The most unfortunate thing about a just cause is that the advocates chosen to defend it are often among the worst. It is no wonder a just cause may end up being badly handled and even suffer permanent damage. The Palestinian cause is a good example of what I am talking about. It remains a fair and just cause but the people who have chosen to defend it do so very badly. The Palestinians have failed miserably to present their case to a world which is willing to listen; all they need to do is simply circulate the story’s tragic dimensions more widely.
The Jews, on the other hand, have succeeded in wining world sympathy by playing on the Holocaust and Nazi atrocities. The result has been a world that gradually shifted from disliking Jews to sympathizing with them. The Jews are masters at manipulating the media, money, world organizations and pressure groups. Watching the anti-globalization demonstrators rampaging through the streets of Geneva not far from the headquarters of the World Trade Organization, it is easy to identify the type of people who took it upon themselves to fight globalization. From their appearances, they look like people from the 1950’s and 60’s. I can’t understand why the defenders of poor countries and just causes are those who lead lives neither socially normal nor conventional.
Globalization is a weapon that America and other industrial nations are using to manipulate the developing world. Why not use more serious and rational means to influence the course of events instead of allowing anarchists to dominate the scene? Globalization in its present shape is meant to make the strong manipulate and triumph over the poor.
Some of the demonstrators appeared like clowns, others were dressed in rags and odd bits of clothes while still others seemed drunk, judging from the way they behaved. Is it really necessary for the anti-globalization movement to be led by people such as these? It is said the protesters behave in this way to mislead people into believing they really detest the materialistic life in rich countries and that they are expressing true feelings of sympathy with the world’s poor.
We are not going to win the battle against globalization by appearing in shabby clothes. What we need is be able to convince others of our point of view, tell them that globalization as it exists today is unjust and will only cause more damage to developing countries. It is a concept fashioned and modeled to benefit the rich while depriving the poor of everything. We need a just globalization that benefits all and not one that favors a few over the overwhelming majority.
- Arab News From the Local Press 5 June 2003
