In an article in the Bahraini daily Akhbar Al-Khaleej, Saudi writer and journalist 'Abdallah Khalifa appealed to the Arab people in general, and particularly to the terror organizations, to move from violent struggle to struggle by peaceful means. He said that while violent struggle leads to death for the people and destruction for the country, and ultimately consumes itself, struggle by peaceful means is unconstrained by borders, and moves the people ahead and strengthens the country.
The following are translated excerpts from his article:[1]
"Struggle by Peaceful Means... Expands Political Horizons, Brings Rivals Closer Together, Creates... Progress, [and] Liberates the Peoples..."
"As the forces [calling for] violence insist [upon obtaining] nuclear bombs and set us on a narrow path of killing, the efforts of the forces struggling by peaceful means are feeble, unfocused, and confused...
"Struggle by peaceful means is not constrained by borders; it expands political horizons, brings rivals closer together, creates ways of ongoing progress, liberates the peoples, and brings them closer to the process of development.
"Algeria glories in its revolution of a million and a half martyrs;[2] however, it would be more fitting if it came to its senses and thought deeply about why it suffered this shocking tragedy [and why] it sacrificed so many...
"Gandhi's goat was more valuable than Pakistan's cannons. As India strides towards the apex of economic progress, Pakistan crumbles and is torn to shreds, and its heroes are booby-trapped corpses and [victims] killed by insanity – and nobody cares that it is dying as a state."
"Learn From The Experience of the Loathed Israeli Occupation... The Jews Knew How to Swim in the Sea of Western Progress"
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"Why not learn from the experience of the loathed Israeli occupation? It benefits you [Arabs] in some ways. It [can] teach you how to infiltrate into the economy of the Jews, [learn] their techniques, [and absorb] their knowledge, and even to surpass it. This is your opportunity to learn from the sharpest forces of exploitation in the world – since they are the best school for acuity and cunning in the history of mankind. They have turned your young people into scientists and technicians, and turned your dinky little businesses into small factories of knowledge and technology. Your pedigree is better than theirs, but even so, to date you are not more educated than they are. Don't make your blood-soaked resistance a lamp unto your feet; it is the continuation of imperialism, and it will lead to your destruction. The Jews [knew how to] swim in the sea of Western progress, and they had extensive and stable capital. They were few in number, but they were advanced and superior in quality. They led the capitalist world, which rules the planet, even though they were, and remain, a very small nation.
"Haven't you had enough of history's illusions?
"The [armed] struggle groups in the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf are wiping out the numerous options for development in the region. They have no other way of [bringing about] change except by [starting] conflagrations, [shedding] blood, [exploding] car bombs, and [carrying out] mass slaughter. Al-Qaeda has become a hero in the high schools, [while in truth] it has [only] caused more Western soldiers to enter the homes of married Muslim women."
"Set a Bomb and Run Away – That's How You'll End Imperialism and Eliminate the Enemy... "
"Set a bomb and run away – that's how you'll end imperialism and eliminate the enemy, liberate the Muslims, and bring them victory over their infidel enemies. [This is an example] of the simplistic phrases that stimulate the minds of adolescents, transporting them to the skies of heroism... [However, it is these slogans] that are tearing these countries asunder, sowing military bases throughout them, and plundering their resources – and [they are the reason why these countries] are stepping up their militaries and increasing their security budgets.
"[These armed groups] do not understand that they are only fodder [in] international strategies aimed solely at reaping the fruits of the petroleum, and at leaving behind withered weeds poisoned by civil wars and destruction... Every bomb [that these groups] plant in the schools, in educational institutions, in places of business, and in places of worship [brings in its wake warlike moves] that expand the Arabs' graveyard, and puts paid to the [Arabs'] plans for liberation and progress."
"How Many Prostitutes Have Emerged in the Wake of the Terrorism... in Afghanistan?"
"Do you know how many prostitutes have emerged in the wake of the terrorism perpetrated by the armed groups in Afghanistan? How many families have sold their honor and their daughters? How Afghanistan has become a land of destruction? [And] what sort of liberation will it be, if it is obtained at all, [and what impact will it have] on the lives and honor [of the Afghans], after all the social destruction and all this prostitution?
"Indeed, struggle by peaceful means has no borders, and includes nothing that will subjugate us to exploitative foreign and domestic forces. The more we embrace it, the more new paths will open [before us]; the more our abilities will develop; the more robust our resistance will be; and the broader our knowledge will be."
"Peace Does Not Mean Submission"
"Peace does not mean submission. It means strengthening our forces, and not consuming man and land in a conflagration for the sake of political aims that can be attained with far fewer victims."
Endnotes:
[1] Akhbar Al-Khaleej (Bahrain), January 5, 2010.
[2] The Algerian War of Independence (1954–62).
