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, by Avi Melamed
PDF Ebook , by Avi Melamed
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Product details
File Size: 2095 KB
Print Length: 394 pages
Publisher: Skyhorse (March 29, 2016)
Publication Date: March 29, 2016
Sold by: Simon & Schuster Digital Sales Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B01CXLAN3M
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This book is not an introduction, but more like a refresher for someone who wants to be brought up to speed on events since the Arab Spring. The author is a former intelligence analyst for the IDF, and his point of view is not that of a liberal US journalist. "Western narratives are often based on a reading that does not accurately reflect or appropriately dialogue with unfolding eventsâ€, the author writes.This analyst wants to know the significance of every event as it comes up, while the liberal, thinking in terms of progress toward a worthwhile goal, tends to overlook troublesome facts as noise. A chapter on “Interpretations through the Western Mindset†brings this out. Hamas’ Khaled Mashaal, speaking with Jimmy Carter, spoke of a “hudnaâ€, which means a ten-year truce. Later Carter, in a public speech in Jerusalem, said Hamas had recognized Israel’s permanent right to exist. He had assumed “ten years†was the same as “foreverâ€. Or consider James Clapper, Director of US National Intelligence, on the Muslim Brotherhood: “The term ‘Muslim Brotherhood’ is an umbrella term for a variety of movements. In the case of Egypt, a very heterogeneous group, largely secular, which has eschewed violence and has decried al-Qaeda as a perversion of Islam.†The author entertains us with a literal blooperfest of similar examples.The really serious problems occur when misunderstandings get translated into policy. The most important instance here (noticed often before) is the idea that a settlement of the Israel-Palestine issue is the necessary foundation for any other resolution in the Middle East. This was stated in President Obama’s 2009 speech in Cairo, but by no means for the first time. Its misplaced priority has become inescapable, now that there are hundreds of thousands dead and millions made homeless in the Syrian war.As might be expected, the Syrian war takes up the greater part of the book. The author begins with the Arab Spring in Syria. A popular uprising, resulting from economic stress, a demand for political reforms, and increasing reports of rape perpetrated by an Assad militia, dramatically expanded. As a response, many of Syria’s Sunni soldiers and officers began to desert the Syrian army. In July 2011, they announced the establishment of a rebel group named the Free Syrian Army (FSA). Many observers expected that the army was too weak for Assad to remain in control. But the Assad regime was too great a strategic resource for Iran to let it collapse. Syria is the central pillar in the axis of resistance and essential to its control of Lebanon. Shipmens of ammunition, fuel, money, and weapons for Assad’s army flooded in along with Iranian military advisors. Iran’s annual support of the Assad regime was estimated to be six billion dollars a year and in 2012– 2013 it jumped to fourteen or fifteen billion. At first secretly, Hezbollah was sent as well. The war became both a Sunni-Shiite war and a war by proxies between the Assad-Iran axis and Sunni states led by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey. These Sunni “Rebel†groups are Salafist-Jihadist in orientation but differ based on how strictly their ideology is to be applied. Most important among them is the Saudi-backed Syrian Islamic Front, with some 40,000-60,000 fighters. In addition to the Iran Revolutionary Guard, Basij, and Hezbollah, the Iranian regime also called in Shiite militias, mostly from Iraq. The author covers the devastation wrought on Syria and its people and provides a complete rundown on Salafi-Jihadist groups operating apparently everywhere in the Middle East, some fighters even originating in Israel: “At least forty Israeli citizens of Muslim Arab origin are known to have joined Salafi-Jihadi organizations in Syria.â€The war narrative covers events up to winter 2015; the February 28 ceasefire is not mentioned. Iran will experience increasing difficulty in the conflict due to financial constraints. Hezbollah is desperately undermanned because its forces have gone off to fight in Syria, leaving Lebanon unguarded. The Sunni states will form a league of their own against terrorist activity, possibly with Israel helping as a sort of associate member. The author apparently sees the Sunni states as predominating, perhaps by virtue of their greater resources. Syria will become a federation of statelets with a specifically Alawite entity on the Mediterranean coast. He sees this as a desirable outcome but notthing more is predictable.This book gives the impression of having been written in haste. Occasionally sections that from their headings would seem important are very short. All the same there is a lot of information here not to be found in Western News media.
Avi's story begins with a compelling introduction by Lucy Aharish, born in a small, predominately Jewish town in southern Israel. Her parents had moved there ten years earlier from Nazareth, and predominantly Arab town in northern Israel with a large Muslim and Christian population to build a better life for their family. Lucy then grew up as the only Muslim girl in school.An early unpleasant experience occurred during a family trip to visit a relative in Gaza. It was during an 'intifada' and a Palestinian had mistaken them for Jews - bombing their car and seriously injuring her cousin. A result - Lucy then hated the Palestinians. At school, she became 'the Arab girl' who needed to excel in everything to survive. High-school was even harder - it was during the 1990s and a suicide bomber shook Israel almost every week. While her friends never looked at Lucy differently, others did. They'd stand in front of her yelling 'terrorist,' etc. Again, she finished first in her class, graduating with honors.In 2000, Lucy moved to Jerusalem during the beginning of the second intifada - again encountering Palestinians. She became a journalist and married an Israeli Jew (Avi Melamed) with a unique understanding of the Arab world, as well as its language. He helped her realize that the Middle East is never black and white.Avi then begins her story with December 2010 - a Tunisian peddler (Mohamed Bouazizi, a high-school dropout who did so to help support his family) had set himself on fire in protest over government oppression. Many Arabs believed he was 'an agent of the CIA, and perhaps even of Israel's Mossad. The What followed is often called the ''Arab Spring.' The Middle East changed beyond recognition, with Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Yemen falling apart, Lebanon one step away from following their path. Militant Islamist factors, inspired by the 'right translation' of their faith and guided by a vision of restoring the early medieval Islamic caliphate, are rebuilding. Avi's objective in this book is to condense and explain these central events, as well as their limitations. She also makes clear that while she is a Jew and a Zionist, she is not and never has been an official spokesperson for Israel.Many Arab Muslims believe they are victims of local and foreign plots against them - that responsibility for their dismal states lies with the U.S., Europe, and Israel. Another disease of the Arab world is its drowning itself in fiery rhetoric laced with phrases such as Arab brotherhood, Arab socialism, Arab solidarity, etc. When Yasser Arafat openly supported Hussein's attacks on Kuwait, some 400,000 Palestinians who worked in Kuwait were expelled. Another disease preventing development of healthy and strong Arab societies has been the absence of mechanisms encouraging productive and respectful debate.The huge wave of poor refugees created by the war in Syria has led many families 'marrying' their daughters to men from all over the Arab world (mainly the Gulf) in exchange for money. In Muslim culture there are also contracts for 'limited duration marriages' (aka 'temporary marriages') - 42,000 such in 2010 involving girls between ten and fourteen registered in Iran alone. In 2013, a Jordanian Salafi cleric ruled that due to the large number of men killed, a man could marry 50 women through a contract.A Saudi journalist wrote 'Why didn't the Arab states spend their assets on education, healthcare, and infrastructures instead of wars? . . . They've wasted hundreds of billions of dollars and lost tens of thousands of innocent lives fighting Israel. . . . The real enemies of the Arab world are corruption, lack of good education (illiteracy is estimated to exceed 19%, those 'inadequately educated' at 39%), lack of good healthcare, and lack of respect for the human lives.' Joblessness is as high as 54%. Others, however, continue to blame everything on Israel - even the murders of Syrians by the Assad regime, and similar violence in Iraq, Libya, the Sudan, and Yemen.Ten Saudi nationals were on the 2015 Forbes list of the world's billionaires - combined fortune of $51.9 billion. The country has over 27 million people. In 2014 the average literacy rate for Saudis older than 15 was 87% (82% for women); 64% of B.A. degree graduates in the Kingdom in 2010 - 2012 were women. Yet, the official rate of unemployment in 2014 was 11.7% (25% according to other sources). Immigrants represent 30% of its population. Unofficial statistics claim 60% of Saudis don't have homes, and about 30% of homeowners live in inadequate housing.Egypt's official source reported its population reached 88 million in early 2015, and grew by over one million in the prior six months. Thirty-one percent are under 15. Egypt also has ten nationals featured on Forbes' 2015 list of billionaires, with a combined fortune of $23.45 billion - also mostly from oil. In 2014, 25.9% of Egyptians were reported to be illiterate, with 33.6% of women 18.5% of men, and nearly 30% of youth over fifteen. More than 76% of the unemployed are educated, with 30% having university degrees and above. Poverty rates approximate 25% and are rising.So, where would those leading the Muslim movement like to go? Their ultimate goal is to create a caliphate, in which no independent/sovereign state exists, governed by Islam's moral and religious laws (shariah), in which democracy etc. are unacceptable, and values conflict with Western values on gender equity, homosexuality, secularism, freedom of thought. Their power base is enlarged by programs that especially benefit people on the lower end of the SES scale. The most prominent representative of 'political Islam' is the Muslim Brotherhood, followed by the Salafi movement (Islam will flourish once its followers adopt Islamic codes of the time of the Prophet Muhammad and his first four successors). Of the two, the Salfis tend to be less flexible, ultraconservative.Political Islam did not incite the Arab Awakening. However, it quickly was seen as the opportunity to create supporting political parties in the involved countries. Contributing factors to their success include having built, funded, and managed schools and religious study programs, along with medical clinics and aid to the needy. However, when the Muslim Brotherhood took power in Egypt and Tunisia, no concrete solutions were provided, disillusioning the public.A short time after Morsi's election as president of Egypt, an organization of Egyptian young people set up a website called the 'Morsi Meter' to follow the pace of implementation of the 64 promises Morsi made during his campaign. These included supplying pita bread, transportation and traffic solutions, improvement of personal safety, security, public order, energy - and they gave Morsi 100 days to make good. One year later Morsi was ousted, at least partial because he failed to deliver the goods. Another factor was his distancing himself from the Salafi movement. A third was creating a hostile relationship with the Egyptian Army. Fourth - his attempt to write a new constitution that left many segments alienated.Similarly, the Muslim Brotherhood's political parties in Tunisia, Jordan, Kuwait, and the UAE also faltered.In the late 1960s came the development of the concept of 'takfir,' an extreme school of thought within militant Islam. It contends that in addition to non-Muslim infidels, there are those claiming to be Muslims who did not fulfill the commandments of Islam. They are considered the worst enemies of Islam.The name ISIS first appeared in Iraq in April 2013 as the new name of the al-Qaeda branch in Iraq. The appearance and achievements of ISIS in such a short amount of time are a result of the chaos, poverty, violence, and despair - coupled with a lack of governance and clear borders. According to Iraqi statistics, in March 2015 its population was almost 36 million, with over 25% unemployed and 25% living below the poverty line. Almost 205 of those over age fifteen are illiterate. There were also over 3 million Iraqis refugees within their own land, a result of conflict with ISIS. Between 2003 and 2010, about 110,000, mostly civilians, were killed in terrorist attacks in Iraq.In October 2005, after 38 years ruling the Gaza Strip, Israel withdrew and handed governance over to the Palestinian authority. Hamas took control in June 2007 in a bloody military coup. From 2001 - 2014, more than 15,200 rockets and mortars from Gaza have targeted Israel, mostly post the Hamas takeover. Egypt has also been attacked from the Gaza Strip.It takes years and resources to develop artists, doctors, scientists, and teachers - only minutes to teach one to shoot and kill. The ISIS appeal is that 'with ISIS you'll be powerful, with an identify, a vision, and destiny, along with tools. Your sacrifice won't be in vain - you'll be a martyr, with the associated benefits. Reports indicate ISIS is recruiting and paying thousands of children, mostly from Iraq and Syria - many of whom are orphans.Two major historic struggles have played a central role in shaping the Muslim world and the Middle East. One is the struggle between the Sunnis and the Shiites. The other is the struggle between the Arab and Persian civilizations.There are 1.6 billion Muslims in the world, about 90% Sunni and 10% Shiite. The divide began in 532 upon Prophet Muhammad's death. His father-in-law was chosen to be caliph - based on his skills and virtues (the Sunni branch); others believed one needed to be a descendent of Muhammad (the Shiite branch). Both have imams - a Sunni imam is a cleric position acquired through study and theological education, while a Shiite imam is a religious leader who is a descendant of Ali ibn Abi, Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law. The Shiites are deeply motivated by the notion they were deprived of the right to lead the Muslim world. They envision a leader taking them to victory over the Sunnis and redeeming Islam.In the year 61, the 400-year-old Persian Empire was occupied and conquered by Sunni Arab Muslims, and the Persians converted to Islam. This ended with the rise of a Shiite Dynast, and since 1500, Persians have been ruled by non-Arab Shiite dynasties that compete with Sunni Arab and Sunni Turkish powers for political and territorial dominance. The Arabs view Persians as pagans. Mullahs, after the Islamic Revolution, placed strict Shiite doctrine and narratives at the center of their regime's ideology - contrary to the ousted shah. The regime uses a proactive, aggressive foreign policy to expand its influence and spread Shiite Islam throughout the world. Connections throughout Asia, Africa, and South America have been developed through arms and trade dealings, offering economic support and military assistance, and cultural and diplomatic cooperation.Iran is also the leading proponent of fighting Israel. Allies include Assad in Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Palestinian terror organizations in the Gaza Strip. Its military forces in Syria and Iraq, along with the Vienna Agreement in July 2015, have further bolstered Iran's status.Syria has a population estimated to be between 18 and 23 million, with about 74% Sunnis. Shiites (13%) are mainly concentrated in northwestern Syria. The war in Syria started as a civilian, nonviolent uprising, but turned soon into a war between the Sunnis and the Shiites. (Both Assads are minority Shiite Alawites.) By summer of 2011, spurred by economic stress, demand for political reforms, and government abuses, the uprising had dramatically expanded into a civil war. Many Sunni soldiers and officers deserted the Syrian army and formed a rebel group (Free Syrian Army).In the fall of 2011, when it seemed the Assad government was about to collapse, Iran accelerated and increased assistance - from about $6 billion/year to $14 billion/year. Hezbollah in Lebanon was also instructed to send forces into Syria. In response, Sunni Arabs from Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, etc. began streaming into Syria - many joining ISIS.As of March 2015, per the UN Humanitarian Affairs Mission, over 220,000 Syrians (70% civilians) had been killed, and 12.2 million made refugees.The only monarchical Arab countries that have experienced activities inspired by the Arab Awakening have been Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, and Morocco. Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE were unaffected. The unrest, however, was not sufficient to jeopardize regime stability. One reason is that these societies are often made up of tribes, and represented in the government such that they share power. A second factor is the enormous wealth of the Arab Gulf monarchs, enabling them to provide citizens with a high quality of life in areas such as education, healthcare, and a guaranteed income. A third factor is the legitimacy of the royal dynasties based on familial lineage to Prophet Muhammad. Still another is the people's general affection for and admiration of their monarchs.
This is a truly important, book for understanding today's Middle East, as well as the many ways in which we in the West do NOT adequately understand it. The author is fluent in Arabic, and makes use of a vast number of Arabic-language sources most US or European decision-makers can only read in translation, if at all. This allows Melamed to bring us an Arab perspective on their own culture, history, and current affairs. The book is about as up to date as it could be, having been edited in early 2016, so its coverage of the Arab Spring, Syrian civil war, rise of ISIS, etc., is right where it needs to be. I learned an enormous amount about the Arab-Iranian divide, the Suni-Shiite divide, the various non-state actors such as Hezbollah and Hamas, and so much more. The writing is engaging as well as informative, never dull. Everyone involved in American foreign policy for this part of the world should definitely read this book.
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