their negative psychology. They feel that all the
nations of the world are inimical to them, and so
many of their activities are seen as acts of hostility
against the Muslims. This negative psychology has
resulted in all their thinking becoming unrealistic.
Suppose you are hit on the head by a ripe piece of
fruit which has fallen down from a tree. If you
persist in thinking that the tree has maliciously
thrown it down at you, you will never succeed in
either identifying the problem or in solving it.
The U.S.A., for instance, takes the side of the Israeli
Jews against the Palestinian Muslims. All over the
world, Muslims see this as an expression of enmity
towards themselves. But nothing could be further
from the truth. In this world of vested interests,
America sides with Israel, because its own
economic interests are at stake there. It has nothing
to do with being an enemy of the Muslims.
By helping Israel, America makes a two-fold gain.
Firstly it can in this way keep the oil-producing
countries under continuous pressure, so that they
are left with no choice but to come to terms with
American conditions at the negotiating table.
Secondly, benefits definitely accrue to America in
the realm of finance. The most lucrative business of
the developed countries is the granting of “aid” to
the weaker and the developing countries, and the
receiving of interest on the amounts loaned. The
actual amount to be repaid is in easy installments,
but the payment of interest has to be made in full
each year. Such loans are granted for various kinds
of development work, but the major share of it goes
towards buying modern military equipment, which
is a highly profitable affair for the U.S.A., it being
the chief supplier. The perpetual state of war
between the Arabs and Israel is excellent for
American business because, they can then sell costly
weapons to Israel against loans, and receive in
return huge amounts of interest. According to a
recent report, the amount of loan interest that Israel
repays to America is of the order of 910 million
dollars a year. And the money paid out for the
costly weapons that the Arabs buy from America is
over and above what Israel pays the U.S.A.
Before indulging in negative thinking, Muslims
should consider that, in diplomacy, there are no real
friends or enemies. There are only economic
interests.
Ref - The Moral Vision
- by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
