Smentita da Hezbollah l'intervista a Nasrallah pubblicata sul giornale turco Evrensel

e ripresa sul nostro sito la scorsa settimana

Riportiamo di seguito il comunicato di smentita del portavoce di Hezbollah dell'intervista a Nasrallah pubblicata il 18 agosto dal giornale turco Evrensel, la successiva dichiarazione del giornale stesso e altre notizie sulla vicenda.

Questa smentita non fa venir meno la bruciante attualitā del problema da noi sottolineato nella breve presentazione dell'intervista: quello del rapporto dei comunisti e della loro impostazione della lotta antimperialista con i militanti proletari delle organizzazioni del radicalismo islamico.

La vicenda dell'intervista a Nasrallah mostra, al contrario, quanto questo problema sia evocato dalla natura dello scontro in Medioriente e quanto esso (altro punto vitale della nostra battaglia evidenziato nelle pur brevi prese di posizione sulla recente guerra in Libano) non possa essere affidato ad alcuna "evoluzione spontanea" delle lotte antimperialiste in corso nell'area.

Hezbollah Denounces Evrensel Interview of Nasrallah as a Fake, by ALEXANDER COCKBURN

Hussain Rahhal, Hezbollah's press liaison, has issued a written statement:

"Our secretary general Nasrallah has not given any interviews to any Turkish or other non-Lebanese journalist during the month of August. In the face of this imaginary interview that is untruthful, and hence does damage to journalism, credibility and objectivity, Hezbollah reserves its right to take legal action against those who have published it."

This is in reference to an interview purporting to be of Hezbollah's leader,Sayeed Hassan Nasrallah, by a Turkish collective in Beirut. It was published in Evrensel, a socialist Turkish daily, on August 12 and 13, causing some stir in the Turkish press. It was translated into English and posted on least one left site, Marxmail, one of whose readers forwarded it to CounterPunch. We ran excerpts from it on August 17.

In an item last weekend I noted charges that the interview was fraudulent, also interesting and important observations about radical components in the Shi'a tradition, which might buttress arguments for the interview's genuineness. I hope this particular fakery won't discredit those insights, which are important for the left.

Hezbollah's denunciation is categorical, and should be taken as the last word, though if there are any significant or interesting updates we'll let CounterPunchers know. I do find Hezbollah's threat of legal action somewhat comical. Will they also try to drag Rupert Murdoch and Ted Turner and other barons of the First World press into the World Court for misrepresentation? Wasn't that the hope of the proposed New World Information Order, twenty-five or so years ago?

Postscript:

Today we received this statement from Evrensel Daily.

     Statement from Evrensel Daily about the forged Nasrallah interview

Taylan Bilgic
Cihan Celik
Foreign News Desk
Evrensel Daily / ISTANBUL, TURKEY

It is now clearly understood that, the so-called "interview" with Hezbollah leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, which appeared on our newspaper (12th August) in Turkey is a forgery.

Press Representative of Hezbollah, Hussein Rahhal, on a question asked by the official Anatolian Agency correspondent, replied that Nasrallah has not conducted any interview with any Turkish journalist in August.

With this forgery, "Mutlu Sahin" and "Roza Cigdem Erdogan", the forgers, who are members of the "Sheikh Bedreddin Film Collective" (Turkish initials, SBFK) have attempted to tarnish the reliability of Evrensel, a 12-years old socialist newspaper. But this is not all. They have attempted to erode the reliability of all progressive, antiwar, antiimperialist sources and people all over the world; as the "interview" had far reaching consequences than they probably have imagined in their pathetic minds.

Evrensel General Coordinator, Ihsan Caralan, has made a written statement about the developments. This statement is printed on the 2nd September, 2006 issue of Evrensel, from the front page... We believe this statement will shed light into the forgery, though the real aims and connections of the instigators are still unknown ...

Here is the statement:

"This 'interview' was sent to us by members of the Sheikh Bedreddin Film Collective members, Mutlu Sahin and Roza Cigdem Erdogan. The fact that these people who are known as 'documentary filmmakers' were members of a known cultural organization is the most important factor that we approached them without any suspicion.

These people, whose "Beirut impressions" were printed in some other newspapers and internet sites, have also sent us, before the said "interview", their 'Beirut impressions' and these were printed on our paper, too.

The so-called interview with Sheikh Nasrallah included symphatetic remarks about historical persona such as Deniz Gezmis and Che Guevera. These remarks were found suspicious by us; but at that time our thought was that Hezbollah, who had won the support of Islamic circles, was attempting to erase the prejudices and suspicions in the West and especially, in left-wing circles by these words. Our aim of publishing the 'interview' was our desire to reflect the developments of an important conflict from all perspectives.

After the interview was published, there were various suspicions raised in various circles. Because of this, we demanded from Mutlu Sahin that he should immediately confirm that the interview was actually done. But they have evaded us until the last minute by continuously saying that they will confirm the interview, will present documented evidence, make Hezbollah print the interview on their website etc.

When the news of Anatolian Agency was put into service, we immediately sent the text to them via Windows Messenger. After reading the message, and without making any comment, Mutlu Sahin became offline and from then on, did not answer our phone calls.

As obvious to all, this attitude amounts to not more than 'qualified forgery'. Our newspaper, since the beginning, has uphold the principles of peoples' right to true information and learning the truth. But another principle of our newspaper is follow-up. Thus, we will continue to seek and tell the truth about these people and the figures behind them, if there are any.

These people are responsible for cheating us and thus, making us the instrument of the dissemination of false information. But nevertheless, we cannot evade our own responsibility as the newspaper who printed this false interview. We have encountered such a situation for the first time in our history and this teaches us again that meticulousness in newsmaking should never be forgotten.

We sincerely apologize from our readers, from the various publications (online or print) who trusted us and printed this text and those who translated the text to various languages and sent it to various news resources."

And here is another recent development from the film collective. This piece of news below also appeared on Evrensel on 2nd September.

SBFK did not even apologize Mutlu Sahin and Roza Cigdem Erdogan, who had their names on the fake interview are nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, SBFK made an announcement yesterday:

"This sudden development about the interview was totally unexpected. SBFK Press Representative Yilmaz Kilickaya, Foreign Relations Coordinator Zafer Hanoglu, members Roza Cigdem Erdogan, Berfin Gunes and Esra Celik, have gone to Beirut to inform the public and put an end to the debate.

After weekend, they will inform the public on behalf of SBFK, which Hezbollah representatives will also attend.

We had declared that we retain some of our rights. We will explain these rights in this last information we will give.

From now on, the drawees are not Roza Cigdem Erdogan or Mutlu Sahin, but our collective. Until this last information meeting, we deem our friends innocent. After that last moment in which all debate will be put an end, their duties and authorities are suspended temporarily. We also note that we will not take seriously the attacks and insults circulating the internet against our collective and our members.

Riportiamo di seguito l'intervista ad H.Nasrallah pubblicata dal giornale turco Turkish Labord Party e le righe introduttive con cui l'abbiamo presentata sul nostro sito.

Il dirigente di Hezbollah tocca alcuni punti della massima importanza. Il rapporto del comunismo con i militanti antimperialisti oggi raccolti nelle organizzazioni del radicalismo islamico č uno di questi punti, vitale per la costruzione di un fronte di lotta internazionale di classe contro il capitale globalizzato. In questo rapporto non cominciamo da zero. Abbiamo alle nostre spalle un'esperienza densa di insegnamenti per la lotta a cui l'imperialismo ci chiama oggi e negli anni a venire. Torneremo a discuterne diffusamente. Per intanto ci sembra utile portare all'attenzione dei compagni e dei lavoratori questa significativa presa di posizione dalla dirigenza della resistenza in Libano.

From an interview conducted shortly before the ceasefire by reporters from the Turkish Labor Party daily, Evrensel.

Q. What is the current state of your relations with the Socialist movement?

Hasan Nasrallah: The socialist movement, which has been away from international struggle for a considerable time, at last has begun to offer moral support for us once again. The most concrete example of this has been Hugo Chavez, the President of Venezuela. What most of the Muslim states could not do has been done by Chavez, by the withdrawal of Venezuela's ambassador to Israel. He furthermore communicated to us his support for our resistance. This has been an immense source of moral strength for us.

We can observe a similar reaction within the Turkish Revolutionary Movement. We had socialist brothers from Turkey who went to Palestine in 1960s to fight against Israel. And one of them still remains in my memory and my heart; Deniz Gezmis..!

[Deniz Gezmis, 1947-1972, was a Turkish revolutionary in the Marxist-Leninist tradition. He led major student actions in the late 1960s, went to a Fatah training camp in Lebanon in late 1969, returned to Turkey where his group seized four US army privates in Ankara. After their release of the soldiers, Gezmis was captured, tried for attempting to overthrow the Turkish state and, with two of his comrades, was hanged in the central prison in Ankara on May 6, 1972. Editors.]

Q. What is the importance of Denizs for you?

Hasan Nasrallah: We now want new Denizs. Our ranks are always open to new Denizs against the oppressors. Deniz will always live in the hearts of the peoples of Palestine and Lebanon. No-one should doubt this. Unfortunately, there is no longer a common fight and fraternity against the common enemy left over by the Denizs. What we would have liked is for our socialist brothers in Lebanon to fight against imperialism and Zionism shoulder to shoulder. This fight is not only our fight. It is the common fight of all those oppressed across the world. Don't forget that if the peoples of Palestine and Lebanon lose this war, this will mean the defeat of all the oppressed people of the world. In our fight against imperialism, the revolutionaries should also undertake a responsibility and should become, in the hearts of our people of Palestine and Lebanon, Denizs once again.

Q. It is possible to see the posters of Che, Chavez and Ahmadinejad side by side in the streets of Beirut. Are these the signs of a new polarization?

Hasan Nasrallah: We salute the leaders and the peoples of Latin America. They have resisted the American bandits heroically and have been a source of moral strength for us. They are guiding the way for the oppressed peoples. Go and wonder around our streets..! You will witness how our people have embraced Chavez and Ernesto Che Guevara. Nearly in every house, you will come across posters of Che or Chavez.

What we are saying to our socialist friends who want fight together with us for fraternity and freedom is: Do not come at all if you are going to say "Religion is an opiate". We do not agree with this analysis. Here is the biggest proof of this in our streets with the pictures of Chavez, Che, Sadr and Khamenei together. These leaders are saluting our people in unison. So long as we respect your beliefs, and you respect ours, there is no imperialist power we cannot defeat!

Q. Returning to threats in the region, western governments are intensifying their pressure on Damascus and Tehran, for which they are proposing a "change of regime." Some sources are of the view that the attack on Lebanon will be directed on Syria. According to your point of view, is a regional war possible?

Hasan Nasrallah: The centers of imperialist power want to make collaborators of our region as a whole. They expect us to kneel before them. Syria, Iran and Hezbollah are opposing this. The provocation concerning the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and the efforts to secure the withdrawal of the Syrian army from Lebanon and -- going even further -- their wish to attack callously on to Tehran and Damascus are all due to this reason.

Syria, with Iran and Hezbollah will certainly resist this. We are going to resist for our motherland and freedom. We are going to resist in order not kneel before them. The imperialists of the west are seeking to make a second Kosovo out of Lebanon and our region. They are seeking to create a clash in between sects. But we have spoiled this trick. In our streets, the whole of Lebanon, with its Christian, Sunnis and Shias, are flying the flags of Hezbollah. Again, "the unipolar world" has already been left behind in history. There is us, there is Iran, there is Syria, there is Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea. There are the resisting peoples of Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan! As long as there is imperialism and occupations, these people will continue resisting. They can forget about peace. If they want peace, they should now respect the freedom of peoples and should eliminate the collaborators. God willing, the victory will be ours.

They are not going to be able to turn our country and region into a Kosovo. Now our people are aware of everything and will not play into imperialist tricks. We will absolutely not permit them to attack Iran or Syria. We are going to fight for our freedom to the last drop of our blood. Let no one doubt this. They are claiming that Iran has nuclear weapons at its disposal. On the contrary, most of the nuclear weapons are in the hands of Israel and the US. Furthermore, nuclear weapons are nothing but excuses put forward in order to create collaborating regimes in the region.

Q. There are claims that Hezbollah is being directed by Tehran. What are your views on this issue?

Hasan Nasrallah: This is a great lie. We are an independent Lebanese organization. We do not take orders from anyone. But this does not mean that we are not going to form alliances. We are on the side of Iran and Syria. They are our brothers. We are going to oppose any attack directed at Tehran and Damascus to the last drop of our blood just as we do in Lebanon. We uphold global resistance against global imperial terrorism.

Q. Is there any other additional point you want to make?

Hasan Nasrallah: Peace cannot be unilateral. So long as there is imperialism in the world, a permanent peace is impossible. This war will not come to an end as long as there are occupations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine.

Friday, 18 August 2006

Organizzazione Comunista Internazionalista