No understanding, no solution

The political rhetoric emerging in the aftermath of the massacre in Tunisia is predictable, maybe inevitable. It is also exploitative of human suffering and will make future attacks more, not less likely.

Any Prime Minister can be expected to invoke the innocence of the victims and condemn the utter barbarity of the attack on 28 June. And utterly barbaric it surely was. What is harder to accept and what will prove counterproductive is the nationalistic tub-thumping and sabre-rattling that has followed.

Cameron and others have made much of “British values”, of “upholding our way of life”. At such a moment of crisis maybe all leaders have to wrap themselves in the national flag. But the situation is being represented as a Manichean polarity of freedom versus oppression, progress versus obscurantism, good versus evil. This is the George W Bush school of political analysis, who said that the 9/11 attackers did what they did “because they hate our freedoms”.

Cameron claims the basic problem is one of ideological radicalisation, which can only be tackled by rooting out ‘extremist’ individuals and institutions (which will naturally necessitate much greater powers of surveillance). The underlying premise – despite the politically correct caveats that political leaders make about most Muslims being ‘moderate’— is that Islam is a religion that nurtures extremism: a premise that itself promotes radicalisation.

At the same time, they say, ‘our’ values must be taught, through schools, mosques and the media. And now military intervention against ISIS in Syria is increasingly being proposed as a deterrent to future attacks.

How effective is this approach likely to be?

In any confrontation, great or small, it is always a good idea to talk to those you see as your opponents. The world is suddenly full of experts on Islam and the Arab world – some are even able to quote verses from the Quran or the Hadith that can be interpreted as exhortations to violence.

I am no theologian, but I have spent decades studying, travelling and working in the Middle East; and above all, talking to ordinary people. Most of them, as in this country, want stability, security, a decent standard of living and a better life for their children. In contrast to the UK, however, even the less educated tend to be interested in politics, local and global, because it has affected their lives more closely. It is quite likely, for instance, that a waiter in Cairo or a taxi-driver in Damascus will have heard of the Balfour Declaration of 1917 (‘Balfour’s Promise’ in Arabic) whereby the British government promised to give away Palestine even before the British occupation there had been fully established. They will also know, broadly, what the Palestinians have suffered at the hands of Israel since 1948 and will have seen much more explicit footage of repeated Israeli atrocities then has been allowed onto our screens.

The waiter and the taxi driver will also know that Iraq was once a very prosperous, secular country, with high wages and an excellent education system and health service, where many in the region aspired to work. Saddam Hussein’s brutal dictatorship was unpleasant, but essentially just another version of what they had at home.

They have subsequently seen the population of Iraq reduced to poverty, after twelve years of brutal sanctions, then hundreds of thousands killed, the infrastructure wrecked and cities like Fallujah virtually razed to the ground by western bombing. But of course this was largely the fault of Iraqis, for not being “ready for democracy”.

In the aftermath, they know that western oil and gas companies have moved in to make billions out of Iraq’s natural resources.

Libya, once another economic magnet in the region, has been reduced to violent tribal anarchy after western military intervention.

On the borders of Syria they see the swelling refugee camps where billions in western aid were pledged – and then quietly forgotten.

Float the name of ‘Tony Blair’ and you will probably elicit a smile of contempt – oh yes, that guy who made himself and his cronies mega- rich by doing deals on the back of his supposed diplomatic mission in the Middle East.

These things have been forgotten – or perhaps never even registered –with most people in the west. But they are not forgotten by the waiter or the taxi driver, who may themselves have lost a home or a job or a relative, or all hope of a better life. What is amazing is that there has not been more ‘radicalisation’ as a response to decades of western intervention, depredation and hypocrisy. Most feel impotent rage, but keep their heads down and just hope things will improve. A few seek revenge and find justification and hope of a better life after death in the brand of religion offered by ISIS or Al-Qaeda.

Instead of claiming the high moral ground, Cameron and other western leaders should remember the terrible history we have imposed on the region, and start a dialogue based on humility. A readiness to put pressure on brutal regimes that the west has in the past supported one hundred per cent, such as Saudi Arabia or Israel, would be a good start.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.