What Is to Be Done?
Some may imagine, from what I have said, that I am pessimistic or resigned. I wish to state clearly, before addressing the question “What is to be done?”, that this is not the case. I believe that the people of this land will remain upon it for as long as the heavens and the earth endure. They have lived here since before recorded history—indeed, surely even before that.
Over thousands of years, they have mingled, migrated, and settled; races have merged into races, languages have disappeared, and Arabic has prevailed as the tongue of this land—preserved by the Noble Qur’an. Had the four Gospels been written in Aramaic rather than Greek, Aramaic might well have been the dominant language today—but God has willed otherwise.
Thus, the people of this land will remain, regardless of how many invasions and assaults they endure. Others came from the East; then came the Mongols from the West in the Crusades; Palestine was seized with Ottoman complicity; Iraq was invaded and occupied. Others may yet come. But the essence will not change. Just as Hulagu passed into the dustbin of history, so too will the leaders of the West and their barren materialist ideas pass into it when they depart from our land—and I am certain that they will depart.
One might ask: why, then, do you write? My answer is that I seek to hasten history, in accordance with the divine saying: “Man was created hasty.” Since we do not know the unseen, we act according to what we believe, guided by the verse: “God effaces what He wills and confirms what He wills, and with Him is the Mother of the Book.” This compels me to present what I believe to be a path forward.
Since I have already stated that Arab rulers are either aligned with Zionism or subordinate to it, it is futile to call upon any ruler to confront his master. My address, therefore, is to the Arab individual—who endures through lineage and continuity, whether rulers remain or fall.
There are two paths of action: one negative, the other positive.
Negative Action
I do not ask the Arab individual to achieve the impossible. What I ask is that he pose to himself a simple question: is the preservation of his dignity worth some measure of sacrifice?
To answer this, several realities must be confronted. First, we must acknowledge that we are currently incapable of defeating Zionism militarily. The reasons are many, but foremost among them is the simple fact that no conventional military force can defeat a nuclear one—something that has never occurred and will not occur. Nor can a people that does not produce its own weapons defeat those who produce the most advanced and destructive arms in the world—a lesson Iraq learned at great cost after 1990.
Moreover, Arab rulers—foolish ones among them, including those who claimed allegiance to nationalist projects—competed in signing disarmament and inspection treaties, while the enemy did no such thing.
Zionist dominance rests on military superiority—the ability to strike anywhere in the world at will. Yet this capacity does not stem from any unique intellectual superiority; rather, it arises from absolute dominance over global finance. This dominance attracts minds and talents not merely because it controls the currencies of much of the world, but because it has created a system capable of generating wealth from nothing—by printing the dollar, against which other currencies are measured without backing. In effect, this means appropriating the wealth of others for free.
The defeat of Zionist tyranny, therefore, lies in dismantling its control over the global economy. Here, the Arab individual has a role to play. Let no one say this is futile—it is not. Human beings are the greatest form of capital; they are real, whereas the dollar is an artificial construct.
The Arab who seeks to reclaim his dignity must begin with himself: by boycotting Zionism in every form—whether in consumption, travel, or participation in social or so-called “cultural” activities. Such a demand may be difficult to fulfil all at once; reason dictates a gradual approach, moving from the worst to the less severe.
I am not unaware of the interdependence of global economies, but every step that harms the Zionist economic structure must be taken.
The first step in this graduated approach is to boycott the five Anglo-Saxon states in all that they produce or are connected with. Next, in order of severity, come the countries of NATO. For example, there is no necessity to purchase an American car if a Chinese alternative is available. Some may argue that it is of lesser quality—but this is the modest sacrifice required if dignity has value. Nor is it necessary to seek medical treatment in London if alternatives exist in Southeast Asia.
Is it not absurd that Arabs—who once introduced coffee to the world—now require a Zionist settler in the Americas to teach them how to roast it, only to drink it in cafés such as Starbucks that fill the cities of the Gulf?
This is not an attempt to enumerate all the ways in which hundreds of millions of Arabs can harm the Zionist economy; it is merely an indication of the path. What, then, if the Arab individual decides not to board an aircraft manufactured by a company such as Boeing?
The Zionist economy is a chain of interconnected industries; if one weakens—such as automobile manufacturing due to declining demand—dozens of related industries weaken with it.
If the settler, arrogant in the Americas, comes to realize that the rise in fuel prices is the result of his support for the occupation of Palestine, he may reconsider his stance. What sustains his sense of superiority and his unwavering support for Zionism is the complete submission of the Arab and his acceptance of humiliation. Why should the settler consider you, if you accept degradation?
But if the European—by which I mean not merely the inhabitant of Europe, but every European who has seized land and settled it—comes to understand that the cost of maintaining the occupation of Palestine, demanded by leaders who serve Zionism, is exceedingly high and borne at the expense of his own comfort and welfare, he may begin to question whether he wishes to carry this burden.
Such a realization will only take effect if Arab behaviour exerts real pressure—through rising costs of energy and raw materials, which in turn generate hardship in European life.
To be continued