On Sun, 05 Nov 23 01:02:29 UTC,
NefeshBarYochai said:
so why did the uncivilized arab savages,
BY MOHAMED SEIF EL NASR NOVEMBER 3, 2023
While reading the works of the medieval Arab sociologist Ibn Khaldun
many years ago, I was surprised by his ideas on geography and climate,
which attribute not only physical but also sociological patterns for
people living in the same climatic region. In short, these ideas
suggest that if someone from the extreme Northern Hemisphere moved to
the extreme Southern Hemisphere, their surviving descendants would
eventually have the same physical and sociological attributes as the
people of the Southern Hemisphere. I was fascinated by this concept
and at a loss of how anyone in this world could be a racist, knowing
they could have mutated into anyone else.
Holding onto this notion and adding to it years of soul-searching,
which for being born a Muslim led me to delve into Sufism, I developed
the firm belief that all humans are essentially one and that all evil
in the world is the result of our division. I was convinced the
principal reason people in the Global North condone their armies
murdering innocent civilians or the dying of children from hunger in
faraway nations is that they are unable to perceive the victims as
similar to them and are accordingly unable to empathize with them and
feel their pain. If they did, I told myself, most evil in the world
would disappear.
That is why I believe that the main objective of the arts should be to
humanize those we perceive as different. Being an aspiring novelist
myself, I decided that unity and the oneness of being would be the
principal theme of all my work.
I can no longer adopt such beliefs and will no longer vouch for those
ideas.
It is clear to me now that calling for love and unity does not fall on
the oppressed but on the privileged. In the face of the hate or apathy
of those who do not feel their suffering or regard them as equal, the
persecuted have no choice but to embrace whatever they are persecuted
for, ethnic, religious, or else, and accept the division. To vouch for
love and unity is a privilege only people in the Global North can now
afford. For the rest of us, it is nothing short of weakness and
humiliation.
Like most people in the Global South, I am watching with horror the
ongoing genocide being perpetrated by Israel in Gaza and the blind,
astonishing backing of the majority of governments and mainstream
media outlets in the United States and Europe. Like most people in the
Global South, I am opening my eyes to the hypocrisy, racism, and ugly
confirmation that our lives and deaths are still not valued or
regarded as equal. Like most people in the Global South, I am outraged
at the narrative of condemning Hamas solely for the attack on October
7, the impudence of acting as if it were unprovoked, and the moral
failure to view it in the context of 75 years of dehumanization,
colonialism, ethnic cleansing, land theft, violence, torture, and rape
at the hands of Israel.
We, who suffered from colonialism, understand that the only party to
blame is Israel, the occupying power, simply because if there had been
no occupation, there would have been no Hamas. We, who suffered from
colonialism, understand that the Hamas combatants who attacked Israel
on October 7 did not choose to be resistance fighters and would have
had normal lives if they had not been subjected to occupation and
living for almost two decades in a concentration camp where more than
half of the population were struggling to afford food just before
October 7. We, who suffered from colonialism, are well aware of this
narrative of blaming the victims and the failure to apply the same
moral principles to us.
So, for the people of conscience in the Global North who are standing
with the Palestinians in any way they can, for those marching,
writing, and speaking up, thank you for giving us hope in humanity in
our darkest hour and not allowing us to turn into complete monsters as
our enemies want us to.
And for the other ones, for those who are running this horror show in
Gaza or facilitating it, for those who are murdering and collectively
punishing the innocent men and women and the children of the earth,
for those who know there are children trapped in darkness under the
rubble of bombed buildings, who are dying of thirst and hunger and are
still against a ceasefire, for those who have revealed the wickedness
of their hearts and the darkness of their souls, know that we now see
you for who you are. The masks have fallen, and millions of us are
opening up our eyes to the realization of how much you hate and
dehumanize us. Millions of us are radicalized and ready to adopt the
ideas and narratives of any group, only if it will fight or oppose
you. Whatever doctrine there is ? Islamist, Communist, or Nihilist ?
millions of us are ready to espouse it only if it will take a stand
against you.
Palestine now divides us.
We have hate in our hearts, and I promise you that it will remain. And
I promise you we will live like this and die like this and pass on our
rage and our pain. And we will remain prisoners of our hate, and you
will remain prisoners of your crimes and fears, and the violence will
go on, and none of us will be free, until there is fairness and until
there is justice, and until Palestine is free.
who have been treacherous and brutal
cutthroats for thousands of years think it
was okay to torture, rape, behead and burn
children alive and force their parents to
watch before doing the same to their
parents? do u approve of these tactics
against innocent children? how would u
react if it were the other way around?
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