A Call to Arms: Zionism and the End of Orientalism

By Musa al-Sada – Sep 1, 2025

If we were to place ourselves in the Zionists’ position, we would quickly see their dilemma: what discourse could they possibly adopt next? Zionism has exhausted the rhetorical arsenal it has employed since its inception: “anti-Semitism,” “the only democracy in the Middle East,” and “the front line of defending civilization against barbarism.” These worn out tropes have long been discredited. We succeeded in dismantling them, and that has created a crisis not only for Zionism, but for us as well.

For the enemy, the first dilemma is that of creativity: inventing a new narrative with even a minimal degree of coherence and emotional appeal is a genuine challenge. Zionism has never been sustained by the power of its own narrative or ideology. In essence, it is weak and riddled with logical fallacies and contradictions. Its cohesion has always been sustained by the surplus power of Western imperialism.

The second, and more serious dilemma, particularly in the United States, is that this exhaustion and inability to innovate will undermine the intergenerational transmission of the Zionist ideology. An ideology that cannot be handed down to the next generation is doomed to die.

This sudden loss of control took Zionists by surprise. It was one of the effects of the revolutionary flood of October 7. In a frenzy, they reached into the archives of 18th-century Orientalism, revived colonial exterminationist methods from the conquests of the Americas, and recycled the entire gallery of anti-Semitic tropes and Hollywood’s “Arab terrorist” stereotypes.

Yet, even as they unleashed their murderous rampage and expanded aggression to reach even against, they found that Orientalism’s repertoire was weaker than expected. Their war on Iran failed, and so did the decades of rhetorical built-up of propaganda about women’s freedoms and cinematic depictions of stoning. Here, Iranian strategic patience converged with the initiative of the Palestinian resistance, shaping the very stage of confrontation. In the end, the entire historical theater of the Levant is one where our efforts will inevitably converge.

The global and Western publics, long conditioned to expect a “final showdown” between civilization and the barbarism of the “mullahs,” did not rally behind them. Instead, Zionists were confronted with chants of “Boom Boom Tel Aviv.” What they assumed would reaffirm their image as defenders of the West instead isolated them.

Orientalism will never vanish entirely because it is bound to disparities of material and military powers that remain concentrated in American, rather than European, hands. The concept of “the West” as a historical unity of white societies under a common power is now facing unprecedented fragmentation after nearly eight decades of cohesion since the end of World War II. In fact, the unity of white societies was a historical anomaly, not the norm.

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One of the most striking consequences of Al-Aqsa Flood’s heightening of imperial contradictions is the growing divergence between Israeli and American national identities and interests, particularly within the political and media spheres online. This places Israel in collision with the most powerful ideology on earth: American nationalism, an ideology that makes our insistence on the slogan “Death to America” acquire its absolute revolutionary meaning.

For Zionism, Orientalism has functioned as its scaffolding since its birth. Its erosion is therefore a serious crisis. For us, this collapse is a gain, but also a reminder of the limits of “narrative victories.” However important, they do not bring down the colonial machine, nor do they guarantee the demise of the settler entity. The erosion of legitimacy will not destabilize the settler body’s internal cohesion. On the contrary, the end of Orientalism heralds an unmasked war, one fought openly, with no illusions about narrative management or optics.

This is precisely the stage Zionism has reached. From their perspective, the task now is simple: impose new realities on the ground through genocide, displacement, and annexation, leaving the burden of defending the narrative to future generations of settlers.

For their part, they must focus on ensuring survival above all else. This strategy is not irrational. As the Arab saying goes: “He who has no fool to defend him is doomed.” Today, the Zionist entity itself has become that fool, defending both itself and the West in the vilest of ways. This is the path October 7 forced upon them.

The shift in narrative is an advantage, one we must capitalize on, not merely rely upon. We must realize that its true weight is measured by the shadow cast by a rifle. Once the rifle is gone, the shadow disappears. Never before has clinging to every piece of arms, from Yemen to Lebanon, through Palestine and across the Arab world, been so existential. The coming years, as Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warned, will be that of a “long and great war” with this entity.

What is just as crucial as holding onto arms is imbuing them with a genuine revolutionary and spiritual legitimacy rooted in our very animosity toward the Zionist entity. This legitimacy must transcend mere notions of nationalism, sovereignty, and borders and revolt against them. If the Zionists perish without their fools, then our maxim must be: doomed is he who has no revolutionary to defend him.

(Al-Akhbar English)