Tag Archives: political

Egypt – In Brief – Plus Notes On Related Psychology and Spirituality

03 Wednesday Jul 2013

Posted by in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Egypt, Fast News Share, Islamic Small Wars, Middle East, Regions

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

Egypt’s Tahrir Square has seen nearly hundred women falling victim to “rampant” sexual attacks during the past four days of protests against President Mohamed Morsi, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.

The global rights watchdog said on Wednesday that the mobs sexually assaulted “and in some cases raped at least 91 women” in Tahrir Square amid a climate of impunity.

Al Jazeera.  “Women sexually assaulted in Egypt protests.” July 3, 2013.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is recommending against all but essential travel to Egypt following widespread protests.

At least 23 people have been killed and more than 200 injured following clashes between supporters of president Mohammed Morsi and those who want him removed.

Haydon, Harry.  “Brits warned away from Egypt as violence grips nation.”  The Sun, July 3, 2013.

Mr. Morsi insisted he was the legitimate leader of the country, hinted that any effort to remove him by force could plunge the nation into chaos, and seemed to disregard the record numbers of Egyptians who took to the streets demanding he resign.

Kirkpatrick, David D.  “Morsi Defies Egypt Army’s Ultimatum to Bend to Protest.”  July 2, 2013.

* * *

Here comes our Egyptianity (a term I am coining); this is the aspect that many people won’t understand all over the world! It is a fact that I did not watch President Mubarak as an American might watch Obama. In my conscious, I was not taught to treat him in a firm rigid manner; judging each and every corrupt order issued by him! I watched him as if my father! Yes, call me naïve, but I remember he is an 82 year old man, regardless of the fact that this does not count for me. It counts for me; he is dying and I was taught to have merci on the old! I watched his features that are very Egyptian and that resembles many dads I have! I did not think of the corruption, I did not think of the regime. I just cried like my 58 year old mom for the poor leader who wants to die in his country! This is called political naïve minds, I know. But I can assure that millions of Egyptians have this same mentality.

Nofal, Imane.  “The Egyptian Political Psychology”.  CNN blog, not vetted.  February 3, 2011.

* * *

As acquaintance — or let’s call it even “pre-acquaintance” — may learn, I’m wicked fast when it comes to learning by way of the web a little bit more about people whose writing I enjoy.

Journalist Imane Nofal’s reaction to the revolution deposing Hosni Mubarak speaks within all of us as regards the affections and comforts associated with “The Father”, and, of course, the same fits well with the psychology involved within current Egyptian President Muhamed Morsi: what father would wish to fail or be humiliated before his children by seeming to back off his most passionate area of conviction?

To get this down into something schematic, the father-become-“malignant narcissist” seeks control of his social surrounds to ensure himself a continuing and energizing “narcissistic supply”, i.e., adoration, affirmation, approval, and love without cause nor end apart from the continuing aggrandizement  and glorification of his own existence.

With an old dictator who steps down, with a bear of a father who grows old and infirm, both freedom from the tyrant and affection for the “Old Man” mix in the heart, so even with the father-as-antagonist, adult children most often bring themselves to the displays and duties attending the care of old lions.

With more vigorous national leaders in their prime, conditions and cautions may attend the same relationship.

In families, depending on the mix in souls actually present, a healthy child may be expected to rebel against a too constraining and implacable “fatherly” (tyrannical) will — and such a father might well find himself abandoned (and questioning the cause of the animus).

In countries, contemporary leaders, generally narcissistic enough to believe in their own messianic sensibilities and put themselves “into the ring” bidding for leadership of a state, may enjoy the affections of their close backers and larger public who see in them the “good father”, but they face challenges and responsibilities larger and more profound than merely making their people feel good and parading themselves as the paragons of their respective civilizations.

In politics, the good father must leave the family and become the good man in the public sphere and among other equally beloved and fatherly adult men — and it should be not hard to add in here also the strong mother who may also engage in the public sphere as equally indispensable in the development of the life of the community.

* * *

The mouth is the medium through which we arrange or define our relationships with others, and our perception in self-concept may be part of each interior “back channel” conversational monologue about reality.

When I taught English many years ago, I referred to this as “The story we tell ourselves about ourselves when we wake up in the morning.”

In the middle east, the father’s tendency to allow his mouth to paint him into a corner may summon disaster.

Add a little black and white thinking for extra kick: either Allah is with Morsi or is not, and Morsi, by way of personality (build it up from the infant’s acquisition of a social grammar along with language uptake to the adult’s beliefs about himself and the world), sets out to test God believing himself an exemplary believer worthy of proven — i.e., tested — divine favor.

How does one call off that test?

I suppose one might consider leaving God’s work to God.

One might also choose to accept that a presidency really is just another and temporary executive position requiring great and rapid decision-making invested deeply in the practical interests of a whole constituency and its experience of “qualities of living” (another term on which I need to get to work).

In other words, becoming the president of a state is not as big a deal as one might think, and most certainly not an excuse to license putting into motion a grandiose messianic vision certain to lead constituents into violence among themselves or with others.

Along with the virtues of compassion and integrity in living and in speech, one might also work in humility and ever the possibility that no matter how strong one’s conviction, one might be wrong and better corrected by way of a conversation with the world than by setting out to test the will of the Almighty — or alternatively, the nature of nature.

* * *

Here a Beginner’s Note About Contemporary Judaism

I suspect — and welcome Yeshiva-type affirmation and criticism — that much that informs the contemporary Jewish ethos goes back to the decisions and methods developed and defended by Hillel the Elder in the First Century CE.

Credited to Hillel: “That which is distasteful to thee, do not do to another”; “Whosoever destroys a soul, it is considered as if he destroyed an entire world. And whosoever that saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.”  Hillel, for those who may read Telushkin’s book about him, would hew to two paths in his living a Jewish life: tendency to include rather than reject others — for me, there has been a real life preparation for this notice by way of chatting with Mobarak Haider about Islam and “civilizational narcissism” (Haider’s term — see on these pages “Mobarak Haider’s Diagnosis — Taliban: Tip of a Holy Iceberg”); and then encouragement of challenge and criticism involving one’s ideas rather than rejecting either as hostile out of hand, the thought being that if an idea or rule is truly good, it will stand up to examination from many directions.

Whether at start or end, compassion, humility, integrity, and spirited inquiry may better serve the “humanity of humanity” — abundant with invention in myriad cultures and languages — and that in its totality than the grandiose and monolithic figure of the powerful father whose voice may be greeted with affection but an affection laced also with deep fear.

# # #

Egypt – From Revolution to the Edge of Civil War

02 Tuesday Jul 2013

Posted by in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Egypt, Islamic Small Wars, Middle East, Politics, Regions

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , , ,

* * *

“There is no substitute for legitimacy,” said Morsi, who has received an ultimatum from the military to work out his differences with the opposition by Wednesday or it will intervene to oversee the implementation of its own political road map.

Morsi demanded earlier that the army withdraw an ultimatum to resolve the nation’s political crisis, saying that he will not be dictated to.

Al Jazeera.  “Egypt’s Morsi says he will not step down.”  July 2, 2013.

* * *

Senior Muslim Brotherhood member and FJP leader Beltagy condemns tacit opposition support for arson, thuggery, murder and vandalism terrorizing citizens across Egypt over the past few days.

Ikhwan Web.  “FJP Leader Beltagy: Political Elite Remain Silen on Violence Against Muslim Brotherhood.”  July 1, 2013.

* * *

“This is a very critical moment in Egyptian history – we are facing a moment very similar to 1952,” Freedom and Justice Party spokesman Murad Ali told Reuters on Tuesday. In that year, Gamal Abdel Nasser and the Free Officers overthrew King Farouk.

“Egyptians are very aware that there are some people that are trying to push the country back in history and back to dictatorship.”

Reuters.  “Morsi Supporters Urged to Resist ‘Coup’.”  Huffington Post, July 2, 2013.

* * *

Remember: it is never the narcissist.

No matter how bad things get for others, now matter how awful the feedback generated, no matter how right the critics may be, the dictator’s position must be not only more right and unassailable but ruthlessly defended to make it seem so.

* * *

“I am the hero of Africa.”

Idi Amin

&

“Who says I am not under the special protection of God.”

Adolph Hitler

&

“There is no state with a democracy except Libya on the whole planet.”

Colonel Qadaffi

&

“It may be necessary to use methods other than constitutional ones.”

Robert Mugabe

* * *

What Egypt’s intelligent public knows about what it elected — at the time and with Mubarak deposed the only “dance partner” left to work with the military — has to do with sacked generals, jailed journalists, nepotistic hires, corruption, intimidation, and torture, all of which claims if web searched produce an abundance of rich reporting.  In that light, Muslim Brotherhood whining about democracy shares more in its disingenuous aspect with Robert Mugabe than Thomas Jefferson.

I would expect to hear from President Morsi, a gentleman who has been confronted by literally millions of constituents who have come out on the streets to voice their displeasure with him, to respond in unfortunate character with the same benighted, florid, and grandiose perception of himself as others of his type.

Morsi may step out of character, of course, but the world has yet to see any indication that he sees anything wrong with anything he has done during his first year in power.

* * *

Altogether, the unrest in Egypt would see not to have to do with social Islam or the nature of Muslims, which well demonstrated by Egyptians on Sunday and this day, isn’t much different than anyone else’s character in modernity confronted with a similar circumstance and puzzle about the nature of political power: it is about humanity everywhere and the faulty personality and sometimes criminal genius of a few to believe themselves empowered directly by God Almighty to do as they may wish with others using, perhaps, “methods other than constitutional ones.”

Additional and Contributing Reference

CBS.  “Egypt’s Morsi defiantly refuses to step down, vows to protect democratic ‘legitimacy’.”  July 2, 2013.

Editorial Board.  “Obama needs to support democracy, oppose a coup in Egypt.”  The Washington Post, July 2, 2013:

For months, as the Morsi government has taken steps to consolidate power, quash critics and marginalize independent civil society groups, President Obama and his top aides have been largely silent in public.

Fox News.  “Egypt teeters on brink of overthrow, seven reported killed in clashes.” July 2, 2013.

Mezzofiore, Gianluca.  “Egypt: More Government Resignations Rock Morsi Regime as Ultimatum Deadline Looms.”  International Business Times, July 2, 2013.

Middle East Online.  “Tsunami of resignations hits Morsi cabinet.”  July 1, 2013.

Mirror News.  “Gaddafi quotes: the dead Libya dictator in his own words – top 20 quotes.”  October 20, 2011.

Saleh, Yasmine and Asma Alsharif.  “Egypt’s Mursi defies army as it plots future without him.”  Reuters, July 2, 2013.

The Economist.  “It’s hard being charge.”  May 9, 2013:

WHEN a swarm of locusts recently engulfed Muqattam, a posh suburb of Egypt’s capital that houses the Muslim Brotherhood’s headquarters, humorists lay in wait. “Official spokesman: locusts retreat following President Morsi’s promise to fulfil all their demands,” quipped a popular Facebook commentator, hinting that after eight months in power, Egypt’s Brotherhood-run government is itself something of a plague.

The Irish Times.  “Morsi role at Syria rally seen as tipping point for Egypt army: Head of state had attended rally with hardline Islamists calling for holy war in war-torn neighbour.”  July 2, 2013.

For Pakistan – A Note on Empiricism, Obscurantism, and Justice

02 Tuesday Jul 2013

Posted by in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Journalism, Pakistan, Philosophy

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

If they are hiding the truth, it would seem both self–preservation and loyalty keeps the lock on closed mouths.

If they are hiding nothing, then their names in the world find themselves attached to a libel that cannot be disproved.

The miracle of contemporary justice is that by design it serves neither plaintiffs or accused but rather the greater public interest in knowing the truth of a matter.

To shift from complaining about bad deals, injustice being the rawest of them, to doing something about them, the parts of the world steeped in propaganda and rumor and subject to deep wells of missing information will have to wrestle with the development of systems dedicated to that most public form of knowing with something approaching certainty: empiricism.

Since 2007, Kainat Soomro’s story, that of a 13-year-old girl allegedly gang raped by four men in her village, Dadu, rural Sindh, in Pakistan, has been making the rounds of the civil to conservative press.  For complaining by way of alleging the crime, Kainat became the target of so far threatened “honor killing” while two of the men of the family, the father and a brother, refusing to abide barbaric custom (by killing her themselves) have been beaten and an older brother murdered.

In “Outlawed in Pakistan” the related documentary appearing on PBS, an older brother says, “They said, ‘You failed to follow your traditions.  You failed to kill your sister.  You should have followed our customs . . . .’   I got really angry.  But my dad said that we do not follow the gun culture.  We are educated people and we will get legal help.”

What would the law do when the process of the law has stopped at the precinct desk?

Police and prosecutors in more developed and stable systems — also far less squeamish and defensive– would have been quick to investigate the allegation of rape for proof the crime took place, a procedure so common and familiar that the field has established kits and methods (see “What is a Rape Kit?” posted by the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) ready as part of the police and investigative service response at the moment of complaint.

Pakistan’s tribal councils, to which such a complaint may revert, appear to have nothing similar of an empirical — also ethical and humane — investigative method: what they have are elders lost in their own heads.

Kainat and her family seek justice.  “We want them to get punished through the courts,” she says, “so what happened to me won’t happen to someone else’s daughter” (10:12 in the documentary).

The men involved have denied the crime took place.

If they are hiding the truth, it would seem both self–preservation and loyalty keeps the lock on closed mouths.

If they are hiding nothing, then their names in the world find themselves attached to a libel that cannot be disproved.

The miracle of contemporary justice is that by design it serves neither plaintiffs or accused but rather the greater public interest in knowing the truth of a matter.

* * *

At about 22 minutes into the documentary, one sees what happens in the absence of an empirical forensic process.

On Kainat’s complaint, the men have been arrested, held in jail without bond and an uncle and assorted fellows from the village have shown up angered and loud.

Madness!

Then comes to light a little more to the story: a marriage contract, pictures of the couple.

Kainat’s claim: made and recorded under duress when she was thirteen years old.

“If I wanted to marry, I would have told my dad,” she says.

* * *

Let’s go back over this experience I’m having from my “second row seat to history”.

Forensics in a Developing State

While Kainat may be taken at her word, and one wants to do that, neither the word of the complainant nor that of alleged perpetrators mean much absent of observed physical evidence — photographs of bruises, blood chemistry analysis (if the complainant was drugged as claimed), semen scrapes and  DNA comparisons, even circumstantial evidence of struggle — where are Kainat’s shoes?  What happened to her scarf?

It turns out some medical examination took place, enough to confirm intercourse, but examiners and police dropped the ball for lack of interest in the claim and, with reference to DNA matching, lack of resources.

Both the PBS documentary and greater public interest in the case tell us something not said: everyone involved — claimant, defenders, lawyers, villagers, courts, and police — know the forensic issues, and would that I had known that before starting this post.

Social Practices, Morals, and Values

This is where the partisans, either side, power up for confrontation, and first and foremost by keeping stories of outrageous miscarriages of justice before the eyes of the peers.  Let’s go with the accusers on this one, but with a question not likely asked in Pakistan: even if Kainat agreed to be married or played along genuinely lustful, being of age for that, as “wedding pictures” suggest, what is any adult involved, especially the cleric — I don’t want to call to him through the search engines, but his name appears at 32:36 –who facilitated the marriage, doing abetting that contract without the consent and presence of a parent!?

The cleric says he was not aware of her age, “And she looked 18.”

The age of independence sufficient to enter into marriage in Pakistan is 16 under secular law.  Under sharia, the earlier passage into puberty suffices, and the sharia trumps secular law.

Conservative Propaganda

That a 13-year-old child may be injudicious or manipulated in such a way as to alter the character of her life for a lifetime — and in this instance alter her family’s way of life as well — seems to me the most opprobrious aspect of Kainat’s case.

However, close by that may be the kafir conservative’s ambitions to conveniently ridicule Islam and its medieval vision supported by myriad subcultures rather than dig down into each separable core transformative issue and lay it out.

Here, from the western perspective, Kainat’s ordeal involves simply the vigorous and timely investigation of claims involving criminal behavior and, unbelievably, the recognition of childhood and adolescence and the development of laws appropriate and protective of the interests of each and of the surrounding community.

Indeed, the sharia, essentially 7th Century law, has failed, both by tainting Kainat (until she finds herself in the larger world where what’s past is past — and please, dear, get on with living) and detaining the defendants in jail for four years without decision.

Probably, in the political environments of the kafir, the case would have been dismissed for lack of evidence on the first day but the entire matter brought to the legislature with legislators forced to think (for once) with modern comprehension and conscience about what their laws were doing to their young.

* * *

What may and should come to pass,  this through the will of Pakistan’s educated — and one may hope for the application of the will of similar others in other places — is the development of greater and more timely forensic capability and responsibility throughout police and court operations.

Add to that an open discussion about the utility and wisdom of sharia law where it involves relations between young but older men and 13-year-old girls.

Reference

Frontline.  “Outlawed in Pakistan.”  Video (53:39).  PBS.

News Desk.  “Outlawed in Pakistan — Kainat Soomro’s story on film.”  The Express Tribune, February 7, 2013.

Oppenheim, James.  ”When the Second Row Seat to History Ain’t So Hot.”  BackChannels, June 5, 2013.

“Outlawed in Pakistan (Video).”  Huffington Post, May 29, 2013.

Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.  “What Is A Rape Kit?”

War Against Rape – Pakistan NGO

Egypt – More Morsi – On Chilling the Critics

30 Sunday Jun 2013

Posted by in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Egypt, Islamic Small Wars, Politics, Regions

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

For his part, the president insists he has invited opposition groups to enter into dialogue but that they have not co-operated. His supporters say that whatever the considerable problems Egypt is facing, Mohammed Morsi must see out his full term in office for the sake of stability.

Maqbool, Aleem.  News Analysis Sidebar to “Egypt Morsi: Mass political protests grip cities.”  BBC, June 30, 2013.

Those human rights organisations who have reported on the dark underbelly of the revolution, including torture, gang rapes and abuses by the Special Council of the Armed Forces, will be in a particularly difficult position. The committee will have absolute discretion to block access to foreign funding without a requirement to justify the decision. This gives the government arbitrary powers to extinguish projects with which it does not agree.

Allan, Charlotte.  “Morsi has betrayed the Egyptian revolution.”  New Statesman, June 29, 2013.

On June 4, an Egyptian criminal court sentenced 43 people to prison on charges of membership in illegal organizations.

Morayef, Heba. “Why Egypt’s New Law Regulating NGOs is Still Criminal.” Human Rights Watch, June 11, 2013.

So much for the Arab Spring. Egyptian activist and protestor Ahmen Douma was arrested last month for insulting Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, and was just handed a six month jail sentence for the offense.

Meacham, T. Chase.  “Ahmen Douma: Egyptian Activist Sentenced for Insulting President Morsi.”  Policymic, May 2013.

Go back to the beginning of this post:  ” . . . the President insists he has invited opposition groups to enter into dialogue . . . . ”

😉

Additional Reference

Cunningham, Erin.  “Mohamed Morsi vs. Egypt’s Press.”  Global Post, August 23, 2013.

Human Rights Watch.  “Egypt: New Draft Law an Assault on Independent Groups.” May 30, 2013.

Lynch, Sarah.  “One year after Morsi’s historic election, Egypt boils.”  USA Today, June 29, 2013.

Qatar – Syria – Keep Watch

30 Sunday Jun 2013

Posted by in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Islamic Small Wars, Journalism, Middle East, Politics, Qatar, Regions, Syria

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

The missiles, American officials warned, could one day be used by terrorist groups, some of them affiliated with Al Qaeda, to shoot down civilian aircraft.

But one country ignored this admonition: Qatar, the tiny, oil- and gas-rich emirate that has made itself the indispensable nation to rebel forces battling calcified Arab governments and that has been shipping arms to the Syrian rebels fighting the government of President Bashar al-Assad since 2011.

Mazzetti, Mark, C. J. Chivers, and Eric Schmitt.  “Taking Outside Role in Syria, Qatar Funnels Arms to Rebels.”  The New York Times, June 29, 2013.

It’s mighty social of President Obama to allow others to strut their hour upon the global stage, which it appears Qatar may be doing as promotes a Sunni front in Syria by proxy.

As modern and shiny as Qatari money has made Qatar, onlookers may not be so certain about its mercenaries and their ability to restrain themselves.  The alleged murder of Roula Adnan last week adds its bit of opprobrious behavior to the eating-the-heart video that went viral earlier in the month.  I’ve hedged with “alleged” as the news reached me by way of Pakistan and involved as source a Syrian nationalist outlet given to headers like, “US Citizens Kill Deputy Head of Ministry of Education in Aleppo.”

We’re not going to have two essential empirical truths in a world integrating within the communal mind of the World Wide Web: whatever Qatar has enabled, even if spun over-the-top with canards out of the political playbooks of bomb throwers of the 1970s, what happened to Roula Adnan (and her neighbors) will come out.

And just before coming after Roula, the same “rebels”, the ones that the MSM is romanticizing broke into another home. They carried a man from Khalil family to the street and shot his hands and feet. Then they beaten up his wife and daughter, right in front of the neighbors. The terrorists wanted Syrians to witness the crime; they wanna scare us into submission.

As it does always, the fog of war will lift — but these days, it’s likely the curtains masking behind-the-scenes deals, wherever they have taken place, will be drawn back too.

# # #

Syria At the Moment

27 Thursday Jun 2013

Posted by in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Middle East, Regions, Religion, Syria

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

Hezbollah sources told the paper that Nasrallah requested full financial and military backing for the fighting in Syria in a meeting with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Solomon, Ariel Ben.  “Report: Nasrallah secretly visited Iran to discuss Syria war.”  Jerusalem Post, June 27, 2013.

The above may be news recently released, but given the pace of the combat in Syria and the spillover into Lebanon, it’s old news predating the battle for al-Qusayr.

However, one may take as signal Russia’s decision implemented today to retrieve its military from the naval base at Tartus.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia has withdrawn all military personnel from its naval base in Syria and replaced them with civilian workers, the Defense Ministry said Thursday.

The ministry did not say when the switch at the base at Tartus took place or how many personnel were deployed there. The minor facility is Russia’s only naval outpost outside the former Soviet Union. It consists of several barracks and depots used to service Russian navy ships in the Mediterranean.

AP.  “Russia replaces military with civilians at Syrian base.”  USA Today, June 27, 2013.

Ah hah!

“We have neither servicemen nor civilians in Syria anymore. Or Russian military instructors assigned to units of the Syrian regular Army, for that matter,” a Russian defense ministry spokesperson is quoted as telling the Moscow business daily Vedomosti yesterday.”

Weir, Fred.  “Why Russia evacuated its naval base in Syria.”  The Christian Science Monitor, June 27, 2013.

Fred Weir points to Cyprus as an alternative achieving similar ends for Russian naval power and regional influence.

Put that together with this Euronews video from January this year (tipped by a CSM article):

While according to RT, “Russia’s Defense Ministry . . . blasted media reports about total evacuation as “extremely incorrect,” it’s difficult accepting the statement while looking at today’s breaking news and January apparent exodus of civilians by jet (RT, “Russian Defense Ministry refutes reports of Syria evacuation,” June 27, 2013).  In fact, RT goes on to actually emphasize aspects of the surface or top story.

Putin’s interests, whether defined financially for the long term or in terms of impact on his reputation in history, which I think more important to him than casually acknowledged, are not with “Islamists” — not in Chechnya with the rebels of the Kavkaz Center variety, not with Iran with Ayatollah Khamenei and his nuclear ambitions that would be used to threaten Russia every bit as much — more — as NATO.

For Putin, the restoration of Russian grandeur and strength, plus strength in national  and heroic self-concept, may involve navigating the balance between “bad boy” bravado and action with, actually (gasp!) even greater laudable strategy.

Whatever Putin does, he will be regarded as the bridge between the conniving, defunct, invasive police state that by the merit of the Russian People themselves had come to define the Soviet Union and this New Russian Federation that’s not about to take orders from Washington but might succeed in doing great right things on its own authority.

Most certainly, modern Russians will not want to be remembered for — or long associated with either — with the ravages of Maher al-Assad’s military, and while “the west” can take no pride in backing the kind of warrior that would cut out the liver out of his enemy and eat it, the Russian position, which appears to be decoupling from Syria, sails clear of the taint of that barbarism, albeit later than sooner with regard to the casualties and refugees of the war to date.

The problem with Syria, at the moment, and one of many problems within the Islamic Ummah, is that along the sectarian axis, neither side knows how to stop and both continue to walk toward a fire built on and sustained by their own unrestrained and unreasoning energies.

Additional Reference

Connolly, Kevin.  “Syria war exerts strain on Lebanon tinderbox.”  BBC, June 27, 2013.

Deutsch, Anthony and Parisa Hafezi.  “U.N. chemical weapons team in Turkey to investigate Syria claims.”  Reuters, June 27, 2013.

Fisk, Robert.  “Iran to send 4,000 troops to aid President Assad forces in Syria.”  The Independent, June 16, 2013.

Nebehay, Stephanie.  “Syria war likely to drag on, Red Cross president says.”  Reuters, June 27, 2013.

ROAvideos.  “Defining the Threat: Iranian Strategy in Syria.”  Video (1:38:23).  June 27, 2013.

A Glimpse of Qatar’s Generational Transition and Portent for The Middle East Conflict

27 Thursday Jun 2013

Posted by in Anti-Semitism, Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Fast News Share, Islamic Small Wars, Israel, Middle East, Qatar, Regions, Religion

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

These days, the term “middle east conflict” would seem to refer to conflict and unrest in every state in the region but Israel.

Nonetheless, while Egypt roils and Syria burns and the King of Jordan fends off the seeding of perhaps a new class of secular Palestinian politico*, Qatar’s new head of state, Sheikh Tamim has this to say of the refugees of numerous Arab-led wars since 1948:

One day when our “Blue Dot” of a planet is a little more gathered together — that as opposed to riven with war — we may find common ground in five language principles:

Compassion

Humility

Integrity

Justice

Security

Of the four, the most difficult term and the one most relevant to autocracies seems to me to be “integrity” — just the power to be honest about ourselves and with others.

This is not as easy as it may sound.  If it were, we would not have the fairy tale that is “The Emperor’s New Clothes”, which is in essence and for the ages a story about lying and power.

*****

It may be noted that God placed two trees in the Garden of Eden: the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  When the snake entices Eve to eat of the forbidden tree, only mention is made of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, effectively hiding the other tree through omission.

You know the rest of the story: Eve eats the apple, becomes conscious or comprehending, also self-conscious, and, with Adam joining her, possessed of conscience, out of which reaction, perhaps, come the fig leaves, a courtesy, each to the other, and practical too (God, a few sentences later, provides clothing made of skins — one imagines chamois — lending perhaps dignity and protection to their introduction to life as men and women would experience it forever after).

The “Middle East Conflict” — which is never about conflicts in the middle east but only about the creation of the Jews and Israel (or, lost in the Pharaohnic dawn, the gathering together beneath the unrestrained ego and violence of a tyrant)l — seems to me to be always about two things not at ease with one another: 1) the possession of good conscience in light of the knowledge of good and evil; 2) the testing of God for favor when the relationship needs to be the other way around.

*****

Where kings are concerned, I suspect there may be more to the story than meets either eyes or ears.

When God, being God, and with Torah received as divine message, hides the second tree — the Tree of Life that we are told is there but when it counts is not mentioned by the snake and, later, will be barred from access (by cherubim and an eternally revolving sword guarding the Garden left behind) — the sin of omission becomes a virtue: to have eaten of the Tree of Life also would have been too much, for God forbids it, and so protects His children.

*****

To be as gods, lower case that term, with nuclear capabilities, among other extraordinary but still human capacities, one might counsel also a prudent humility.

Carl Sagan’s clip about the “Pale Blue Dot” that is our planet viewed from space, has many renditions on the web — and there’s an entire film available too (somewhere — I’m going to be lazy here) — but this may do for essence.

# # #

Syria – The Dismal Killing Machine

26 Wednesday Jun 2013

Posted by in Conflict - Culture - Language - Psychology, Middle East, Regions, Syria

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

LONDON — An opposition monitoring group that has tracked Syria’s widening civil war said on Wednesday that more than 100,000 people had died in the 27-month-old conflict, with pro-government forces taking far more casualties than rebels seeking the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad, while civilians accounted for more than one-third of the overall fatalities, the biggest single category.

Cowell, Alan.  “Syrian Group Says War Deaths Top 100,000.”  The New York Times, June 26, 2013.

Perhaps the old days were better after all: assemble the armies on an open plain, send the warriors into it, and leave the noncombatants of both sides for the spoils of the winner.

Just kidding.

*****

“As always, numbers like these gloss over the many people who have been so grievously wounded, physically or psychologically, that they will never again live productive lives. What the latter figure amounts to in Syria is anyone’s guess. What’s certain is that it’s even larger than the death toll.”

Menon, Rajan.  “Hope for Peace in Syria, But Don’t Expect It.”  Blog.  Huffington Post, June 26, 2013.

Rajan Menon’s report on the suffering goes on to note 1.7 million refugees on top of 4 million Internally Displaced Persons, or 5.7 million displaced souls altogether, about 25 percent of Syria’s total population before the onset of serious hostilities (but I’m not sure I’m getting consistent numbers from any source published within the past two years).

*****

“In one trailer we meet 13-year-old Najwa. She curls back in the corner next to her husband, 19-year-old Khaled, and her mother, hardly saying a word.

Najwa is the youngest of three, her two older sisters in their late teens are also recently married.”

Damon, Arwa.  “No sanctuary for Syria’s female refugees.”  CNN, June 26, 2013.

Evidently, grim statistics don’t tell a whole story, or not much of whatever is to be told at all.

*****

“The head of the International Terrorism Observatory think tank, Roland Jacquard, told Reuters Television the group appeared to be sending fighters abroad, likely to Syria.”

Pennetier, Marine and Alexandria Sage.  “French police arrest cell with possible Syria links.” Reuters, June 25, 2013.

A cousin of a story.

Reuters.  “Spain arrests suspected al-Qaeda Syria network.”  Video.  June 22, 2013.

“Special informed sources from London revealed to the Palestinian al-Manar newspaper that the British security forces arrested early June a group of 11 terrorists in London who had come back from Syria where they were involved in the fighting there.”

Syrian Arab News Agency.  “British authorities arrest terrorists who fought in Syria.”  June 19, 2013.

Wars draw volunteers.  It’s a shame the one in Syria draws teenage ones.  Belgium dealt with this issue back in April of this year:

*****

Thanks to Ken Hanley at Digital Journal for playing this thematically related clip last week in his op-ed, “Many Foreign fighters involved in Syria on both sides” (Digital Journal, June 19, 2013).

*****

While Israel’s cardinal military defense rule seems to remain, “Do not intervene; do not interfere” (DM Yaalon), Israel’s first virtue would seem to remain compassion to the extent that it may provide that.

“The two boys, 9 and 15 years old, were transferred to Ziv Hospital in Safed for treatment. The 9-year-old suffered moderate injuries from shrapnel wounds across his body and lost his right eye, according to a report by Maariv. The 15-year-old was listed in serious condition, according to the report.”

Times of Israel.  “Minors wounded in Syrian fighting brought to Israel.”  June 26, 2013.

Every wounded Syrian is guarded by either an IDF soldier or by a civilian security guard in an attempt to isolate them from speaking with anyone unauthorized to do so who might photograph them or pass on their information to Syria, potentially harming them or their families upon their eventual return to Syria.

As stated, more than a 100 wounded Syrians have crossed the border in recent months. Some 70 of them have been taken to Israeli hospitals, and two have passed away as a result of their injuries.

Zitun, Yoav.  “More than 100 wounded Syrians receive care in Israel.”  YNet News, June 26, 2013.

After 2,000 years or so, Hillel’s negatively stated dictum seems to hold.  “That which is distasteful to thee, do not do to another” — and certainly, the choice between enabling or denying access to hospital services related well to that.

*****

“The request came in a letter handed to Prime Minister’s Office Director-General Harel Locker at a meeting with Druze leaders on the Golan Heights Thursday. The letter included an unprecedented request for Israel to take in Druze students who had left the Golan and settled in Syria, Maariv reported.”

Gur, Haviv Rettig.  “Druze leaders ask Israel to take in Syrian brethren.”  Times of Israel, June 23, 2013.

What would Hillel do?

Druze along the Golan have served both in the IDF and in Syria’s defense forces according to their decisions about citizenship and location, and with the fighting as I’ve described — “Two mad wasps in a bell jar” — Israeli Druze are seeking sanctuary for their relatives.

God knows God would seem to give Jews the toughest ethical and survival challenges.

Both.

At the same time.

Providing infirmary to wounded to be turned back into the field — and who want to be returned to their land — is one thing.

Affording sanctuary to those endangered by this war that only loosely respects boundaries and seems absent of compassion and conscience both in relation to innocents, noncombatants, neutral parties, and so on makes for a more difficult decision.

# # #