The justice of a cause does not guarantee success

History has taught us the harsh lesson time and time again that the justice of a cause is important but it does not guarantee success. Importance alone does not allow it to triumph over injustice and create a better world. History is written by the victors who try to convince posterity that they were a benign influence, but if we read about it objectively we see that tyranny, injustice, exploitation and oppression has been the common element throughout the past. Old and new authorities have tried to cover up this ugly face but their disguises often make it seem even worse.

Justice is the human being’s dream but it is a long, hard path to get there. The magnitude of the injustice spread across the world is almost unbearable, as those with the power to help the oppressed are doing little or nothing to do so. In fact, they are often responsible for much of the injustice that is grinding people down. Current events showcase the oppression and brutality surrounding us in every direction. The brutality reported in the media is only a fraction of what we are suffering, despite the fact that modern media makes it possible to report matters on a much wider scale than before. I believe that what is hidden is even worse than the ruthlessness and injustice we see; it’s the tip of the iceberg of oppression in the world today.

Such matters occurred to me in light of the numbers of people being killed in the Mediterranean, which are not being described as the side effects of the wars and disputes in the world and the consequent refugee problem. In fact, they are merely “migrants” as far as the media and politicians are concerned and their status as victims of oppression is rarely mentioned. This very public story of death at sea occurring before the eyes of the world makes me feel ashamed and embarrassed; it illustrates the lack of moral and human values in a world that claims to be humanitarian. However, those who can change the situation are hardly batting an eyelid.

What is happening in the Mediterranean is not a matter of failed asylum seekers trying to get into Europe through the back door. It is part of the human tragedy afflicting Asia and Africa. The victims sacrifice everything, including their lives in ever greater numbers, in order to reach a place where they can be safe and have the minimum requirements for a dignified life.

Drowning in the Mediterranean are not the victims of war who have risked their lives to be rescued; drowning in the Mediterranean are national histories, social values and international and Western claims to be humanitarian. The tragedy occurring at sea is the historical gathering together of the fates of the refugees’ home countries: Afghanistan and its seemingly everlasting war; devastated Somalia; looted and divided Iraq; and now utterly destroyed Syria.

These countries are not being torn apart by localised conflicts; they are the results of Western and regional “interests” which trump local concerns. Apparently local societal breakdown is actually part of the history of eternal foreign intervention and interference, and its inevitable destruction. Once such external forces are no longer in need of these countries, they are cast aside to rot. For the West, Afghanistan was nothing more than a place in which to defeat the Soviet Union; once that was done, the country was abandoned to its fate. Iraq was no different; it was a valued ally against Iran, against whom it fought a bitter war for 8 years. Once that was done, it was left to decline and “our man Saddam” was removed. America’s promise for Iraq post-Saddam was destruction.

Is the West alone responsible for this destruction? Of course not. Such interference and manipulation of states cannot be done unless they are “prone” to manipulation. The first element of this is to have a tyrannical, authoritarian regime, built on tight social, ethnic and sectarian divisions, which makes the idea of a “citizen” a technicality. This produces a power structure that revolves around the head of state; a political and economic system with which no citizen can be affiliated unless they are part of the authority or its supporter.

The history of the Middle East, in terms of local, regional and international interference, demonstrates that just causes have been the victims of these “interests” and their resultant conflicts and benefits. The Palestinian and Kurdish issues are both victims of these interventions and interests. These two nations do not possess the strength required to achieve their understandable dream of their own independent states. We have also witnessed this in the Arab Spring countries, as the revolutions began with the promise of ending tyranny and joining the modern world with their demands for freedom, but the lack of sufficient strength within the revolutionary societies has prevented the achievement of what were realistic goals for reasons that are too elaborate to list here. Suffice to say that the lack of the necessary tools of power has left those states in the condition they are in today. When the justice of a cause is not enough for it to triumph, those behind it must gain the strength required to take their freedom, by force if necessary, in order to build a just and fair society.

Despite all of the challenges that face humankind, the dream of justice and freedom will remain stronger than the harsh conditions that human beings withstand. The people’s desire for a better world will not be deterred by an unfair and unjust history.

Translated from Al-Araby Al-Jadid, 2 September, 2015.

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