Israel’s Disappearance from Arab Media Scene: New Age Islam's Selection, 25 February 2016
New Age Islam Edit Bureau
25 February 2016
• Israel’s Disappearance from Arab Media Scene
By Abdulateef Al-Mulhim
• Syria’s Cessation of Hostilities Is a Positive Step
By Maria Dubovikova
• Surrounding Israel with Fences Is Netanyahu’s New Trump Card
By Yossi Mekelberg
• Will Lebanon Become A State Once Again?
By Mshari Al Thaydi
• ‘Halal’ For Iran But ‘Haram’ For Saudi Arabia?
By Turki Al-Dakhil
Compiled By New Age Islam Edit Bureau
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Israel’s Disappearance from Arab Media Scene
By Abdulateef Al-Mulhim
25 February 2016
Does anyone in the Arab world know what is happening in Israel? Do we know what weapons systems their defense forces are acquiring or developing? Do we know who is who in the Israeli policymaking circles?
The answer to the above questions is: We don’t know. Yes, we really don’t because at present, we don’t see or hear much about Israel in the Arab media. Israel has almost disappeared from headlines and many people no longer consider Israel as a threat. This is a reality that we have to learn to live with.
The day the so-called Arab Spring erupted, Israel became invisible in the Arab media. Arabs are too preoccupied with so many issues plaguing their own lands. Today, we don’t read much about Israel in the newspapers or see any reports about the Middle Eastern country in the electronic media. This is not a case of sudden disappearance. From referring to Israel as the Zionist enemy, the Arab media changed the tone by calling it the Israeli enemy, then we became aware of the term “hostile Israel” and then it was referred to as state of Israel and now Israel has simply vanished from the Arab media. It appears to be no longer on our radar.
In the past few decades, we only heard about one enemy of the Arab world — Israel. Ironically, more wars have taken place between Arab countries than between Israel and Arabs. As a matter of fact, wars between the Arab world and Israel are considered less severe compared to wars between the Arab countries and clashes within some Arab countries. The major Arab-Israeli conflicts took place in 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973 and this doesn’t include minor conflicts and battles such as the clashes in southern Lebanon. But, overall, the wars were clear, people knew who was who in the battlefield and the casualties were not as high as people would see in other wars. In addition to that the wars were brief. And please don’t get me wrong, I hate wars and the loss of one life does matters. That is, however, a different issue.
The question remains, why has Israel disappeared from our media? Even it is no longer part of our living room discussions. Could the answer be that the Arab world has its hands full with internal issues or is it something else?
It is true that the Arab world has its hands full with other issues but there could be another reason for that. Simply put, some of the Arab leaders used the Palestinian issue just to portray themselves as heroes. Ironically, Israel is the one that invented many fake heroes and dictators in the Arab world. Just look at Lebanon’s Hassan Nasrallah who hijacked and destroyed Lebanon initially using anti-Israel propaganda. Similarly, we have seen Egypt’s Gamal Abdel Nasser, Syria’s Hafez Assad and many others who became instant heroes because they showed hostility toward Israel. They also (mis)used the Palestinian misery and in due process they simply forgot to build their countries and neglected improving the living standards of their people.
Now the Arab media is drawing comparisons between the devastation caused during wars with Israel and the current regional scenario particularly the events taking place in Syria — a country whose own people are bent on its destruction. People are asking as to why during full-scale wars with Israel, we never saw destruction of archaeological, historical or religious sites. In the past, we talked about Palestinian refugees, now we are dealing with a new wave of refugees emanating from Syria and other parts of the region. The Arab media now has no time or space to talk about Israel and to raise the issue of Palestine or Palestinians.
And let us not forget Iran, which is not an Arab country, but it is also silent about Israel. A few years ago, they wanted to wipe Israel out from the map but now there is no mention of Israel in the Iranian media. Perhaps, due to the fact that Saudi Arabia has replaced Israel as Iran’s number one enemy.
Instead of reading about Israel, Arabs want to discuss ways to promote better education, improved health-care facilities, social equality and better infrastructure.
At the end of the day, no matter what we write about Israel, the Israelis don’t care. They know we are busy.
Source: arabnews.com/columns/news/885871
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Syria’s Cessation of Hostilities Is a Positive Step
By Maria Dubovikova
24 February 2016
Russian President Vladimir Putin rarely gives addresses, so the fact the he gave one on Monday following agreement on a cessation of hostilities in Syria shows how much the conflict matters to Moscow.
Putin said the joint U.S.-Russian statement was preceded by intensive work by experts from both countries, and the positive experience of cooperating to eliminate Syrian chemical weapons played a significant role.
According to the deal, by the eve of Feb. 27 - the day when guns should fall silent - the warring sides should inform Washington and Moscow on their commitment to the cessation of hostilities. No military action will be taken against parties that commit to it. The agreement excludes internationally acknowledged terrorist organizations such as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Jabhat al-Nusra.
It includes the establishment of a communication hotline, and most likely of a working group to exchange relevant information. Putin said Moscow and Washington are ready to launch effective mechanisms to promote and monitor compliance by Damascus and armed opposition forces.
The cessation of hostilities covers all members of the International Syria Support Group (ISSG). Turkey will have to stop its attacks on Kurds, and the agreement will help prevent Russia from hitting non-ISIS targets.
Hope?
Putin rightly said the agreement has a chance to become “an example of responsible actions of the global community.” Recent weeks gave rise to deep concerns over the future of the Syrian peace process. Actions and statements by the powers involved, including Russia, were pushing the world to the precipice of a global conflict.
Now the international community and the Syrian people have a real chance to settle the conflict and hope for peace. However, that chance and hope are weak as long as the agreement itself is weak. It is not easy at all to pinpoint on a map which groups are committed to the cessation of hostilities.
This agreement shows that the parties to the conflict are still able to negotiate. The question is whether the sides are willing enough to make peace
For example, Jabhat al-Nusra’s positions are mixed with those of the Free Syrian Army (FSA). The opposition has already shared its concerns that pro-regime forces will continue to hit rebel positions under the pretext of fighting Jabhat al-Nusra.
U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner responded with a tough message to the rebels: “If you hang out with the wrong folks, you choose who you hang out with, and that sends a signal.” In addition, Turkey’s attacks on Kurdish militias could continue despite the cessation of hostilities, undermining the peace process and coalition forces’ efforts to fight ISIS.
In any case, this agreement shows that despite all the problems, the parties to the conflict are still able to negotiate. It would have been much better for the Syrian people if such an agreement were reached two or three years ago, when the crisis was not so entrenched and not so many lives were lost. But better late than never. The question that remains is whether the sides are willing enough to make peace.
Maria Dubovikova is a President of IMESClub and CEO of MEPFoundation. Alumni of MGIMO (Moscow State Institute of International Relations [University] of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia), now she is a PhD Candidate there. Her research fields are in Russian foreign policy in the Middle East, Euro-Arab dialogue, policy in France and the U.S. towards the Mediterranean, France-Russia bilateral relations, humanitarian cooperation and open diplomacy.
Source: english.alarabiya.net/en/views/2016/02/24/Syria-s-cessation-of-hostilities-is-a-positive-step.html
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Surrounding Israel with Fences Is Netanyahu’s New Trump Card
By Yossi Mekelberg
24 February 2016
No Israeli prime minister has ever contributed to the isolation of Israel from the world, as much as the current one Benjamin Netanyahu. His constant reckless policies and rancorous rhetoric drive away even some of the country’s closest friends. Erecting a fence all around Israel’s borders is Netanyahu’s newest trump card in ensuring Israeli security, in his own words "to protect the country from the wild beasts".
If isolating Israel politically was not enough, now Netanyahu seems determined to ghettoize it from its neighbors physically. The act itself and the rhetoric that accompanied it, provided a disturbing insight into the mind-set of the current Israeli political and military leadership. Self-evidently, Israel faces new security challenges in an ever-changing Middle East, which endures a protracted and violent turmoil.
Consequently, new threats are emerging, but with them also new opportunities. Building fences and walls epitomizes Netanyahu’s oversimplification of extremely complex conditions on Israeli borders. Furthermore, he employs the politics of fear to carry the public opinion.
One should take issue not only with Netanyahu’s strategy of protecting the citizens of Israel from future threat, through a complete physical separation from all of the country’s neighbours, but also his incendiary language. Demonizing and dehumanizing anyone and everyone who attempts to cross the border, calling them wild animals, is a sign of a leader losing his way. It is also a sign of weakness rather than a show of strength.
Undeniably, there are militant and terrorist elements unwavering in their drive to harm Israel and its citizens. Nevertheless, preventing attacks does not require inflammatory and degrading language Netanyahu-style. Are all Arabs who try to cross the border “wild beasts”, including those who escape from the atrocities of war?
Does Netanyahu perceive the refugees or asylum seekers from the Sudan and Eretria, fleeing for their lives, as “predators”? His choice of words is evidence of a politician who sees the other, whosoever the other is, as a threat and as an enemy.
Collective Punishment?
To be sure, this act of putting an entire nation behind bars in the name of protecting them cannot be separated from the other string of policies, which portray all the Palestinians and their representatives, inside Israel and in the occupied territories, as untrustworthy and a menace to the Jewish state.
First came his call for the Jewish population in Israel, on the day of the last elections, to vote in order to prevent Arab parties from maximizing their representation, referring to their fundamental act of exercising their democratic right to vote, as an attack on the Jewish state.
Earlier this year Netanyahu depicted, following a terrorist act by a single Arab-Israeli in Tel Aviv, the entire Arab minority in Israel as a bunch of outlaws. Most recently the coalition government threatened to suspend a number of elected Arab MKs because they met with families of Palestinians, who requested their assistance with the return of the bodies of family members killed in attacks against Jews.
Building fences and walls epitomizes Netanyahu’s oversimplification of extremely complex conditions on Israeli borders
These meetings might be controversial, but they are not illegal or illogical. They are not necessarily an expression of support for militancy, but of the right to be buried with dignity, regardless of the circumstances of death and also as a means to provide families with closure. Moreover, this unnecessary delay in bringing to rest the dead assailants causes huge resentment among the wider Palestinian population and triggers further tensions.
Netanyahu and his political allies are not on their own in advancing this type of nationalistic populism, which suggests that walls and fences are the only guarantor of one’s national interest. This approach puts Netanyahu in the camp of Donald Trump and the far right in Europe, who see any cross-border movement of people, as a threat to security and the character of a country. One wonders if this is the company that the Israeli leadership would like to be associated with.
Against Basic Traits
Furthermore, this inward looking approach is also a tragic reversal of the basic traits of the Zionist movement, which in essence led to the foundation of the state of Israel. The founders of the movement for the revival of the Jewish self-determination, aimed to bring down the physical and mental walls of the Jewish ghettos in the diaspora.
They saw segregation from the rest of the population, whether voluntary or imposed, as one of the root causes of the wretchedness of diaspora life. The return to the ancient land and founding of a Jewish state, as controversial as it might be, should have resulted in building a nation-state integrated within its international environment.
The fear of the other whether within Israel, the occupied territories, or even beyond its borders, is a return to a diaspora mentality, but within a country, which is armed to the teeth and is economically viable.
This can only spell dangerous news of going down the path of the ancient Jewish biblical notion of “… people that shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations”. It contradicts the image Israel is attempting to project to the world of a modern society with an advanced hi-tech economy and which harbors liberal Western values.
Sadly, the current Israeli government is leading the country towards international political isolation through its intransigence toward peace with the Palestinians, the expansion of settlements in the occupied territories and by the rejection of any criticism, even that coming from the closest of allies and friends.
The need to protect the country against potential threats is indisputable. What should be under scrutiny are the policies that leave the state and people of Israel believing that their survival relies on building a fortress- like Israel.
Yossi Mekelberg is an Associate Fellow at the Middle East and North Africa Program at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, where he is involved with projects and advisory work on conflict resolution, including Track II negotiations. He is also the Director of the International Relations and Social Sciences Program at Regent’s University in London, where he has taught since 1996. Previously, he was teaching at King’s College London and Tel Aviv University. Mekelberg’s fields of interest are international relations theory, international politics of the Middle East, human rights, and international relations and revolutions. He is a member of the London Committee of Human Rights Watch, serving on the Advocacy and Outreach committee. Mekelberg is a regular contributor to the international media on a wide range of international issues .
Source: english.alarabiya.net/en/views/2016/02/24/Surrounding-Israel-with-fences-is-Netanyahu-s-new-trump-card.html
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Will Lebanon Become A State Once Again?
By Mshari Al Thaydi
25 February 2016
Saudi Arabia’s suspension of aid worth $4 billion to Lebanon’s army and Internal Security Forces derives from Riyadh’s declining relationship with the Lebanese state since the hegemony of pro-Iran Hezbollah and its follower, the Free Patriotic Movement led by Michel Aoun. It is not true that Riyadh has had enough of Lebanese media criticism - despite this, Saudi support continued because it was aware that Lebanon is diverse religiously and politically.
However, things took a dangerous turn when the Lebanese state broke with its Arab and Muslim neighbours after its Aounist Foreign Minister Gibran Bassil refused to adopt Arab condemnation of the arson attack against the Saudi embassy in Tehran and its consulate in Mashhad. Gibran justified himself by claiming to protect Lebanese national unity and impartiality.
Hezbollah’s Hegemony
Lebanese Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi resigned because of “Hezbollah’s influence in government” and its paralyzing of the country’s politics. The people have been prevented from electing a president for 21 months due to Hezbollah, which does not consider the state a priority and is busy waging regional wars.
Hezbollah is managing Lebanon’s foreign affairs. For now, Lebanon is not even close to being a state.
The party issued a statement in response to the Saudi aid suspension, evading responsibility for the deterioration of Lebanese-Saudi relations and repeating the usual insults toward Riyadh. Hezbollah is managing Lebanon’s foreign affairs through Bassil. For now, Lebanon is not even close to being a state.
This article first appeared on Asharq al-Awsat on Feb. 22, 2016.
Saudi journalist Mshari Al Thaydi presents Al Arabiya News Channel’s “views on the news” daily show “Maraya.” He has previously held the position of a managing senior editor for Saudi Arabia & Gulf region at pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat. Al Thaydi has published several papers on political Islam and social history of Saudi Arabia. He appears as a guest on several radio and television programs to discuss the ideologies of extremist groups and terrorists.
Source: english.alarabiya.net/en/views/2016/02/25/Will-Lebanon-become-a-state-once-again-.html
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‘Halal’ For Iran but ‘Haram’ For Saudi Arabia?
By Turki Al-Dakhil
24 February 2016
Egyptian columnist Fahmy Howeidy does not tire of saying Iran’s regional rise is due to the absence of Arab unity. It is indisputable that Iran became stronger following the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. Saudi Arabia considered that war as handing Iraq to Iran on a golden plate.
Iran has since established more than 60 militias that are supervised by its Revolutionary Guards. It has launched TV channels and newspapers, planted wings affiliated with it in Gulf countries, invaded Beirut via its proxy Hezbollah in May 2008, destroyed Lebanon and whatever is left of Yemen, infiltrated Africa, spread political and religious fundamentalism, and fuelled sectarianism.
Challenging Iran
However, the story today is different as Iran’s wings are being clipped. In March 2015, Saudi Arabia established the biggest international alliance since the 1990 Gulf War to support legitimacy in Yemen and curb Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
On Dec. 15, Riyadh announced the establishment of a 40-state Islamic military alliance against terrorism. It has, within the context of an Arab project, worked to protect entities from Iranian infiltration, whether in the Horn of Africa, Syria or Lebanon.
Iran became stronger following the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. However, the story today is different as Iran’s wings are being clipped
This is an authentic and serious Arab project, but Howeidy does not acknowledge that. He has even stood against Operation Decisive Storm in Yemen, and described participating in the Saudi-led coalition as “shameful."
This is the same Howeidy who said he was charmed while meeting then-Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad. Now that there is an Arab project under Saudi leadership, why do the likes of Howeidy sympathize with Iran and its destructive project?
Turki Al-Dakhil is the General Manager of Al Arabiya News Channel. He began his career as a print journalist, covering politics and culture for the Saudi newspapers Okaz, Al-Riyadh and Al-Watan. He then moved to pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat and pan-Arab news magazine Al-Majalla. Turki later became a radio correspondent for the French-owned pan-Arab Radio Monte Carlo and MBC FM. He proceeded to Elaph, an online news magazine and Alarabiya.net, the news channel’s online platform. Over a ten-year period, Dakhil’s weekly Al Arabiya talk show “Edaat” (Spotlights) provided an opportunity for proponents of Arab and Islamic social reform to make their case to a mass audience. Turki also owns Al Mesbar Studies and Research Centre and Madarek Publishing House in Dubai. He has received several awards and honors, including the America Abroad Media annual award for his role in supporting civil society, human rights and advancing women’s roles in Gulf societies.
Source: english.alarabiya.net/en/views/2016/02/24/-Halal-for-Iran-but-haram-for-Saudi-Arabia-.html
URL: https://newageislam.com/middle-east-press/israel’s-disappearance-arab-media-scene/d/106455