House of Paine

arab unity uber alles

my boys took three seats out of 66x2 seats in the recent
 palestinian election:


here's an interview with my main man
in the region:
 el hakkim
dr george habash
from 
back in 1998
before the second intifada

on  theultimate  goal :
an arab world unified inside one state 


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**El-Hakim: As a matter of principle, 
I believe in the necessity 
of
having a unified Arab party 
that works to achieve Arab unity
contributes to establishing 
a free, progressive, and democratic
 Arab society
 stands up to the Zionist conquest
 and liberates all occupied
Palestinian and Arab lands.


These are not mere desires 
or general imaginary wishes. 
 They reflect the ambition of an Arab nation
 that has come to realize 
from historical xperience 
the extent to which tragedies and disasters
 can be caused by the divisions
 tearing up our nation
 depleting its wealth
 and
destroying its very human being


But this belief 
that I have
 bumps in the present 
with many difficulties

the most important of which is perhaps 
the way Arab provincialism
(el-Qutreyah), 
under the colonial divisions imposed,
 have developed
full-fledged material,
 political, economic,
 and even cultural
structures. 

 Bypassing those differences 
has come to require
 a cumulative historical process 
in every sense of the word.


Similarly, as much as uniting the nation 
is no longer possible 
in one scoop
 neither
 is founding a unified Arab political party...


This dictates 
that we use the available means 
to evolve reality 
into
what's required. 

 The different Arab groups 
should first coordinate 
with each other
 leading necessarily 
into a higher plane of interaction
 and
communication. 

 This comes 
not as some kind of sentimental yearning
 but
because the challenges confronting 
the Arab human being 
in every Arab state 
necessarily intersect and intertwine:
 It has become impossible to
tackle these challenges 
with a narrow provincial mentality 
whether these were political, economic,
 cultural, or social.


Moreover the imperialist-Zionist plan
 against the Arab nation 
operates
in a coordinated and unified manner.
  That must imply that we confront
it likewise 
with a higher degree 
of unity with each other.


Here we should take note
 of the continuous attempts 
by the U.S. and Israel 
to foster the elements 
of division and fragmentation 
in the land,
people,
 and culture
 of the Arab nation.


This certainly doesn't contradict 
with the need of every Arab group 
to
exert itself separately
 on the local level
 but within a strategy 
that marks the close connection
 between its own backyard 
and the general Arab nationalist aspect

  I say 
this is the most important lesson
 from the previous experience:
 the necessity of linking
 Arab nationalist and local
                        activism



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