by Eze Eluchie,
Most likely
due to the seamless scenery foisted by an unobstructed view of the sky, stars
and galaxies (at night) and the endless sand dunes which covers most of Arabia
and Persia, the ancient languages, mythology and histories of the peoples of
these area are steeped in rich hyperbole and bombastic imagery. The quest for the
everlasting espoused in alluring poetry, normal sayings in the region, served
to endear the Abrahamic religions, which are replete with larger-than-life
images and expressions, to the sensibilities of billions across the globe.
When one
recollects the scary boasts that have been bandied by political rulers in the
region, such as ‘the blood of the foreign soldiers will flow in the streets of
Baghdad’ and the worrisome threat of the ‘mother of all battles’, and the
reality that all such talk proved futile, one would have expected that with
their knowledge of verbose language and imagery, rulers in Arabia would have
been able to distinguish between actionable political commitment and hot air;
between genuine friendship and spur-of-the-moment diplomatic talk; and between
a salesman’s smooth pitch and an instigation to war.
Apparently misguided
by the significance of being the very first foreign country to be visited by
the President of the United States after his inauguration, misreading the unrestrained
praise singing of the elderly Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques by the POTUS
during his recent visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, misjudging the
significance of a US$100 Billion military wares sales agreement between the KSA
and the USA, misunderstanding the willingness of several rulers of Muslim-majority
countries to assemble at short notice for a summit in Riyadh to meet POTUS,
clearly misled by the promise made by POTUS to collaborate with the Terror
Monitoring Centre (despite what United States security agencies already know of
KSA’s likely involvement in financing terror activities), and buoyed on by the
misconception of being the ‘leader’ of Muslim states; the King of Saudi Arabia
felt emboldened, in a most disrespectful manner, to move against a brother Gulf
Cooperation Council state which KSA felt was exercising too much ‘independence’.
Clearly rulers of KSA and her GCC allies were not able to discern reality through the
posturing of the President Trump.
In the
actions taken against Qatar by KSA and its GCC allies states, KSA had no doubt believed
that in keeping with the mannerisms displayed by POTUS during his visit to KSA,
the US will render unalloyed backing for actions against Qatar. So far, this
supposition has proved wrong. On the converse, by dint of energetic diplomatic
forays, matured and measured presentation of facts to the international community,
Qatar has been able to elicit better understanding for the need to respect its sovereignty
and a global abhorrence for the effrontery of KSA and her allies to
provocatively seek to intimidate what appears to be a smaller country.
With its
rich history and knowledge of hyperbole embedded in its culture and language,
why couldn’t the rulers of KSA and her allies see through the bombastic words
of US President Donald Trump? Did the rulers of KSA and her GCC allies not
realize that a man who during his campaign for election as President had
expressed undiluted disgust for the influx of peoples of Arab origin into the
United States may have an ulterior and perhaps sinister motive, in promoting
conflict amongst ‘brotherly’ Gulf States? Did the rulers of KSA and her GCC
allies not appreciate that announcing the sale of sophisticated weapons to both
sides in the ongoing Gulf Crisis could unwittingly give an insight into the
divergent support for both sides of the divide from various authorities in the
US?
To the
rulers of KSA and her GCC allies, it is time to remove the turbans of ignorance
and hate and adorn thinking caps. Sheath the swords, pick up the olive
branches; stall the Sword Dance and move to the steps and tunes of the Flower
Dance. Arabian blood has been spilled for too damned long, give the world a
break – let us know more about the positive contributions of Arabia to science
and technology and humanity, and not just wars, terror and bloodshed. Arabs transformed
swats of desert lands to paradise-on-earth, gave the world the Burj Khalifa,
Dubai’s Palm Islands, and virtually the entirety of Doha - it would be
unfortunate to watch all these architectural and historical masterpiece creations
across Arabia laid to waste in yet another senseless war. Spare the world a
replication of the horrors and devastation of Aleppo and Mosul in the Gulf.
As the
deadline for Qatar’s compliance with the list of 13 ridiculous and insulting
conditions (amongst which include a demand to shut down the Aljazeera media
network, close Turkish military bases in Qatar, cut off ties with Iran {the
same Iran which served as major lifeline in the initial days of the blockade of Qatar by KSA and her GCC allies}, and a preposterous demand for 'damages' - in practical terms a request for the victim to pay the aggressors) for the ‘lifting of sanctions’ presented by KSA and
her GCC allies looms near, it is hoped that common-sense will prevail and this
13 conditions withdrawn unconditionally and then a dialogue process can
commence to repair damages occasioned to relationships that date back centuries.
Picture: Group
photograph of Gulf Cooperation Council rulers at GCC Summit in Jeddah, Saudi
Arabia. 2016.
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