The image seen by hundreds of millions showing the Prime Minister and war criminal Netanyahu at a demonstration in solidarity with France against terrorism truly provokes disgust. The head of a government that sponsors organized state terrorism against an unarmed people for decades and openly supports terrorist groups in his country such as “Tag Mehir” and others walks shamelessly in the front row. His brazen call for French Jews to immigrate to Israel clearly shows the world who the real beneficiary of Islamist terrorism is!
Yes, I understand the resentment of thousands of Palestinians and Arabs who condemned this charade and deception and expressed their anger on various social media platforms. At the same time, I was deeply saddened by many comments regarding President Mahmoud Abbas’s participation in the anti-terrorism demonstration. I understand some people’s frustration that President Abbas walked almost side by side with the sponsor of Zionist terrorism in the mentioned march, and I understand the sorrow that spread among my Palestinian people while watching this bleak scene, but I do not understand nor accept the words of those who condemned the Palestinian participation in the solidarity march with France and its people against terrorism, and who showered the Palestinian delegation with insults and curses! I do not accept mixing things up in such moments that require principled stances rather than tactical games and cheap emotional manipulation.
Yes, I am fully aware that France, a colonial state in the past, planted the seeds of division and sedition in the Arab world and erred in its policy by supporting Islamist takfiri groups since the 1980s in the Middle East to preserve its geopolitical and economic interests. However, at the same time, I observe France’s continuously evolving position in supporting the Palestinian people’s demands for freedom and independence. Despite American and Zionist pressure, France recently voted in favor of the Palestinian request in the Security Council.
Of course, we might see in President Abbas’s and other Arab delegations’ participation in the Paris demonstration a kind of flattery, especially since we and the whole world know that most of these Western countries and their allies in the region funded, supported, trained, and marketed the Islamist terrorist groups that have now rebelled against their Western master and creator and have become a direct threat to it in its own backyard. But we can also see in President Abbas’s participation a principled stance against terrorism in all its forms and a clear message to the world that we Palestinians in particular and the Arab nation in general have been burning for decades with the fire of terrorism and that we always and forever stand against terrorism, regardless of which terrorism, who the terrorist is, and who the victim is.
Gloating over the victim, laughing at the heart, and the inner joy expressed by some on social media because terrorism struck a Western country and killed its citizens truly provokes disgust. At these moments and stances, I remember the late honorable son of Palestine, Edward Said, who said we must surpass our enemy and defeat him with ethics. The Palestinian participation must be viewed, despite the open wound, from this perspective only.
Our Palestinian and Arab message to the whole world must be clear and shining: we have been and still are victims of terrorism funded and supported by some Western countries and their servants in the region. Whoever wants to correct his line and position on Islamist terrorism and state terrorism, as is the case with Zionist state terrorism, will find with us now and in the future an ally and supporter, and we will stand, leadership and people, by his side in the trench confronting terrorism.
The religion of the Greatest Prophet is a religion of tolerance and love, and those who defile the image of the Prophet and his message are these terrorists who wear the cloak of Islam. Muslims everywhere must cleanse their religion and message from these criminals. It is not enough to cry, gloat, and point fingers at those who supported these criminals to defile the message and heritage. It is time to awaken from the deep slumber we have lived since the second century of Hijra and rise against our present that has provided terrorists fertile ground to sow seeds of hatred and animosity. Whoever opens the door wide to advocates of sedition and sorcery through hundreds of satellite channels and thousands of internet pages has no right to be surprised if Islamist terrorism attacks him and his children. These devils in the guise of sheikhs prepared the fertile ground for terrorism and fuel it spiritually day after day. If we truly want to end falsehood and establish truth, we must start with ourselves and put an end to those called sheikhs. We must stand as a strong barrier against the merchants of Islamic jurisprudence who have long lost relevance. We must open the door wide to enlightened and true Islamic thinkers such as Muhammad Shahrour and others. We must remember Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib’s saying: “When the people of truth remain silent over falsehood, the people of falsehood assume they are right.”
