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Israeli-Arab relations expert says chaos favors ISIS
YOUNGSTOWN
The brutal power struggle between Iran and Arab nations in the Middle East could potentially provide common ground between Israel and Arab nations such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
The situation in the Middle East has led to creation of a unique circumstance that is unprecedented, and which could result in long-term common interests between Israel and Arab states and resist the Iranian push, said Avi Melamed, speaker on Middle East tensions Tuesday at the Youngstown Jewish Community Center.
Melamed is a former senior Israeli official on Arab affairs, a fellow of intelligence and Middle East affairs at Gettysburg College’s Eisenhower Institute.
“I spent most of my intelligence career in Arab-speaking areas,” said Melamed, who helped develop Jerusalem’s policy on Israeli-Arab relations during the First Intifada and has served in numerous counterterrorism roles in the Israeli government.
Fluent in Arabic and with an understanding of Arab society and culture, Melamed used his experience of almost 30 years living in Arab cities and communities throughout the region, often in high-risk positions at sensitive times, to, as he said, “provide a road map to understanding what is going on in the Middle East.”
To do that, he discussed a number of issues, including the power struggle between Iran and the Arab states, the battle within the Muslim world on how to convert the rest of the world to Islam, and how groups such as ISIS came into being.
Melamed said Islam now controls nations and areas such as Lebanon, the Gaza Strip and Yemen, which are populated primarily with Sunni Muslims, while Iran is predominantly Shiite.
Within Islam, he said, one faction wants to convert the rest of the world through education and teaching, while another faction wants to “go back to the root where there are no independent entities and all are run according to Muslim law.
The offspring of the latter is a group like ISIS. Their attitude is to pre-actively make conversion happen by using violence, Melamed said.
One of their tenets is that the world is divided between Muslims and infidels and fake Muslims, and that Islam must first be purified from within.
The overwhelming number of victims of ISIS are Muslims, he noted.
ISIS uses chaos in recruiting members, he said. Also, when people perceive themselves as nothing and completely powerless, they are perfect prey for a radical, charismatic leader, he said, explaining that that leader gives them an identity and a weapon and they are no longer powerless.
Melamed said the United States influence in the Middle East is diminishing because of its policies over the last 30 years.
Also, he said, the Arab world is angered and mystified by the U.S. seeming to take the side of Iran.
“Our diplomats don’t speak the language and he questioned the way the U.S. gathers, processes and uses knowledge in the Middle East,” Melamed said.
Melamed is the author of “Inside the Middle East: Making Sense of the Most Dangerous and Complicated Place on Earth,” which examines events in the Middle East.