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dimanche, 27 avril 2014

Crimean factor in the Russia-Turkey relations

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Author: Andrei Boldyrev

Crimean factor in the Russia-Turkey relations

The Montreux Convention was of strategic importance for both Russia and Turkey since it suggested that in the nearest future the status quo between the two will remain unchanged. When Crimea joined the Russian Federation some analysts assumed that it can change the balance of forces in the region in favor of Russia, making a closed “Turkish- Russian pond” even more closed, leaving little place for Turkey to play the Black Sea – Caucasus card in NATO talks.

On the other hand, one cannot disregard Turkey’s own interests in the Ukrainian crisis. In the 90s and especially in the 2000s the political and economic ties between Ankara and Kiev evolved incrementally, reaching in this decade to a level of strategic partnership. Crimea occupied a special place in Turkish-Ukrainian relations, by being the first best bet for Turkish investors and by providing Turkey with a foothold in the region through the Crimean Tatars. Over the last two decades Ankara has provided them with substantial financial support, by promoting cultural and educational projects. Important role here was played by the Turkish International Cooperation Agency (TICA) .

The importance of the Crimean Tatar factor can hardly be overestimated. The reputation of the Crimean Tatars in Turkey is high, since the Turkic identity developed trough the famous Tatar thinkers such as Ismail Gasprinski and Yusuf Akchura, who are respected by not Turks alone, but well across the Turkic world . One can also name a lot of Crimean Tatar among the Turkish authorities. Finally, the very possibility of the creation of a geopolitical conflict zone near Turkey ‘s border is an extremely unpleasant surprise for Ankara, that is forcing Turkish authorities to seek ways to minimize the consequences of the “Crimean incident”. This was the thinking behind the negative attitude of Ankara towards the Crimean referendum and the loud statements made by the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in March in Kiev, when he promised to provide “political, international and economic support for the territorial integrity of Ukraine”.

It is doubtful, however, that anything of the above mentioned would have a negative impact on the Russian-Turkish relations, largely due to Turkey’s position that some foreign analysts qualify as “an observer’s”. The official Turkish standing is so indistinguishable due to the fact that Ankara is simply unable to take sides on the Crimean issue. Turkey’s role as a patron of the Crimean Tatar population along with NATO membership ticket implies that Ankara should hop aboard the anti-Russian sanctions ship. However, even before the referendum Erdogan received guarantees from Putin that the rights of the Tatar minority would be observed.

Turkey could express solidarity with the United States if it didn’t fear that the United States would use the Straits as a means of pressuring Russia, bringing naval forces on a “rotating basis” and thus creating a permanent grouping of NATO naval forces in the Black Sea region. In this sense, an example of the USS  ”Truxtun” that arrived in early March 2014 in the Black Sea for a one-day exercise with Bulgarian and Romanian ships and stayed there for an indefinite time can be demonstrative. According to the commander of  the USS “Truxtun”, its mission was extended due “to the situation in Crimea”. On April 10 the USS missile destroyer “Donald Cook” entered the Black Sea, on April 11 a French spy ship F.S. “Dupuy de Lome”. From late March to mid-April a French diving support ship FS “Alize” was stationed in the Black Sea and in the nearest future it is expected to be replaced by a French anti-submarine frigate F.S. Thus, we can talk about the fact of attempts to apply political pressure against Russia, however, it is unlikely for Turkey to support its allies in this matter as it provokes an unnecessary confrontation with Russia and reduces the value of Ankara as a regional military leader .

There’s a handful of different opinions in Turkey towards the Crimean situation. First of all, Turkish media outlets don’t see the joining of Crimea to Russia as an act of annexation . Turkish newspapers urged their government to properly evaluate the country’s capacities in determining its policy towards Russia , pointing out to the need to address the systemic crisis in the country firsthand. Foreign observers also note that the corruption scandals and failures of Turkey on the Syrian front dictate caution to Turkish diplomacy in relations with Russia.

Secondly (and most importantly), Turkish economists are predicting Turkey to suffer serious economic consequences, should Ankara join the pro-sanctions camp. Turkish economy is relying heavily on the supply of Russian hydrocarbons. Moreover Russian-Turkish turnover exceeds $33 billion annually, around 4 million of Russian tourists are visiting Turkey every year, leaving behind at least $4 billion. There’s little wonder that Turkish media outlets underline the fact that the value of Ukraine and Russia for Turkey’s foreign policy is not comparable .

Third, the pragmatists in the Turkish government warned the Turkish Foreign Ministry against any harsh actions and statements against Moscow. Turkish Minister for EU Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has called the EU approach towards Ukraine a mistake, underling the fact that by presenting Ukrainians with a choice between Europe and Russia — Europe has committed a political mistake. Immediately after the visit of Ahmet Davutoğlu to Kiev, his deputy Feridun Sinirlioglu informed his Russian counterpart Grigory Karasin about the outcome of negotiations in Kiev. The parties stressed that they “will continue their joint efforts to normalize the socio-political situation in Ukraine.”

There is a reason to believe that Turkish analysis of the situation in Ukraine is pretty close to the Russian one. This conclusion can be drawn from from the words of Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, that accused Brussels of provoking a civil conflict in Ukraine. Thus, it is possible that Turkey itself tends to blame external forces of interfering in its internal affairs, fearing the execution of the Kiev scenario on its own land.

Thus we can conclude that Turkey will not join the anti-Russian sanctions. Under these circumstances, it is likely that Turkey will encourage the parties to engage in a dialogue and will be trying to maintain the integrity of Ukraine. It saves face for Turkey as a NATO member but will not spoil relations with Russia, as the latter itself is not interested in further disintegration of this country. Such balance between Russia and NATO is the most convenient option for Turkey, as its influence on the Crimean Tatars in any case remains unchanged, and its relations with Russia will be maintained at the same level. And since Crimea has now joined Russia, the role of Turkey in NATO as a regulator of the straits may increase, however, in this case Turkey, as it was during the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict in 2008, would have to “filter” the passage of NATO ships trough the Black Sea, in order to preserve the naval balance of forces in the region. While frequent visits of NATO warships in the Black Sea may complicate Russian-Turkish relations, the events of 2008 show, that such complications will not last for long.

Andrei Boldyrev , Ph.D, Research Fellow in the Turkish Department of the Institute of Oriental Studies RAS, especially for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.

L'engagement au féminin

Méridien Zéro vous propose une émission consacrée à "l'engagement au féminin", autour du dossier de la revue Rébellion. Avec Alaïs Vidal, Louise d'Espagnac, Marie Chancel et Louis Alexandre.

A la barre et la technique : Jean-Louis Roumégace

Pour écouter:

http://www.meridien-zero.com/archive/2014/03/14/emission-n-180-l-engagement-au-feminin-5321968.html

flyer-emission-14-03-14.jpg

Frank Böckelmann

Donnerstag, 8. Mai 2014, 19 Uhr: Buchvorstellung

Sämtliche Veranstaltungen finden in der Bibliothek des Konservatismus, Fasanenstraße 4, 10623 Berlin (Charlottenburg) statt. Anmeldung erforderlich.

Anmeldungen, wenn nicht anders angegeben, bitte per E-Mail an bibliothek(at)fkbf.de oder per Fax an 030-315 17 37 21.

Frank Böckelmann, Dresden:
Jargon der Weltoffenheit -
Was sind unsere Wert noch wert? 

Alle Gewißheiten haben wir verabschiedet – und doch führen wir ständig unanfechtbare Losungen im Mund: „Selbstbestimmung“, „Gleichheit“, „Toleranz“, „Vielfalt“. Frank Böckelmann nennt die gewohnheitsmäßige Wiederholung solcher Leerformeln den „Jargon der Weltoffenheit“. In seinem gleichnamigen Buch untersucht er, was es mit der allgegenwärtigen Schönrede auf sich hat. Haben Politik und Wirtschaft in Westeuropa und Nordamerika den Menschenrechtsdiskurs verinnerlicht? Hat sich in den letzten 40, 50 Jahren die Terminologie der Achtundsechziger durchgesetzt?

Böckelmanns Befund: Dem Jargon der Weltoffenheit huldigen heute alle politischen Lager. Seine Imperative hören sich an, als seien sie sinnerfüllt, aber sie fungieren nur noch als Techniken der Gleichschaltung im Verteilungskampf zwischen Interessengruppen. Ihr ständiger Gebrauch entleert und lähmt die politische Auseinandersetzung. Gibt es eine Rückkehr aus allseitiger „Weltoffenheit“, sprich: aus dem Vakuum?        

Dr. Frank Böckelmann studierte Philosophie und Kommunikationswissenschaft in München und beteiligte sich dort an der Subversiven Aktion mit Dieter Kunzelmann, Rudi Dutschke und Bernd Rabehl. Er ist Mitherausgeber der Schriftenreihe Tumult und Redakteur der Vierteljahreszeitschrift gleichen Namens. Für sein Buch „Die Gelben, die Schwarzen, die Weißen“ erhielt Böckelmann 1999 den Sonderpreis »Das politische Buch« der Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.

 

Les mots ne sont pas de ce monde de Hugo von Hofmannsthal

Les mots ne sont pas de ce monde de Hugo von Hofmannsthal

Ex: http://stalker.hautetfort.com


L'article ci-dessous, quelque peu modifié, a paru initialement ici.

«De sorte que n’ayant rien et ne pouvant rien donner, ils s’abandonnent à des mots qui simulent la communication : puisque chacun ne saurait faire en sorte que son monde soit le monde des autres, ils imaginent des mots qui contiennent le monde absolu, et ils nourrissent de mots leur ennui, ils confectionnent un baume de mots contre la douleur.»
Carlo Michelstaedter, La persuasion et la rhétorique (L’Éclat, 1998), p. 97.

«Au commencement était le Verbe. Avec ces paroles, les hommes se trouvent sur le seuil de la connaissance du monde et ils y restent, s’ils restent attachés à la parole. Quiconque veut faire un pas en avant, ne serait-ce qu’un minuscule pas, doit se libérer de la parole, doit se libérer de cette superstition, il doit essayer de libérer le monde de la tyrannie des mots.»
Fritz Mauthner.


Hofmannsthal_1910.jpgJe reste stupéfié par la maturité dont témoigne le jeune Hugo von Hofmannsthal dans ses lettres à un officier de marine (du nom d’Edgar Karg) intitulées Les mots ne sont pas de ce monde (Rivages poche, dans l’excellente collection Petite Bibliothèque), où j’ai cru reconnaître quelques-unes des plus belles intuitions d’un autre jeune prodige, Carlo Michelstaedter.
 
Dans une lettre postée depuis Göding, le 18 juillet 1895, voici ce qu’écrit l’auteur de la célèbre Lettre de Lord Chandos : «Les mots ne sont pas de ce monde, ils sont un monde pour soi, justement un monde complet et total comme le monde des sons. On peut dire tout ce qui existe, on peut mettre en musique tout ce qui existe.
 
Mais jamais on ne peut dire totalement une chose comme elle est. C’est pourquoi les poèmes suscitent une nostalgie stérile, tout comme les sons.» Et l’auteur de poursuivre à l’adresse d’un ami qui, si l’on en juge par les réponses qu’il lui donne, était d’une culture et d’une intelligence à l’évidence bien inférieures à celle du jeune Hofmannsthal : «Cela va un peu te perturber au début, car on a cette croyance chevillée au corps – une croyance enfantine – que, si nous trouvions toujours les mots justes, nous pourrions raconter la vie, de la même façon que l’on met une pièce de monnaie sur une autre pièce de monnaie de valeur identique. Or ce n’est pas vrai et les poètes font très exactement ce que font les compositeurs; ils expriment leur âme par le biais d’un médium qui est aussi dispersé dans l’existence entière, car l’existence contient bien sûr l’ensemble des sonorités possibles mais l’important, c’est la façon de les réunir; c’est ce que fait le peintre avec les couleurs et les formes qui ne sont qu’une partie des phénomènes mais qui, pour lui, sont tout et par les combinaisons desquelles il exprime à son tour toute son âme (ou ce qui revient au même : tout le jeu du monde)».
 
La coupure entre les mots et les choses est ainsi radicalement posée, en des termes toutefois que la Lettre à Lord Chandos ne se privera pas d’accentuer : «Les mots flottaient, isolés, autour de moi; ils se figeaient, devenaient des yeux qui me fixaient et que je devais fixer en retour : des tourbillons, voilà ce qu'ils sont, y plonger mes regards me donne le vertige, et ils tournoient sans fin, et à travers eux on atteint le vide.» Car Hofmannsthal se garde bien d’affirmer, dans ces lettres, que le monde et le langage n’ont aucun point commun : l’œuvre écrite, l’œuvre d’art plus largement sont obligées de se contraindre, de choisir, d’extraire de la réalité le phénomène qu’il importe de relater. La phrase infinie, borgésienne ou plutôt faulknérienne, n’existe point car elle ne pourrait être pensée, prononcée et encore moins écrite par des êtres finis.
 
De la même façon, dans une lettre rédigée depuis le quartier de Klein-Tesswitz en Moravie, le 22 août 1895, Hofmannsthal infirme le pessimisme ontologique (il parle de «nostalgie stérile» renvoyant bien évidemment au mythe de la langue adamique) que saura développer jusqu’en ses plus extrêmes conséquences un Fritz Mauthner, un auteur très intéressant dont les essais n'ont toujours pas été traduits en français. En effet, si les mots constituent un monde qui semble ne point correspondre totalement, par essence, avec la réalité qu’ils ne peuvent embrasser tout entière, et ériger ainsi une espèce de simulacre autonome dont Armand Robin affirmera qu’il est la déhiscence monotone du sous-langage, c’est moins la certitude de l’autarcie relative du mot qui inquiète l’auteur que celle, à vrai dire elle-même atténuée par Hofmannsthal donnant en exemple son propre cas, qui consiste à affirmer que les très mauvais livres et eux seuls se coupent, peut-être définitivement, du monde, pour la simple raison qu’ils n’ont eu le souci de s’adresser à l’esprit et au cœur des hommes : «La plupart, l’immense majorité des livres ne sont pas de vrais livres, écrit Hofmannsthal, ils ne sont rien d’autre que de mauvaises répétitions morcelées des rares vrais livres. Mais pour le lecteur, ça ne change pas grand-chose, il n’a pas besoin de se soucier de savoir si le premier ou le troisième messager raconte quelque chose, si le message est digne d’être entendu. Dit un peu grossièrement, les livres me semblent avoir cette fonction dans l’existence : nous aider à prendre conscience et de ce fait à profiter pleinement de notre propre existence. Qu’ils le fassent comme un tout ou de façon fragmentaire, ou plus ou moins, c’est une affaire personnelle. Il est possible que, pour moi, certains livres signifient en partie ce que je signifie pour toi : un compagnon qui se déclare.»

En fin de compte, prolongeant, non sans les gauchir assurément, les déclarations désespérées de Lord Chandos, les grands livres, ceux, fort rares, capables de bouleverser une vie entière, seraient, on peut le penser avec l’auteur du Chevalier à la rose, ceux-là mêmes qui auraient réussi à percer le mystère de cette langue qui n’est nulle langue : «J'ai su en cet instant, avec une précision qui n'allait pas sans une sensation de douleur, qu'au cours de toutes les années que j'ai à vivre [...], je n'écrirai aucun livre anglais ni latin : et ce, pour une unique raison, d'une bizarrerie si pénible pour moi que je laisse à l'esprit infiniment supérieur qu'est le vôtre le soin de la ranger à sa place dans ce domaine des phénomènes physiques et spirituels qui s'étale harmonieusement devant vous : parce que précisément la langue dans laquelle il me serait donné non seulement d'écrire mais encore de penser n'est ni la latine ni l'anglaise, non plus que l'italienne ou l'espagnole, mais une langue dont pas un seul mot ne m'est connu, une langue dans laquelle peut-être je me justifierai un jour dans ma tombe devant un juge inconnu».
 
Poser ainsi l’absolue relativité des influences, des dons et des semences que favorise l’art, c’est d’emblée affirmer que nul ne peut prétendre savoir où souffle l’Esprit, comme l’auteur, toujours dans cette même lettre extraordinaire du 22 août 1895, l’admet, posant la parenté absolue des êtres et des langages, écritures, sons, chants, reliés dans une chaîne infinie par le Verbe : «Il y a des étoiles qui, à cette heure précise, sont atteintes par les vibrations provoquées par la lance qu’un soldat romain a plantée dans le flanc de notre Sauveur. Pour cette étoile, c’est une chose qui est simplement du présent. Remplace maintenant ce médium simple qu’est l’éther par un autre chemin de propagation, allant de l’âme de celui qui vit quelque chose à l’oreille de celui à qui il le raconte. De la bouche de ce dernier à la suivante et ainsi de suite, avec au milieu toujours une halte dans le cerveau de ces gens, une halte qui ne va pas sans une modification de l’image réelle originale. Prends dans cette chaîne un poète, profond, et une foule de gens qui ne font que répéter. N’est-ce pas ce qui fait pleurer les enfants au bout de trois mille ans, une chose vraie et réelle et digne qu’on pleure à son sujet ? Coupe la chaîne à un autre endroit et à la place du conte tu obtiendras peut-être une prière fervente où l’âme, tenaillée par la peur, lance un cri vers Dieu, exactement comme le prince dans le conte, qui, épouvanté, se jette par la fenêtre d’une haute tour et disparaît dans l’eau noire. Coupe encore ailleurs et tu entendras une ineptie sans saveur. Certains maillons de cette chaîne sont justement des livres».

Tout est signe de tout : c'est le vieux précepte sacré, magique puis ésotérique que redécouvriront, cependant affadi depuis qu'il s'est appelé synesthésie ou correspondance, Maistre, mais aussi Baudelaire, Bloy, Hello, Huysmans, Massignon et bien d'autres écrivains patients, silencieux, inquiets de protéger les tigres au splendide pelage, afin que d'autres, inconnus pas même nés, puissent, à leur tour, scruter les signes de Dieu.
 
Un jour.

Islamist Fifth Column in Gaza based on Gulf and Western Strings: Egypt and Syria

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Islamist Fifth Column in Gaza based on Gulf and Western Strings: Egypt and Syria

Boutros Hussein and Lee Jay Walker

Modern Tokyo Times

If individuals want to see the dead end path of radical Takfiri Islam then look no further than the mantra of hatred and discord in Gaza because this estranged reality says everything about the international reality of this brand of Islam. Takfiri Islamism cares little about issues related to national identity therefore killing fellow nationals is part of the course alongside destroying respective civilizations. This reality means that nations like America, France, Israel, Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom, can pull the strings by manipulating various agendas. The upshot of this is that “international jihadists” can be manipulated in the short term while “internal jihadists” become a fifth column and this can be seen in Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan and Syria.

In Egypt and Syria both internal militant Islamists view killing fellow Egyptians and Syrians with glee because in their schizophrenic world view they are serving Takfiri and Muslim Brotherhood indoctrination. It would have been unthinkable in the past that Palestinians would desire jihad against Egypt and Syria rather than being focused on the Palestinian issue. However, the petrodollars of the Gulf and the spread of militant Salafi ideology have altered the religious and political landscape.

Of course, militant Islamists in Gaza are not powerful enough to change events on the ground in either Egypt or Syria. Despite this, it is clear that Islamists in Gaza can cause mayhem in the Sinai region and in Syria based on supplying arms and partaking in terrorism. Similarly, if Islamists don’t abide by the tune then new pied pipers will emerge in order to sow the seeds of more division. Alas, in modern day Syria various Takfiri Islamist terrorist groups in 2014 are now butchering each other and this reality is replicated in Afghanistan and in other nations where this virus is let loose.

Gulf petrodollars are sowing the seeds of crushing indigenous Sunni Islam, creating destabilization, spreading sectarianism, empowering terrorism and targeting non-Muslim minorities. America, France, Israel, Turkey and the United Kingdom are “riding this Islamist ticket” in order to destabilize nations they want to crush. Of course, Afghanistan was the springboard in the 1980s and early 1990s but the evolution and spread of Salafism is much more potent in the modern world.

In Libya the power of NATO was needed in order to bomb from the skies and of course covert operatives were involved on the ground whereby they were allies of various militias and al-Qaeda affiliated groups. Similarly, in Syria it is clear that al-Qaeda affiliates, various terrorist groups and Salafi ideologues are working hand-in-hand with Gulf and NATO powers. Therefore, in Libya and Syria it is mainly fellow Arabs alongside international jihadists who are doing the bidding of America, France, Israel, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

Colonel Gaddafi in Libya never envisaged that fellow Libyans would openly work hand-in-hand with NATO forces and that international jihadists would deem him to be an apostate. Yet, Libya was crushed based on the manipulation of internal discontent which was manipulated by outside nations, the role of NATO and Gulf powers – and the third trinity, the role of international jihadists and Salafi preachers which incite hatred. Syria is witnessing the same trinity despite events on the ground being very different based on the persistence of the armed forces of Syria and because of other important factors.

It is interesting to note that while mayhem and chaos abounds in many nations because of the so-called “Arab Spring,” which really should be named the “Western and Gulf ticket;” the nations of Israel and Saudi Arabia have emerged unscathed. Also, while international jihadists and internal militants in Syria are busy fighting and killing in the name of Allah; it is apparent that they aren’t concerned about Israel in the south and NATO Turkey in the north. Indeed, on several occasions Israel bombed Syria and this mustered no real mass demonstrations nor created political convulsions within the Middle East. Likewise, it is noticeable that al-Qaeda affiliate groups are notably strong in northern Syria whereby they can utilize the terrain of NATO Turkey and the supply lines for military arms.

In a video speech which was played to militants in Gaza the Islamist Sheikh Ahmad Oweida is inciting hatred towards Syria. He reportedly states “the time is for blood and destruction. The time is for invasions. The time is for battles.” Other comments in the video and during the demonstration in Gaza are aimed at Egypt and Syria. Suddenly, the role of NATO and Israel appears a very distant second and clearly for power brokers in the Gulf and West then this is a remarkable achievement. After all, it implies that militant Islam can be used like “a Trojan horse” in order to cause internal destabilization. Therefore, when the times are right international jihadists can do the bidding of Gulf and Western powers.

Oweida stated about Egypt that the “spear of Islam in the chest of despicable secularism….You are our hope that Shariah returns to what it was before.”

The Investigative Project on Terrorism reports that “Posters on jihadist bulletin boards have suggested that now was the time for jihadists to go to Egypt to exact revenge against the Egyptian military.”

“It is no longer possible to turn a blind eye to the obvious fact that they [secularists and the idolatrous disbelievers] are hostile to Islam and they wage war against it and they hate it,” Abdullah Muhammad Mahmoud of the jihadi group Dawa’at al-Haq Foundation for Studies and Research wrote in a jihad forum, the Long War Journal reported. “If jihad isn’t declared today to defend the religion, then when will it be declared?!” He continued: “Will Muslims wait until they are prevented from praying in mosques?! Will they wait until the beard becomes a charge that is punishable by imprisonment?! Will they wait until their sons enter prisons in the tens of thousands to be tortured and spend tens of years of their lives in their depths?!”

“O Muslims of Egypt, if you don’t do jihad today, then only blame yourselves tomorrow.”

Egypt is much more complex because while Gulf and Western powers are all anti-Syrian government the same doesn’t apply to this nation. Therefore, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations (apart from Qatar which is pro-Muslim Brotherhood and terrorism) are supporting Egypt financially and in other ways because they fear losing their internal powerbases. Indeed, Saudi Arabia even turned against the pro-Muslim Brotherhood agenda of the Obama administration which resulted in a rare clash between Riyadh and Washington. However, the issue of spreading Salafism is a real problem for Egypt and other nations like Tunisia. Therefore, Gulf petrodollars need to cease when it comes to spreading Islamist ideology. In other words,  indigenous Muslim clerics need to tend to spiritual matters. Issues related to the Muslim Brotherhood also need to be resolved because this Islamist movement desires to enforce its ideology on all the people of Egypt.

Al Ahram Weekly reported during a pivotal period last year that: “Mohamed Gomaa, a specialist on Palestinian affairs at Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, says that while the “organic relationship” between Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood has long been common knowledge, Hamas is taking a risk by parading those ties in Al-Qassam Brigades’ marches through Gaza. There are, Gomaa says, differences within Hamas over how to respond to developments in Egypt. Some within the movement urge restraint and the avoidance of any rhetoric that might be viewed as provocative by the Egyptian army. The appearance of Al-Qassam convoy, he argues, suggests that such voices are losing out to the zealously pro-Muslim Brotherhood contingent.”

“The Hamas government viewed Sinai as its backyard,” says Gomaa, “a safe corridor for arms and other strategic needs. This is why the movement supported strikes against Egypt’s security forces in Sinai. It explains why so many Palestinian elements were discovered to have taken part in operations against the army.”

The Syrian government meanwhile is currently fighting for its survival because of the unholy trinity being used against this nation. Likewise, Egypt faces internal political convulsions and a terrorist threat within the Sinai region and in other parts of the country.

Libya succumbed to the trinity and clearly Syria faces the same combination of forces despite the internal situations being very different. After all, Libya was just “abandoned to the wolves” but several powerful nations have stood by Syria despite their support being insufficient compared to what the enemies of Syria are doing. In other words,  if powerful Gulf and Western powers collectively decide on destabilization then clearly nations in North Africa and the Middle East are very vulnerable. The one saving grace for Egypt is that most Gulf nations oppose the administration of Obama when it comes to this nation. However, Syria is not so lucky because this nation faces outside manipulation and a brutal trinity which refuses to let go.

Gaza Islamists openly celebrate killing Syrians and inciting hatred towards this secular nation. At no point do they show the same willingness to die against Israel or against NATO Turkey. Likewise, Palestinian Takfiri jihadists are involved in spreading terrorism and mayhem in the Sinai region and more recently the Shia in Lebanon are being targeted by the same forces that have abandoned the Palestinian cause. Therefore, Islamist Salafi schizophrenia is a great tool for America, France, Israel, Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom in the short-term providing the above nations all share the same vision.

Islamists are now whipping up hatred in Gaza aimed mainly at Syria but also against Egypt. The Long War Journal reported last year: “the marketplace of jihad opened in Syria, the youth of Islam rose from every direction to fight” against the Assad regime. The narrator similarly boasted that “convoys of mujahideen” from Gaza have gone to Syria to fight and that some have died while there.”

In other words, militant Islam is a convenient tool to be manipulated by outside forces which desire to alter the political and military landscape. Of course, if Afghanistan and Libya are viewed in the long-term – just like the destabilization of Iraq and the self-destructive policies of Pakistan – then the long term is very different unless you support failed states, terrorism, sectarianism, putting women in the shadows and crushing religious and cultural diversity.

Gaza Islamists are only one piece in a very complex jigsaw. However, if they can forsake their homeland while killing fellow Muslims and Arabs – alongside persecuting religious minorities and becoming embroiled in anti-Shia policies in Syria; then this highlights the new force being backed within Gulf and Western circles. Indeed, outside nations don’t need boots on the ground like in Afghanistan and Iraq. Instead, the trinity can do everything from a distance and if extra support is needed then powerful ratlines will be increased alongside more Salafi indoctrination.

http://www.investigativeproject.org/4126/egypt-warns-hamas-over-jihadi-threats

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/News/3904/17/Sinai—no-longer-a-proxy-battle.aspx

www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2013/09/salafi_jihadists_hol.php#ixzz2eMcmf0z9 

leejay@moderntokyotimes.com

http://moderntokyotimes.com