Cutting off our nose to spite the other guy's face

Jan 13 – The invasion by Israel into Gaza has led to many calls by political parties, NGOs and Islamic consumer associations to take political and economic action against the United States.
The public tends to blame the US for anything and everything that Israel does.
The posturing of the outgoing Bush administration in siding with Israel does not help to dispel the perception that the US plays guardian angel to Israel.
Any resolutions that the United Nations Security Council or the General Assembly intends to push to reprimand Israel will almost definitely be blocked by the US.
Acts of aggression or ethnic cleansing or assassination attempts by Israel or its agents will go unpunished due to the gargantuan shadow of the US.
There are many other reasons why the US is being blamed for all the ills that originate from Israel.
To many, the US is the actual cause of the uncontrolled and unbridled Israel's disregard for international law and human decency.
Hence, it is not rocket science that the public, especially Muslims vent their anger on the Americans whenever there is any news of Israeli actions against the Palestinians.
However, the conflict between in Palestine is not merely an Islam versus Jews issue. It is a humanitarian crisis that requires international intervention.
Closer to home, the hatred towards Israel and the US bind together political rivals.
Kelantan Mentri Besar Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat led a protest in Kota Baru and even burned effigies of US President George W. Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is leading the calls to boycott products from American brands like McDonald's, Coca Cola, Starbucks and even KFC.
Some of the business tycoons known to be close to the former premier might not be too enthusiastic about the boycott idea as their investments in McDonald's and Starbucks may be affected.
Big corporations like Kulim-QSR, which owns a chain of KFC restaurants in Malaysia and is helmed by a Bumiputra corporate leader, may also be affected if the calls for boycott resonate with the public.
Dr Mahathir is familiar with international actions of this sort, using economic sanction as a potent tool.
In his early tenure as PM, a disagreement with the United Kingdom over university tuition fees sparked off a boycott of all British goods, led by Mahathir himself, in what became known as the "Buy British Last" campaign.
However, the proposed boycott US goods may not strike its intended target and, worse still, it could backfire.
Boycotts of this ilk rarely work because most of the products mentioned are made, produced, sold and purchased by Malaysians.
The government realises that it is not rational option for them to make this boycott of US products an official government policy.
With the US being Malaysia's second biggest trading partner, and against the backdrop of the global financial crisis, a general boycott may lead to economic tit-for-tat retaliation.
It also makes less sense in international diplomacy for the country to be embroiled in this boycott.
Malaysia would not want a repeat of the embarrassing moments when the aloof but supposedly eloquent Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Utama Rais Yatim praised the shoe-throwing insult against US President George Bush in Iraq as "remarkable".
Hence, any measure with international repercussions or consequences should be considered from all possible angles.
Boycotting US goods will achieve very little of the desired effects and, indeed, may cause hurt only to ourselves. It's akin to cutting off our own nose to spite the other guy's face.
The escalation of violence in Gaza is a political issue that is turning out into a humanitarian crisis.
Multilateral efforts and relentless pressure by the international community on Israel will hopefully compel the US to coax Israel to stop heaping suffering of the Palestinians.
Egypt President Hosni Mubarak and French Premier Nicolas Sarkozy took the lead to try and broker a ceasefire between the warring parties. This is only a stop-gap measure before confidence building measures between the two parties is revived.
However, the listless and Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) have not done anything to pressure, mediate or broker any international deal of that sort.
Any chance for peace require determined political will on both Palestinian and Israeli sides with wholehearted support by the international community and key organisations like the Arab League, OIC, European Union (EU) and the UN.
Only then will we see some light at the end of the tunnel for long lasting peace in the Middle East.

- published in The Malaysian Insider : Jan 13, 2009