Tomorrow is July, a special month for progressive pan-Arab nationalists like myself.
On 23 July 1952 a rotten era dominated by supplicant, reactionary Arab regimes that owed their entire existence to Britain and France, the sworn enemies of Arab independence and unity, seemed to be coming to an abrupt end, when the Egyptian Revolution swept aside the notorious and corrupt regime of King Farouk.
A new era of hope, progress, justice, independence and liberation appeared to have begun right across the Arab world. There were ups and downs but, on the whole, people remained energised and politically mobilised for a decade and a half. Then came the 1967 debacle and, with it, the chronic political depression and socio-political degeneration that remains with us to this day.
On the eve of this July I found myself leafletting in the centre of a British town on behalf of usurped Palestine. I handed out information explaining to the public why they have an obligation to boycott products emanating from the racist, Zionist entity, otherwise known as "Israel".
What I experienced in three hours on the afternoon of 30 June depressed me. The town in which I was handing out the leaflets is a multicultural, university town with a mixture of peoples from the Indian sub-continent, the West Indies as well as Arabs and native Britons. As in many other towns and cities in Britain, the Arabs were typically not domiciled in the UK but were largely students. By definition, they belonged to the so-called "intelligentsia" – educated, supposedly cultured members of the elites of their respective countries.
Given their privileged background, one would expect that my dear compatriots would be the ones to show the strongest interest in and support for the cause for which I was campaigning. Not so. With the exception of one very pleasant young girl, they all past me by, some making an additional effort not to look my way, in case guilt forced them to pretend that they are interested.
And who displayed the greatest interest and support for the Palestinian cause? The native Britons, some of whom volunteered generous donations, even though I wasn't asking for donations. What a contrast to their criminal government and establishment! And what a contrast to my listless, shameless compatriots!
