Trump's Deal Is Doomed to Fail

by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem

An approach must always be of the same kind as the underlying dialectic, or of the same kind as the basic assumption — this is a fundamental logical rule the scholar cannot reach correct conclusions without taking into account.

There is no escaping linking logical, dialectical relations to one another if we want to reach a scientific analysis of social, political, and economic phenomena. Whoever fails to master linking dialectical relations to one another cannot reach correct conclusions. This is why hypocrites can never deliver logical, scientific material to the public, because their essential concern is pleasing the official, not presenting evidence, whether logical or documentary.

If we want to gauge future developments, we must reckon that the harvest is of the same kind as the seed, and that what rests on false assumptions cannot produce ears of wheat. And if we want to approach a problem — that is, follow methods and means harmonious with the problem we are dealing with — otherwise our efforts go to waste. The problem we are dealing with usually consists of intertwined structural dialectical relations, whose particulars or derivatives cannot be resolved without mutual logical reliance among the parts. If we overlook the dialectical linkage, partial solutions may emerge, and they are likely to be destructive, because they have strayed from dealing with the issue we are addressing in its totality. Any solution to a part may complicate the solution of the whole.

The problem with Trump’s deal is that it deals with the Palestinian cause as separate parts rather than as an integrated cause requiring an integrated solution. He dissects it into Jerusalem, settlements, refugees, statehood, and so on. In this lies dealing with the Palestinian cause quantitatively rather than qualitatively, and a quantitative approach to a problem cannot serve as an approach to a qualitative problem. The cause of Palestine is not a quantitative cause, or a cause of displaced individuals — it is the cause of a civilizationally integrated people whose roots extend deep into history. It is a cause of homeland, geography, history, heritage, culture, and successive generations who have inherited belonging and the emotional flow of national feeling. Solving the problem of Jerusalem alone cannot be done partially, in isolation from the factors of total, organic interconnection between the parts. This is why the Oslo Accords failed, and why, historically, every Western proposal to reach a solution for the Palestinian cause has failed. Along the same lines, every proposal that does not deal with the cause’s particulars as an integrated whole will fail. Politicians do not intend for these proposals to fail — they usually try to make them succeed — but the weight of the organic interconnection between the parts constitutes a great force preventing popular acceptance of what is proposed. No solution succeeds that fails to take into account people’s emotional integration, and national interconnection with its historical, religious, cultural, societal, and value-based dimensions.

Our people is very fearful of the so-called “deal of the century,” and Palestinian media focuses on this deal, with hardly a Palestinian news bulletin free of material about it. I want to reassure the people that the deal will not pass, even if Arab leaders and the Ramallah authority approve of it. Of course, we do not know the precise terms of the deal yet, but leaks from here and there indicate the final wresting of Jerusalem from Palestinian hands, the liquidation of the refugee cause, and a search for a Palestinian state outside Mandatory Palestine. If swallowing these proposals is difficult for Arab rulers known for their loyalty to the Western states and the United States especially, is it possible the people of Palestine will swallow them? The weight of the overall Palestinian position outweighs the weight of politicians’ approval. Trump may cause Palestinians annoyance, but he will not inflict defeat upon them.

Trump’s deal, once announced, is logically foolish, and logical contradiction has never historically formed a foundation for success.

Perhaps it occurs to someone to say logic is not a fundamental pillar of international politics. Whoever says this is ignorant. The political game is not arrogance, improvisation, and cleverness — it rests on foundations, most of which fall under the heading of logic. A politician ignorant of the science of logic cannot master the political game. A ruler who does not know mathematics does not know logic, and is certainly a failure. Trump knows arithmetic but does not know mathematics. As for the Arab youths among the crown princes and kings, they do not know the linguistic formulation of ideas, and it is not expected they possess logic. Mohammed bin Salman, Mohammed bin Zayed, and their like do not frighten me, because they lack even the most basic bounds of knowledge.

Perhaps Palestinian leaders will slide down a dangerous slope, dealing even partially with Trump’s proposals, but the fate of their efforts will be no different from the fate of the Oslo Accords, which logically contradicted every foundation of Palestinian survival.

Trump puts forward an approach consistent with his own convictions, or with what he wants his convictions to be. He supports the Zionists and backs the existence of the Zionist entity, and safeguards this entity’s security. He is hostile to Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims. His approach suits the Zionists, not the Palestinians, and the decision ultimately rests with the Palestinians, who possess no weapons but the weapon of organic survival. America has previously tried to liquidate the refugee cause, and so has the United Nations, but disastrous failure surrounded them both.

The meaning, in the end, is that history carries within it the elements of peoples’ strength, and wars carry the strength of lethal weapons, and history always wins in the end. There are those who say the philosophical mind does not settle battles, and I say the thuggish mind is always the one defeated.

Source: Translated from the original Arabic, “صفقة ترامب ساقطة حتما” by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem.