Saudis against Normalization: New Age Islam's Selection, 09 August 2016
New Age Islam Edit Bureau
09 August 2016
• Saudis against Normalization
By Ahmed Adnan
• The Curious Case Of Iranian Scientist Shahram Amiri
By Abdulrahman Al-Rashed
• Chemical Weapons And Selective Outrage
By Maria Dubovikova
• Russia Is the Gate to Erdogan’s Appetite for Revenge
By Raghida Dergham
Compiled By New Age Islam Edit Bureau
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Saudis against Normalization
By Ahmed Adnan
8 August 2016
After declaring the reconciliation between Turkey and Israel, journalist Ahmad bin Rashid bin Saeed tweeted: “Restoring relations with the Zionist entity was moral and for the sake of our people in Gaza. He who denies that is either tendentious or ignorant.”
Bin Saeed slammed the visit by retired Saudi General Anwar Eshki to Palestine upon the invitation of the Palestinian Authority (PA), saying he who betrays Jerusalem will be forever cursed. Who is the tendentious or ignorant one? The occupation must not obstruct communication with Palestine and its people, including Arab citizens of Israel.
The hashtag “Saudis against normalization” was recently launched. There is no doubting the honesty of the intentions of most of those tweeting it. Those whose aim is to aid Palestine must be respected, even if there are different viewpoints.
However, two categories are not worthy of respect: that which supports Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s recent attack against the Saudi kingdom, and that which puts its partisan or regional affiliation before the national interest.
Israel and Iran
Hostility toward Israel is not based on it being Jewish, but on its occupation and crimes against the Palestinian people. You cannot accuse Israel of racism and be hostile toward Jews. Our problem is with Zionism, not Judaism. If you are hostile against a religion or sect, you become similar to your enemy - this is the worst defeat.
However, it is impossible to be neutral toward a party that acts as Israel does, such as Iran, because the struggle relates to causes and practices, not to identities, religions, people or races. What is really disappointing is that the practices of Iran, a Muslim country, are worse than those of Israel.
The latter occupies Palestine and Syria’s Golan Heights, while Iran - via its militias and Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) - occupies lands and commits acts of terror in Emirati islands, Bahrain, Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon. Arab victims of Iran have in a few years exceeded the number of those martyred in the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Tehran succeeded in achieving in Palestine what Israel failed to achieve over decades. Iran turned the Palestinian cause into a power struggle, dividing Palestinians and causing them to fight each other. Due to Iran’s interference in Arab countries, destruction spread and only Israel enjoyed security.
These facts are not to commend Israel, but to slander Iran and those who support it. There is nothing wrong with saying Iran is more of a threat than Israel. Through arms, funds and propaganda, Tehran has managed to cultivate loyalists in Arab countries. These people obey Iran even if is against their own country’s interests.
Israel will not be able to achieve what Iran has, despite their cultural and practical similarities, their sense of superiority over Arabs, their occupation of land and their practice of terrorism. Unfortunately, Iran’s terrorism and occupation are worse than Israel’s.
Our problem is not with Shiites or Alawites, but with Iran and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. We will support peace with Iran if it decreases its evil to the level of Israeli evil. This reflects Tehran’s most important achievement: embellishing Israel.
Options for Palestine
Many have participated in the hashtag “Saudis against normalization,” including those who do not believe in peace. This is their respected opinion. Those who call for peace believe in confronting Israel in a different way, as peace imposes on Israel commitments and burdens. Israeli-Palestinian peace talks were launched in 1992 but halted in 2002. The situation of Palestinians back then was better than it is now.
Some may say Israel does not want peace. This strengthens the viewpoint that it is more harmed by peace than by the absence of war, or by war itself. Which Arab country or organization has a clear and practical plan to liberate Palestine?
Syria has not fired a single bullet toward the Golan in decades. Assad wrote to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledging stability along the border. Assad prefers to murder his own people, while Hezbollah has been massacring Sunnis in many places. Ironically, they are committing their crimes under the excuse of the Palestinian cause and hostility toward Israel. Fools believe them, and they are many.
Peace is achieved among enemies, not friends. The peace process was originally for the sake of Palestine. There is no contradiction between that and commitment to serving the Palestinian cause. An example is how Turkey deals with the Arab-Israeli conflict. Ankara has ties with Israel, but no one can accuse Turkey of being biased against Palestine.
The Turks serve their own interests, and we must serve ours. We cannot be more Palestinian than the Palestinians. There is no contradiction between them struggling for their cause and communicating with Israel.
We must get rid of the mediator and establish a direct network of interests with Israel that can constitute a tool of pressure to achieve peace and support the Palestinians
The option of peace gains its legitimacy from the Arab initiative, and before that from international decisions and treaties. The idea of boycotting Israel was created - despite its historical, logical and religious flaws - to besiege it and reject occupation. Following decades of this approach, we ended up with the Judaization of Jerusalem and a siege of Palestinians, so why continue to insist on it?
The idea of a just and neutral mediator is a myth. It is a diplomatic description of American and European mediation that is biased toward Israel, while the Arab definition of justice and neutrality means being biased toward us. This is thoughtless.
Any mediator will be biased toward his or her own interests, which most of the time chime with Israel’s. We must get rid of the mediator and establish a direct network of interests with Israel that can constitute a tool of pressure to achieve peace and support the Palestinians.
These theories belong to a past generation that failed in peace and war. Despite that, some want the new generations to carry the responsibility of these theories and their failures. A new approach in the Arab-Israeli conflict may yield better results, especially with regional and international developments going against us.
The option of peace is not directed against Palestine but for it. All tools of struggle are legitimate and complement one another. Our problem is with the enemies of normalization, since they adopt an unbalanced definition of it.
The issue is not about Eshki or Israel, but about the interests of Saudi Arabia and Palestine. However, for some the approval of Turkey’s sultan, the IRGC or Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood must be attained at all times. These people are neither worthy of respect nor attention.
Others want to impose a failed culture. What is the difference between their behaviour and that of Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)? If we disagree with Islamists they accuse us of infidelity, and if we disagree with nationalists they accuse us of treason. However, the political arena fits everyone and must benefit from everyone.
Source: english.alarabiya.net/en/views/2016/08/08/Saudis-against-normalization.html
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The Curious Case of Iranian Scientist Shahram Amiri
By Abdulrahman al-Rashed
8 August 2016
The story of Iranian defector Shahram Amiri is still unclear. Why did he return from the United States to Iran if he had important secrets that jeopardized his life? Why did Iranian officials receive him with warm and extensive media coverage at the airport if they had evil plans for him? Why did they quickly arrest him for treason after celebrating him at the airport as a respectable patriot? Why did they sentence him to 10 years in jail and then execute him?
There are large Iranian communities outside Iran, and most have good education and a good economic situation. Most have chosen to live in exile or were born there, and refuse to return or even visit because they do not trust the regime, which greatly resembles the totalitarian governments of the Middle East, such as Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s, the late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s, and the late Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi’s.
The number of Iranians in exile is estimated at five million, the largest number of exiles by choice in the world. Hundreds of thousands fled following the 1979 revolution, and thousands continue to leave. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) ranks Iran among the top countries suffering from brain drain.
Why celebrate Shahram Amiri upon his return as a loyal patriot then quickly detain him? Why was he executed when the judiciary sentenced him to prison?
It seems Amiri was banned from travelling because of the sensitive nature of his job as a nuclear scientist. This is why he exploited Hajj to escape supervision, and headed from Saudi Arabia to the United States. Iran condemned Saudi Arabia, which responded that it is not responsible for monitoring pilgrims and does not have the right to force them to choose their destinations.
When Tehran claimed that Amiri was kidnapped in Saudi Arabia, he appeared publicly in the United States and said he was there of his own accord. He later surprised everyone when he appeared at the Pakistani embassy and spoke on TV, claiming he was detained and prohibited from travelling to Iran. Due to this embarrassing situation, then-U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Amiri willingly came to the United States and could leave whenever he wanted.
Motivations
His return to Tehran was depicted as a victory, but he was arrested days later, tried and sentenced to 10 years in prison. His family says he was executed five years later and buried in Kermanshah. Most probably, the reason for his contradictory statements and weird behaviour is that Tehran threatened to murder his family if he did not return. It allegedly threatened to murder his son, who was next to him at the press conference after he returned.
Iran initially said Amiri was not a significant figure or a nuclear scientist, as he claimed. They then said he was an intelligence officer who deceived the Americans and convinced them he was a nuclear scientist to learn what U.S. intelligence was doing with defectors.
All these lies are understandable, but why celebrate him upon his return as a loyal patriot then quickly detain him? Why was he executed when the judiciary sentenced him to prison? The Iranian spokesperson did not convince anyone when he said Amiri deserved to be punished because he exposed important secrets to the Americans.
Did imprisoning and executing him aim to intimidate Iranians and deter frequent information leaks? Many secrets of Iran’s nuclear facilities and military activities have been voluntarily exposed by employees of these institutions.
Source: english.alarabiya.net/en/views/2016/08/08/The-curious-case-of-Iranian-scientist-Shahram-Amiri.html
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Chemical Weapons and Selective Outrage
By Maria Dubovikova
8 August 2016
Using chemical weapons against civilians, torture, mass executions, beheading children - these crimes are committed not only by terrorist and jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq, but also by U.S.-backed, so-called moderate opposition groups.
On Aug. 2, Harakat Nour al-Zenki - which is affiliated to the Free Syrian Army (FSA) - reportedly, launched an attack in Idlib province using toxic substances. Seven people were killed, and 20 were taken to hospital with severe breathing problems. Some reports say the substance was chlorine gas, but this is unverified.
Rebel-linked media have accused the Syrian army of the attack, saying the gas was in cylinders dropped on residential areas in the city of Saraqeb. Accusations against Russia are nonsensical. That same day, there was a chemical attack in Aleppo. Five civilians were killed, and eight others reportedly suffered from suffocation. If rebels carried out this terrorist act, they are most likely responsible for the one in Idlib.
Moscow has accused Washington of ignoring crimes committed by U.S.-backed rebels. Previously, Harakat Nour al-Zenki beheaded a 10-year-old, claiming he was a soldier in the Syrian army.
The U.S. State Department condemned any use of chemical weapons, but its spokesman said: “One incident here and there wouldn’t necessarily make you a terrorist group.” So you are not a terrorist if you behead a child or use chemical weapons once or twice. It seems Washington was satisfied with Harakat Nour al-Zenki’s explanation that it beheaded the child by mistake.
It is extremely dangerous to focus only on the crimes of one’s rival. Doing so will have far-reaching consequences.
The rebels’ breaking of the army siege of Aleppo on Saturday was praised by the media as a huge success. What is concealed is that the breakthrough happened mainly because of Jaish al-Fatah, whose ranks include Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (formerly Al-Nusra Front), which is labelled by the international community as a terrorist group.
Jaish al-Fatah includes other Islamist groups, such as Ahrar al-Sham, that can hardly be called moderate, but who cares as long as they can effectively fight the Syrian regime?
The United States had the same approach in Afghanistan during Russia’s intervention there, using Islamist fighters against the Soviets without calculating the consequences.
This approach is extremely dangerous in the framework of Syria and Iraq, especially when there is no clear understanding of how to deal with extremists if they succeed.
Investigation
The aforementioned chemical attacks should not just be condemned - as Washington has become used to doing - but thoroughly investigated. They are not the first in Syria committed by rebels, according to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), whose investigation showed that the gas used was different than the one formerly owned by the regime.
Chemical attacks have become a media-focused rebel strategy of provocations that enable accusations against the regime. Damascus itself gave the rebels this trump card, having carried out a deadly chemical attack in a rebel-held area in 2013, after which the regime’s entire chemical weapons arsenal was taken from Syria and destroyed.
It is common knowledge that rebels are smuggling chemicals, much of them via Turkey. Most of them belonged to Libya under Muammar Qaddafi. The sources of chemical weapons in Syria should be investigated and totally cut. Groups carrying out chemical attacks and crimes against humanity should be immediately denied support from the U.S.-led coalition and listed as terrorist groups. This would be a good motivation to not cross the red line.
None of this is meant to distract attention from the regime’s crimes, but it is extremely dangerous to focus only on the crimes of one’s rival. Doing so will have far-reaching consequences.
Source: english.alarabiya.net/en/views/2016/08/08/Chemical-weapons-and-selective-outrage.html
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Russia Is the Gate to Erdogan’s Appetite for Revenge
By Raghida Dergham
8 August 2016
When the tsar Vladimir Putin meets with the sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan this week in Moscow in the latter’s first foreign visit following the failed coup attempt, the Russian president will feel like a vindicated peacock before a cowering turkey.
They are both apprehensive men, concerned for their repressive authorities and powers. They are both afraid of the quagmires lurking for them: Erdogan in his vendettas in Turkey and Putin in his Syrian adventures. Aleppo will be present at the summit. The battle for the city is a fateful one and its outcome will be contingent in part upon the putative deal between the two enemies, now turned friends of necessity.
The battle for Aleppo also has implications for Iran and its militias, the regime in Damascus, and Gulf capitals and their options after Erdogan’s about face on Russia amid continued American reluctance to offer serious support for Syrian rebels to survive the battle. Aleppo, a major Sunni city, is of invaluable importance for all players in Syria. But capturing it is no easy feat and may well become a predicament that exhausts the might of both Russia and Iran. Perhaps the goal is to turn gains on the ground into bargaining chips for the negotiating table and it is possible that these gains have been made easier by Erdogan’s coming concessions to Putin in Syria.
However, there are tensions between the US and Russia at present, resulting from Moscow’s alleged meddling in US presidential elections and Moscow’s circumvention of John Kerry’s ambiguous understandings with his Russian counterpart Lavrov on the Syrian issue. Washington is also apprehensive about Moscow’s cooptation of the new Erdogan and sees it as a loss of a major card in the equation with Russia: Namely, Turkey’s membership of NATO which Washington wanted to use in negotiations on Syria. Today some equations may have changed yet some strategies remain the same and Aleppo is in the heart of all of them.
They are both afraid of the quagmires lurking for them: Erdogan in his vendettas in Turkey and Putin in his Syrian adventures.
In February, I quoted in previous column high-level Russian sources as stressing Moscow's insistence on the importance of winning in Aleppo, no matter the cost in favour of the regime axis. That is, Russia will not ease its airstrikes and support for the pro-regime ground offensive until victory is secured in Aleppo and the rebel supply lines to Turkey are cut off. Moscow believes that a full regime victory in Aleppo will boost its morale and allow it to resume the Russian-led fight against Islamic groups there Moscow designates as terrorists.
It was clear from the start of the year that Aleppo will be a vital milestone for Russian strategy, and that Russia will not stop its bombardment there for anything, be it the Russian-midwifed Vienna process, European reaction over more waves of refugees, or US reaction to the Russian ploy Washington is now sensing.
Some have strongly claimed that Iran is the key power behind the Aleppo offensive rather than Russia and that it was Tehran that persuaded Moscow of fighting the battle to advance its strategic objectives.
Tripartite Axis
What is new here is the Turkish U-turn and its impact on Syria in general and the battle for Aleppo in general. There is even talk of a new tripartite axis as a result of Erdogan’s new course which started with him apologizing to Putin before the failed coup, and which is culminating with the visit to Moscow.
Indeed, in addition to this landmark visit, the Turkish FM has met with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif this week in what appears to be the precursors of the emergence of a Turkish Russian Iranian axis. Erdogan has changed the equation in Syria: in that he could concede Syria in return for consolidating his power in Turkey. He is also prepared to settle scores with the US and Europe through the Russian gateway.
In other words, Erdogan is prepared to offer Putin his ‘revengeful services’, mostly through Syria: by cutting off supply routes to the Syrian rebels; by joining the Russian-Iranian axis in Aleppo; and by reaching a deal on keeping in power Bashar al-Assad, who Turkey had long insisted -- but no more -- must step down.
Furthermore, Turkey can use the refugee card to destabilize Europe, especially if Turkey’s doors are opened without restrictions or checks on who is a refugee and who could be a terrorist claiming to be one. Turkey could escalate against the US and end cooperating with the coalition it leads against ISIS in Syria and Iraq. And there are many more ways Erdogan will not hesitate to deploy to secure his hold over power
Yet Erdogan, despite his heavy handed response to the coup attempt and his assault on the constitution, the army, journalists and judges, is a worried man. He is now facing a real coup of his own making. In truth, it may be too late now for him to save himself from inevitable revenge.
A Fateful Fork in the Roa
Yet until the summit takes place, all stakeholders impacted by Erdogan’s about-turn must revisit their strategies especially in Iraq and Syria. This concerns the Gulf countries first and foremost; for if a Russian-Turkish-Iranian axis emerges in Syria, the matter will have grave consequences for them.
Some believe the fate of Assad is merely a bargaining chip for Russia. Or that Iran and its militias can never recover from the battle of Aleppo no matter the outcome. Regardless, what is happening in Aleppo and Syria is a fateful fork in the road for the country and all parties involved.
To be sure the cost of the war is too high even for the Russian army, now for the first time fighting against a major Sunni Arab force an open war on the latter's own turf. This investment will be costly especially if the battle becomes protracted urban showdown.
Iran will also pay a heavy price in Aleppo if perceived as a Shiite Persian force invading a major Sunni Arab city amid massacres with cover from its sectarian militias. The cost is too high whether an inconclusive victory or a protracted quagmire is the outcome.
Naturally Russia’s weight far surpasses Iran’s in the battle for Aleppo. But they have different goals there. Iran wants total victory, a goal linked to its expansionist strategy in Iraq Syria and Lebanon. But Russia may want different things: It may seek to shore up the regime with a limited victory as a negotiating tactic to impose its vision for a solution in Syria. With Erdogan's U-turn, Russia may be in a position to impose a strategic blockade in Syria with implications for relations with the US.
These are all questions that are the key to understanding what is about to happen in Syria, especially Aleppo. Erdogan’s visit to Moscow will shed some light but it is the duty of Gulf leaders to radically take stock of the Turkish developments and consider their options to avoid becoming de facto partners in the plots being woven at their expense, that is unless they want to be deliberately absent from their historic responsibility vis a vis Aleppo and Syria.
Source: english.alarabiya.net/en/views/2016/08/08/Russia-is-the-gate-to-Erdogan-s-appetite-for-revenge.html
URL: https://newageislam.com/middle-east-press/saudis-normalization-new-age-islam/d/108219