Relapses of the Past
(Part I)
The opposition between Arabs and Jews has not ceased since 622* and before. The genesis of the current (2023) Middle Eastern drama must be sought in the constant imperial aspirations of the so-called “’Great Powers” of the period of the First World War. The looming collapse of the Ottoman Empire is the driving prerequisite in this regard.
By a secret agreement reached between France and Britain in 1916 (the Sykes-Picot Treaty), the division of the Osman possessions in the Middle East was provided for.
Under this agreement, France was to receive the northern lands in the so-called “Fertile Crescent”. In this acquisition, two parts were formed: “Zone A”, formed as a French possession, and the “Blue Zone”, which was placed under direct French control. It is difficult to understand what the difference is between “possession” and “immediate control”. But that’s another matter. Great Britain, in turn, received the southern lands of the “Fertile Crescent”, where, according to the same incomprehensible principle, two parts were separated: “Area B” – British possession, and a “Red Zone”, placed under direct British control.
In addition, in a narrow strip along the Mediterranean coast, centered on Gaza, another part was formed as a condominium (joint possession) between France and Great Britain.
In fact, France received the modern lands of Lebanon, Syria, northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey. Britain took control of the present-day lands of Iraq, Jordan and the strategic port of Haifa in Palestine.
The ensuing WorldWar I division in the Middle East, was only seemingly arbitrary. In fact, it was consistent with the exclusive interests of the divisors. The boundaries were drawn not according to the territorial belonging of the individual peoples who inhabit it, but purely mechanically, literally with a drawing line – which by the way, was the practice established by the victors in the turbulent bargaining of the Paris Peace Conference (1919).), in the course of which the Versailles system of peace treaties was formed.
Subsequently, in the 1930s, Adolf Hitler’s Germany intervened in the diplomatic games for influence in the Middle East region. The delay was due to the fact that the country was defeated in the First World War.
After the Second World War, new forces were actively involved in the processes – the USSR and the United States that were outlined as the leading world factors. During this period, tension again escalated after the official creation of the state of Israel in 1948. Then, for the Arabs inhabiting Palestine, the “Aqaba” (catastrophe) occurred when:
1) despite the UN decision, no new Arab state had been created, but on top of that – a hastily concocted Arab coalition was trying to destroy the newly created Jewish state, but suffered defeat;
and
2/ The Jews expelled the Arab population from the Promised Land.
Currently, there are officially 58 Palestinian camps, where up to the fourth, fifth generations where a million and a half refugees live.
The smoldering Arab-Israeli conflict is constantly fueled by the new and old, but late in the struggle for spheres of influence “Great Powers”, driven only by their selfish interests, which quite unprincipally support one or the other of the warring parties. in the Middle East conflict, and consequently take radically opposite positions, thus finally tying the knot of insurmountable contradictions.
In 622, Muhammad fled from Mecca to Yasrib, later renamed Medina (the city of the prophet), where he was sheltered by three Jewish tribes. Subsequently, the Jews of these three tribes came under pressure. One tribe only left, the other was expelled, and the third was massively slaughtered on suspicion of some obscure betrayal. In 630, having won many followers among the Arabs, Muhammad triumphantly returned to Mecca, where, after the death of the prophet (June 8, 632), his deputies (caliphs) established the Caliphate.
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