Bombs in Egypt and Resistance to Empire

The devastating bomb attack on the Coptic Christian community that took place this Saturday in Egypt once again reminds us of what the ‘costs’ can be of ongoing conflict in the region. Yes, it is indeed regional and it is indeed geopolitical – despite the simplistic description of such occurrences as ‘mindless’ acts of anti-modern barbarians.

As barbaric and heinous as these acts are, they need to be understood as a consequence (arguing whether they are a ‘direct’ or ‘indirect’ consequence is really a useless exercise) of the destructive political machinations of the most powerful and violent actors in the region, namely Israel and the United States.

From criminal wars of occupation to ongoing dispossession, from drone and B-52 bomb attacks to support for one tyranny after the other, these two imperialist national security states have wreaked havoc in the region.

And therefore, one shouldn’t always expect such ugly invasions, occupations, and outright murder to produce the most beautiful, pristine, angelic forms of resistance. Which is why resistance in the region, mainly coming in the form of political Islamist groups today, sometimes pathetically does fall in the trap of confusing genuine resistance to imperialism and the local corrupt state as synonymous with a project of targeting religious minorities, Muslims (especially women) who seem to be losing ‘traditional’ values (like no longer wearing the hijab), and so on.

While it is important to unequivocally repudiate such an approach by some Islamists, it is far more important to point out a simple fact: the policies of Israel are the biggest threat to the well-being and survival of Jews in the region, and the policies of the United States are the biggest threat to the well-being and survival of Christians in the region.

This should be a truism that all those who make policy should know. Unfortunately, the powerful forces making policy in the US and Israel aren’t really concerned with abstract and insignificant issues like survival. They are obsessed with domination and hegemony, no matter what the costs to the peoples of the region or to their own societies in perhaps not so distant a future.