As the threat of war looms larger over the Middle East thanks to Iran's continued pursuit of nuclear weapons, the various actors in the region are beginning to pick sides. Well, to be honest, hardly anyone in the Middle East with any significant power is willing to openly back Israel. More accurately, the various actors in the region are beginning to settle on whether or not they would be involved in such a conflict. Hatred for Israel still burns brightly in the hearts of many of the Jewish nation's neighbors, but other political forces, such as the Arab Spring, are influencing the decision-making of the region's leaders.
As perhaps the poster-boy for the Arab Spring, it seems most appropriate to begin by discussing Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi. Morsi is planning to attend a summit in Iran sometime this month. Since 1979, the year of both Egypt's peace treaty with Israel and Iran's Islamic Revolution, diplomatic relations between the two Muslim nations have been frosty. But Morsi apparently intends to reverse many of the policies of ousted President Hosni Mubarak which threw Egypt's political weight behind other predominantly Sunni regimes such as Saudi Arabia. Whether Morsi's decision to reach out to Shiite Iran indicates worsening relations between Egypt's new leadership and their Sunni neighbors is not yet clear, but Morsi has made several statements attempting to reassure the monarchies of the Arabian Peninsula. Only time will tell which side Egypt will commit to joining, but the thawing relationship between Cairo and Tehran should not be ignored.
Meanwhile, it is not exactly news that the economic sanctions against Iran have accomplished something between diddly and squat. Now new reports have been released indicating that two countries, in particular, have been instrumental in providing a way for Tehran to skirt the tough sanctions leveled against the regime: Iraq and Afghanistan. Yes, the two countries in which the United States has been fighting for the past decade and whose governments live and die based on economic aid from Washington have betrayed American efforts to maintain order in the region. The Iraqi banking sector has done shady business with Iranian companies for years despite explicit sanctions prohibiting such activity, helping Tehran maintain a steady cash flow while smuggling oil out of Iran. Afghanistan, meanwhile, has become a popular center for Iranian currency traders looking to get rid of devalued rials in exchange for American dollars, dollars that flow freely as a result of the war and subsequent reconstruction projects paid for by American taxpayers.
On the other side of things, it appears that Hezbollah's stranglehold on Lebanon may be weakening, thanks in no small part to the Syrian civil war. An alleged plot by Syrian leadership to ignite a new civil war in Lebanon by using a campaign of targeted bombings has been discovered. This fact is not unusual given Syria's confrontational and expansionist attitude toward Lebanon, but what is surprising is that the Lebanese have made several stunning arrests, including a friend of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, and indictments of two other Syrian officials. It represents a fundamental shift in Lebanese politics: Lebanon is no longer content to be the errand boys of a regime that may not be in power this time next year. Members of Hezbollah, the country's ruling party and puppet of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, have been strangely quiet about the case. It is likely that even Hezbollah is unwilling to commit to Iran unconditionally until the situation in Syria has stabilized.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Sunday, August 12, 2012
The Ignored Plight of Egypt's Christians
Before I begin, I want to apologize for my lengthy absence. Another project popped up unexpectedly and demanded my attention throughout the past month or so. Well, I'm back and will do my best to get back to the normal schedule of posting. With that out of the way, let's begin.
As the Muslim Brotherhood continues to expand its influence in Egypt, the Christian minority have begun to feel the pressure. During the Mubarak years, the Coptic Christians would see occasional acts of brutality committed against them, but it was generally limited because of Mubarak's efforts to slow the growth of the Islamist movement in Egypt. Mubarak had good reason to try to retain the loyalty of the Coptic minority. Egypt's Christians are among the best educated in the country, many having reached positions of influence in politics, business, and finance. Ironically, Mubarak's successors among the military, who do much of the work of ruling the country, have been assaulting Christian communities and using the chaos to secure their power.
Recently, a nasty incident occurred in which an angry mob (is there any other kind?) of Muslims burned down the homes of Christians close to Cairo. What instigated this violence? It all started when a Muslim man accused a Coptic laundry worker of improperly ironing his shirt and leaving it singed. The next day, the Muslim man gathered up a couple dozen friends and assaulted the Christian's house. The Copt, however, must have suspected something was going to go down because he was prepared for the mob, even injuring another man with a Molotov cocktail. The day after that, over 2,000 Muslims went on a rampage, burning and looting the homes of any Christians they could find.
This is only the most recent act of violence targeting Egypt's Coptic population. Tragically, the Obama administration seems more interested in making nice with the "mostly secular" Muslim Brotherhood as it takes over key positions within the government. There is a popular feeling among the Egyptian expatriates in the West, particularly the United States, that the world is ignoring the plight of the Copts because they feel the Copts will not organize to protest like radical Islamists do. But the reality is actually far worse than simply ignoring evidence. Legislation designed to create a special envoy for religious minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia that passed in the House of Representatives by a large margin has been stalled by Senator James Webb of Virginia.
As bad as Congress may be, the U.S. State Department is leading the charge when it comes to hiding the truth about persecution of Christians around the world. It was the State Department that labeled anti-Christian violence in Nigeria a simple case of tribal rivalry. But the worst (so far) came when the U.S. State Department released their "Country Reports on Human Rights" on May 24. Not only was the report three months behind the Congressional deadline, they had also removed the sections covering freedom of religion (you'd think a shorter report would get out faster!). The State Department, instead, directed its readers to the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report. In other words, the State Department is actively covering up the conditions of the Christian minorities throughout the Middle East in the aftermath of the Arab Spring. If you have trouble wrapping your head around that, trust me when I say you're not the only one. Thomas Farr, a former U.S. diplomat who served under Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush and was the first director of the Office of International Religious Freedom, said, "it is important to note here that I do not know-I have no personal knowledge of the logic that went into removing religious freedom from the broader human rights report; but I also have observed during the three-and-a-half years of the Obama administration that the issue of religious freedom has been distinctly downplayed." He pointed out that while some positions at the State Department, like the ambassador-at-large for global women's issues, were filled only a few months into the new administration, the ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom "did not even step foot into her office until two-and-a-half years were gone of a four-year administration."
"Four-year administration." I like Mr. Farr's optimism.
As the Muslim Brotherhood continues to expand its influence in Egypt, the Christian minority have begun to feel the pressure. During the Mubarak years, the Coptic Christians would see occasional acts of brutality committed against them, but it was generally limited because of Mubarak's efforts to slow the growth of the Islamist movement in Egypt. Mubarak had good reason to try to retain the loyalty of the Coptic minority. Egypt's Christians are among the best educated in the country, many having reached positions of influence in politics, business, and finance. Ironically, Mubarak's successors among the military, who do much of the work of ruling the country, have been assaulting Christian communities and using the chaos to secure their power.
Recently, a nasty incident occurred in which an angry mob (is there any other kind?) of Muslims burned down the homes of Christians close to Cairo. What instigated this violence? It all started when a Muslim man accused a Coptic laundry worker of improperly ironing his shirt and leaving it singed. The next day, the Muslim man gathered up a couple dozen friends and assaulted the Christian's house. The Copt, however, must have suspected something was going to go down because he was prepared for the mob, even injuring another man with a Molotov cocktail. The day after that, over 2,000 Muslims went on a rampage, burning and looting the homes of any Christians they could find.
This is only the most recent act of violence targeting Egypt's Coptic population. Tragically, the Obama administration seems more interested in making nice with the "mostly secular" Muslim Brotherhood as it takes over key positions within the government. There is a popular feeling among the Egyptian expatriates in the West, particularly the United States, that the world is ignoring the plight of the Copts because they feel the Copts will not organize to protest like radical Islamists do. But the reality is actually far worse than simply ignoring evidence. Legislation designed to create a special envoy for religious minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia that passed in the House of Representatives by a large margin has been stalled by Senator James Webb of Virginia.
As bad as Congress may be, the U.S. State Department is leading the charge when it comes to hiding the truth about persecution of Christians around the world. It was the State Department that labeled anti-Christian violence in Nigeria a simple case of tribal rivalry. But the worst (so far) came when the U.S. State Department released their "Country Reports on Human Rights" on May 24. Not only was the report three months behind the Congressional deadline, they had also removed the sections covering freedom of religion (you'd think a shorter report would get out faster!). The State Department, instead, directed its readers to the 2010 International Religious Freedom Report. In other words, the State Department is actively covering up the conditions of the Christian minorities throughout the Middle East in the aftermath of the Arab Spring. If you have trouble wrapping your head around that, trust me when I say you're not the only one. Thomas Farr, a former U.S. diplomat who served under Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush and was the first director of the Office of International Religious Freedom, said, "it is important to note here that I do not know-I have no personal knowledge of the logic that went into removing religious freedom from the broader human rights report; but I also have observed during the three-and-a-half years of the Obama administration that the issue of religious freedom has been distinctly downplayed." He pointed out that while some positions at the State Department, like the ambassador-at-large for global women's issues, were filled only a few months into the new administration, the ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom "did not even step foot into her office until two-and-a-half years were gone of a four-year administration."
"Four-year administration." I like Mr. Farr's optimism.
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