The recent announcement that prince Tallal of Saudi Arabia is planning to visit Israel, by instructions of his king, disclosed a secret that was kept from view for years. The coalescing interests of the autocratic feudalism in Saudi Arabia and apartheid Zionism in Israel are finally out in the open. The objectives of the visit by a Saudi prince to Israel are certainly not to promote democratic values in the region but are to protect the two oppressive regimes from their perceived common threats. The coordination between the two regional powers will increase their hegemony in the region and cost the Arabs more independence, freedom and dignity. Unfortunately, the usually shortsighted United States policies support both states.
The winner of the coordination between Saudi Arabia and Israel will be the self-declared Islamic State or ISIS. ISIS has been expanding the territory it controls and is enjoying greater support not only among Arabs but among non-Arabs as well. It is perceived as an existential thread by both Saudi Arabia and Israel. By declaring that the two states will be coordinating their actions, the support for ISIS among the long-suppressed Arab masses will significantly increase. In spite of its gruesome and revolting methods, ISIS represents the desire of the Arabs to rid themselves of corrupt feudal regime in Saudi Arabia and the occupying apartheid regime in Palestine.
Although ISIS projects neither a democratic or positive image of itself, it nonetheless promises a better future for the long oppressed Arabs. For over a hundred year, the Arabs suffered continuously under the Ottomans, the British, the French, the Zionists, the Americans, their own dictators and corrupt monarchies. They are desperately looking for ways to get free, to gain self-respect and attain a modicum of freedom and dignity. For them, life under the despicable ISIS is preferable to what they are living under now.
From the Arab/Moslem perspective, ISIS is an expression of the desire by the Arab people to live free from imperialists, illegitimate dictators and spoiled royals. The Arab people are against the Americans, the British, Israel, the kings of Saudi Arabia, Jordan and, the dictators in Egypt, Morocco, Algeria and elsewhere in their world. To many in the Arab World, ISIS is only trying to give them what they long longed for: freedom from oppression, greater self-respect and dignity. This why it has proven difficult to defeat ISIS, despite the mighty forces aligned against it; it actually reflects the desires of many in the Arab World.
In reality, ISIS is seeking to reverse the Sykes-Picot agreement imposed by Western powers in the aftermath of the First World War. That Agreement divided the Middle East into the disparate group of countries we see today. That imposed division and the imperialist-installed leaders and their descendants, paid no attention to the cultures or desires of the people themselves. The people in the region have more in common among them than there is in most other nations and are striving to live together. They have a commonality of language, religion, history and culture. In addition, ISIS, in spite of its vehemently condemned methods, is also trying to re-claim the glory and enlightenment of the Islamic empire that existed in the same region and lasted over a thousand years.
ISIS is attractive to many people worldwide as well. It is one problem that is befuddling the West. One of the ISIS's less bloody videos showed a group of jihadists burning their French, British, and Australian passports. They apparently prefer to live under ISIS to their life in their countries. We, in the West, think that ISIS is a terrorist organization whose sole purpose is to attack the west because 'they don't like our way of life' or something bizarre like that. The truth could be different. In supporting Saudi Arabia and Israel, we may, in fact, be supporting ISIS.
In the Middle East, as everywhere else, there is no substitute for freedom and democracy. Suppressing people's rights is never a safe option for the suppressors. As the people become more educated and more aware in today's Internet world, they will demand their rights and will be willing to give their lives in their pursuit of freedom and dignity. Even here in the United States, we are beginning to hear calls for revolution against the oligarchy and the super rich that are in control and are preventing the poor from their rights to freedom, health and happiness.
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