Tribal Warfare
The fine old traditions of tribal warfare goes on unabated in the Middle East. Thus it has always been thus it appears destined always to remain. It could be otherwise, but it appears to be difficult to rein in the sadistic impulses of a culture so long accustomed to being preyed upon and seeking vengeance in return. Hatred appears to be the order of the day.What is it other than a celebration of bloodlust when one video after another is aired on Arab television demonstrating the seriousness with which the population finds their concept of martyrdom appealing; a visceral hatred for the enemy displayed whether it be another tribe - or the ultimate "other", Israel.
Make no mistake, if Israel were not present the incessant pathology of hate would still dominate the minds and aspirations of these tribally-primal populations. This is their dominant cultural attraction: revenge for perceived wrongs, insults to honour whether of ancient vintage or through the medium of more current events.
Hard to believe? No.
Hard to stomach? Yes.
Look no further than the present tribe-on-tribe carnage in Iraq. There, nothing is sacred. The militants bomb and strafe innocent civilians entering and exiting mosques. They prey on men seeking occupations which may gain them the funds required to support their families. Although they share the same religion, roving bands of sectarian thugs bomb mosques other than their own.
If the casual armies of jihadists murdered one another, Shi'ite against Sunni, there would be no big loss. The dreadful thing is that they enter opposite neighbourhoods with the intent of killing innocent civilians merely because they represent the "wrong" interpretation of Islam. And then feel exultant about their deadly excesses because they're serving Allah as they've been taught to do.
Most of the world celebrates the glory of life in all its endless permutations and potentials. They glory in the celebration of death. Their own, as martyrs to an ancient cause, molten into their genes. And that of others whose lives they violently take espousing their implacably deadly cause.
A primeval thirst for blood, for vengeance, for honour and for territorial, cultural and religious advantage dominates the culture. Fix your gaze upon Darfur. Remember Mumbai, London, Spain and Bali. Recall the transfixing horror of New York.
Yet these are people like all others. Like you and me.
They have been deprived by their culture of a sense of self. The collective of murderous aggrievement has effectively shut down the possibility of personal rationality, the ability to reach sound conclusions, to govern oneself in a civil manner toward others, to extend compassion.
These are people for whom exposure to humanistic attitudes has been denied in the all-abiding, primal defence of the tribe. The full development of a universally applied social conscience has been denied them for the close comfort of a religion that informs them through the self-interested prism of rigid cultural-social prohibitions, exclusive of outside influence.
They are true exemplars of humankind's worst possible outcomes, unwilling to look closely at what they represent, too comfortable with the familiar, as horribly stultifying and anti-life as it is.
posted by Pieface @ Friday, November 24, 2006
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