“when ignorance is bliss, in a society, it is foolish to be wise.” thomas gray (1716–1771)
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this is what i felt with several tweets, the most recent of which was related to my opposition to boycotting certain goods, as it received 2.2 million views, in a society where the number of twitter activists is supposed to not exceed 100,000!
i did not write in defense of the companies that were boycotted, as they know very well that they are exposed to loss and profit, but i defend logic, which is completely absent. the gaza tragedy unmasked many things. so where were those who attacked me, for 70 years, regarding the issue of the palestinian who is humiliated, displaced, and killed?
his cause and the tragedy of the people of gaza are not alleviated by stopping drinking a cup of coffee, but rather by supporting it positively, we are a nation that believes in words because it does not cost anything.
the idea of boycotting israel began at the initiative of the syrian government seventy years ago, with its offi ce subsequently becoming affi liated with the arab league, and becoming a force that greatly harmed israel, before the boycott gradually lost its momentum, with corruption penetrating the corners of the offi ce in damascus, after repeatedly imposing a boycott on companies, for fl imsy reasons and removing it from others, for more fl imsy reasons, so that countries would lose confi - dence in its decisions, and for the offi ce to lose its importance over time, de facto, especially with some arab countries signing peace agreements that prevent them from boycotting, such as egypt, jordan, and the plo other countries also boycotted the boycott of their own free will, and kuwait may have remained alone in the fi eld, and its role was doubled, to include monitoring even the products that come to it from “sister” countries for fear that they are israelimade goods smuggled through them!
refusal to buy a product, deal with a company, or boycott an entire country is a legitimate act or means of expressing rejection of this or that party. the boycott may be comprehensive, as happened with the south african system, or it may be limited to focusing on a product that usually has a painful material and moral impact.
but parties and individuals, perhaps only us, and often due to lack of resourcefulness, decided to boycott specific products, putting their “freedom” or anger into them, and they were chosen randomly with no relation to the true positions of their owners on the palestinian issue, currently and historically!
the heckler will return very soon from his boycott, and often with greater eagerness, as happened in previous cases, especially since the one affected was the local agent and not the party we wanted to punish, which is america, for its unlimited support for the israeli aggression against the people of gaza.
it would have been more effective to direct our anger into positive action, as the pain and tragedies of the people of gaza, and their need for water, food, and medicine, cannot be alleviated by abstaining from drinking a cup of coffee, nor starting a fight with a filipino worker who works in a store selling them, but rather by heading to the red crescent society, for example, and donating even ten dinars, to support the steadfastness of the people of gaza and alleviate their suffering.
i repeat what i mentioned in yesterday’s article about my donation of a truckload of medical supplies to the kuwaiti red crescent, to deliver them to the needy in gaza, hoping that those in power will emulate what i have done. what is happening there is a humanitarian catastrophe, the likes of which have never been known in our region, and it also represents an embodiment of the struggle of the palestinian people to achieve their full rights.