By: Ali R. Rabi (www.alirabi.com), PhD. (CASMII)

        Ali Rabi

The assumption:

Western leaders have invariably tried to communicate with the East through their allies in control of the political power or through the eyes of the westernized expatriates.  Never in reality have they been able to learn the true languages of the independents or the adversaries. For the West, to comprehend the rhetorics of the political leaders in the Middle East such as those of Ahmadi Nejad, Bashar Assad, Moghtada Sadr, Hassan Nasrollah, etc…, may be highly improbable, but to grasp the true and the intended meaning of messages from Taliban, Al-Qadeda or the Jihadists would simply be in the realm of impossibilities. In turn, the Eastern leaders have an outlook of the West shaped through the eyes of their friendly allies or the interpretations of their own intellectuals. Hence, they too have never been able to comprehend the real languages of the Westerners.  Consequently, both sides lack effective means of direct communications with each other. Thus, all forms of communications inevitably go through intermediary channels for decryption, decoding and interpolations missing much of the intended message in the process. The end result being that both presume the other side guilty till proven innocent.

This writing is an attempt to reflect, without inhibitions, the true meanings of the prevailing deep anti-western feelings of the masses throughout the Middle East region. Reflections are somewhat accentuated in the hope to shed more light on the hidden dimensions often missed in the formal transliterations of messages intended for the consumption of the political leaders in the West.  Raised in an environment conducive to the belief that each and every malfunction in the East is a direct manifestation of the “evil plans” envisioned and implemented by the West - a belief reinforced with times as excavations to the depth of hearts and minds of the Westerners reveal more supporting evidence, regretfully, at the outset, the stage is set as such to have the Western political leadership to seat in the accused bench.      

The Case:

Never in our contemporary times have the Middle East Region been in such a volatile turmoil. The cradle of ancient civilizations, the birthplace of major world religions, the origins of many arts, sciences, philosophy and literature, the core of natural resources of the globe, has now fallen deep into the state of backwardness, dependency, militarism, radicalism and instability faced with a complex range of intra-regional as well as inter-regional conflicts.  The range of conflicts may be defined as conflicts between and amongst: East and West, sub-regions, nations, religions, ethnicities, minorities, genders, the ruling classes vs. the people of the Region. Persistence and the intensification of these conflicts have created a murky future outlook of the entire Region as reflected in the helplessness and the hopelessness of the masses particularly those of the women and the youth.   The welfare of the Middle East Region, and the whole world for that matter, rests on the immediate and serious active participation of all concerned people for the amelioration of these conflicts.  Failure to address these critical life threatening issues will undoubtedly have chaotic manifestations with, ultimately, catastrophic consequences for each and every citizen throughout the entire globe.

The Accused:

The entire twentieth century was the period of struggle for independence, constitutional movements, industrialization and the quest of modernization by the peoples of the Middle East.  The importance of petroleum for the West, however, hampered all the efforts for the socio-economic and political development of the region. The Region became the battlegrounds of the Western rivalries aimed at fulfilling their respective “vital national interests.”  In the post World War II era, the entire Region became the sole proprietorship of the UK/US interests. Every effort towards political reform, democratization and civil liberties by the people of the Region were, without exception, crushed by the rulers supported, and invariably coached, by these Western powers.  The covert activities of the CIA in 1953 which resulted in the downfall of the democratically elected Government of Dr. Mossadegh and rise of the Shah in Iran were vivid examples of such meddling of the Western powers in the internal affairs of the nations in the Region.  Remapping of the region by foreign powers reminiscent of the old colonial era has continued in a progressive process culminating in the military occupation of Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait and practically all of the Arabian Peninsula including the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.  Major historical forces of the region such as Turkey and Egypt have, for all practical purposes, been subjugated. Pakistan, Central Asia and the Caucuses have all been brought into the US/UK sphere of interests.  Libya has been neutralized.  Syria is bugged down in the Lebanon debacle. Iran, the key sore spot since the Islamic revolution, and blamed for much, if not all, of the political upheavals throughout the Islamic world extending from Bangladesh to Marrakech, is the last remaining force to be removed in order to complete this vicious plan. Reducing Iran to the level of the subjugated Emirates and “Banana Kingdoms” is the final objective of the US/UK access of arrogance.  The implementation of this plan is entirely independent of the actions, or reactions, of the Iranian regime or even the Iranian people.  The nuclear issue is nothing but another excuse and there is nothing that Iran can do to change this process. Only a worldwide condemnation and strong opposition may help to prevent a devastating outcome.    

The Motive:

Current conflicts in the Middle East Region have their roots in the re-mappings of the Region by UK, US and France after the World War II period. The carving out of numerous states and re-mapping of the national boundaries and the creation of new “states” in recent decades, imbedded seeds of long-term conflicts throughout the whole region. Almost all of the existing problems in the Region emanate from these arbitrary and artificial re-mapping of the Region.  The intra-regional conflicts served the interests of the oil cartels, US, UK and their local “friendly” puppet regimes. The Islamic Revolution in Iran, however, shattered the stronghold of these forces.  The entire Region shook so badly that it took more than a decade for the West to have a realistic assessment of the extent of the damages.  The fall of the former USSR provided a golden opportunity for the West - meaning the UK/US or the “Anglo-Saxon Axis of Monopoly” – to deploy armies of formidable magnitude to, once again, exert claim of sole proprietorship to the resources of the entire Region.  Attempts to hide this motive under the banner of “forced democratization” or “liberation” has been nothing more than a subject of ridicule.  The whole campaign is yet another exercise of re-mapping the entire region in order to reap all the fruits without sharing them with other Europeans, Asians or Russians.

The Victim:

The continuous struggles of the peoples of the Region to achieve freedom and progress have produced little tangible results.  Progress in the fields of science, arts, literature, industry, agriculture and technology has been at best dismal.  Scares resources allocated to the military build up in the hope of standing up against foreign forces have proven to be of no value. In all conflicts, the conventional armies have proven, time and again, to be utterly useless. In recent times, the military might of the US and UK deployed to most countries of the Region, has created a general sense of insecurity, imbalance and the perception of total occupation by foreigners. People have witnessed defeat of their own armies, destruction of their infrastructures, and devastating effects of bombardments.  They have witnessed the Muslim soldiers kneeling and kissing the hands of the USA soldiers for mercy.  They have seen pictures of their countrymen tortured, raped, mutilated and murdered. Regardless of political or religious believes, most people have experienced a deep sense of national humiliation.  It is a rare occasion in which  even the most serious political activists identify with the issue of national pride.  The entire nations feel to have fallen victims to the occupation, and the occupying forces don’t even have to be present in your own country to sense that feeling.   From Marrakech to Bangladesh, lies a vast region with a unique sense of historical/cultural identity crisis.  A crisis aroused by the military occupation of the Region by the Western powers.  In fact, for the first time since the fall of the Ottoman Empire, a sense of Regional Unity is taking place - the Broader Middle East Region. A region fallen victim to the UK/US unilateral militarism. There is a quenching thirst for another Salah-o-ddin. The situation is so catastrophic that even the most undemocratic regimes increasingly side with the masses. Never since the glorious days of the Islamic Empire have the people of the Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asia have felt so close to each other as the do now.  The anti-western feeling is a ubiquitous tendency throughout the whole region.   Even the “friendly regimes” of the region are increasingly changing course and reaching out to embrace the anti-western leaders.     

The Conflict:

The West accuses the Broader Middle East Region of “radicalism”, “terrorism”, “fundamentalism”, “totalitarianism” and “Jihadism” in the quest to build weapons of mass destruction.  They, in turn,  accuse the alliance of US/UK as the “axis of imperialism” meddling in the internal affairs of the nations in the Region to keep or to put the “friendly” forces in power in order to preserve their own “vital national interest” - meaning the continuous, smooth, cheap and increasing flow of oil and natural gas.   In addition, all monies gained by the nations of the Region must be spent as specified by the West.  These are the diametrically opposing forces that constitute the core of the inter-regional as well as the intra-regional conflicts.   These forces run counter to any political stability, economic development and democratization processes of the Region.  

The Challenge:

The ruling powers of the East and the West are unable or unwilling to communicate with each other. Apparently, they lack a common set of values, common language or common means of communication. It seems they do not share the same communication protocols.  Often, messages sent back and forth are encrypted at one end and decrypted at the other end. The signals transmitted by one side are often interpolated by the other side as having hidden agendas. Hence, the end result is a complete miscommunication. Messages of Ahmadi Nejad or the call for dialogue by Khatami do not differ significantly in meaning. No wonder, the Western rulers have been trying to explain the meaning of “True Islam” to the Muslim leaders and they, in turn, have been trying to define the meaning of “True Democracy” to them. The third party - intermediaries and interpreters - have further exasperated these complexities.  The challenge to solve this miscommunication conundrum is to decode the signals transmitted by both sides and translate them into a simple conversational language.  The forces in power have opposing views of the world affairs, their values, objectives and strategies are, therefore, in opposing directions. No realistic solution, therefore, could come out of these contradicting sides. The answer lies in the communication between forces that have similar values.  Namely, the people of all races and all places who have no interest in the continuance of the violence - the concerned citizens of the world.

The Citizens:

The citizens of the Middle East Region have specific duty in these critical times.  They are the real victims who have suffered from the conflicts.  They are the true beneficiaries of peace, progress and political pluralism. They have no conflicting interests with other peoples of the world.   And they are the real forces that can assure national sovereignty, stability and democratization of the Region.   People are not in favor of any war because they are the ones who have to make all sacrifices in any war.   People are generally tolerant, accommodating and peaceful.  People of the Middle East, like all people, want to live in peace with themselves, their neighbors and the rest of the world.  And the world respects the will and the values of these people and are willing to live with them in harmony side by side. The Clash of Civilizations is nothing more than a fabricated myth.  Only the clash of ruling powers is the tragic reality.   The sectarian violence, the Shi’a vs. Sunni is all creation of vicious minds of those who seek the doctrine of “divide and rule.” There are Sunni factions who may have greater differenced with other Sunnis. The same may be true about different Shi’a denominations. “Seventy two” sects have coexisted in history throughout the Islamic world as the Jews and the Palestinians did. The people need and want peaceful co-existence everywhere. Only through active participation of the citizens in the political processes of the Region can peace be achieved and sustained.  

The Verdict:

Never in history, have the common people of the Middle East Region had the opportunity to assemble around a common cause.  Since the era of colonialism, the Middle East as a whole has been mostly a closed system with little or no interactions between the nations and the peoples of the region.  The post September 11^th tragedy triggered a spontaneous movement - peoples’ initiative for peace, progress and political pluralism in the Broader Middle East, Caucuses, Central Asia and North Africa. This initiative is ubiquitous. It has spread from small villages to all metropolitan areas of the region. It has expanded to all other continents. Is has filed the cyber space. It has one simple message. A message from the people of the region to the rest of the world in the hope that it is understood and well received.  It is a unanimous resolution in response to the unanimous resolution of the security council of the United Nations. The resolution of the people of the region is verdict. Here id the Verdict of the people of the region: 

• Advocate peaceful change and oppose all forms of military interventions.
• Support intra and inter-regional free flow of people, products, capital, material, ideas and information.
• Advocate elimination of all programs of weapons of mass destruction.
• Support cooperation between the peoples of East and West to promote peace.
• Advocate enhancement of Civil Liberties,  Human Rights, Political Pluralism, Transparency, Good Governance and strengthening of Civil Societies.
• Support the formation of a free and democratic Middle East Union.
• Advocate immediate withdrawal of all Western military forces from the region.    

The simple fact is that every statement issued by anyone in the Middle East, be it a  political leader or by the insurgency, terrorist, Jihadist, radical, reformist, fundamentalist, nationalist, socialist or any other brand,  in real terms, all fall into a single category – the unanimous resolution of the citizens – the verdict.  Is the West (read US/UK) willing and able to accept and live with this verdict?  If the answer is affirmative, then, the message has been well received.  If not, we are badly in need of the linguists who bear the difficult responsibility of devising new terminologies comprehensible to both sides. Or else, the tragedy of human sufferings shall go on.