In Lebanon, the disenchantment with France and the West
The unreserved support of Western countries [for Israel] is leading to disappointment among the Lebanese, 89% of whom say they have been psychologically affected by the war in Gaza.
As a result, the Lebanese are increasingly critical of Western complicity in genocide and colonialism, and of the hypocrisy of this selective freedom of speech. Those who were apolitical, or who did not make themselves heard, became more vocal in their criticism.
Many of the Lebanese interviewed speak of their re-reading of the past and the deconstruction of dominant narratives that tend to spread a Westernised view of the world and human rights.
These testimonies converge to place Israel’s policy within a colonial order that ‘legitimises’ the massacres in Gaza, a ‘supposedly necessary violence’ that has made the West the dominant force in the international system. Among intellectuals and activists, the Palestinian struggle is part of a continuum of global struggles against imperialism, such as the Algerian resistance, indigenous struggles and the fight against apartheid in South Africa.
This distancing is combined with a boycott of goods from companies targeted by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign.
While social media, as in other Arab countries in the region, are the main medium for protests, street demonstrations are also flourishing (...) They do not target the Lebanese authorities, as they do not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel, unlike countries like Morocco, whose normalisation of ties with Israel is at the centre of criticism. The demonstrations are aimed at symbols of Western power.
Exerts from the article published in OrientXXI with Clothilde Facon-Salelles
