Normalization and Taming

by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem

Normalization (tatbee’) can carry several meanings, but the number of these meanings narrows considerably when it comes to the Zionist entity. It is an overcoming of what is un-natural (tatabbu’) to make it natural (tab’) — that is, part of natural behavior built into the human interior and outward conduct. It is a form of taming, so that whoever refuses accepts a behavior he once rejected, or considered discordant or shameful.

This is the very practice the culture of the people of Greater Syria has long followed regarding the taming of horses. They used to, and some still do, follow a number of steps and methods with foals (young horses) to make them friendly to the human being and perform the services he wants of them.

Ever since the Zionist entity was born on the land of Palestine, Arabs have spoken of boycotting and besieging it, even though many Arab regimes were in contact with the Zionists under the table. Some Arab boycott of the Zionists did occur, and the Arabs continued rejecting the entity even in the corridors of the United Nations. But matters slipped out of control from the moment Sadat visited Jerusalem and sought a solution with the Zionists. Matters have continued deteriorating ever since, reaching now the point of security coordination, and likely to reach the point of open military cooperation in the future.

Dialectically, the Arab regimes cannot help but normalize with the Zionists, because the Zionist entity and most of the Arab regimes come from the very same root. Western colonialism is what created most of the Arab regimes, the tribal regimes especially, and it is also what created the Zionist entity. It created both to serve its own goals: the Zionist entity functions as an advanced Western colonial base, and the Arab regimes function as proxy rulers serving the interests of the people of the West. This means the function of the Zionist entity and the existential goal of the Arab regimes cannot help but converge, and whoever believed the regimes were serious in their rhetoric about liberating Palestine did not understand the weight of the dialectical relationships at work in the region.

What matters most to the Arab rulers is preserving the ruling system, and its continuation from fathers to sons, and the Zionist entity is the very best help these regimes have in surviving, in cooperation with Western colonialism, the United States especially.

Preserving the ruling system matters more than every Arab cause, and I do not believe any Arab regime, particularly a tribal one or one shifting toward tribalism, is prepared to sacrifice itself for its own people or the peoples of the Arab nation. The Arab peoples may rebel, and matters may develop to the point of getting rid of these regimes, but the Zionist and American security services remain vigilant over the region’s stability — that is, keeping conditions in the region as they are.

As for the Zionists, they never stop pushing the Arab rulers toward further normalization and further cooperation, because the entity sees its own survival in the region through the lens of its acceptance as an inseparable part of the region, accepted by the peoples as a genuine part of the region, not separate from it, possessing the right to exist and to remain. The Zionist entity does not bet on the Arab rulers to guarantee its survival, since these are repressive, despotic, self-indulgent, corrupt regimes on the verge of collapse. They are fit for nothing but corrupting peoples and distracting them from caring about Arab causes.

This corruption is the greatest service the Arab regimes provide to the Zionist entity and to the covetous generally.

The Zionists tried peace and normalization with the Egyptian and Jordanian regimes, but the Egyptian and Jordanian peoples remained in their rejection of the entity, despite both regimes’ attempts to drag their peoples toward normalization. So if the Arab regimes are destined to vanish, the work must continue, constantly, to normalize the peoples themselves. The peoples are what remains, and it is better to work at normalizing those with influence among the popular ranks — intellectuals, thinkers, academics, clerics, politicians, and capitalists. The Zionist entity, in cooperation with America, has managed to draw in many intellectuals and academics through Western-funded non-governmental organizations. A class has formed on the Arab scene now known as the “brokers of knowledge.” It is they who carry out the research needed to identify the moods and aspirations of the Arab peoples, and the social, economic, and moral gaps they suffer from, presenting this to the people of the West, and thereby to the Zionists, so they know exactly where to bite into the Arab shoulder. They offer precise information because they are of the people themselves, knowing people’s concerns well, their desires, and what they aspire to. They know the public’s points of strength and points of weakness, and can guide enemies in a way that lets them plan their policies well. These people constitute a great danger to the causes of the nation, and always stand ready to present themselves as scholars before people, as part of the craft of concealment and hiding from watchful eyes. They are a dangerous phenomenon that has contributed to normalization with the Zionist entity, and we see many of them on television screens, particularly on channels affiliated with the Arab regimes. To the Zionists, these people matter more than politicians, because it is easy for them to pass Western policies through their writings and the information they obtain through research funded by Westerners.

In short, whoever normalizes is not faithful to the Palestinian cause, and ends up, whether knowingly or unknowingly, an agent of the Zionist entity and an adversary of the Palestinian people and the Palestinian cause. This is why we have found a great force mobilized by the patriots of Tunisia and Morocco against normalization attempts that governments took part in and were forced to retreat from.

The blessing lies in our Arab peoples, and the disappointment lies in the policies of our governments.

Source: Translated from the original Arabic, “التطبيع والترويض” by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem.