Dr Abdulnabi
The plague of bigotry, blasphemy, and irrationality is sweeping the Arab world, which has been exacerbated with the war in Yemen. The result is that you cannot believe what you read, hear, and see in debates across media outlets and social media platforms.
The splitting of Arabs runs in their political system and identity, and despite their membership in the Arab League, Arabs are divided about the war and its conflicting parties in Yemen.
There is the coalition group which wages the war, in support of the request to restore legitimacy, represented by President Hadi, and the Gulf initiative that is against the control of the Houthis and Saleh who want to take over the country by force. On the other side, there is another group, such as Iraq, Algeria and others who silently oppose
this war.
There is also a third group, the Sultanate of Oman, that completely rejects the war, and is positively moving in order to stop it and resume reconciliation and dialogue between the conflicting Yemeni parties.
It is noted that the Arab regimes as usual want to be supported by their people, political forces and elites in a situation that they have taken without reservations, and for which they use all means of mass media to leave an impact on people, with a mixture of threat and temptation. And that is what exacerbated the state of division within the same society and nation.
Of course, regimes are not the only ones responsible for this division. Arab intellectual space has deteriorated since the decline of the national tide, it has been worsening due to the outbreak of wars and occupation of Arabs in Arab lands. But, this intellectual space has reached rock bottom, since conflicts turn into religious and sectarian strives.
The war in Yemen is a conflict over power, at the time when Yemenis were about to agree on the terms and agenda of the democratic transition, there were certainly regional and international parties who are feeding the conflict.
In the light of hectic Arab and regional atmospheres, the conflict has been bestowed by sectarian and racist nature. For some, the Houthis are the real heroes who protect Islam, and Abdul Malik Al Houthi is a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and so he deserves to rule according to the Zaydi faith. While other groups like to think that the Houthis are not Muslims, they are rather the enemies of Sunnis and agents of Iran.
The Arab media outlets are full of religious Fatwas and Friday sermons, analysis and comments on satellites channels, as well as one-sided articles in the press that support one of these groups over the other.
There is also a conflict between those who claim to reject US and Israel, which is led by Iran. Yet another group that is led by the GCC countries claiming that it is allied with the US and even Israel. The war takes the shape of a Holy War, for some, while it is seen as a war against apostasy for others. However, the common factor is the irrationality and lack of logic to stand for the national interest of Yemen.
The beneficiary of this situation is Israel, of course, which sleeps these days on a silk pillow, satisfied that the Arabs and their friends are destroying themselves.
After Israel, the US and the superpowers that scoop the bounties of Arab oil and gas come second as beneficiaries. They export weapons of mass destruction to Arabs, set borders for guarding a brother from his brother, and rebuild what the war destroyed, earning billions of dollars.
Reason and logic are required from the political and cultural elite who still have a conscience to move quickly and urge the Sultanate of Oman to provide a bold initiative to stop this war immediately by organising a relief campaign for the affected Yemeni people, and to organise a Yemeni national dialogue under the supervision and support of the GCC, regional conflicting powers, and the United Nations.
These should agree on a national consensual authority and a programme of peaceful transition to pluralist democracy that will support the GCC and the Arab countries first and the world next to push forward the economic reveille in Yemen, providing a decent life for Yemenis, and prosperity and stability for the entire region. This will also defuse any regional and international conflicts.
The writer is a researcher and political activist.
