The Arab inability to recognize defeat, and what it means for the future ~ Elder Of Ziyon

Friday, January 17, 2025

The Arab inability to recognize defeat, and what it means for the future

Victory parades for defeats. Catastrophic losses recast as glorious wins. This is the Islamic propaganda machine in full force.

From Egypt’s 6th of October War to Saddam Hussein’s “Mother of All Battles” to Hezbollah’s boasts of “divine victories,” the pattern is clear: when the reality is defeat, the narrative becomes celebration. Roads, bridges, and entire holidays are dedicated to battles that ended in retreat, humiliation, or worse. Textbooks have rewritten incontestable historic fact, poisoning children’s minds and revving them up about “armed resistance” and martyrdom.

It would be hilarious if the consequences weren’t so tragic.

A number of people are responding with their own experiences of seeing Arabs and Muslims who have celebrated their losses as victories.

There are two counter-examples which are worth examining: 1948 and 1967.

One was the 1948 war. The Arab world was deeply humiliated by a military defeat by weak, dhimmi Jews. There was a little attempt to brag about tiny victories - Jordan gaining the West Bank and Egypt staying in Gaza as a foothold in "Palestine." But the people, the leadership and the media looked for reasons that they could be so humiliated - people blaming their leadership, and conspiracy theories about the US or the UN helping Israel.

The humiliation was quickly replaced by a desire for vengeance. And that was the prominent theme in speeches and articles in the subsequent 19 years, to turn the anger into finally wiping out Israel.

The 1956 Sinai campaign, even though it highlighted Egyptian military weakness, was indeed celebrated in Egypt and the Arab world as a political victory when the US and Soviet Union forced Israel, Britain and France to withdraw. It was spun as a heroic Nasser standing up to major powers and bringing pride back to the Arab world.

The Six Day War could not be spun. At that time, there were no Arab celebrations. The war was so one-sided, so fast, and lost so much ground that there was nothing that could possibly be seen as a silver lining to the defeated Arabs. However, the name that they gave to the defeat was "naksa," chosen to rhyme with the "nakba" of 1948. Nakba means "catastrophe" but naksa means "setback." The implication is that even though the Arab armies were thoroughly beaten, it was only a temporary setback, and they would come back again and again.

As with everything in the Arab world, it must be looked at through the prism of craving honor and avoiding shame. 1948 and 1967 were shameful and humiliating, so the best that could be done is to promise that they will be victorious next time. In the other wars they lost, they could compare them to 1967 and say that Israel could not duplicate that feat (we saw lots of that in Lebanon and previous Gaza wars, saying that the Palestinians held out longer than the combined Arab world did in '67.)

I admire Daniel Pipes and his book "Israel Victory" promotes the idea that peace is only possible when Palestinians admit they have lost. (I haven't read the book.) Looking at this history I am skeptical whether this is even psychologically possible. Overwhelming, undeniable defeats are followed with vows to get rid of Israel next time.

Even peace with Egypt and Jordan has not made their citizens any more tolerant of Israel. The peace agreements are seen as a temporary emergency measure. Unlike Israel, Egypt does not celebrate the anniversary of the peace agreement. Also, remember that officially Israel is at "peace" with the Palestinian Authority.

Detente is the best possible scenario. To be sure, the normalization with the UAE, Morocco and Bahrain are better, and Saudi Arabia is a possibility, but these were never direct enemies of Israel and therefore not humiliated. Arabs who are directly humiliated can never truly accept Israel's existence, and each peace agreement with them is viewed as a hudna, not a permanent peace.

In the end, the only constant is Jew-hatred. Everything else Israel does, unfortunately, must be geared towards minimizing harm to Israeli citizens and Jews worldwide. "Total victory" requires the other side accepting defeat, and as we see, that will never happen.