Again and again Arab resistance proves its resilience and popularity against heavy odds. Starting with the fearless intifada in Palestine which culminated in the election of Hamas whom Palestinians chose disregarding the terrible warnings from the West.
Hamas is still standing against all the unprecedented persecution by the Israelis and indifference of the rest of the world.
Then, we turn our attention to the Iraqi resistance that has taken on an imperial power at the zenith of its arrogance since 2003.
It manifests no decline either in strength or resolve though, none can deny that there’s a terrible and dirty war in Iraq that spares neither civilians nor warriors.
Now, we come to the latest scene in the macabre play, which the Arab world has become, and that is the attack of Israel on Lebanon in its attempt to destroy by any means possible the legitimate resistance that Hezbollah represents.
Though, to Israeli and American surprise, Hezbollah has turned into the “boy wonder” of the Arab world showing that with a little bit of ingenuity and dedication you can achieve miracles.
It has given a new life to the spirit of resistance in the Arab world that has been slowly suffocated by Arab inaction and Western brutality and Israeli savagery.
The Lebanese are standing tall in front of the strongest army in the Middle East and giving it a bloody nose just as the Iraqi resistance is holding its own in the face of “the strongest army in the universe” as Colin Powell describes the US Army and stymieing it.
Every day proves to us that the voices in our society calling for resistance are right and that the interminable and terminal peace process which has been paraded in the Arab world for the last three decades is dead and we can now bury it.
The latest conflict in the Arab world has exposed the bankruptcy of all world organizations — from the Arab League to the shameless United Nations — when dealing with Muslim and especially Arab issues.
It is also a harbinger of things to come whereby all initiative will be taken by popular will and desire as exemplified in the election of Hamas in Palestine and the support to Hezbollah by the majority of Lebanese people. All this reflects the sclerosis of a world system dominated by American might.
The long vaunted youth of America is now passed and we witness an aging and disconnected empire refusing to see the writing on the wall.
It is written every day by the blood of Arabs dying in Palestine, Iraq, and now Lebanon stating loud and clear that the spirit of resistance can never be killed, oppressed, distorted, corrupted and most importantly it cannot be ignored. It is long overdue for Arab states to realize and understand the desire of their people and it is time for them to take necessary action in fulfilling this desire.
We wish to live free with dignity in all our lands independent in our action and protected from all predatory nations.
What America has proven with its latest stance with regard to the Israeli barbarism in Lebanon is that it is complicit in its crimes and therefore Arab states should at least start by recalling their ambassadors from countries that aid and support aggression; they should suspend all trade and economic relations with them and that is just the start. If after that they persist in their position then we should take further action. We should also retire from the useless UN en masse since it is an insult for the Arabs to stay in such a useless and obviously biased body that has become nothing more than a facilitator of Israeli crimes in the Middle East.
Finally, I write this article with the conviction that it is no longer the time in the Arab world for talking or writing and it is time for action and I implore the Arabs to get out of their torpor and begin taking the necessary steps to help and support every resistance movement in the Arab world. May God protect and aid all our Muslim resistance everywhere.
— Reem Al Faisal is a Saudi photographer. She is based in Jeddah.
