“Al-Aqsa Flood” and freedom from our old questions

Palestinian supporters protest outside the Italian TV headquarters in the city of Rai, on February 14, 2024 in Rome (Getty)

My thinking has guided me - and I hope I am not wrong - to the fact that what the “Al-Aqsa Flood” can offer us is confirmation of the methods of view that should govern our thinking in the twenty-first century, which I believe - and some suspicion is not wrong - are completely different from the way of thinking that ruled the century. The twentieth century, which was the beginning of the transition from the eighties of the last century, but it was greatly strengthened in the last decade of the twentieth century.

Contemporary theoretical approaches are based on several foundations. In the previous article, we discussed two of these foundations, and we continue in this article with the third and fourth foundations:

Arabs and Muslims in Europe and North America are coming out with demonstrators from the left, indigenous people, blacks and others against the war in Gaza, but they are lining up with the conservative right; To combat the issue of sex education in schools

Third: Starting from the facts to re-discuss the ideas

It is not possible, for example, to understand Arab political discourses apart from following the change in state structures whose roles and functions are being reformulated, and market/economic developments. In which state control and neoliberalism are mixed with a traditional economy that has not yet reached the values ​​or tools of neoliberalism.

The approach to facts, not ideas, allowed us to recall many of the influential actors in the flood. Here we can refer to states in the region and the world, and we can also notice the interaction between these states and non-state actors, such as sub-state or trans-state organizations and movements. In addition to this, social media influencers, intellectuals, artists...etc.

This approach also helps to understand the areas of intersectionality between the different components. The concept of justice and the position on authority - any authority - was the deepest intellectual root that brought together the dispersed actors who demonstrated in support of the Palestinians - as I previously explained in an article on the Al Jazeera website. net.

According to this method of analysis; Understanding the beginning and end of eras becomes easier. With the defeated United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan - September 2021 - we can talk about the end of the era of September 2001, in which the banner of the “War on Terror” was raised, and we can also discuss the allegations that attempted to link the Israeli September to the American one.

Starting from reality - not intellectual assumptions - means rejecting the ideas of complete transcendence, and stresses the necessity of searching for juxtaposition, coexistence and overlap. Here the question becomes about the reasons for the continuation of certain phenomena and the disappearance of others, and the contexts that push this or prevent that.

at this point; I would like to emphasize that I am not one of those who embrace the idea of ​​transcendence and discontinuity in understanding reality - as appears in some concepts preceded by “after” - as the writer of these lines belongs to a school that emphasizes the idea of ​​transformation in transitional periods that include juxtaposition, coexistence, and sometimes overlap between the old and the new. And between different phenomena.

According to this perspective, it is possible to look at Hamas and the Zionist project: what has changed, what are the elements of continuity, and what is the impact of the flood on their future?

Another point; These are: that there is no exceptionality in phenomena, movements, and discourses; They are all the efforts of man - into whom God breathed his spirit - and therefore researching the developments of phenomena and comparing them with each other in different societies is an important issue.

This approach allows us to overcome the obsession with the steadfastness of Palestinian society that some have tried to attach to it without sufficient analysis and awareness of the elements of its strength and factors of weakness. He is a creation of God who is plagued by weakness, fear, love of the world, and hatred of death, and all of this means the necessity of supporting him so that he can withstand and continue to resist.

Another point; This is what I called in other writings the fragmentation and disintegration of polarizations. The contemporary world is dominated by partial issues and concepts such as: climate change, human rights, gender, and specific topics that branch out from that, such as: abortion, or sex education in schools...; Therefore, the position is determined according to each individual case.

Arabs and Muslims in Europe and North America are coming out with demonstrators from the left, indigenous people, blacks and others against the war in Gaza, but they are lining up with the conservative right; To combat the issue of sex education in schools.

The importance of starting from reality means the necessity of moving towards reforming the structures and structures and addressing the contexts that produced the problems, and not spending our energy on arguing over cultural dimensions without affecting people’s reality. This is a phenomenon that some have called the “Republic of Controversy,” especially since interaction on social media diverts a lot of energy from changing reality.

Fourth: Rephrasing the questions while freeing them from the old ones

At every historical stage, there were central questions that preoccupied thought, and efforts revolved around them, but in the end they were the result of an interaction between the development of two basic elements: the structure of the state and the nature of the economy.

With every development witnessed by the structures of the Arab state, the form of the economy applied in it, and its relationship to developments in the structures of the international economy, we witness similar repercussions on the prevailing political and cultural discourses. The hadith on civilization and renaissance arose in this context and was mainly influenced by these two factors.

In contemporary times, the concerns of the Arab citizen have focused on decent living, which is based on human dignity and based on a fair distribution of opportunities, resources, income and wealth.

The concept of pluralism - which is a native child of detailed cartography, as I presented - may help us reconsider prevailing questions and search for new ones.

Accordingly, it is possible to ask about the intersectionality on which the global movement in support of the Palestinians is based: How was it achieved? What is his future? What are its effects on Western policy towards the issue?

Not only confirming the phenomena as they were, but understanding their new contexts and characteristics is important.

One of the characteristics of contemporary questions is that they are questions related to the entirety of humanity, and in their various aspects they concern common humanity. It is true that their manifestations take on a local character, but they are united by one essence. We are about to share values; Because it is a general humanity, and there are many approaches and ways to achieve it.

Starting new questions or reconsidering what was proposed requires breaking free from intellectual preambles to discover the policy behind them and the economic interests that aspire to achieve them.

I realize that there is a struggle over the standards that should govern the work of international institutions, and in various fields such as the Internet, climate change, international trade, artificial intelligence..., but it is a struggle that is not of a civilizational nature. Rather, it is dominated by political competition and the search for economic interests.

The concept of the clash of civilizations, which was formulated by the American political scientist Huntington, was aimed at serving American hegemony in the post-Cold War era, which was based on unipolarity, and the religious discourses used by Israeli and Western politicians were intended to mobilize sectors of public opinion behind their leaders in a battle that was not of a religious nature. As Hamas confirmed in its document issued late last month (January 2024).

One final point; Competition and conflict may hide the similar structures on which the oppositionists rely. The structure of the Chinese and American economies is of a capitalist nature, even if the areas of state intervention differ between them. When they compete over the standards that should govern the global order, they aim to achieve their own interests.

The normalization agreements called by Abraham eventually led to an alliance between the big capitalisms in the Gulf and in Israel, and their outcome was ultimately at the expense of ordinary citizens on both sides.

Big capitalism is similar everywhere, regardless of the ghutra and headband, the European hat, or the Jewish kippah.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.