Military defeats have their own literatures, and sins have their own narratives. The defeated, losers, and those entangled in these defeats insist on presenting their version instead of the truth. They are even more adamant that you must believe it, embrace it, collaborate with them in promoting and marketing it, and conspire with them to obscure the real narrative; otherwise, you will be demonized, terrorized, and seduced by the masses. This is the condition of the defeated sinners who have wronged their own peoples and the Arab world, dragging it into all their reckless and unrealistic adventures and operations, from the defeats of Arab armies against Israel decades ago until now.
Today, half-hearted and quarter-hearted resistors enter into the wrong battles at the wrong times, carrying with them their canned narrative and false stories. They possess only poor potentials, wishes, delusions, and dreams that do not match the scale of the battle or the size of their adversary. When they become embroiled in conflict, they begin to weave another narrative far removed from reality—one of false victories that are limited to their throats and the speaker wires transmitting their speeches and cries. Through this, they attempt to maintain their “resistance” image they have built over the years, selling illusions of preparation and mobilization for the great battle day; neither did they win, nor did their peoples escape from their adventure.
The day after a defeat, they blame others who did not get involved with them or tried to dissuade them from their transgressions, then they attack them fiercely, inventing stories of betrayal and abandonment against them. Finally, they incite the masses against them, leading to a torrent of insults, accusations, and excommunications. The shift in terminology from defeat to setback is not new; it was coined by journalist Mohammed Hassanein Heikal after the defeat of 1967, gaining favor among the broken, afflicted societies. It was merely a phrase to soften the tragedy of defeat, but it led to the Arab collective mentality adopting it, resorting to it during calamities and defeats. Instead of acknowledging defeat and striving for victory as Egypt did, which immediately began a war of attrition that culminated in the “October” war in 1973, eventually adopting the “land for peace” equation, Egypt would have remained a prisoner of setback until today without that.
To become an acceptable media voice within the “resistance” space and among their audiences, you must first adopt their narrative and promote the following terms, derived from the spirit of the 2006 battle that resulted in a significant defeat for Hezbollah, and from the recent Gaza battle where we witness immense pain and losses. For example: (the enemy does not dare to invade on land, the enemy cannot bear to capture its soldiers, the enemy will negotiate against its will because the resistors have taken civilians). When tanks, armored vehicles, and ready soldiers advance into Gaza, terms transform into Gaza being the graveyard of invaders… the sands of Gaza swallow the enemy's army… zero point… the Merkava falls before the Qassam missiles… the tunnels will swallow the Israeli army. We discover that the Israelis advanced without any resistance that would change the battle, and that they have tunnels beneath Hamas tunnels which have cost Palestinians billions of dollars with no military or civilian benefit.
The enemy fears direct confrontation. They lure the enemy into street battles, yet we still see the enemy roaming freely in Gaza’s streets. The enemy cannot bear human losses, then we discover that the Israeli army bombs any point that serves its interests, even if it includes Israelis. “We have 50,000 rockets.” Indeed, they are merely tin pipes with no impact, not deterrent rockets that could change the course of battle, and yet they ceased on the second day of the war. The Israeli suffers, the Israeli economy wobbles, Jews emigrate out of Israel, and Israeli society is in crisis and divided… all are mere wishes that transform into recurring narratives since 1948. Neither has Israel packed its bags and left the region, nor is its economy faltering, nor is its society divided, nor has the Western world abandoned it. In fact, Hamas's economy relies on the Israeli shekel, and it has not replaced it with either the Jordanian dinar or the Egyptian pound available to them. Thus, you must adopt the killer's narrative and accuse another killer instead, so that the resistors will be pleased with you, and they will never be satisfied with anything you do.
For example, regarding the incident of the killing of Arab children in Majdal Shams, you must believe Hezbollah’s narrative, despite your certainty that it was Hezbollah that committed the act. Then you must participate in washing their hands of the children’s blood, and of course, this is not the first instance; the party killed Sunni children in 2008 following its occupation of Beirut. It is a complex operation where you have to separate your conscience and ethics from your complicity in promoting Hezbollah's narrative.
All this media narrative and the extensive - not new - attack adopted by what is called the resistance's line, from Tehran to the suburbs, passing through some allied capitals, is merely a marketing of a transcendent political project, aimed at alienating the masses and directing them to execute agendas beyond Gaza, including the overthrow of governments and the moral assassination of peoples and states that do not adopt the resistance narrative. Here, you either resist the political project and its narrative and stories, or you become part of the project, only to be surprised one day that your land and authority have been occupied after your mind and conscience have been captured.
