Opinion Archives - Page 5 of 17

‘We Are Supporting a Genocide in Gaza’

CrossFireArabia
January 7, 2025

Political scientists John Mearsheimer:

“I think once you get outside of the West, almost everybody thinks that the United States and the Europeans are morally bankrupt.

I mean, we are supporting—and I’m choosing my words carefully here—we are supporting a genocide in Gaza. It’s a genocide that people see on their computers and on their TVs on a daily basis.

So they know exactly what’s going on here, and the hypocrisy is just quite stunning. Because the West makes a big deal of the fact that it is morally virtuous, that we are, you know, an exceptional Nation—we stand taller, we see further.

And when you think about the fact that we’re complicit in a genocide, I mean, it looks like hypocrisy in the extreme. So I think outside the West, people understand full well that we are morally bankrupt. And I think even inside the West, there are lots of people who have just begun to lose hope that we have our moral gyroscopes in place when it comes to dealing with the Middle East.”

These are excerpts from remarks by Professor John Mearsheimer, American political scientist and international relations scholar, in an interview with Judge Napolitano, January 3, 2025.

Opinion

Gaza: Faith Versus Psychology and Genocide

CrossFireArabia
January 5, 2025

In Gaza, under the noise of planes and the sounds of shells, people stand defenseless except for their faith, defying all forms of oppression and genocide. Psychological warfare, which is considered one of the main tools of the Israeli occupation, aims to break the will of man and plant fear and despair in the hearts of civilians according to Jo24.

But surprising and interesting at the same time is mulling over the fact that this war have not achieved its goals. On the contrary, this slaughter revealed the fragility of traditional psychological theories in the face of the power of faith.

Psychology, as we know it, provides a superficial explanation for human behavior in the face of mounting pressures. It talks about accumulated helplessness, the collapse of the soul under the weight of constant fear, and the inevitability of surrender in the face of the lack of basic needs.

العالم في ذهول من حالة الإيمان والرضا والسكينة والسلام التي تملأ قلوب أهل غزة وتجري على ألسنتهم،رغم أنهم يتعرضون لحرب إبادة همجية غير مسبوقة في التاريخ،لذلك فقد بدأ كثيرون في الغرب يتساءلون ما هي الأسرار التي في القرآن الكريم التي جعلت أهل غزة بهذه القوة النفسية والإيمانية… pic.twitter.com/AivFwYejLs
— A Mansour أحمد منصور (@amansouraja) November 4, 2023

But Gaza provides a model that destroys these assumptions. How can a people living under siege and bombardment continue to cling to their will and dignity? How can a child who lost his family smile and stand in the face of tanks? How can a woman who lost everything become a symbol of defiance and steadfastness?

The answer lies in something deeper than material psychological concepts; it is the power of faith. In Gaza, faith in God is not just an inner feeling or a spiritual practice, but rather it is an integrated system that provides strength and reassurance, and redefines the concept of steadfastness.

When the people of Gaza see their lives, land, and children must be protected, they, their inner beings, become psychological fortresses not to be shaken, no matter how fierce the war on them becomes.

What is Gaza offering is not just resistance to the occupation, but a call to reconsider everything we have learned about the human psyche. Psychology, which assumes that man is a fragile creature that breaks under pressure, finds itself helpless in the face of the Gaza model.

This small, besieged enclave offers a lesson to the world: For faith is not just a belief, it is a force of energy that frees man from his fear, and makes him capable of confronting the most powerful armies.

In the end, Gaza is not just a political or humanitarian issue, but it is a philosophical battle that raises fundamental questions: Do we need to review the foundations on which we built our understanding of the human psyche? Can faith, in all its simplicity and depth, be the most powerful weapon in the face of injustice? Gaza answers without hesitation: Yes.

This piece is written by Professor Hani Al-Damour and published in Jo24.

Opinion

CrossFireArabia
January 3, 2025

Most Zionists don’t believe that God exists but most of them believe that He promised them Palestine – Ilan Pappe.

Opinion

Carter: A Mideast Idealist

Dr Khairi Janbek
December 31, 2024

Dr Khairi Janbek

The legacy of the late President Jimmy Carter in the Middle East can at best be described as mixed, notable achievements and setbacks.

The Camp David Accords remain his greatest foreign policy achievement in the region, with Egypt and Israel continuing to honor the peace treaty till this day. However, the 1978 Iranian Revolution, the fall of the Shah, the US embassy hostage crisis and the rise of the Islamic Republic of Iran, underscored the limits of his idealistic foreign policy approach.

While Carter’s emphasis on human rights was a notable shift from the more pragmatic or rather, realpolitik approach of his predecessors, it often clashed with the realities of the US strategic interests in the region. His inability to stop or reverse the Iranian Revolution, combined with his perceived weakness in handling the hostage crisis, significantly damaged his standing both domestically and internationally.

Jimmy Carter pic.twitter.com/grnXezIfng
— BladeoftheSun (@BladeoftheS) December 29, 2024

Despite these challenges, Carter’ presidency laid the groundwork for future US policies in the Middle East in terms of emphasis on peace, diplomacy and the need for strategic engagement. In fact, he articulated in January 1980 the Carter Doctrine, which stated that the US will use military force if necessary to defend its interests in the Arabian Gulf against Soviet aggression, which marked a significant shift in US foreign policy asserting a more active and interventionist role in the region.

When it comes to the question of human rights, despite concerns for abuses in countries like Saudi Arabia and Iraq, Carter found it necessary to balance human rights with strategic and economic interests, and he did receive criticism internationally and nationally for tolerating autocratic regimes, not to mention of course in this context, his support for the Shah of Iran despite his repressive policies and human rights abuses.

Still, in the final analysis, with successes and failures, Carter’s approach to the Middle East was foundational in shaping US policy for the years that followed, particularly in the realms of contradictory policies of human rights, and the balance of power in the Gulf region.

Dr Khairi Janbek is a Jordanian commentator currently based in Paris.

Opinion

The Day After in Syria is Simply Bleak!

Saleem Ayoub Quna
December 30, 2024

By Saleem Ayoub Quna

Syria has just turned a gloomy chapter of its long turbulent history that lasted for at least half-a-century. The question now is: Will this new era bring better or worse news for this beleaguered country and its people?

The new local stake holders on the ground and outside players are showing different and often conflicting signals of what lies ahead. A month ago, the totalitarian Assad dynasty regime collapsed, its
dictator fled the country, his strong men melted into the caves, his father’s imposing statues downed and his foreign supporters’ influence, Iran and Russia, evaporated. From this underdog dark side, the game
was over!

But it was not so on the other rising side of the game, where you have the local opposition of multiple groups and their new de facto foreign partners and friends, celebrating the defeat of the bygone oppressive regime.

All they see is a helpless, desperate and a lone prey for the cut! In real terms the country, so far, is being divided into different de facto regional enclaves or mini-states. Each is controlled by its own local
leaders. Members of each community share either the same faith, or speak the same language, or adhere to a host of old norms and traditions inherited from their ancestors.

Both leaders and their followers of each faction are finding themselves at a crucial turning point. Do they want to repeat what their previous leaders did when they, willy-nilly, allowed the central government under the Assad regime, run their daily life affaires, and then when it was too late, discovered that they were either deceived or coerced by the now defunct regime’s agents? Or are they saying no more of this stuff this time, and accordingly acting more independently to preserve their special identity and immune their rights?

The idea of partitioning Syria as we know it since its independence in 1946 is not new! It can be traced back to its pre-independence original format, conceived then by the French mandatory power in the early 1900s, when the Ottoman’s four centuries rule, of the whole of Arabia and North Africa, came to an end.

At that time, France, sanctioned by League of Nations, suggested to divide the country into five main enclaves or mini-states: An Alawite enclave on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean with Latakia as its capital, an Aleppo enclave in the north, a Jabal Druze enclave in the south, bordering Jordan, Alexandretta enclave which was taken by Turkey and renamed as the Hatay province, and finally the dominated Sunni region in the center with its capital Damascus.

Today, the US, with the consent of other good wishers, are openly pushing, by deeds and words, to create an additional enclave in the autonomous Kurdish oil-rich region in the north-eastern part of Syria.
On the Golan Heights, the new strong players are turning a blind eye to the serious Israeli military encroachments inside proper Syrian territories, previously recognized by the world community and UN resolutions. At the same time, the emerging clashes in the east and west of the country and other places in the center, between rivaling armed groups, leave little room for optimism.

The most important step Syrians need today is a constitution that can stand at the same distance from all components of the society. But surprisingly, the last statement attributed to the new top man in
Damascus saying such a constitution might take four to five years to come to life, can only send discouraging and negative signals to all the components of Syrian society and others!

A final question that must be asked: Is Syria nearing to lose its last chance to avoid falling back in the pre-independence fragmentation trap?

This opinion was especially written for Crossfire Arabia by Saleem Ayoub Quna who is a Jordanian author writing on local, regional and international affairs and has two books published. He has a BA in English Literature from Jordan University, a diploma from Paris and an MA from Johns Hopkins University in Washington. He also has working knowledge of French and German.