the news in arabic

From Brazilian artist Carlos Latuff. Thanks to Novine for the link!

(The above image is an index map of Iran from the U.S. Defense Mapping Agency. Click here for more.)

• A recent survey conducted by a Virginia-based company which made telephone calls to Iranian citizens in Iran reports that 90% of the population favors a direct election of the supreme leader, i.e. the position that Ayatullah Khamanei currently fills.
• The same survey reports that 75% of Iranians favor naturalization of relations with the U.S. and that 45% would recognize Israel if there was a comprehensive agreement with the United States. (Al-Zaman and Washington Post.)
• The journal Foreign Policy published results of a survey in which over 3,000 American generals (active duty and not) were questioned about America’s military capacity. 60% said the U.S. Army is weaker today than it was five years ago. 37% believe that Iran was the biggest beneficiary of the war on Iraq, while 19% said America. (Al-Zaman and Foreign Policy.)

At the end of March, Syria will host a regional Arab Summit in Damascus, but Saudi Arabia has threatened to boycott the summit if Syria does not wield its influence in Lebanon to help end the current presidential vacuum. Currently, Syrian and Saudi relations are at a low, as evidenced by the Syrian delivery of the summit invitation to Saudi Arabia via a lower-level minister, and not Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem who had delivered all the other invitations.

Al-Quds al-Arabi has an in-depth analysis of the politics behind the Arab Summit, but it largely boils down to this: American influence vs. Iranian influence. Saudi Arabia is on Team America and Syria is on Team Iran. In the recent Vanity Fair article on American meddling in Palestinian affairs, we saw how susceptible leaders in the Middle East are to American influence and how willing many Arab officials are to comply with American demands in order to secure their hold on power in their own countries.

It would be very simplistic to say that a country’s relationship with America or any other entity determines every aspect of its policy decisions, but it is safe to say that Arab countries (and Iran) are divided into two blocs: Pro-West and Pro-Resistance.

PRO-WEST vs. PRO-RESISTANCE

Pro-West: To be a part of the Pro-West bloc, the country must normally fulfill a few qualifications: 1) Make peace with Israel; 2) Be willing to allow the U.S. military to use your country as a base or at least let us pass through it on our way to attack one of your neighbors; and 3) Be a repressive, autocratic government which prevents any type of popular Islamic movements from coming into power.

EGYPT

Egypt is the second largest recipient of US aid in the Middle East after Israel. Most recently, the Bush administration has bypassed congressional restrictions and approved $100 million in military aid to Egypt. Egyptian President and Autocrat Hosni Mubarak has been in power since 1981, and this is not because of popular support. Many believe that if Egypt were to hold democratic elections today, the vastly popular Muslim Brotherhood would win. The Muslim Brotherhood won a fifth of seats in the 2005 parliamentary elections and since then, the Egyptian government has continued to arrest leaders of the Brotherhood.

SAUDI ARABIA

First, watch this video of Bush in Saudi. It’s a known fact that Saudi Arabia is America’s staunchest regional ally, so I won’t elaborate. Saudi Arabia’s positions are normally in-line with the United States, but during the 2006 July War on Lebanon, popular support for Hezbullah was so overwhelming that the Saudi King actually had to give Hezbullah props. So again, the U.S. has influence, but there are times when figures make subtle gestures to assure minor support for Palestine or popular Islamic causes. You could put Kuwait in the same category as Saudi Arabia, but Qatar is more complicated because of al-Jazeera.

JORDAN

King Abdullah II met with George W. Bush this past week at the White House. See top three qualifications and Jordan matches all of them.

PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY

Yep.

Pro-Resistance: These countries and/or groups work outside the framework of Western, primarily American, influence in the region. They have made very public stands to support Resistance movements in the Middle East, either materially or verbally, and most consider Israel to be an enemy.

IRAN

Duh.

SYRIA

Syria is certainly no democracy, but the country and its leadership have not sought to cultivate a relationship with the West and instead have allied themselves with Hezbullah and Iran. The Syrian government has been accused of providing weapons to Hezbullah and Palestinian groups, but the administration does not make secret its Pro-Resistance status. Many view President Bashar al-Assad’s support of Hezbullah and Iran as purely opportunistic and it is believed that if Israel were to offer Syria the Golan Heights, then they would willingly abandon the heated discourse.

HEZBULLAH

I talk too much about Hezbullah.

HAMAS

See this article and you will understand.

Pro-Eh?: Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen are kind of in a nebulous category. Iraq is headed by Shi’i Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki who has very close ties with Iran, but there are also 200,000 American troops in his country. Lebanon is divided between the two camps — and perhaps this is at the center of the recent presidential crisis. Yemen is kind of weird. Yemeni President Salih is as Pro-West as they come and foreign investment flourishes in the country, but the population is not about to wave any American flags.

Al-Jazeera reports that Republican presidential candidate John McCain will visit Israel on March 20 as part of a delegation of U.S. senators. This is reportedly the first time that a Republican or Democratic presidential candidate has visited Israel during an election year. A commenter on al-Jazeera pointed out that this visit will coincide with the fifth-year anniversary of the war on Iraq.

I hope Senator McCain has a great time! Here’s my recommendation for a travel itinerary:

Start with a trip to Tel Aviv and eat at the vegan restaurant Tov al-Khaim (Taste of Life). Their lasagna is really good. Seriously.

Then he could make his way north to Haifa and check out the very cool Bah’ai Temple. If he’s feeling ambitious, then he should head on over to the West Bank and visit the newly expanded Jewish settlement Givat Zeev.

McCain is really old, so if he feels like he’s about to die or something, he should check out the awesome medical facilities in Gaza City. It might take him, like, a lifetime to cross the border and then another month to get adequate medical supplies, but this should be no problem since he has been complicit in instigating civil strife in Gaza!

An Israeli intelligence report, which was presented to the Israeli parliament this week, brought forth the following regional security assessments, according to al-Hayat:

• Iran continues to represent the greatest threat to Israel.
• There is a greater chance of conflict breaking out with Hezbullah along the northern Lebanese-Israeli border than any other front.
• Israel faces five areas of security threats including Syria, but Iran and Hezbullah are the most prominent.

The Israeli intelligence apparatus consists of two main branches — Shabak (or Shin Bet), which is for domestic security and Mossad, which is handles external matters.