[Midden-Oosten] On Ilhan Omar, Assad Fetishism, and the Danger of Red-Brown “Anti-Imperialism”

[Jeff]

March 21, 2019
On Ilhan Omar, Assad Fetishism, and the Danger of Red-Brown 
“Anti-Imperialism”
by Eric Draitser
https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/03/21/on-ilhan-omar-assad-fetishism-and-the-danger-of-red-brown-anti-imperialism/

Perhaps no elected official has ever been subjected to the level of 
vitriol, threats, and attacks that Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), the first 
Black Muslim woman ever elected to Congress and one of only two Muslim 
women there, has. And while we cannot be surprised that Omar was 
mercilessly attacked by the Israel Lobby and its various appendages and 
mouthpieces for speaking plainly about Israel’s policies and its 
influence in US politics, the degree of viciousness was appalling.

Omar was variously described as disloyal to the US, an adherent of 
sharia law, and an anti-semite. These attacks came from both Democrats 
and Republicans, and were themselves intended to stoke further animosity 
in the media and social media. They were designed to cow the 
Somali-American Omar, intimidate her into silence so she won’t speak 
openly about apartheid Israel’s crimes, or grill and publicly humiliate 
war criminals like Elliott Abrams in the way she did, or assert any 
independent voice in the oversight of US foreign policy.

And when Omar was being attacked, many who describe themselves as 
leftists or anti-imperialists rushed to her defense. Indeed, it seemed 
that Omar had overwhelming support from the relatively small, yet 
somewhat influential, online political community of mostly leftists.

But among that online community of Ilhan Omar supporters was a vocal 
contingent who deserve special scrutiny. And the reason is that today 
these same “supporters” are viciously attacking Omar, savaging her on 
social media in ways that would make right-wing MAGA chuds blush.

Omar’s great crime? Tweeting out the following:

      The people of Syria revolted against
      Assad's repressive dictatorship 8 years
      ago today, demanding a more just and
      free government. Peace loving people
      around the world stand in solidarity
      with them in this struggle!

Now, in a sane world, the tweet would be interpreted as fairly 
innocuous, a short statement on the anniversary of protests in Syria 
which eventually evolved into a civil war, a regional war, and indeed a 
global proxy war. However, when dealing with Assad fetishists – that 
online community of people from left and right who glorify Assad as an 
individual and leader of anti-imperialist resistance – even a simple 
statement such as Omar’s is taken as de facto evidence of collaboration 
with the CIA, Mi6, Mossad et al.

Take, for example, Maram Susli (aka Mimi al-Laham; aka @PartisanGirl; 
aka Syrian Girl) who is one of the most prominent Assad fetishists, and 
unabashed racist and fascist. Her response to Omar’s tweet read:

      Ilhan, you claim to oppose AIPAC but
      on Syria you’re in lockstep with them.
      Israel wanted war with Syria, they backed
      AlQaeda, as to annex the Golan heights.

This tweet from the loathsome Susli is instructive and deserves a close 
reading if you want to understand what Assad fetishism is, how it 
operates, and why it is an inherently right-wing perspective.

Consider the first sentence: “You claim to oppose AIPAC but on Syria 
you’re in lockstep with them.” To distill the meaning here, it’s clear 
that Susli sees Omar as not at all opposed to AIPAC, that it’s merely a 
“claim” by Omar. And why? Because Omar does not support Assad. So, you 
see, in the mind of an Assad fetishist like Susli the genuineness of 
Omar’s opposition to AIPAC can only be measured by her position on 
Assad. Take the wrong position on Assad and you’re instantly a puppet of 
AIPAC. Never mind the fact that AIPAC has literally tried to destroy 
Omar after just two months in office, none of that matters because Omar 
has transgressed against Assad.

The second sentence is also quite revealing as it illustrates both 
Susli’s twisted perspective on the war in Syria, and the reason why 
she’s so intimately connected to fascists like David Duke. She claims 
“Israel wanted war with Syria” which is true insofar as Israel has been 
involved in the conflict (airstrikes inside Syria, medical aid to 
anti-Assad fighters, etc).

However, there’s an implicit subtext in that statement that Israel 
somehow masterminded the war, maneuvering other players into position to 
carry out Israel’s agenda. This gets into Rothschilds-Protocols of the 
Elders of Zion territory wherein Jews are always behind all wars, 
manipulating all sides to their advantage. Instead of simply saying what 
is factually correct and undeniably true – that Israel attempted to take 
advantage of the war for its benefit, just as Turkey, Saudi Arabia, 
Iran, Qatar, and Russia all did – Susli strongly implies in her 
statement, and in many of her other statements, that in fact the war in 
Syria can be laid at the feet of Tel Aviv, rather than Washington or 
Ankara or Riyadh or Damascus or Moscow.

This is where the fetishists ultimately, and seemingly inevitably, end 
up: a world of right-wing conspiracy theory where fascists look like 
allies and real anti-imperialists and anti-racists look like the enemy.

Another good illustration of this phenomenon is the case of former Alex 
Jones employee, Patrick Henningsen, who runs the crypto-fascist 21st 
Century Wire website. Henningsen responded to Omar’s tweet by suggesting 
Omar was  “parroting CNN’s version of history… which is wrong. Do your 
homework, there was no ‘revolution’ in Syria. It was violence [sic] 
sectarian Salafists.”

Consider the hypocrisy of this far-right conspiracy troll suggesting 
that Omar is “parroting CNN” while he literally parrots Infowars, RT, 
SANA (Syrian state media) and a few other pro-Assad outlets. 
Nonetheless, it is a hallmark of the Assad fetishists to suggest that 
only they know the truth of what’s happened in Syria, despite either 
never having been there in most cases, or having gone there led by the 
hand by Assad’s public relations people who will mysteriously never 
encounter a Syrian who has anti-Assad views. It’s absolutely amazing 
that in the whole of Syria and its expatriate communities in Europe, 
Australia, and North America, these bloggers simply cannot find a single 
anti-Assad voice worth quoting.

Amazing I tell you.

Also, Henningsen claims “there was no ‘revolution’ in Syria” which is 
certainly news to all those thousands upon thousands of Syrians who 
participated in the local coordinating committees, citizen’s councils, 
and other forms of grassroots democracy which sprang up in the weeks and 
months following the start of the protests in March 2011.  There are 
tens of thousands of Syrians living in exile in Europe and elsewhere who 
might dispute Henningsen’s assertion. But hey, who cares? They’re only 
Syrians, what do they know about the truth of Syria?

Rep. Omar comes from a country ravaged by war. She lived in refugee 
camps. She has born the weight of racism and xenophobia simply by being 
Black, African, and Muslim in America. She has overcome tremendous odds 
and great difficulties to get to where she is today. She understands at 
a deeply personal level the pain and suffering of war, and the courage 
it takes to stand up to power. The only thing Henningsen has ever had to 
overcome is his own smug self-satisfaction (which he has yet to do).


Behind the Red-Brown Curtain

Of course, Susli and Henningsen are only two examples of so many others 
who have come out attacking Rep. Omar in recent days over her Syria 
tweet. It’s interesting to note the confluence of forces on this talking 
point: ostensible leftists, outright right-wingers, crypto-fascists, and 
some not-so-crypto-fascists as well. And this is no accident.

The de facto alliance between far-right fascists and left-wing Assadists 
has been written about numerous times (here, here, and here) but it’s 
important to point out that Syria is, in many ways, the perfect template 
for how Russia has exported a Duginist-style “Fourth Positonism” in 
which, to borrow the words of Dugin, left and right unite to attack the 
center. And in this case, “the center” is liberalism as typified by the 
so-called “Western democracies”.

This is not about socialism, but about imperialist revanchism, just as 
the war in Syria is not about democracy but, rather, power and 
geopolitical position. And yet, some alleged “anti-imperialists” feel 
that their role is to run interference for a sub-imperialist power like 
Russia as it carves its niche in the Middle East. And anyone who dares 
utter even minor criticism of that project, or of Assad or Putin, is 
immediately lambasted by the red-brown Kremlin Krew.

But guess what: Rep. Omar is more important than all of them combined. 
She has done more in two months than these trolls will do in their 
entire lives. And they can attack her all they want, it won’t change the 
fact that they’ve chosen to attach themselves to Assad rather than to 
the values that they claim to espouse.

Assad and Putin, in their fight against a variety of forces often (but 
not always) backed by the US and its regional allies, have made Syria a 
graveyard and call it peace. And maybe it is that, and maybe there was 
no other option.

But from here in the peaceful confines of an office in the US, people 
attacking Ilhan Omar over her Syria tweet just look like little 
children, begging for a pat on the head from their patrons. I only hope, 
for their sake, that they’re being well compensated, by whom I can only 
speculate.


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Eric Draitser is an independent political
analyst and host of CounterPunch Radio.
You can find his exclusive content including
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He can be reached at ericdraitser op gmail.com.