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Asharq Al-Awsat
8 hours ago
- Business
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Hezbollah: The Causes and Functions of Delirium
Doctors and analysts agree that delirium is a sudden change in the brain function that leads to disturbance and mental confusion. It often results from a transformation the body is subjected to; it could be surgery or withdrawal that follows long-term alcohol abuse. One of the more acute symptoms of delirium is inattention and reduced awareness of one's surroundings; the delirious can sometimes forget who he is, where he is, and what he is doing there. This can result in physiological disorientation, manifesting as either near-paralytic lethargy or an erratic. The statements coming from Hezbollah since the seismic change resulting from the 'support war' and its ramifications are strikingly delirious. One could probably say, albeit with some creative license, that an analogy could be drawn with both surgery and recovery from addiction. Indeed, one would think that the war, the operation, has reduced Hezbollah's triumphalist intoxication and its domineering behavior, challenging the party to adapt to this new reality. Yet, listening to Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem (and some of the party's officials and spokesmen) set deadlines, speak of giving diplomacy and the government a chance, threaten to not extend these deadlines if they are not met, double down on the principle of 'the army, the people and the resistance,' deny defeat, and adamantly refuse to relinquish their weapons, one unequivocally concludes that its utter failure to adapt has reinforced its delirium. However, accuracy demands recognizing that this outcome is not without justification. Adaptation becomes exceedingly difficult when there has been something of a consensus, for over four decades, on idealizing the addiction. The binge that began in the early 1980s and ended only a few months ago had been presented as the epitome of sobriety, while those who refused to endorse this view were called on to treat their sick and scheming souls. The long-standing duality of arms, which allowed an illegitimate actor to make decisions of war and peace, was framed as the ultimate embodiment of prudence and the essence of truth. This extreme distortion had the upper hand in appointing presidents and ministers and shaping national policy and planning. As for the fact the party, without an official mandate, had constituted a parallel society that had been above and outside the state, and had branded others traitors at a whim, this had also seemed like its indisputable right. For years, Hezbollah was allowed to inform us that we were under threat as our senses and lived experiences were telling us the opposite, and it was allowed to warn us that we must resist, regardless of our desires, thoughts, or capabilities. Meanwhile, its subordinates were tasked with deciding which films must not be watched, and which books should not be translated or read, on our behalf. This makes the transition difficult. From a phase in which addiction ruled and delirium was indulged, forcing others to adapt to it, we are now entering a phase in which delirium is constrained and called by its real and dangerous names, while its authors are the ones expected to adapt. In other words, we are transitioning from an era in which reality had been made to accommodate addiction, to one in which the addict is now called upon to accommodate reality. And, without a doubt, that is extremely difficult. This delirium nonetheless remains functional. Iran will continue to find use for it so long as it is negotiating with Washington. Hezbollah's weapons are to remain in its hands and not handed over to the state; just as the Houthis' fireworks in Yemen, this bargaining chip must be maintained. Yet, everything seems smaller than it had once been: this applies just as much to the causes that are promoted as it does to material capacities and tools. The trajectory they have been on suggests that the war has led to decline and contraction, in parallel with Iran's own transformation from a frightening force with serious leverage to a fearful one desperately hanging on to its damaged cards. The contrast between the two phases could be summed up as follows: in the previous phase, a prime minister who went against the party and its patrons' wishes would be assassinated in a grand theatrical attack, and the ensuing investigation would be obstructed. In the current phase, the prime minister is spitefully and obscenely slandered a 'Zionist' for going against these wishes. This is not to downplay the gravity of what is happening today, especially in light of the recent municipal election results that showed this delirious consciousness can, even in defeat, obtain (for reasons too complex to unpack here) another mass pledge of allegiance. This is the case despite the immense costs of maintaining the allegiance - for the security of the Lebanese people, for their economy, for the country's reconstruction, and for the effort to ensure a national recovery. Those continuing to pledge allegiance may well ultimately end up hurting the most. This state of affairs cannot be allowed to continue, and it must not be tolerated. If all Lebanese are called upon to make great efforts, coupled with a reduction of provocations, to integrate a third of the population into a unified national project, then those directly concerned are the first to be called on to break away from a delusional and defeated project that cannot lead anywhere safe.
CTV News
21 hours ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
New community-led Pride festival in Montreal hopes to reclaim celebration
A group of Montrealers is launching a new Pride festival, aiming to reclaim the spirit of celebration and resistance they say has been lost.
New York Times
a day ago
- General
- New York Times
Countering ‘Psychic Numbing' in the Trump Era
To the Editor: Re 'The Most Dangerous Phase of the Trump Era Is Now,' by M. Gessen (column, June 1): M. Gessen does us a powerful service. It comes under the category of alerting us to what I have called 'malignant normality.' Falsehoods are put forward as facts of nature, both all-consuming and inevitable. Terrible events become commonplace and fuel our tendency toward psychic numbing. Combating this numbing requires witnesses, and M. Gessen has called it out in both Russia and America. Witnessing is a necessity for recovering truth and stirring active resistance. Robert Jay LiftonTruro, writer is a psychiatrist and the author, most recently, of 'Surviving Our Catastrophes: Resilience and Renewal From Hiroshima to the Covid-19 Pandemic.' To the Editor: ''I Even Believe He Is Destroying the American Presidency,'' by Thomas B. Edsall (Opinion guest essay, May 20), should be required reading for every member of Congress. I vote in every election. I affirm what was suggested in the article: that we didn't vote to destroy the government of the country we love. My friends and neighbors didn't vote to stop American universities from leading the world in science innovation. We didn't vote to stop medical research. We didn't vote to decrease SNAP benefits and make neighbors hungrier. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Washington Post
2 days ago
- Business
- Washington Post
Putting Biden's head on a stake is not helpful
We're all doomed. These are end times, children. Resistance is futile. Oh wait. Never mind. Of course it looks and feels this way, and we nervous cases can argue that this is true, at least for the poor, the world's starving, the Constitution, the economy and the Earth. Pick pick pick. Yet there are many reasons for hope that we can turn this around.
SBS Australia
3 days ago
- Business
- SBS Australia
US says Hamas response to Gaza ceasefire proposal 'unacceptable' after it seeks changes
Hamas announced that it had submitted its reply to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal, but Washington's main negotiator almost immediately criticised the response as "totally unacceptable". Hamas did not say it had accepted the proposal from US envoy Steve Witkoff, but a Hamas source told Agence France-Presse the group's response was positive, while emphasising the need for a permanent ceasefire — long a sticking point for Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu echoed Witkoff's assessment that the response was "unacceptable", accusing Hamas of clinging "to its rejectionism". Israel on Friday warned Hamas to either accept the deal and free the hostages held in Gaza "or be annihilated". In a statement on Saturday, Hamas said it had "submitted its response ... to the mediating parties". "As part of this agreement, 10 living prisoners of the occupation held by the resistance will be released, in addition to the return of 18 bodies, in exchange for an agreed-upon number of Palestinian prisoners," it added. A source within the group's political bureau said it had offered "a positive response to Witkoff, but with emphasis on guaranteeing a permanent ceasefire and full Israeli withdrawal" from the Gaza Strip. Witkoff later said the response was "totally unacceptable and only takes us backward", urging the group to "accept the framework proposal we put forward". "That is the only way we can close a 60-day ceasefire deal in the coming days in which half of the living hostages and half of those who are deceased will come home to their families and in which we can have ... substantive negotiations in good-faith to try to reach a permanent ceasefire," he added in a post on X. Hamas has long maintained that any deal should lay out a pathway to a permanent end to the war. But Israel has balked at that prospect, insisting on the need to destroy the group to prevent a repeat of the October 2023 attack that sparked the war. It recently stepped up its campaign in Gaza in a bid to defeat Hamas. "While Israel has agreed to the updated Witkoff framework for the release of our hostages, Hamas continues to cling to its rejectionism," Netanyahu's office said in a statement, adding the group's reply was "unacceptable and sets the process back". "Israel will continue its efforts to bring our hostages home and to defeat Hamas." A breakthrough in negotiations has been elusive ever since a previous ceasefire fell apart on 18 March with the resumption of Israeli operations. US President Donald Trump had said on Friday that the parties were "very close to an agreement". Two sources close to the negotiations said Witkoff's proposal involved a 60-day truce, potentially extendable to 70 days. It would include the release of five living hostages and nine bodies in exchange for a number of Palestinian prisoners during the first week, followed by a second exchange the following week, the sources said. Of the 251 hostages taken during Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack, 57 remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead. "After 603 days of war, we wish to remind everyone that war is a means, not an end in itself," the main group representing the hostages' families said in a statement. Israeli society was "united around one consensus", bringing home all the remaining hostages "even at the cost of ending the war", the Hostages and Missing Families Forum added. Israel has come under increasing international criticism over the dire humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory, where the United Nations warned this week that the entire population was at risk of famine. This week a spokesman for the UN humanitarian agency called the territory "the hungriest place on Earth". Aid is only trickling into Gaza after the partial lifting by Israel of a more than two-month total blockade, and the UN has recently reported looting of its trucks and warehouses. The World Food Programme has called on Israel "to get far greater volumes of food assistance into Gaza faster", saying desperation was "contributing to rising insecurity".
