The average citizen
of the Western world, especially the political leaders, is quite disappointed
with the Middle East these days. The
locals are not acting like (Western) civilized people! True, the Israelis and Palestinians are
talking to each other, sort of. On the
other hand, Israel insists on issuing building permits in the “Occupied
Territories”; the Egyptian military successfully conducted a putsch and are
openly repressing those democratic Muslim brothers; Assad in Syria is routinely
bombing, torturing, and starving civilians, not to mention using forbidden
chemical weapons; Lebanon is starting to join the fun of ethnic killing. This is not to mention the [usual ]SNAFU (situation normal – all fucked up] in Iraq
and Afghanistan, but who wants to think of that?
This lack of
respect for human rights must be quite frustrating and disappointing for
right-minded Scandinavians and other Europeans, who so strongly believe in the
universality of human rights. Maybe part
of the communication gap is the overuse of the word “country” A nation is a place where 95% of the population
identifies themselves as residents of that country despite differences in
religion, politics, and socio-economic status.
Lebanon is a collection of religious tribes thrown together by the
French. Syria has a history of a
separate cultural identity, but politically exists as a reaction to French
rule. Egypt indeed has been an
independent country for many centuries.
However, it suffers from a similar dysfunction as Turkey– a large
cultural and ideological gap between the urban rich and rural poor, so wide in
fact that the country is split into two, if not more, parts. The urban, relatively liberal population
views the Muslim Brotherhood as the enemy.
Therefore, it supports the Army’s oppression of the latter. Assad knows that what will be his fate and
that of his allies if he loses the civil war.
No holds are barred. Even Israel
has around 15% of the population, Israeli-Arabs and ultra-orthodox Jews, who
don’t consider themselves Israeli.
Still, Israel is the probably the most deserving of the title “nation”.
So, if you
wonder why Middle Eastern countries are so unstable, keep in mind that most, if
not all, of them are countries in name only.
P.S. Having survived moving to a new flat, I'll be away on a family visit until mid September. I will then go back to writing once a week.
