BROTHERS AT ARMS With all the recent news coming out of the Middle East, it is important to not become distracted by the media rhetoric. We must continue to look “behind the veil” to understand what is really happening and its consequences. This week Egypt has been at the forefront of political movement in the region. President Muhammed Morsi has made several moves in an apparent effort to “tighten” his grip on the country. Making an effort to preemptively anticipate dissent of his latest political affiliations, he appointed 17 new territorial governors, including seven members of his own Muslim Brotherhood party and a member of the radical Islamist Group. The appointments mean that the Brotherhood now controls the governorships in 10 out of the country’s 27 provinces. There has been widespread reaction and counter reaction to this move. Although President Morsi is a member of the radical Muslim Brotherhood, the large moderate and secular Muslim population in Egypt has been content with the established social peace. As moves of this nature appear to move Egypt to a more extremist position, the level of discontent within the population rises. The appointment of a known terrorist, Adel Al-Khayyat, as governor of the province of Luxor was the most controversial of the appointments. The vital tourist industry in Luxor, since President Mubarak’s defeat, has been decimated. Now the image of a radical Islamist as governor there has taken any hope from the people of Luxor regaining its tourist industry. “You know he is a terrorist!” exclaimed Yohanna Solyan, owner of a Luxor travel agency. “We need help. There are no tourists here. I had to close my company.” His wife, Jacqueline Purki, a tour guide, now works one day a month compared to the six days a week she used to work before the revolution. “We are very angry,” she said. “The few people who are coming to Luxor will stop coming.” Amre Moussa, opposition leader and former Arab League chief, tweeted: “Appointing … a member of the Islamic Group whose leaders ban tourism and call for destroying antiquities … is a wrong decision.” Morsi’s appointments come before the June 30 anniversary of his taking office, when the liberal and secular Egyptian opposition plans demonstrations to demand his ouster. Also this week, President Morsi announced he had cut all diplomatic ties with Syria and backed a no-fly zone over the country, aligning the most populous Arab state more firmly against President Bashar al-Assad. At a rally called by Sunni Muslim clerics in Cairo, the Sunni Islamist head of state also warned Assad’s ally, the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shi’ite militia Hezbollah, to pull back from fighting in Syria. “Hezbollah must leave Syria. These are serious words,” said Morsi, whose country hosted a conference of Sunni clerics who issued a call for holy war against Damascus. “There is no space or place for Hezbollah in Syria,” he said. The rally made clear the region’s deepening tribal and religious rift. A cleric who spoke before Morsi described Shi’ites as heretics, infidels, oppressors and polytheists. Morsi waved Syrian and Egyptian flags as he entered the auditorium packed with 20,000 supporters. The crowd chanted: “From the free revolutionaries of Egypt: We will stamp on you, Bashar!” In a partial allusion to Shi’ite Tehran, he accused states in the region and beyond of feeding “a campaign of extermination and planned ethnic cleansing” in Syria. In Morsi’s strongest words of support to the Syrian rebels he said : “The Egyptian people supports the struggle of the Syrian people, materially and morally, and Egypt, its nation, leadership … and army, will not abandon the Syrian people until it achieves its rights and dignity.” Sunni Muslim religious organizations throughout the Middle East joined the call for jihad against Assad and his Shi’ite allies, mostly Iran and Hezbollah. Morsi’s actions were clearly intended to repair relations with the Muslim Brotherhood, whom he has been receiving criticism from because of his overtures to Iran and lack of firm position on Syria. (The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, a separate branch, has been most upset at him). It also is designed to satisfy the Sunni and Wahhabi clerics who have called for jihad against the Syrian regime, especially now that Shi’ite Iran and the Shi’ite Hezbollah have become so central to the fighting against the mostly Sunni rebels. In the midst of, and probably in response to these events and intrigues, it is announced that Shi’ite Iran is sending a “first contingent” of 4,000 Iranian Revolutionary Guards to Syria to support President Bashar al-Assad’s forces. Iran is now fully committed to preserving Assad’s regime, according to pro-Iranian sources which have been deeply involved in the Islamic Republic’s security. The lines are being drawn. Fortunately for Israel, they are not the center of Islamic attention for now. This Sunni/Shi’ite division is, most prominently, threatening the peace and security of the entire region. The tribal affiliations are not drawn by the borders of countries. The conflict is not between political entities but between households within them. These stresses are threatening to tear apart, not just the region but every country within it. Truly a family feud. At the same time we have a U.S. administration jumping in the middle of this domestic disturbance. For anyone who has tried to intercede between family members, you know what happens next. You become their target. This conflict has been going on for centuries. Several western Empires have tried to quell it during that time. Each has failed and withdrawn. If you don’t learn from history, you are bound to repeat it. Related Links: Morsi’s New Tough Tone on Syria Raises Concerns of a Nod to Jihadi Fighters — FOX News Egyptian President Morsi Severs Ties with Syria — ABC.net.au Iran Reportedly Preparing to Send 4,000 Troops Into Syria — FOX News
Posted on: Thu, 20 Jun 2013 07:23:28 +0000
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