Oh Arabs, Stay On the Streets

Pierre Abi Saeb

In this crucial confrontation the Arab people are fighting, it is natural that Lebanon is at the forefront. Once again, the star of its foreign minister, Gebran Bassil, shines during the so-called "Arab League" the day before yesterday, as he was the voice of Palestine and the bearer of the banner of Al-Quds. He shook the pillars of the collapsed edifice and broke the monotony of the sterile diplomacies, which often served the interests of backward and oppressive regimes and colonial agendas.

He stood convincing the Arabs and the world, addressing history, shouting in the face of the numbed, submissive, or sold consciences. Basil, the representative of the united Lebanese will, went to Cairo to embarrass everyone, saying: Al-Quds is our dignity, and Palestine is the Compass. I, the Lebanese, coming from my national project, from my environment and my "privacy", in the country of the endless "privacies", which you thought was fragile and divided, surprised you with its strength and unity, I tell you and say it on your behalf and on behalf of all Arabs and Muslims. If you do not dare, do not want to, and cannot, I - coming from the country that gave rise to the resistance that broke the myth of "Israeli" superiority - dare, want and can say: Al-Quds is our dignity and Palestine is the compass.

It is not surprising that a united Lebanon stands in the forefront for Al-Quds. Neither is it surprising for its foreign minister to become a hero overnight for the Palestinians who chant his name and an Arab leader greeted by demonstrators in angry Arab cities. It is the journey out of the ghetto to the nation, which continues and is dedicated. Is this not Lebanon's renaissance message and the message of the environment from which Basil hails from? It is known for its pioneering role since the sixteenth century until the Renaissance: to raise the banner of Arabism and enlightenment.

On a similar note, yesterday came the "Awkar demonstration". This protest rally was called for by Lebanese leftist and nationalist parties as well as groups in partnership with the various Palestinian political forces. It was staged in front of the American Embassy in Lebanon, rejecting and declaring popular anger against the decision to "endorse" Al-Quds to the "Israeli" occupation. In other words, "liquidating the Palestinian cause" as Hanna Gharib, the secretary-general of the Lebanese Communist Party, said from Awkar, wearing a Palestinian kufiya. It was natural for the "Zionists inside" to carry out their mission, provoking skirmishes as well as isolated and condemned marginal riots - the kind witnessed by all the peaceful demonstrations in the world to try to distort and abort the demonstration. One of the stations turned the large, legitimate and peaceful protest movement against the American decision - which was against the law, history and legitimacy and contrary to the Western consensus - into "the Palestinians attacking the Lebanese army!" Oh, those Palestinian people: "We defend them, and they abuse us!" And they think that "the road to Palestine passes through Dbaye!" It is unfortunate, of course, for some voices that did not get rid of the deposits of the old "isolationism" to be dragged into the trap. As if they had not heard the speech of Gibran Basil and do not belong to his national positions. "Awkar is not Gaza", said one of the ministers. This shameful statement, which exposes racism and ignorance, first assumes that Gaza is a charge or a curse. It also fuels the flames of fanaticism and divisions, ignites civil hatred, defiles public opinion and sells Al-Quds with a handful of electoral votes. Gaza, which was bloodied by the "Israeli" occupation, is everywhere, and it is like Al-Quds, the capital of Palestine, a part of our dignity. It does not contradict the dignity, serenity and livelihood of the residents of Awkar. Some of the condemned abuses like the excessive and unjustifiable police repression are not a reason to divert attention from Al-Quds. The one who has sold out the serenity of Awkar is the Lebanese state that accepted the US's purchase of a huge piece of land to build something on it, a future "theme park", perhaps!

Here, the fragility of the anti-American stance in Lebanon is evident. America has been responsible for "Israel's" crimes for seventy years, not only since Trump's reckless stance. The same America that arms and trains our army. The America, whose administration Hanna Gharib accused of "working to settle the Palestinians in Lebanon and abolish the right of return." He also called for "the cessation of all programs of cooperation with it and the expulsion of its ambassadors, and the closure of its military bases on Arab lands", stressing that the principle of "self-distancing" falls at such a crucial moment. He also called for an "all-inclusive Arab resistance".

Yes, we are in front of a historic turning point despite how hard the "good-will ambassadors" of all walks of life try to diminish the importance and seriousness of Trump's decision to strengthen our submission and surrender. This "formal" decision, as some of them repeat to us, will lead to the conjuring of tens of thousands of settlers as well as the continuation of the Judaization policy, the confiscation of land, and the expulsion of the people of the city using all administrative and terrorist means. Two days after the United States recognized Al-Quds as the capital of the "Israeli" occupation, the "housing minister" in the government of the tyrannical entity decided to push a plan to build 14,000 settlement units there. The enemy's media revealed the imminent official approval of the settlement plan, which includes the construction of 7,000 housing units in the settlement east of Al-Quds. This confrontation with America will be the last. If the Arab people fail, we will not have anything left, no Palestine, no rights, no dignity. Al-Quds is the capital of dignity and justice in the world today. It must be defended. The American monster must be confronted by all means possible. That's what people say on the street; hundreds of thousands, even millions, on the streets. Movements must continue and public anger must increase. Yesterday, protesters flooded the Arab and Islamic worlds, in addition to several movements in western cities. In Turkey, millions marched. In Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria. In Jordan and Egypt. In Indonesia. In the Gaza Strip, where Abu Mazen's authority is "coordinating" with the enemy to contain and abort all forms of intifada, and in Al-Quds itself, the capital of wounds and hopes. In Lebanon, the Awkar demonstration was only the beginning. Today, the big date will be in the southern suburb of Beirut.

Oh Arabs, take to the street. Let us declare it an open confrontation. The demonstrations must continue and expand. Higher degrees of confrontation, boycotting America and expelling its ambassadors are required. This is the step. Our regimes are too cowardly and weak to take such a step without the pressure from the street. As for "Israel", it is betting on the rapid decline of the wave of protests and their confinement - waiting for things to go back to normal. The crime is irrevocably perpetuated. These are the wishes of "Israel" and its sponsors, in collusion with some Arab rulers, combined with the astonishing absence of the Palestinian Authority. Abu Mazen said his fluid speech and left. As if the looming danger was in the Amazon or the Arctic! As for us, we know that it is our last chance, our last battle. If we lose it, we will lose our right to exist. We are a people who are left to fend for itself, which know that their only salvation is in the all-inclusive Arab resistance!

Source: Al-Akhbar Newspaper, Translated by website team