ISIL and the Misuse of the Imagination: New Age Islam' Selection, 01 March 2016
New Age Islam Edit Bureau
01 March 2016
• ISIL and the Misuse of the Imagination
John Bell
• Towards A Strategic Arab-Russia Dialogue
By Raghida Dergham
• Punishing Lebanon Or Hezbollah?
By Abdulrahman Al-Rashed
• Can Arab World Economies Achieve What Politics Couldn’t?
By Raed Omari
Compiled By New Age Islam Edit Bureau
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ISIL and the Misuse of the Imagination
John Bell
29 Feb 2016
As ISIL's bombs explode in Baghdad, only one week after they killed 129 in Damascus and Homs in Syria, the group continues its rampage. It is under increasing pressure, but it remains effective; there may be lessons about the rise of this terrible phenomenon in unusual places. One direction is to art.
If one looks at some of the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch, one cannot but be fascinated and perplexed by the fertility of his imagination. Half-men, half-beasts, peculiar sexual acts, misshapen faces, infernos, religious symbols and quasi-chaotic crowds populate his work.
ISIL Kills Scores in Bloody Day of Attacks across Iraq
For some, this painter of the 15th century was moralising, attempting to show the nature of depravity or sin, and, so, drawing people away from it. He also presented a land of dreams and nightmares, the product of a rich and fecund imagination that captivates. We are either repulsed or drawn in, wanting to know more.
Ugly and Mad Acts
It is this same power of the imagination that empowers ISIL, lures its recruits, and propels their ugly and mad acts through the media.
Their brutal actions and inversion of nature, like Bosch, capture our minds, gaining the crucial attention that they desperately seek. ISIL's leaders know that the power of imagination can trigger a cascade of actions, including a flood of recruits.
There are many who have done excellent work in understanding the motivations of ISIL and other violent extremists. American anthropologist Scott Atran stands out, recounting in detail how ISIL members are drawn by the upside and the excitement of that world.
The lure of the fight and camaraderie has drawn men since The Iliad, if not before.
He explains that "dismissing the group as 'nihilistic' reflects a dangerous avoidance of trying to comprehend and deal with its profoundly alluring mission to change and save the world".
Tragically, Atran is right. ISIL offers a successful and attractive programme for some tempted by a natural rebelliousness. Young men, under certain conditions, are particularly vulnerable to fanaticism, and to ISIL's supercharged mission, so much so that they are ready to destroy all around to achieve its ends.
The lure of the fight and camaraderie has drawn men since The Iliad, if not before. An inflamed mind and desire for glory also gathered stockbrokers at the Tower of London in 1914 to go to fight in Flanders - only to be later torn to shreds by machinegun bullets and artillery.
The initial excitement did not foresee the rats and mud in the trenches, nor the rattle of machineguns that turned them into dead men or ghosts.
Apocalyptic Glory
ISIL presents an image of partaking in apocalyptic glory, of a millennial caliphate, but, in reality, something closer to Bosch materialises. Real life with ISIL in Iraq and Syria includes the terror of being bombed from the air, or being controlled by ideological masters, a chamber of horrors from which exit is not as easy as entry.
ISIL fighters take part in a military parade along the streets of northern Raqqa province [Reuters]
Nevertheless, some find this hell, like Bosch's paintings, perversely attractive, including its haunting religious symbolism.
We don't dwell much on the role of imagination in politics.
We are often too busy diving into its enthusiasms to even think about it. But, as Atran states, "until we recognise the passions [ISIL's] message is capable of stirring up among disaffected youth around the world, we risk strengthening them and contributing to the chaos that ISIL cherishes".
The pursuit of meaning is a basic human need, not an indulgence, and, if not directed positively, it can be rechanneled destructively towards terribly cruel acts by some manipulating us into deceptions.
Their skills are in creating the imaginings that entrap, and the attractive strands of meaning, whether it is the tweets of ISIL or the simplistic shouts of demagogues across the world - if the message catches, we're caught.
It is also these very manipulators who lack the capacity to imagine the reality of their message. They present a captivating cartoonish world, but they are autistic about the consequences of their actions. Both leaders and followers have the capacity to be blinded by states of high emotion, ignorant of the realities around the corner, whether it is the devastation of Syria and Iraq, or of any war.
Virtues of Violence and Conflict
In our day and age, anyone trumpeting the virtues of violence and conflict should read John Hersey's account of the aftermath of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima for a taste of the real.
In the meantime, we have Bosch to dwell on, to remind us that horrors are not just paint on canvas but living dynamics, images that can come to life, and take us to heaven or hell, depending on our inclination.
Unless we are aware that imagination is only a temporary glimpse into the possible, rather than a world worth fighting and dying for, we can be lost.
Bosch himself also offers the way out. In many of his paintings, an owl is depicted, often small and unnoticed, sometimes on garments, or humorously sitting on the head of a nun. The owl can be understood as the creature that sees in the night when others are blind. It is a metaphor for the quiet and sober observer that we must all tap into to see through illusion and move towards a more solid and fulfilling reality.
John Bell is director of the Middle East Programme at the Toledo International Centre for Peace in Madrid. He is a former UN and Canadian diplomat, and served as a political adviser to the Personal Representative of the UN Secretary-General for southern Lebanon and adviser to the Canadian government.
Source: aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/02/isil-misuse-imagination-160229082009380.html
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Towards A Strategic Arab-Russia Dialogue
By Raghida Dergham
29 February 2016
No sane person today expects the Arab countries to have consensus on the conflicts in the region with a unified position like that of Russia or the deliberately absent United States. The reputation for division and rivalry behind the scenes emerges – and is even part of the policies foreign ministers draft – ahead of any meeting among Arab leaders. The biggest problem, however, is when Arab diplomatic readings conflict with Russia’s positions, for example, leading to conflicting policies, as this only serves to continue the bleeding. This applies to the various readings of US policies in the Middle East as well as Russian policies.
The problem essentially lies in the structure of Arab-Arab relations, and in the Arab region’s lack of firm and necessary action to reconfigure the Arab region in the global space. The Beirut Institute in partnership with A.T. Kearny, presented this week a number of bold policy recommendations following a unique summit that brought together key decision makers and young leaders in Abu Dhabi last year. These recommendations to policymakers included a strategic roadmap for the reconfiguration of the Arab region, containing five main elements designed to: stop the bleeding; align and reinforce the core; unleash transformative growth; strengthen societal cohesion; build a regional security architecture.
Stopping the bleeding is extremely crucial in Syria and Yemen, but also Libya and Iraq. Starting out from Syria and an Arab assessment of Russian and American policies there is self-evidently important, especially since the Arab engagement with Russia covers both the issues of the bleeding and the regional security architecture. To be sure, Russian-American partnership in Syria could evolve into a broader-based partnership, including in restructuring regional security, and talks in this direction have already started in various capitals. Regardless of whether this happens or not, the Arab region must avoid denial and burying heads in the sand in light of the historical developments taking place. They must confront geopolitical arbitrariness with a practical vision and strategy.
A short pause at the conflicting Arab readings of Russian policy shows the depth of the problem. On the one hand, a segment of the people of the Gulf were worried when they heard the statement that Russia sees its relationship with Iran as a long-term strategic one, as this column quoted high-level Russian sources last week. On the other hand, diplomats skeptical about this said the information in their possession from decision makers in Moscow directly contradicts this statement.
The bottom line of what these diplomats say is that the Russian-Iranian relationship is not a permanent strategic one, but is one of rivalry even in Syria. They say the Russian military intervention in Syria serves the interests of the Gulf countries, because it disallows their rival Iran from dominating Syria. They believe the GCC countries stand to benefit from the Russian intervention because it aims to defeat ISIS, which is an existential threat to these nations.
The proponents of this view, however, deliberately ignore two issues: First, the Russian intervention has targeted primarily the moderate Syrian rebels, which some in the Gulf claim to support. Second, Russian policy is to rescue the regime in Damascus and keeping Bashar al-Assad in power until further notice. In this regard, some like to insist vehemently that Moscow’s support for the regime is to support the Syrian state and not necessarily Bashar al-Assad. Others like to claim that Moscow wants a secular Syria and not a pro-Shiite pro-Persian Syria. In their view, all this proves that there is a Russian-Iranian dispute over Syria.
Strategic Ties?
There is no need to delve into a rebuttal of these interpretations. Perhaps Russian diplomacy itself is distributing roles in its messages to the Arab regions in a deliberately contradicting manner. Perhaps Russian diplomacy’s vision for relations with key Arab countries is that having long-term strategic ties with Iran does not conflict with having strong ties with Saudi Arabia, for example. Moscow does not want to acknowledge that the regime in Tehran is a theocracy one of whose stated goals is to export the Shiite revolution to the Arab countries. The reason is that Russia is fully invested in fighting the rise of Sunni Islamists to power, because this would allow them to export their radical ideas to Russia where the 20 million Muslims are mostly Sunni.
In the view of one senior Emirati official, the Russian interest requires having strong and strategic relations with Saudi Arabia, home to Islam’s holiest sites in Mecca and Medina. His opinion is that Russian diplomacy must consider two issues when upholding its policies on Syria and Iran: One, the fact that its leadership of the battle against what it terms Sunni Islamic terrorism could invite revenge in the Russian homeland and the five Muslim republics formerly in the USSR.
And two, the fact that Russia’s alliance with Iran and the Shiite militias in Syria reinforces the view that it is at war with Sunnis. Therefore, in order to avoid being implicated in Sunni-Shiite war, Russia must develop special ties with Saudi Arabia, according to the UAE official, who said that the kingdom’s stability is crucial for his country and the Arab Gulf nations, and must therefore be taken into account by Russian diplomacy.
Some Russian diplomats agree building strong relations with Riyadh is as important as having strong relations with Tehran, and Saudi already welcomes the bid to develop relations with Russia. Others believe there is no choice but to make a choice between the two, because it is impossible to reconcile the two. Therefore, these diplomats believe it would be best for Moscow to mediate between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
The reconfiguration of the Arab region in the global space requires accelerating institutionalization of Arab strategic and operational integration by creating a cohesive plan and vision
The view of the group of elite thinkers from both the government sector and the private sector meeting at the Beirut Institute summit, as stated in the recommendations, was that “the bilateral relationship between Saudi Arabia and Iran arguably represents the single most important driver of the evolution of the Middle East geopolitically, economically and socially. Therefore, a disciplined, energetic effort to regularize dialogue between these two powers is a critical imperative for the region and the world.”
I am the founder and executive president of Beirut Institute – an international think tank focused on the Arab region. The 21 pages of recommendations, and the names of those who attended the summit in Abu Dhabi, are available on www.beirutinstitute.org. The second summit will convene in Riyadh in partnership with the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies next fall.
The recommendations for decision-makers refer to the need to build momentum gradually in the bilateral relationship between Saudi Arabia and Iran, to include efforts for a “second path” away from the limelight for confidence-building measures and establishing a strategic dialog. Russia can play an active role in this context, provided that it turns from a partner of Iran in the bleeding of Syria to a serious partner in international efforts to stop that bleeding.
Stopping the bleeding has become a moral and strategic imperative, as the recommendations state, and establishing the necessary security basis to achieve comprehensive progress in the region. This also requires funding and a region-wide plan for stability and reconstruction, led by the Gulf nations with international assistance. It also requires systematically intensifying of the military, financial and strategic communication efforts to defeat ISIS.
The reconfiguration of the Arab region in the global space requires accelerating institutionalization of Arab strategic and operational integration by creating a cohesive strategic plan and vision for the region. It also requires improving the pillars of good governance across the Arab region, strengthening governance and the rule of law based on agreed norms grounded in local legitimacy and engaging youth in building the regional future.
Political realism does not prevent conflicting readings but by its nature, that does not require a lot of diligence. There is no need to deny what is clear just because that would fit with wishful thinking. The task ahead for the Arab region is huge. The least thing to do would be to admit to the facts even if they are painful, in order to develop rational policies to deal with them.
Raghida Dergham is Columnist, Senior Diplomatic Correspondent, and New York Bureau Chief for the London-based Al Hayat newspaper since 1989. She is dean of the international media at the United Nations. Dergham is Founder and Executive Chairman of Beirut Institute, an indigenous, independent, inter-generational think tank for the Arab region with a global reach. An authority on strategic international relations, Dergham is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and an Honorary Fellow at the Foreign Policy Association. She served on the International Media Council of the World Economic Forum, and is a member of the Development Advisory Committee of the IAP- the Global Network of Science Academies.
Source: english.alarabiya.net/en/views/2016/02/29/Towards-a-strategic-Arab-Russia-dialog.html
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Punishing Lebanon or Hezbollah?
By Abdulrahman al-Rashed
29 February 2016
Following Saudi measures against Hezbollah, some people now think the Lebanese people are satisfied with the party’s actions. Let us recall that those who assassinated former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, as international investigators have proven, are Hezbollah members. He and other Lebanese symbols who dared confront the Iran-Hezbollah-Syrian regime axis were killed.
They included ministers Mohammad Chatah and Bassel Fleihan, army official Francois al-Hajj, Wissam al-Hassan, one of the most prominent security officials who was monitoring Hezbollah, Major Wissam Eid for the same reason, and intellectual George Hawi. One of the most prominent young Christian leaders, minister and MP Pierre Gemayel - son of Kataeb Party leader Amin Gemayel - was killed at the age of 34.
Prominent author Samir Kassir and renowned journalist Gebran Tueni, former editor-in-chief of An-Nahar newspaper, were also killed. TV journalist May Chidiac was targeted by a car bomb. She survived but lost a leg and arm. Despite this, her stances are the same.
When Hezbollah invaded Sunni areas in west Beirut six years ago, causing much death and destruction, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt stood in solidarity with the Sunnis. Hezbollah then attacked Druze areas in the mountains, killing 46 and injuring 123. The bravest of men to defy Hezbollah is Christian leader Samir Geagea, who has continued to confront the party and the Syrian regime since his release from jail.
Many Lebanese Shiites have dared to protest in front of the Iranian embassy in Beirut against Hezbollah’s intervention in Syria. However, party members attacked them, and shot and killed protest leader Hisham Salman in a hideous public execution.
Unreasonable Demands
This is why it is unacceptable to say the Lebanese people have not tried to defy Iranian hegemony. Hezbollah possesses a power that it established under the pretext of resisting Israel - a lie that in the past naive Arabs believed and supported. Most Lebanese wish to get rid of the party ideologically and militarily, for domestic reasons that have nothing to do with Syria or Saudi Arabia.
Hezbollah has restrained their lives and created fear that has led to the emigration of hundreds of thousands and the loss of investors. Its activities have harmed downtown Beirut, as the party has invaded it whenever it wants to protest and terrorize its visitors. One cannot demand that the Lebanese people confront Iran and Hezbollah when there is no foreign power willing to support them. The same goes for the Syrian people who are being slaughtered.
I think Riyadh will increase support to all those confronting Tehran and its allies, including those in Lebanon and even opposition parties in Iran
The Saudi suspension of aid to the Lebanese army is justified. The aim of the aid was to empower state institutions in the face of extremist organizations such as Hezbollah and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). However, Hezbollah is using the army in its war against the Syrian people to protect its fronts and passages, and army officials are powerless. Riyadh’s decision is wise because it targets Hezbollah.
The kingdom has also halted Saudi flights to Beirut, urged Saudi citizens to leave Lebanon, and blacklisted some companies and people for having links to Hezbollah. All these decisions are justified to confront Iran and its proxy, especially after the latter’s plan to hijack a Saudi passenger plane in the Philippines was exposed.
I do not think Saudi Arabia will stop supporting parties that confront Hezbollah, and will not stop dealing with Lebanese who have nothing to do with the party. I think Riyadh will increase support to all those confronting Tehran and its allies, including those in Lebanon and even opposition parties in Iran.
Abdulrahman al-Rashed is the former General Manager of Al Arabiya News Channel. A veteran and internationally acclaimed journalist, he is a former editor-in-chief of the London-based leading Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat, where he still regularly writes a political column. He has also served as the editor of Asharq al-Awsat’s sister publication, al-Majalla. Throughout his career, Rashed has interviewed several world leaders, with his articles garnering worldwide recognition, and he has successfully led Al Arabiya to the highly regarded, thriving and influential position it is in today.
Source: english.alarabiya.net/en/views/2016/02/29/Betrayal-by-those-closest-to-you.html
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The Case against Hezbollah
By Dr. Khaled M. Batarfi
Mar 1, 2016
The problem with the Arab mindset is that we tend to forget and forgive too often. Hezbollah is a case in point.
When the “Party of God” raised the resistance flag and achieved some victories against Israel that forced it to withdraw from South Lebanon in 2000, we celebrated the achievement and forgot and forgave the party’s crimes since its inception in 1982.
Since then, they have built their reputation on plain terrorism: Mass murdering Palestinian refugees during the Civil War; bombing public places in Kuwait and attempting to assassinate its Emir (1983); hijacking a TWA plane (1985), and Kuwait airliner (1988), and killing 21 in AC Flight 901, Panama (1994).
There is also the bombing of an American compound in Al-Khobar (1996); providing “direct assistance” to Al Qaeda, including training and explosives, in US Embassy bombings (1998); the assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri (2005) and many of his allies; and the kidnapping of Westerners (1982 to 1992). The party has refused to hand any of its assassins over to international or local courts.
In addition, there were many convicted cases of drug trafficking and money laundering in USA, South America, Mexico, Europe and the Middle East. Add this to the uncovered terrorist cells and acts in Singapore, Lebanon, Egypt, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain. Just between 1982 and 1986, there were 36 suicide attacks in Lebanon directed against American and French forces, killing 659.
All these well-documented crimes do not include the ongoing investigation of terrorist acts and cells in Arab countries.
Our Alzheimer could go so far, however. We woke up and finally regained our collective memory when the party “ninjas” (Black Shirt troopers) occupied Beirut and the Druze Mountain (2008) to punish the government for dismantling its spy network on government and public communication networks.
During the Beirut occupation, the “ninjas” killed over 100 Lebanese, and no case was ever investigated or has gone to court, to-date.
With virtual control over the capital, a “unity government” was formed with 11 ministers loyal to the party, giving it a paralyzing veto power, which it used to force its choice of president, officials and policies.
Worse, the new Cabinet approved a policy statement, which secures Hezbollah’s existence as an armed organization and guarantees its right to “liberate or recover occupied lands.” No other group, party or nongovernmental organization was given the same right.
With Iran’s support, Hezbollah’s military has grown so much that it is now considered more powerful than the Army. The party has become a “state within a state” with a radio and a satellite TV station, social services and large-scale military deployment abroad, supporting pro-Iran regimes, such as Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
Today, the party is involved in training Iran’s terrorists in Arab countries. As a recent Alarabiya TV documentary showed, Hezbollah mercenaries were helping Houthis in Yemen to conduct terrorist operations in the Saudi capital and to blindly shell Saudi villages and towns.
In Kuwait, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates, cells, operatives, guns and explosives were uncovered. Networks of money laundering, drug trafficking and covert financial operations were exposed. Companies that supply weapons and military materials and spare parts to the party were targeted and the materials confiscated.
All the above had badly affected Lebanon’s relations with its Arab neighbours and Lebanese abroad.
According to “Russia Today,” Saudi Arabia had provided $70 billion since 1980 to the Lebanese government, while Iran aid was directed exclusively to the party they sponsored. Half a million Lebanese working in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States send 7 billion dollars a year home (80% of total expatriate remittance worldwide).
Lebanon’s industrial and agricultural exports to Saudi alone make up 50% and 75% (respectively) of its total exports, according to Beirut Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
On the other hand, Iran, receives 20% religious tax on the income of its Shiite followers in Lebanon, imports none of Lebanese products, and hosts no working expatriates. Its aid promises in the last 35 years amounted to nothing, according to Russia Today report.
However, the Farsi nation provides the party with an annual $200 million in military aid, and has trained thousands in guerrilla warfare and Shiite propagation.
Since all religious income tax from “Alwali Alfaqeeh” followers goes to Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has become one of the richest men in the world, with a $90 billion personal fortune, according to Forbes Magazine. Other senior religious leaders made huge, if lesser, fortunes, and the clergy business dominates Iran’s economy.
So what we are facing here is an international mafia, dealing in arms, drug, terrorism, mercenaries and money laundering, in addition to war crimes and ethnic cleansing in Syria and Iraq.
It is a case of clear and present danger to world peace and human rights that should be presented to the United Nations Security Council and World Criminal Court.
The party, its master in Iran, and global affiliates, must be thoroughly investigated and tried. If convicted, the world community should stand together to punish them, eradicate their ugly and dirty business, and dry up their resources.
Dr. Khaled M. Batarfi is a Saudi writer based in Jeddah.
Source: saudigazette.com.sa/opinion/the-case-against-hezbollah/
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Can Arab World Economies Achieve What Politics Couldn’t?
By Raed Omari
29 February 2016
We Arabs have been in a state of loss and despair since late 2010. If it is not war, bloodshed and starvation, we encounter instability and insecurity. Even the luckiest among us are at the least worried about developments. It would be no exaggeration to say that all Arabs are either traumatized or are in a state of indifference that has developed over a period of time owing to their inability to keep pace with events they can’t figure out.
A complex set of political and military realities face our region today. The region has turned into a domain for settling scores and crises, one after another, both home-grown and borrowed. International interference in the Arab region, which is either passive as in the case with the U.S. or destructive as in Russia’s case, has had its impact on the Arab world’s relations and on its historically preserved alliances.
It is difficult nowadays for an Arab state to build an alliance with another without taking into account the geopolitical risks involved. Just like Arab citizens, its politicians seem bewildered as well. They haven’t fully come to terms with the lack of interest demonstrated by the U.S. in the region and are unable to deal with the Russians who have been on a different trajectory.
As a result, Arabs look at the world map redrawn based on economic alliances, whether in Europe, Latin America, the Indian subcontinent, or in China and Russia. They look outward and close their doors on each other to avoid further conflict.
However, this approach has proved to be a failure especially with the region’s woes surpassing the capabilities of a single state to address. Putting aside the complex politics and sensitive remapping of alliances, the Arab world has one option to restore hope for its desperate and traumatized citizens – economic opportunities.
Before the so-called Arab Spring surfaced, inter-Arab gatherings used to conclude with large Arab corporations signing on the dotted lines for mega project in other brotherly Arab countries. This would boost the economy and create jobs. This doesn’t seem to be happening anymore. Nowadays, even letters of intent or memoranda of understanding, for pan-Arab projects, are not signed for fear of political conflict and unrest.
Even during business gatherings within the Arab region, such as the World Economic Forum in Jordan, politics continues to be in focus. In the Forum’s 2015 edition, for instance, almost all the spotlight was on the situation in Syria and Iraq and the peace process.
Private Sector
The Arab world’s private sector also seems to have lost its spirit of adventure and independence. The sensitive remapping of alliances within the region has also left a deep impact on the Arab companies’ pragmatism in terms of investment and joint ventures.
The overindulgence in politics and an atmosphere of suspicion has made issues such as sustainable development and joint ventures either a luxury or taboo. The people of the Arab world seem to have been forgotten between an extremely cautious private sector and governments concerned with security.
It is obvious that there is a need to enhance economic opportunities in the Arab world. In the wake of its troubling politics, a heartening scene would be that of two Arab leaders, or more, signing on dotted lines for major cooperation agreements between their countries for the benefit of their youth or may be a group of Arab states announcing an economic alliance of some kind such as the EU, even at the micro level, to serve their mutual interests.
What we must realize is that it is the economy and not politics that makes the EU still hold and the U.S. seeking relations with Cuba. These countries have seized opportunities and put aside their political differences for the sake of the welfare of their citizens. Let economies of the Arab world achieve what politics and armies fail to.
Raed Omari is a Jordanian journalist, political analyst, parliamentary affairs expert, and commentator on local and regional political affairs. His writing focuses on the Arab Spring, press freedoms, Islamist groups, emerging economies, climate change, natural disasters, agriculture, the environment and social media. He is a writer for The Jordan Times, and contributes to Al Arabiya English.
Source: english.alarabiya.net/en/views/2016/02/29/Can-Arab-world-economies-achieve-what-politics-couldn-t-.html
URL: https://newageislam.com/middle-east-press/isil-misuse-imagination-new-age/d/106506