" A Mocking Smile at the face of Titans"

Ever since I saw thatimage—a young Palestinian kid standing defiantly in front of an Israeli tank,hurling stones—I've been haunted by thoughts of freedom and independence. Justthink about it: a stone against a tank, a kid against a trained soldier. Itgives me goosebumps.

This image stirs upall kinds of respect and admiration within me. It's my go-to mental imagewhenever I'm feeling down or defeated. Feeling beaten is a choice, and so isthe desire to resist—even if it's just with stones against a tank. But thelatter? That's the choice of a winner, the choice of someone who's achieved adeep sense of independence and imposed it on the world.

Fast forward to now,and you see how this generation that once threw stones at their enemy has grownup to shake the very existence of Israel occupation of Palestine, making eventhe highest Israeli officials tremble as they speak at press conferences. That isthe real power of choice.

I've always wished Icould tap into that kind of power and impose my will on the world just likethey did. How could I lend a hand in their awe-inspiring resistance againstoccupation and the desecration of Islamic holy sites? The answer has alwaysbeen crystal clear: Boycott.

Economic boycott ofanything and everything that supports this distasteful Zionist presence in ourArab lands. But here's the kicker: a lot of people question what a boycott canactually achieve. They downplay its importance and dismiss it asinconsequential.

That's why I decided it'stime to give this topic the attention it deserves. I mean, if a kid with astone could make waves, imagine what a whole community could do with a focusedplan of action.

What does boycottingmean?

Let's go back a bitand see what we're saying we want to boycott. We want to boycott foreigncompanies that offer their products and services on Egyptian and Arab lands,because they support and endorse positions that harm Arab interests. Now, directlyand abruptly, these companies are showing and declaring their financial supportfor the Zionist entity in their killing of our people in Gaza and Palestine.

These companies arewhat we used to call transnational corporations back in the 90s, but the termhas become less used as these companies have become ubiquitous around us.

What's the tale behindthese corporations?

Transnationalcorporations didn't really start in the 90s or even the 50s, but much earlier,around the late Middle Ages and the onset of the European Renaissance. Theirmain role was to sell the modern European lifestyle in exchange for the wealthof other nations. And as we know, economics has a significant political side; apolitical leader can hardly function without a businessman serving his interest.Let's delve into the story from the beginning...

 

Titan Corporations

One of the earliesttranscontinental corporations was the Hudson's Bay Company, establishedin 1670. Yes, that’s right, over 350 years ago. It was involved in fur tradebetween newly discovered North America and the indigenous people, who are theNative Americans.

Hudson's Bay Companywould buy fur from Native Americans and sell them European goods like clothing,fabrics, blankets, glassware, knives, saws, axes, dishes, pots, and even alcohol.Know what else? They sold them weapons. (Does that ring any bells?) All thesethings were products that Native Americans couldn’t produce themselves, so theytraded fur for them.

Now, where would theyget a lot of fur to exchange for weapons and other goods to improve themselves?Exactly, they hunted more and more animals. But these animals were essentiallytheir food source. As they hunted them at a rate higher than theirreproduction, the animals began to disappear, impacting their primary foodsource.

With a lack ofnutrition, diseases began to spread among them. Their environment, social,cultural, and economic patterns changed, making them dependent on Europeanproducts, which became a fundamental part of their traditional and naturallifestyle. This led to increased differences and tensions between NativeAmericans and Europeans, revealing the real deal with the weapons they tradedfor fur.

Imagine!!  just the exchange of fur for some alcohol,pots, and weapons caused disasters to Native Americans!!

Here’s a last tidbit.About 368 treaties were signed between Native Americans and colonizers, whetherEuropean or US, all of which were broken. Consequently, this nation nearlyvanished from history.

 

Colonial KnowledgeFormation:

In 1672, anothersignificant corporation emerged - the Royal African Company. Theiragenda was clear cut... slave trading. They’d snatch slaves from Jamaica andship them to North America. Even the high and mighties in Jamaica and otherAfrican nations were down with the slave trade.

Slave trade was veryprofitable for the African nations. Initially, the colonizing countries,primarily Britain, supported and established infrastructure like ports, roads,and bridges to ease transportation of course. But the country was being developed.The money paid for slaves also helped in providing resources, expandingagricultural production, and extending trade networks between Europe andAfrican countries, hence flourishing the economy.

So, the topic is old,commit any disaster and say it's for economic development and country'sprogress, people will follow you.

 

The reality is, slavetrade led to accumulation of wealth for rulers and leaders at the expense ofthe poor and marginalized. This is known.

Later, in 1711,another very important company, The South Sea Company, was established.Its clear and explicit goal was to finance British debts through slave trade.Slaves and goods were transported between Europe, America, and Africa. Thoughit lasted about 10 years before collapsing, the slave trade itself continuedthrough other giant companies that took over, like the Dutch West IndiaCompany and the East India Company.

 

Economy, Epistemology, and Politics in Shaping the World:

About a year ago,Cambridge University declared the benefits it had from slave trade and thefinancial support it received from companies like the East India and RoyalAfrican. It had been established and continued with direct support fromthese companies.

Currently, it launcheda two-year research initiative to investigate its archives to see if the slavetrade was what gave it its scientific strength and status.

The funny and strangething is, this initiative is actually questioning whether the universitycontributed to shaping racist political opinion and supporting racist beliefsthat led to the flourishing of the slave trade. Professor Martin Millett, thehead of the research team for the initiative, said one of their goals is tounderstand how scholars at the university helped shape public political opinionduring that time.

 

Aside from thehuman rights hurly-burly

Now let’s see how theslave trade affected African countries and destroyed them. First, it reducedthe population in African countries and changed the population structureitself. The slaves being kidnapped or sold were in their prime, from youth totheir forties or fifties, hence leaving behind only children and the elderly,leading to a labor force deficit.

Therefore, the numberof people capable of farming and manufacturing drastically decreased, andconsequently, local industry and agriculture were destroyed. The leaders,rulers, and upper classes with financial resources became highly dependent onimports even for basic goods to live, thus completely relying on Europe forsupplying their basic needs.

The social destructionfrom slave trade and its impact on African countries was much larger. It led tothe destruction of families losing their loved ones, hence completelydisintegrating the social structure. This led to increased skirmishes andconflicts between tribes in their search for food and sustenance, especiallywith the spread of poverty. These conflicts resulted in the capture of someindividuals, who were then sold to get money to buy European goods to survive.

So, a continuousoutflow of real resources from the country in exchange for a bunch of temporaryconsumer products.

 

Do you see the role ofthese Titans, transcontinental corporations in draining a country's resourcesfor their benefit? Leaving the countries where they operate not only in severepoverty but also altering their consumption patterns and economic and socialstructures to remain dependent on them continually.

 

A New Generation ofCorporate Colonialism

After that, a newbreed of corporations started to emerge, corporates that directly and openlyextracting resources from countries, and others were providing a modern,sophisticated consumer product that was hard for the importing countries tomanufacture.

The first kind were corporationslike Standard Oil, founded in 1870 by John Davison Rockefeller (soundfamiliar?). Their main business was exploring for oil in colonies. This companyis considered the real forefather of multinational corporations as we know themin the 20th century. There were other companies like British Petroleumand Royal Dutch Shell, starting to explore and extract oil from Nigeria,Indonesia, Niger, etc. The second kind kicked off with Ford Motor Companyin the early 20th century, specifically in 1903, establishing factoriesworldwide with the goal of selling the posh American product in global markets.

Gradually, thenarrative shifted from brutal colonization and destruction, like what happenedwith Native Americans and Africans, to seemingly fair and normal trade. But, infact, it introduced a specific consumer pattern that you can’t emulate, alongwith certain behaviors and a culture that continually depends on it, inexchange providing them with economic resources. So, the idea is the same andthe business model hasn’t changed much, just got a bit disguised.

Local Economies andthe Titans

How does this affectyou?

Legend says these big Titancorporations provide job opportunities for the youth. But the truth iscompletely different. Let’s take a slow and steady look at the matter.

Firstly, offeringproducts or services at competitive prices destroys local industries andservices. This is because these corporation follows the principle of massproduction, meaning (put simply) its production costs are spread across a verylarge production volume, thus the cost per product is low, making the pricemuch lower than the local product whose production is spread across fewer itemshence a higher cost per unit.

This puts localindustries under constant pressure to compete with the cheaper importedproduct, often failing and disappearing. Here, the foreign company monopolizesthe market and raises its prices as it pleases.

Moreover, thefinancial power of these companies, along with their advanced advertisingtechniques, directs the consumption pattern in the society as they wish.

Their long-termpresence allows them to control the community's resources, whether labor,natural resources, or money, and they can not only control the local market butalso economic policies, the way that benefits their interests.

This automaticallyleads to the transfer of the community's wealth abroad, meaning all resourcesand money move out of the community to the countries owning these companies.

In short, thesecompanies act like giant pipette. Think of it as a huge straw, but on a verylarge scale.

 

The Myth of YouthJobs

Now, let’s address thelegend of providing job opportunities for the youth...

The truth is, itdestroyed the youth’s job opportunities, as it eliminated competition withinthe market. Instead of having three, or thirteen companies competing within thecommunity, it's just one company dominating the labor market. They hire whoeverthey want, determine wage levels as they wish, and lay off employees wheneverthey want without the young people having an alternative or a competing companyto work for.

Of course, we haven'ttalked about the cultural impact and how these companies determine socialbehaviors, changing values and priorities in the society.

 

The RevelationMoment:

Now it's clear to usthat the role of these companies is a covert colonial role, eventuallypromoting European and American values, and controlling global markets. Herecomes a very important revelation moment when it endorses the Israelioccupation, even supporting it by providing meals and financial support to theoccupying army.

There’s no middleground taken. No “all lives are sacred” Mo Salah’s kind of shit. No... It's aclear endorsement. And it shows us that it supports those who support itsinterests. And that it’s with the enemy on one side, with one common interest.

These companies comeand blatantly tell you that they support our enemy who kills our people anddesecrates our sanctities. And you still buy from them, letting them operate,continue, and prosper. And you're okay with continuing to be a cog in themachine that's destroying you from both ends: economically through thesecompanies themselves, and militarily, politically, and religiously as theymock, desecrate your religious sanctities, and destroy your people inPalestine.

It's exactly likeyou're killing yourself or committing suicide... spending your money to buy aknife to stab yourself with.

Do you see the bigpicture now?

Do you now understandwhat these companies are doing and what their impact is on me, on you, and onall of us? Did you see these images? Do you like them?

Now come, let’simagine a fictional world, after everyone actually boycotted these products andservices, and see what this world would look like.

Let's Fantasize.

Imaginary World:

First off, all these Titancorporations would shut down. Why? Because they bear huge operational costswithout any revenue or income, meaning a constantly losing resources. If theystay open, they’ll be paying for electricity, water, labor, etc., within the country,all from their own resources.

Now, if they close.

It’s all good. Thepeople and society are still here, with their needs. And since necessity is themother of invention, other alternatives will pop up. We've already seen thishappening with local and national companies stepping up with alternativeproducts.

With the people’ssupport in boycotting these big companies, which will act as positiveexternalities in economic terms, the national economy will slowly flourish.More companies meeting the community’s needs will emerge. More companiesoffering similar products will arise as they operate in the same market, withprices at a similar level.

Prices will graduallyreach a real equilibrium point where both the producer and consumer reach anoptimal economic state and maximized their surpluses.

Job opportunities forthe youth will increase, products will diversify to meet the actual needs ofthe people. Production methods will evolve, and local industries will slowlystrengthen; the community will produce its own innovations reflecting its trueneeds.

Consequently, the realidentity of the society will emerge, with its own products, production andconsumption patterns, evolving and diversifying the culture.

Moreover, this willtrain national companies to improve production methods, reduce costs andthereby prices, increasing the likelihood of exporting national industries.With reduced imports, the country’s trade balance will improve, strengtheningthe national currency, and elevating the value of the pound against the dollar.The market will be controlled by multiple national industries, not by a foreigncorporation representing the colonizer, and dictating the market as it pleases.

See the impact of theboycott you underestimate?

 

Boycott as aLifestyle:

Here, I must say, ourview of boycotts should change from being an economic punishment for apolitical action. Meaning, it shouldn’t only come up when we want to punish acompany or country for an offensive political or religious act, it should be alifestyle. A lifestyle ensuring, we step out of the cycle of someone offendingus, boycotting their products for a while, then going back to using them again.No... It gradually transforms us into a rising power, a competitor that thesecountries will gradually fear and think twice before offending.

 

The Real Choice:

Now you have bothpictures in front of you…

It’s left for you tobelieve that your simple individual action can lead to all these huge changes,and it will be the first step in a long journey with a far better ending thanthe current situation.

If you are one wholikes to criticize the surroundings and you don’t like the conditions in thecountry, here’s the one thing that can change everything in the country if youactually do it on an individual and simple level.

And always remember, achild with a stone had choices…

What’s your choice?