http://embassymag.ca/dailyupdate/view/294
Published Aug 3, 2012 12:25 AM
Western media reports on Syrian conflict too simplistic
Opinion: Middle East politics
They tend to indulge in good-versus-evil scenarios, in this case with the ‘rebels’ as the good guys and the Assad regime as the bad guys. The broader context of the conflict is rarely mentioned and the nuances of Syrian politics and history are missing altogether.
As Syria lurches towards full-scale civil war, the coverage of the conflict in the Western media is characteristically simplistic.
Media reports are rarely informative; rather they tend to indulge in good-versus-evil scenarios, in this case with the ‘rebels’ as the good guys and the Assad regime as the bad guys. The broader context of the conflict is rarely mentioned and the nuances of Syrian politics and history are missing altogether.
Watching dozens of reports over many months on the BBC, CNN, PBS, CBC, and various other outlets, I haven’t seen a single presentation that even attempted to inform people of who and what the ‘Alawites’ are, or their relation to the Sunnis.
At best, some coverage does mention that the Alawites are a Shia denomination and that the conflict is split on Shia-versus-Sunni lines. But the same reports fail to mention that this sectarian divide in Syria is a proxy war between Iran on the one hand and Saudi Arabia on the other.
The entire media coverage of the so-called Arab Spring fails to mention this. Instead, it tends to give the impression that the disputes sweeping the Arab world are a struggle between a populace eager for democracy and tyrants eager to hold onto power. This is very misleading. The model of daily information passage in North America equates to ‘the dumber the better.’
Certainly, the revolutions in Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt have not delivered anything like democracy. Instead, they have delivered a vast expansion of political influence for political Sunni Islam (Islamists) of the Saudi Arabian colouring.
The single most important fact to grasp about the so-called Arab Spring is that the Saudis (radical Sunni Muslims) are extending their influence throughout the region, wherever they are able, in geopolitical moves designed to counter the influence of the Iranians. Needless to say, this is assisted and to some extent orchestrated by the United States, Saudi Arabia’s chief ally. Saudi/Qatari Sunnism is of the Wahhabi (extremist) school.
The Syrian government is best described as ‘Shia-affiliated’ because the Assads are not mainstream Shia, but rather belong to the Alawite sect, a group that has historical links to the Shia but, to some minds, is so esoteric as to barely count as Muslim at all.
The Shia are defined by their veneration for the Imam Ali, cousin of the Prophet Muhammad. The Alawites’ central doctrine is that Ali was, in fact, a divine incarnation. That is, they regard Ali as a divinity.
For the vast majority of Muslims this renders the Alawites heretics of the worst kind. Certainly, among Sunnis they are despised as heretical polytheists and are not usually counted as Muslims—they are beyond the limits of anything recognizable as Islam. Historically, they have faced persecution and oppression.
The position of the Assad government is secular and modernist. The problem is they rule over a Sunni majority that has deep theological objections to Alawiteism.
Pragmatically, the Assads have tried to improve such tensions by effectively ‘Sunnizing’ the Alawite community. The social cohesion of the Syrian nation has depended upon keeping sectarian tensions under control.
As we see, though, the tensions remain and—under much provocation from radical Sunnis from outside (for instance, the Saudis, Qataris, and Turks)—sectarian strife has degenerated into civil war.
The American interest here is to stretch Iran, Syria’s Shia ally.
Russian allegiances, Turkish expansionism
Meanwhile, in Russia, President Vladimir Putin maintains his support for the Syrian government. This remains the main obstacle to overt Western intervention. Again, news reports tell us very little about this.
For instance, it is little appreciated that the strongest supporter of Putin’s policy on Syria, and so Syria’s strongest supporter in Russia, is, in fact, the Russian Orthodox Church.
The Assad regime—secularizers, modernizers—has provided strong and lasting protection for the communities of Orthodox Christians in Syria. The new ‘Arab Spring’ regimes are, in fact, Islamist and are hostile to Christianity or any other minority religious groups. It has been no ‘spring’ for Arab Christians.
The Ahmet Davutoğlu-led Turkish foreign policy is a ‘neo-Ottoman policy’ and it is an obvious threat further destabilizing the peace in the Middle East for ideological and opportunistic reasons.
The current Turkish government has been working overtime using all means to achieve big geopolitical ambitions in the region and abroad. Davutoğlu’s diplomacy is an imperial dream. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan wants to be the next sultan, a man who retains full power not only in Turkey but also in the region.
He craves to be admired and talked about and has successfully used religion to gather support in the region. He wants to make himself an immortal, just like the great Ottoman sultans, which is an immoral and hypocritical behaviour.
The expansionist policy of Turkey has the potential of completely destabilizing the region including Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iran, and beyond.
None of the countries ruled by the Ottomans have good memories of the Ottoman era. Therefore, an Ottoman dream geared toward the Middle East is a foolish and destructive idea in historical context.
Davutoğlu is playing with fire and it is causing great human loss in the region. The most innocent people are suffering the greatest. The region needs peace, not another imperialist power dominating and destroying lives in the Middle East.
Various understanding of religions have been malevolently used to manipulate people into hatred for one another, which leads some to persecute and murder others, as we see it in Syria. The fate of the Alawites and Christians under a Sunni Islamist government in Syria—which is what the so-called rebels are fighting for—would be dire indeed.
Yilmaz Alimoglu is a Canadian author, philosopher, poet, and scientist. Having grown up in Turkey, he spent 15 years working as an electrical engineer, wrote the novel Deserts and Mountains, and currently writes on topics including philosophy and Sufism. A longer version of this op-ed first appeared on his blog.
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