder if we would prefer being leaderless after Tuesday's results. What would happen if we removed all the political appointees from the government? I'm both curious and cringe as the thought.
ReplyDeleteIt is fascinating to analyze the confusing contradictions that you present with the example of your Lebanese friend. You are exactly right that some of the factions in the Middle East are classified as an organized crime units but it is much more productive and realistic to think of them "doing business by other means" as Williams mentioned.
However, the additional quote you pulled from Williams and the illustrations of how Hezbollah is functioning like a state gives me erie points of connection and more confusing contradictions to the way ISIS is operating. They too have set up cities, schools, traffic lights, etc. However, I don't think their primary points of loyalty are family, kinship, clan, or patron/client... While there are an numerous differences between Hezbollah and ISIS, numerous people also generalize them within this same category of organized crime.
Katherine,
DeleteUgh! What a week! Just had to get that out there.
Your comment about ISIS is so good. Not to say that Hezbollah or Hamas are angels, but ISIS brutality is on another level. I think I had subconsciously avoided the IS question in my analysis because it didn't fit well with my analysis. At what point do they become legitimate?
More convicting for me, especially because I've been inspired by Inayatullah to view things through an historical lens, is that I may be dismissing the atrocities of Hamas and Hezbollah because many of them happened when I was younger... A lot to ponder! Thanks for your comment
Hi Erica,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this with us! Your example of Hamas and Hezbollah is very interesting. It made me think of Malala Yousafzai's book where she wrote that when the Taliban first arrived in the Swat Valley in Pakistan they took control over the area and provided services that the Pakistani government did not provide. The people in Swat Valley really felt like the government had forgotten about them, and when the Taliban arrived they were happy. Unfortunately, however, in the case of Swat Valley, after a few months things got even worse than they were before.