Unified in Identification, Purpose and Determined Outcome
Nothing quite like the camaraderie that enfolds men when they are fighting side by side for a commonly-defined purpose in support of tyranny against an equally tyrannical regime; or the higher purpose of divinely inspired battle against a purported aggressor - or even on occasion engaging in battle against an aggressor whose vision of the future is to subsume all other nations into his particular all too human but semi-divine sphere of totalitarian fascism.But the fact is that when men gather to take up arms against an enemy, perceived or real, whether as aggressors or defenders, the cause noble or not, they face, as a military aggregate, a common threat against their well being, that of their country, and by extension their families. They are inspired to break the peace through the conniving of those whose political rule over them has presented to them sufficiently convincing arguments to enlist their wholehearted efforts in the name of community.
And since, whether they represent the aggressors or the defenders, they become vulnerable singly and collectively to attack or counter-attack which quite conceivably might lead to their imminent departure from this mortal coil, they become very dependent each upon the other. A bond is formed between men in this dual mental state of aggression/dependence, and they look upon one another not as strangers thrown together in combat by an act of happenstance, but as comrades in arms, brothers in spirit, dedicated to a common cause.
This war-time closeness takes on a nobility of spirit, where men look upon one another as their dual responsibility; they realize they must look after themselves to survive the theatre of war, but that they also have an inner need to look to the welfare of their fellow militant, the foresight, care and courage exhibited by men in battle cognizant of their duty to country and their fellow fighters has been celebrated as a bonding phenomenon that heightens their humanity in the most inhuman stage that mankind has devised.
So, what is going on in the MidEast? The confusion, chaos, anger, vengefulness, bitter enmity and total lack of charity, let alone altruism which the world sees reflected in the situation in Iraq, for example, illustrates just how complex human nature is. The cultural attributes of various tribes with their inbred suspicions of one another recalling a truly primitive past, yet living on in the modern world more given to surface civility than surface hostility is quite an anomaly. Yet perhaps not. Worlds collide.
We need look no further than the Palestinian Authority for a clear case of primitive tribal confusion, inbred hostilities, religious versus sectarian hatred bringing to the fore the most murderously vicious clashes. Yes, there is an identified common cause, the well-being of the Palestinian population, under stifling 'occupation'. There is the potential to clarify the issue and resolve it through collaboration, and the resulting decision to wring concessions from a neighbouring country itself anxious to achieve peace, yet constrained by the ever constant incursions of murderous intent.
The meeting in Mecca between Fatah and Hamas arranged by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
for the purpose of achieving conciliation was much ballyhooed but as most onlookers anticipated represented wishful thinking, not reality. The irregular militias representing membership of each group merely reflects the hard reality in more direct terms of the two political arms of each irreconcilable group, incapable of accommodating themselves to the agenda of the other.
Neither trusts the other, nor do they have all that much in common aside from their stated intent to protect the interests of the Palestinian population. And far from doing that, they have succeeded if anything in vastly exacerbating the suffering of the Palestinians, creating impossible living conditions for civilians, holding out no hope of eventual conciliation between themselves and their current adversaries, no possibility seen for settling for peace in the area.
Yet they don't look to themselves for the answers to their dilemma. They blame Israel for all the ills that befall them and their charges.
Their infantile inaction and lack of responsibility, their hatred one for the other, their constant competition for ascendancy, their shared hostility toward the neighbouring state of Israel, their propensity toward violent confrontations at every level, for whatever reason, give those whom they purport to protect little promise of hope for a better future. They have encouraged their militias, the terrorists among them, to engage in violence and counter-violence, to bring total helplessness and fear to the population at large.
In a desperate attempt through the bullying of Saudi Arabia to find a reasonable compromise to enable them to move forward in the agenda toward finding peace with Israel, they agreed to bring respected independent academics to some positions of prominence and authority within the PA. All surface stuff, with no depth of commitment whatever. The frustration of men like Hani Kawasmeh, and Mustafa Barghouti is evident. The former incapable of mounting a unified defence against chaos and lawlessness in Gaza, the latter incapable of restraining Hamas TV from teaching the divine bliss inherent in suicide bombing to children.
Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's Islamist movement is seen as anathema to President Mahmoud Abbas's secular group. They conspire against one another. They covertly encourage deadly attacks against one another's adherents, while on the surface they deny, decry and pledge undying devotion to the common cause. Undermined by the vilely violent fascist underpinnings of Hamas, contrasted with the tribal blood-letting of Fatah.
And what has the geography to look forward to? According to Moin Rabbani, expert on Palestinian affairs at the International Crisis Group think-tank: "Unless there is a real effort to resolve these issues, it could be the beginning of the end of this experiment and, should this government collapse, the situation could get very much worse."
How much worse, actually, is the real worry.
Labels: Human Fallibility, Middle East, Political Realities
posted by Pieface @ Tuesday, May 15, 2007
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