Of the
factors that shaped today's Middle East - Islam, the Ottoman Empire, European
colonialism, the foundation of the state of Israel, US power and oil- history has
closed the book only on the Ottoman and European empires. Even so, their
legacies remain important. The other four factors persist, joined by two more
to shape current political dilemmas and opportunities - demography and the
nature of governance.
|
|
As the
Arab world sought independence from European colonial rule, some Arab
thinkers and politicians envisaged a larger goal than independent statehood;
a vision of pan-Arab unity. For a century and a half from the time of
Napoleon Bonaparte's defeat of the Mamluks in Egypt in 1798, the Middle East
was confronted, challenged and, by many measures, bested by Europe. One
answer to the overriding question of how the Arab world should respond to the
challenge of western European power came in the form of anti-colonialism. But
to be against colonial domination could not, neither in logic nor in
political reality, be a matter only of opposing the existing dominant foreign
power. It had to be also a statement - a political programme,
in fact - of the better future that would be obtained through overthrowing
colonial power. Despite some nostalgia for a different empire, by and large
the anti-colonial movements did not seek a return to Ottoman rule; instead,
they sought independence - a new state. As movements for independence got
going however, the pre-existing unity of the region began to influence
political ideas and programmes. Though there are
many differences among Arabs in different parts of the region - inevitably in
such large and relatively thinly populated areas there is also much that is
shared in terms of language and culture, not least religion, history and
experience. It is easy to exaggerate how much is shared; not all Arabs are
Muslims, for example, and there are several different forms of Arabic, some
of which are barely mutually comprehensible. There are also sharp rivalries
and different interests among the Arab elites and, as everywhere, deep
cleavages of class and sharp distinctions between urban and rural dwellers.
Nonetheless, Arabs in different parts of the Middle East have mutual
connections that are much stronger and more real than those to be found
among, for example, Europeans in different parts of Europe. Moreover,
advocates of Arab unity argued that, on top of everything else they shared,
the Arab world also had a common enemy - the West. |
To the
citizens of the new state, the declaration of Israel's independence on 14 May
1948 marked the realization of a dream and the creation of a place of survival
and belonging after genocide. To Palestinians, the event is simply known as al-nakba - the catastrophe. The term Zionism was coined by a
Jewish writer a few years after the beginning, in 1882, of migration to
historic Palestine by Jews with the goal not only of escaping anti-Jewish
prejudice, discrimination and, at worst, pogroms, but also of ultimately
establishing a homeland. Despite the political intention, the early migrations
seemed innocuous and the numbers insignificant. Different population estimates
show between 10,000 and 24,000 Jews living in the area later called Palestine
in about 1880. Over the next three decades, perhaps as many as 1,000 Jews
arrived each year. By the end of World War I, some estimates put the Jewish
population as numbering about 56,000. The meaning of this migration and its
possible consequences only started to clarify during World War I as the Ottoman
Empire went from decline to break-up. As plans were formulated to re-make the
Middle East, and with the declaration in 1917 by British Foreign Secretary
Arthur Balfour supporting 'the establishment in Palestine of a national home
for the Jewish people,' Zionism became both more significant and realistic.
Though the Zionist Organization's 1919 proposal for a Jewish homeland
stretching well to the east of the Jordan river was flatly rejected by the
great powers, the British government permitted continuing Jewish immigration
into Palestine throughout the inter-war years. The British authorities did, however,
make a sharp division between the areas to the west and to the east of the
river, and in 1922 established Transjordan as a separate entity into which they
refused to permit further Jewish immigration.
International
Court of Justice ruling in 2004 that the wall being built as a security barrier
between Israel and the West Bank is illegal, because parts of its route link
settlements to the main territory of Israel. The IslamicResistance
Movement, Hamas, had not recognized Israel as a legal state by the time it
formed the government of the Palestine Authority (P A) in 2006.
Oct. 30,
2007: Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah arrives for a controversial visit in the UK
today while warning, the fight against Muslim extremism (‘terrorism’ he said)
would take 20-30 years. Of couse topic of
discussion at Downingstreet will be Iran. The remark about a 20-30 year timeframe, in our
opinion confirms the fact that the threat of an Islamist takeover in the Middle
East is unrealistic on a long term basis. Because the Islamists' vision of
state and society ultimatly is incompatible with
today's realities, making it too radical an alternative.
For updates
click homepage here