Voices from the Arab press: Neither Russians nor Americans will save us

The Russians do more harm than good. This was the viewpoint of the late President Anwar Sadat. Those who lived through the 1970s remember his famous speech in which he claimed to have expelled 15,000 Soviet experts from Egypt before the 1973 war because he wanted the battle to be Egypt’s battle. 

Sadat, in contrast to president Gamal Abdel Nasser, looked suspiciously at the Soviets. In fact, the Russians played a very dangerous role in many of the ordeals that Egypt went through during the Nasser era. They were the ones who advised Nasser to rush and intervene in the Yemeni quagmire. The Russians also had a dangerous role in the 1967 setback. 

Many of the decisions taken by Nasser that resulted in the outbreak of the war, were based on incorrect information he received from the Soviets that Israel was amassing its forces on its borders with Syria. This information was proved to be false several times. 

Perhaps the most dangerous advice the Soviets gave Nasser was their insistence that Egypt should wait to initiate an attack during the June 1967 war. Nasser knew that an Israeli strike would take place during the first days of June and yet he listened to the Soviet view that absorbing the first strike and only then retaliating against Israel would be preferable for Egypt. I don’t need to remind you of the price that Egypt paid as a result of such dishonest Soviet advice. 

The event that prompts me to recall this unfortunate Soviet role is the current Russian position surrounding the Renaissance Dam, which threatens Egypt and Sudan. The Russian mission to the UN has been speaking unconvincingly about this matter and limiting Egypt’s freedom to act against Ethiopia. In my view, the Russian position isn’t surprising. Russia has billions of dollars of investments in Africa and is simply interested in preserving its own national interests. 

The Renaissance Dam problem is our problem. We must not wait to receive permission from any international player, above all from Russia, to secure our rights to the Nile waters. No one will protect our sovereignty and no one will fight on our behalf. The Nile problem affects neither Russia nor America, so expecting the two countries to have Egypt’s best interests in mind is an absurd premise. The solution to the situation is in our hands. 

Everyone agrees that Egypt has long addressed this situation with patience. The time has come to act against Ethiopia and to protect our national interest and sovereignty.

– Mahmoud Khalil

The American University of Beirut was founded 155 years ago by the American priest Daniel Bliss. It was first named the Syrian Protestant College, before adopting its current name about a century ago. Although its founder was a missionary, it was always a secular institution. The teaching curriculum in its first year included Arabic, English, French, Turkish, Latin, mathematics, ancient Arab history, and the history of religions, including Judaism. A year later, pharmacy and medicine became part of its curriculum. It saw many famous alumni graduate and assume meaningful roles in society, politics, and the arts. 

The university also contributed to making Beirut a publishing center in the region when it transferred its printing press from Malta to Lebanon. The university also followed high educational standards and values, and a strict American curriculum, and was the first in the region to rely on the principles of critical thinking and open discussion without discrimination between students. 

With the collapse of the security, economic, social, political, and even moral situation in Lebanon and the financial difficulties that the university is facing, its administration decided to close its doors or move to another country. With the spread of news of the intention to close, the name of Kuwait emerged at the top of the candidate countries to move to. Kuwaiti officials have been approached about the matter, and warmly welcomed the idea. Following ongoing discussions, the Kuwaiti Higher Education Ministry set the following conditions for the University’s transfer: changing the name to “Kuwait National University”; separating the women’s college from the men’s college; allowing women to wear a hijab or niqab; allowing the establishment of Islamic places of worship within its campus; preventing the study of certain critical theories such as Darwinism; allowing charitable foundations to establish branches within the university; and ensuring that 30% of the University’s students major in Islamic studies. 

The university administration met in Beirut and decided, within seconds, to reject the conditions and to consider moving to another country. Of course, the entire scenario I described above isn’t true. But it was a very close representation of reality. If any educational body at the level of the American University thought of transferring its activities to Kuwait, the Kuwaiti forces of backwardness and darkness would be on the lookout and sabotage such a monumental feat from happening. Instead of embracing an opportunity to push our country forward, Kuwaiti officials would have imposed hurdles and barriers along the way. 

I’m not sure why, but I’m always reminded of the story of Noah’s Ark. If Noah lived in modern-day Kuwait, he would have spent months trying to obtain a permit for his ark, without hammering a single nail. And while the Kuwaiti government would have sat and deliberated Noah’s case, the whole land would have been flooded.

– Ahmed Al-Sarraf 

 

The international war on terrorism that has been led by America since the attacks of September 11, 2001, is witnessing a dramatic transformation. Instead of focusing on groups like al-Qaida and ISIS, the global coalition is working to reshift its attention to Shi’ite Islamist groups linked to Iran. 

Nearly 20 years after the start of the war in Afghanistan and then Iraq, Washington has completed the withdrawal of its soldiers from the region, ending a chapter of a war that targeted Sunni Islamic fundamentalist groups around the world. Now that most of the main leaders of these organizations, such as Osama bin Laden and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, have been eliminated, and ISIS has been uprooted from its major strongholds, it seems that the eyes of the West are now fixed on the groups operating under the command of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq, and Shi’ite militias in Syria. 

We’re also noticing more and more countries designate these groups and their political arms as terrorist organizations. The Czech Republic was the ninth European country to classify Hezbollah’s military and political wing as a terrorist organization. In doing so, it joined important actors like Britain and Germany, in addition to the United States, the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council. In addition, over the past few months, Washington began adding groups and leaders of some of the Popular Mobilization militias in Iraq to the terror watchlist. Meanwhile, Tehran’s policy of counterpressure on America to lift the sanctions, which relies on using its militias to launch strikes against American bases and interests in the region, will help perpetuate this emerging reality. 

It seems that US President Joe Biden decided not to follow the policy of former president Barack Obama, which relied on ignoring Iran’s military operations in order to reach a nuclear agreement. The current administration is responding differently to these provocations. There are indications that the US may escalate its retaliatory strikes in the Syrian and Iraqi arenas. The repositioning of US forces in the region is yet another indication of that. Washington’s latest step is to transfer arms and equipment stores and command centers for its ground and joint forces from the Sailiya base in Qatar to Jordan, to reduce the number of American targets for Iran in the Gulf region. 

Against this backdrop, the intelligence war between Iran and Israel is escalating in quantity and quality. Washington’s campaign against Hezbollah takes on an important dimension in this war, as trials are currently underway for people arrested by local authorities in various cases related to the party’s financing. Security services in the United States and several South American countries are actively cracking down on drug smugglers and money launderers who are suspected of working with Hezbollah. With these steps underway, the movement is expected to face growing pressure.                                                                                           

– Riad Kahwaji 

I highly doubt that the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip will actually take place given the extent of damage inflicted upon it in recent years. The Strip’s buildings, houses, and health infrastructure have all sustained comprehensive damage during the recent round of aggression. The balance of power between Israel and the armed militias in Gaza is asymmetrical, and 11 days of painful Israeli strikes were enough to wreak havoc in the Gaza Strip. And while the international community spoke passionately about a ceasefire that would be followed by a comprehensive rehabilitation and reconstruction effort, not a single Western government seems concerned with the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip today. 

If the Palestinian leadership were wiser, it would have accepted any aid offered to the people of Gaza. However, the Hamas leadership remains intransigent in its positions and has therefore turned down foreign aid that might undermine its authority. Consequently, our brothers and sisters in Gaza continue to suffer. Hamas, and like it, the Islamic Jihad, have made repeated miscalculations in their repeated military confrontations with the Israeli enemy. These mistakes have turned Gaza into a failed state, especially since Hamas’s 2007 armed takeover of the Strip. In light of the growing international isolation of Hamas, the poor internal relations between the Palestinian factions, and the Arab’s world preoccupation with other geopolitical issues, there remains very little eagerness and enthusiasm to support Gaza reconstruction. 

The Palestinian people deserve to live in peace and dignity. They also deserve leadership that represents their interests and improves their livelihoods.