Eid wishes
By
Naguib Mahfouz
Eid is here, and our greetings should go this year to the Palestinians, for they are the throbbing heart of the Arab world, our only proof that the Arab world is still alive and capable of resistance if it so chooses.
Arab inability to cope with the multi-faceted challenges of globalisation is galling, as is our indecision in the face of US attempts to control the destiny of all other nations. The present recalls the bygone era of colonialist empires. We thought that imperialism had collapsed, that humanity was moving into a new era of democracy, freedom, and international harmony. The end of the Cold War sent hopes for a durable international peace soaring. But these hopes dimmed as a single superpower launched a military, political, and economic campaign to dominate the rest of the world.
The quest for global domination is self- defeating, for it can spawn only resistance throughout the areas under assault. This is what makes the Palestinian resistance so precious, for it demonstrates how a nation may defend its national identity in the face of a foreign power that tries to suppress it. Best wishes to the Palestinians on the eid, and may festivities one day find their way to your land.
Based on an interview by Mohamed Salmawy.
