First of all I wish that readers wouldn’t classify my writings as political or economic. This is important because I am incompetent to tackle such fields. So I would like readers to consider my articles as something written by an Arab and Muslim writer. For this very reason, I feel sad and humiliated by the Arab silence and seeming unawareness of the nightmares our brothers in Palestine are enduring.
The harassment and arrests, imprisonment and persecution of our citizens residing or visiting the United States further insult me. Despite the US president’s insistence that we are friends, he and his administration have, in fact, demonstrated the contrary.
The US president has further revealed the last layer of America’s dirty face by defending Israel’s atrocities. How strange is the US stance on the Palestinian issue. Even stranger are the US president’s statements and remarks about disarming Palestinians. He obviously considers them terrorists because they are defending themselves, defending their just cause, their destiny and identity. Stone- and shoe-throwers — at least in the eyes of the US president — are terrorists. What, I wonder, does he call the Israeli criminals or how does he classify their atrocities, killings, demolition of houses, their starvation policy and genocide?
The US will have to remember that we will not forget the arms supplied by the US to Israel, its bias toward Israel and blindness to all Arab and Muslim issues. I know in advance that the boycott of anything American will not be accepted by our governments. However, Arab and Muslim individuals can do a lot. It was disgusting to invite Bill Clinton to the Jeddah Economic Forum. Why are we chasing the Americans? Are they the only ones who can solve our economic problems? If we can believe what we are told, Clinton donated the SR1 million we paid him to the Jews in New York. Further, the first thing Clinton did after leaving Jeddah was to fly to Israel to give his masters a copy of the forum’s minutes.
More disgusting is the statement made by the Qatari foreign minister: "We are a powerless nation who can’t help the Palestinians against Israel. It is far better to beg the Americans for a settlement." The esteemed minister, in other words, was speaking on behalf of the Arabs. But couldn’t he have used a better word than "beg"?
My response to the Qatari minister is that what you have said is incorrect. In fact, we have the power, the human resources and economic strength — far more of each than Israel. We have faith in our just cause and the ability to make it happen. What we need — the only thing we need — is the guts and determination to reclaim the stolen land and the rights of its citizens.