London, July 12: After the recent passing of Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, this newspaper commented on several of the most noteworthy aspects of the cleric’s career and thought. As the official period of condolences ended this weekend, we can say that Fadlallah’s passing itself became noteworthy, as a political minefield for diplomats and media professionals alike.
Britain’s ambassador to Lebanon, Frances Guy, discovered that issuing words of praise for Fadlallah was a no-no, and the British government removed her blog post on the topic, because it contradicted state policy.
The more dramatic ramification was for CNN’s Octavia Nasr, who lost her job over the commotion she caused by speaking well of Fadlallah on Twitter.
Therefore, The Daily Star would like to issue the following, formal apology: Not everyone in this part of the world is Benjamin Netanyahu.
A person like Fadlallah defended the cause of democracy in Iraq, while a person like George W. Bush destroyed it. People don’t lose their jobs because they offer words of praise for Bush.
Fadlallah was routinely misidentified as a founding father of suicide bombing, a topic upon which he took an extremely nuanced view. He never issued blanket approval, but rather emphasized the justification: that there be a need to lift oppression.
As a mainstream Islamic religious figure, he was quite strongly opposed to suicide. He could note the pitfalls in trying to argue that fighter who kills himself in an attack was radically different from a soldier who goes on a suicide mission, nearly certain that he will not return. Leaving aside the question of who the target is, our region and Islam are regularly smeared with labels, instead of attempts to understand our history. Japan produced the Kamikaze phenomenon, but Japanese aren’t accused of having a culture that “hates life.”
Is it that objectionable to say that Fadlallah was a decent man? What about William Casey, who ordered a failed and unjust assassination attempt against the cleric, killing more than 80 innocent people in the process? Can one lose his or her job for praising Casey?
What are the parameters for being recognized by the West as worthy of praise? Must one be a political Likudnik to gain recognition as a decent person?
Fadlallah was cleric who pushed the envelope in contemporary Islam and was more advanced than hundreds of his peers, whether Jewish, Christian and Muslim; he relied on realistic parameters, and peddled no phobias based on sectarian or ethnic hatred. Not even his stance against wilayat al-faqih (clerical rule) was enough to eliminate his persona non grata status.
His passing demonstrates the daunting task we face in simply conveying that a person her possesses an independent personality, and can be decent on his own terms, and not those of the west.
-Agencies