Hello everyone and welcome back to Rev Left Radio.

On today's episode, we have on Miriam Sharabadi from Beirut, Lebanon, to discuss the current situation in Lebanon, the current war of aggression, Israel and the U.S. against multiple countries in the region,

including Lebanon, the invasion of southern Lebanon, the bombing of Beirut by Israel.

We talk about the ethnic and religious makeup of Lebanese society, Christians, Sunnis, Shia,

Druze, the political formations that arise out of that, the impotence

and the corruption, the Comprador nature really, of the official Lebanese government, the relationship

between the government and the military proper, the relationship between the military and Hezbollah.

We talk about the pager attacks, the assassination of Nasrallah, the intentions of Israel,

the contradictions politically between Israel and the U.S. and the rest of the region, the Iran war,

and so much more.

This is really an attempt, and so many of our episodes over the past several months, really,

have been an attempt to educate as much as one can politically about the nature of the societies in West Asia.

You know, opposing American imperialism, opposing Israel, that's all essential.

But understanding the domestic makeup, the perspectives of Iranians, of Palestinians, of the Lebanese,

and understanding those societies at deeper and deeper levels, understanding the true nature,

the organic, mass-based nature of the resistance movements that were taught to hate.

You know, what the Western media calls terrorist organizations like Hezbollah and Hamas,

the PMF, the militias in Iraq, Ansar al-A, we're told that these are terrorists.

These are organic people's movements against imperialism and colonialism.

And, you know, we're taught, and we talk about this in the episode as well,

that these, that Hezbollah in particular in Hamas and Ansarala,

that these are Iranian proxies,

...