State-run Terrorism and Genocidal Repression are the Hallmarks of Normalcy and Stability in the Middle East 

Dr. Firoz Mahboob Kama

Welcome to a killer!

The President Basha al-Assad -the fascist genocidal killer of Syria is warmly welcomed back to the recent Arab League meeting on 19 May 2023 in Jeddah. The Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman went to the airport to embrace this pathological killer. Thus, the Arab League leaders showed their real colour -as they did repeatedly in the past. Embracing a killer has a clear message; it means endorsing his crimes. It reveals the perfect ideological match between the criminals. This is why a civilised man never embraces a killer, rather keeps distance, and takes every step to punish him. But the Arab leaders -known for their brutal autocracy lack such civilised ethics.

The concept of rule of law, human rights and liberty doesn’t work in lands occupied by the Arab tyrants. The failure of about 350 million Arabs living in 22 states to raise even a single democratic state is very dismal. Instead, rubbing shoulders with the worst killers like al-Assad and appreciating their policies of brutal atrocities has become the dominant Arab culture. The political survival of the Arab tyrants is indeed the common issue in the Middle East and not the lives and liberty of the common people.  

Bashar al-Assad is not an ordinary murderer. He is a serial genocidal killer. His war on his people has caused half a million deaths and evicted about half of the Syrian population from their homes. About 4 million people are made refugees in foreign lands. In big cities like Aleppo, Homs, Hama, hardly any homes escaped the massive destruction. He has established himself as the worst terrorist in human history; all Syrians now stand as helpless hostages. As per lexicons, terrorism is defined as the use of power for political gains. Bashar al-Assad use all state power only for his own political gain. So, who can be the worst terrorist than him? In a civilised country, all state powers must be used to protect people’s lives and not to protect a tyrant.

Bashar al-Assad took terrorism to an unprecedented level of brutality. His tool of terrorism was not mere guns, bombs, or cannons. He dropped scores of chemical bombs on crowded townships. His aim was not to simply kill people, but to kill them with the worst possible form of savagery. This is why he used chemical bombs to burn people alive. He proved to be the worst form of sadists; he rejoices in people’s pain and agonies. Therefore, using all state institutions and deploying all brutal means for multiplying people’s sufferings is his policy. If he had an iota of love for people, he would have left the power much earlier. Since he has an absolute love for power, is ready to go to any extent of barbarity to stay in power.  

The normalcy of silence

To continue with the crime, Bashar al-Assad enjoys the conducive international geopolitics. The World Powers are busy in protecting their own national interests. To achieve that, they even bring the worst killers and the brutal human rights violators in their camp. Hence, brutal killers like Abul Fatah al-Sissi of Egypt, Bashar al-Assad of Syria and the Saudi King enjoy huge importance in the market of international geopolitics. Bashar al-Assad dropped chemical bombs, many TV networks showed scores of burnt and disfigured dead bodies of men, women, and children; but none of the World Powers came to rescue these defenceless victims. There was no red line for al-Asad; therefore, he could do whatever he wished. Those who could stand against such heinous crime preferred to remain silent.

In a jungle, a wolf is not punished for his cruelty. It is normal in the jungle. Such normalcy of a jungle has become the norm on the global stage. Hence, Bashar al- Assad remains punished. The tyrants of the Middle East. call such normalcy of genocide as stability. So, Basher al-Asad gets appreciation in the Arab League for keeping such stability in Syria. The whole Middle East is known for such stability.

No killer regime in the past could cause such destruction as committed by Bashar al-Assad of Syria. A wolf enjoys honour only among other wolves, not among humans. Likewise, a killer enjoys welcome only amidst other killers. So, cordial welcome for genocidal killers like al-Assad exposes the true nature of the Arab tyrants.

The partners in crime

 But Bashar al-Assad is not a lone wolf. He has been joined by other international wolves like the ruling Shias in Iran – Basher’s ideological cousins. The final and complete destruction of Syria was accomplished by Vladimir Putin of Russia. Almost all cities of Syria now stand razed by the Russian bombers.  The USA too wasn’t silent. Its Army bombed the Islamists’ strongholds. Thus, Iran, Russia and the USA worked together to save Bashar al-Assad. Al-Assad was given the full licence to commit every crime he wished. The UN too stayed silent -as if dropping chemical bombs are not any crime as per UN Chapter. The US and EU leaders showed, they have no problem with the killer regimes of Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Middle Eastern autocrats. They are incompatible only with the Islamists.

Bashar al-Assad is not the only killer autocrat. The whole Middle East is infested with such killers. What Bashar al-Assad did against his own people, the Saudi King Salman, the Egyptian President al-Sisi, and other Arab tyrants did the same against their own people. Saudi Arabia and UAE conducted a long campaign of destruction and genocide in Yemen. General Abdul Fatah al-Sisi removed Dr. Muhammad Morsi -the first elected President of Egypt. He killed more than one thousand innocent people in Rabaa al Adawiya square on 14 August 2013. The victims were the unarmed men, women and children sitting in protest of Morsi’s removal. Those who survived the massacre, were taken to prison for further torture. More than 70 thousand political activists are languishing in Egyptians prisons. If the people of Saudi Arabia, Jordon, UAE, Morocco or any Arab country come to the streets for their democratic rights, they will be killed in the same way as Syrians are being killed by al-Assad.

These fascist Arab rulers are the ideological cousins; so, it was very difficult for them to stay separated from each other. So, al-Assad’s long separation from the Arab League was intolerable for them. So, he received a gleeful welcome in their midst. As if, no crimes were committed by him. Scores of wolves live in the same forest. These Arab fascists can also co-exist in the same land of Middle East.

Human rights, political rights and democratic form of government have no place in the Middle East. As if, the Arab people do not deserve those basic human rights. As if, the Arabs need only stability. Such stability must be ensured through state-run terrorism and genocidal massacres. And for such a status quo, there is no substitute for King Salman, President al-Sisi, al-Assad, and other tyrants.  As animals need foods, drinks, and shelter, the Arabs also need the same and nothing more than that. For them, modernity means only high-rise buildings, high-tech weapons, motor ways, cars, and industries. As if democracy and human rights are incompatible with such Arab modernity.

Islamists and democrats are labelled as enemies

In all Arab countries, the Islamists and the democrats are labelled as the enemies of stability. So, they justify their total and brutal annihilation. The US and the EU support such annihilation. So, they didn’t do anything against the chemical bomber al-Assad or genocidal killer al-Sissi. But they dropped thousands of bombs on the Islamists in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Saudi Arabia is making peace with its arch enemy Iran. But is not ready to give any space for its own compatriots. 

Neighbouring Turkey supports some democratic forces in northern Syria. Turkey gave shelter to more than 3 million Syrian refugees. None of the neighbouring Arab countries like Jordan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia give such support to those Arab refugees. But these Arab tyrants discovered Ottoman expansionism with such Turkish help. So, they raise banners of pan-Arabism to oppose Turkey. They also raise the same banner of Arab nationalism to encounter the Islamic resurgence and democracy. This way they could successfully reverse the wave of the Arab Spring. So, the Arab Spring is now dead in Tunisia (its birthplace), Egypt, Lebanon, Syria. So, it is a bad day for those who struggle for Islamic resurgence and work for democratic values. And it is a day of huge rejoicing for those who are tyrants and genocidal killers.     

The double standard

The US President and his EU cronies lecture on Russian atrocities in Ukraine. But they advise on keeping silent on atrocities that are being committed by the brutal regimes of Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and other Arab countries. They condemn the Russian annexation of Ukrainian lands but stay silent on Indian annexation of Kashmir and Israeli annexation of Palestine. They pursue war on Russia until it completely vacates Ukrainian territory, but pleads normalisation of relation with the genocidal killers, oppressors, and occupiers like Israel and India. Is it workable to normalise relations with the wolves?

So, the oppressed people are left with no option but to fight their own war against all injustices and atrocities. The peace and prosperity of the world entirely depend on such fighting spirit of the people and not on the whims of world’s immoral thugs. Nothing can be more important than such a holy war. Human dignity never lies in submission to thugs, but in war against the thugs. In Islam it is jihad -the highest ibadah. A just society and civilisation can never be established without it. 24/05/2023