Leftist and communist groups from around the world gathered in Beirut yesterday. It was a show in support of resistance against Israeli occupation. I was invited to speak but could not go. Hizbullah's deputy secretary-general, Na`im Qasim, addressed the largely communist audience and quoted (with a variation) from the Communist Manifesto. He said: "O, poor of the world, unite. O, downtrodden of the world unite." Former Lebanese prime minister, Salim Huss, and former Lebanese deputy, Najah Wakim, also addressed the crowd, as did the secretary-general of the Indian Communist Party. The left is not completely dead: and some claimants of leftism (Yasar Dimuqrati and Bila Hudud) don't even belong to the left. They belong in Hariri's headquarters in Quraytim.