Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Leaders of the United States, Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey sign a ceasefire agreement in Gaza.
Trump arrives in Sharm el-Sheikh
Israeli PM's office: PM informed Trump he would not attend Sharm el-Sheikh Summit on account of Jewish holidays.
Israeli media: Netanyahu makes last-minute decision to cancel trip to Sharm el-Sheikh.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Large crowds gather in Khan Younis to welcome the liberated Palestinian detainees, waving flags of Hamas and Islamic Jihad in celebration
Buses of released prisoners arrive in Ramallah
Israeli media: Netanyahu gifts Trump a "Golden Dove".
Israeli media: Netanyahu will take part in Sharm el-Sheikh Summit.
Trump's Air Force One lands in Tel Aviv
Al-Qassam: To our free prisoners: Gaza, its Resistance, have given their most precious possessions, have striven with all their might to break your chains; we pledge that your cause will remain at the top of our national priorities until you are all freed.

The Silent Majority

  • Bouthaina Shaaban Bouthaina Shaaban
  • Source: Al Mayadeen Net
  • 11 Apr 2022 21:41
  • 11 Shares
4 Min Read

All just causes in the world from Vietnam to Iraq to Palestine, Syria, and Yemen suffered from the entails of the stands of the silent majority.

  • x
  • The Silent Majority
    The Silent Majority

There is a proverb in Arabic that says, "Those who are dumb-founded regarding a just cause are evil devils." The more we live and gain experience, the more we discover that the tragedy in the world is not caused only by the one or two percent of people who are intent on creating trouble. Rather, it is truly caused and perpetuated by the majority of cowardly people who keep their mouths shut, either in consideration for petty personal interests, or in fear of invoking the anger of their masters, or in fear of even losing any of the favors bestowed on them. 

What applies to a small community also applies to a much larger scale and in many different political and non-political domains. You see countries collapsing mainly because those who are supposed to protect them are withdrawing from their moral duties and putting on a show with no real opinion or vision or stand. The voting that ended up suspending Russia from the Human Rights Council at the General Assembly in the UN falls within this category. The 93 countries that voted in favor of this suspension and the 58 countries that abstained are, in their majority, countries that may get the same treatment as Russia in one field or another. Most of them were pressured or blackmailed or threatened to vote against Russia. Little did they know that any or either of them may be in Russia's shoes tomorrow or after tomorrow. 

Related News

Will Syria sign a security agreement with 'Israel' soon?

'Peace through diplomacy' is an excuse for collaboration with the Israelis

In brief, this is a very short-sighted vision that may keep them on the safe side temporarily, but the safety valve for all is to make a real and resounding stand in favor of what is right and just, which may truly be the founding measure to create a safety net for a shared future for humanity and to rid themselves, once and for all, of Western hegemony that persists on using military power and political and diplomatic blackmail to prevent the establishment of a multi-polar system on totally different and much better foundations for the human family at large.

All just causes in the world from Vietnam to Iraq to Palestine, Syria, and Yemen suffered from the entails of the stands of the silent majority. There is no doubt that the major suffering was inflicted on them by military aggression and invasion, but had there been an international outcry against such crimes, the aggressor would have been forced to stop. That had actually taken place only in the war on Vietnam as it was the international and American outcry that played a major role in putting an end to that war. 

After that, the West changed tactics and started to use insidious threats, blackmail, bribery, and corruption to win some voices and silence others so that the west can stay in the lead regardless of the horrifying crimes it is perpetrating all over the world and in so many different countries. In the face of these new evil tactics, only courage and coordination among different parties are useful in understanding the bases of Western hegemony. No one is safe until all are safe, and no one is secure until all are secure. Western efforts to fragment stands by non-Western countries while keeping one common stand by Western countries is their permanent recipe to keep Western hegemony in the world. Unless Eastern and developing countries realize that they are all in one boat and that they have to make one stand, they will be marginalized and subjected to the liberal world rules. Spending more time thinking, strategizing, and planning is a must and is an essential necessity for founding a more equal world and a truly shared future for humanity. 

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect Al Mayadeen’s editorial stance.
  • Syria
  • United States
  • western hegemony
  • Ukraine crisis
  • Yemeni army and popular committees
  • Saudi Aggression on Yemen
  • Palestine
  • Yemeni Armed Forces
  • UN
  • Iraq
  • Russia
  • United Nations
  • Russian special military operation
  • Human Rights Council
  • Yemeni Crisis
  • Yemen
  • Palestinian resistance
  • Ukraine
  • Vietnam
  • Palestinian cause
  • war on Yemen
  • Human Rights
Bouthaina Shaaban

Bouthaina Shaaban

Arab Intellectual

Most Read

All
Barrack explicitly asserted that the US is supplying the Lebanese army to fight its own people, even laughing at the idea that this support is intended to confront "Israel". (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

Why the US is so open about its intentions for Lebanese civil war

  • Opinion
  • 30 Sep 2025
All these decades and the billions of dollars spent by the Zionist Lobby on its propaganda is being rapidly undone, all thanks to the Israeli murder machine exposing itself. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

Israeli seizure of social media is a declaration of defeat

  • Opinion
  • 6 Oct 2025
There is a great uncertainty over how the president will use the remaining three years of his term, to say nothing about his prospects for re-election. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

Iranian opponents of diplomacy have definitively won the debate

  • Opinion
  • 4 Oct 2025
Declassified: MI6 support for Nazi ‘Forest Brothers’

Declassified: MI6 support for Nazi ‘Forest Brothers’

  • Analysis
  • 9 Oct 2025

Coverage

All
Gaza: An Epic of Resilience and Valor

More from this writer

All
Finishing the job!!!

Finishing the job!

Between concept and identity

Between concept and identity

I know that our narrative, i.e. the Arab narrative, does not reach you; so allow me to say that the atrocities "Israel" is perpetrating against us can only be compared to the genocide of Native Americans. (Illustrated by Mahdi Rtail)

A letter to President Bill Clinton

"However, unfortunately as many serious philosophers have noted, Walzer is also unwilling to fully apply his own analysis to Israeli behavior, especially towards the Palestinians." (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Ali Al-Hadi Shmeiss)

'Every Person is a universe' Ibn Arabi

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS