Europe vs. the Middle East

Felicia Whatley

Europe vs. the Middle East

Islamization, Christianity, EU, and Arab League

“From the Middle Eastern vantage point, the sun does set over Europe, the lands to the west. Likewise, Asia is sometimes thought to have derived from a Semitic word such as the Akkadian asu, meaning "sunrise", and is the land to the east from a Middle Eastern perspective. For centuries, the Turks used the term Frengistan (land of the Franks) in referring to Europe,” (http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/28742)

The term "Middle East" originated in the 1850s in the British India Office, but it became more widely known when American naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan used the term in 1902 to 'designate the area between Arabia and India. Until World War II, it was customary to refer to areas centered around Turkey and the eastern shore of the Mediterranean as the "Near East", while the "Far East" centered on China, and the Middle East then meant the area from Mesopotamia to Burma, namely the area between the Near East and the Far East. The first official use of the term "Middle East" by the United States government was in the 1957 Eisenhower Doctrine, which pertained to the Suez Crisis. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles defined the Middle East as "the area lying between and including Libya on the west and Pakistan on the east, Syria and Iraq on the North and the Arabian peninsula to the south, plus the Sudan and Ethiopia." In 1958, the State Department explained that the terms "Near East" and "Middle East" were interchangeable, and defined the region as including only Egypt, Syria, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East).

It can be argued that Europe is a successful region bore by the European Union that defines a common regional goal with 27 countries with common political interests, common trade and economic interests, and a military coalition that governs most of Europe, whereas the Middle East is a construct loosely held together by a commonality of religion, history, and values whose variables have led to many ethnocentrism and wars based on differing sects.  The EU was successful because common goals, treaties, and legislation that governs sovereign member states as of 1993 including: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK.  The Middle East is argued to be a struggling geographic region plagued with lawlessness and economic instability including countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Kuwait, Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey and Pakistan. What both the Middle East and Europe have in common is wars fueled by religious turmoil, land, and greed.

The Middle East is also known for the historical origin of major religions such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Baha'i Faith, which have fought for control over the “region” from the beginning of the Ottoman empire until now. In comparing the biblical triumphs and turbulence in the Middle East one must also account for how destructive the Crusades were. The Crusades swept Europe and many religious sects fled the region and colonized elsewhere looking for religious freedom and escape from the ethnic cleansing. It can be compared to Middle East and their intolerance of Christians and Jews. “Middle Eastern Christians are taking any chance they can get to leave for Europe and America where they will be able to enjoy freedom of religion, without persecution. The Vatican is concerned over this exodus, yet it is inevitable. The Jews fled the Muslim world in the same way,” (http://europebusines.blogspot.com/2010/01/general-middle-east-war-coming.html).

As Islamization has made it more dangerous than ever to be a non-Muslim in a Muslim country, it has shown in many ways that everyday life in the Middle East is full of anti-Christian discrimination and terrorist attacks. While the Western countries sing the song that suffuses that Islam is tolerant and promotes tolerance. This is false narrative that Western countries and Europe have felt the impact when extremism turned into a terrorist attack on their own soil. “Meanwhile growing Muslim migration into Europe raises questions about the future of Christianity even in the West. If Christians are denied basic civil rights even in moderate Muslim countries, what will their fate be if France and Germany go the way of Byzantium? The fact that Christians do not generally enjoy equal rights in the Muslim world, suggests that they would also not enjoy such rights in Eurabia. The root of the problem lies in Sharia, Islamic law, which treats non-Muslims and women as second-class citizens,” http://europebusines.blogspot.com/2010/01/general-middle-east-war-coming.html. 

Let’s not forget when Muslims were told they could not wear their berkas in France so recently. But the same type of persecution can be seen in the Middle East as the hatred for Christians and Jews is minimalized and is an obvious reason for war for the Arab Palestinians and the non-Arab Israelites. But are they fighting for land? Resources? Or religious freedom? All the above have plagued the Middle East and Europe throughout the beginning of life in their regions of the world. Those are reasons why there has been colonization in the first place.

As long as religious extremism was ignored in the Balkans until it became an atrocity worthy of an invasion; this idea is very real to the citizens in Iraq. What defines an Arab state verses a non-Arab state is a matter of perspective. Turkey is pleading to be added to the EU and it can be argued that the Kurd population, still very oppressed, is an indicator of why Turkey is a non-Arab state. The fact that this nation is still clumped with the “Middle East” demonstrates a perspective that the region is disjointed. The commonality of shared ideals and values shapes a region is not such the case in the Middle East. One must also ask who are considered enemies of the NATO countries and who are allies? Egypt can be thought of as either an enemy or an ally. Perhaps economically and strategically the nation has a partnership with Europe and the US, but they are a rival to Israel and various terrorists operate out of the country, so they are also a rival to Western nations. “Standing up for oppressed Christians around the world, would be a meaningful and moral act that could actually make a difference and prevent the fall of Europe. It would not be without its risks. Such a move would alienate American and European liberals and increase attacks on Christians in the short term. However it is the only step that has any chance of checking both the Islamization of Europe and the DeChristianization of the Middle East,” (http://europebusines.blogspot.com/2010/01/general-middle-east-war-coming.htm

Wars also define how the Middle East or Europe is viewed. Changes in power happen on a regular basis. In evaluating Lebanon, we must not forget the Second Lebanon war in 2006 where Iranian training as well as equipped Hezbollah terrorist forces relived Saddam’s intentions of the Gulf War. They dumped a large number of rockets with highly explosive warheads on Israel. “The Hezbollah are known to possess a considerable number of more advanced and longer range guided missiles. During the 2006 war Hezbollah fired approximately 4,000 rockets (95% of which were Katyshas) all utilizing only "dumb" high explosive warheads. Some Iranian build and supplied Fajr-3 and Ra'ad 1 liquid-fueled missiles were also fired,”(www.rense.com/general82/perf.htm).

But are Iran and Lebanon disregarded as part of the Middle East because they are considered non Arab countries? They are still defined as part of the geographic area but this is another reason why is not a true region or nation state. “In Lebanon, Michel Aoun, who returned from exile to side with Hezbollah terrorists, claimed that Islamic extremism had nothing to do with the dwindling presence of Christians in the Middle East. Instead he blamed everything from economics to WWI to Israel. Aoun demanded that the Catholic Church, ‘halt attempts to demonize Islam, the religion of more than one billion… And to call for examining the essence and religious text of Islam only, away from the acts of terrorist groups which Muslims consider themselves victims of just like the rest of the world,’ “ (http://europebusines.blogspot.com/2010/01/general-middle-east-war-coming.htm).

A common comparison according to Europe Business Blogspot states if the imbalances of Muslim immigration countries show the fate of Christians in Europe this will likely be that of Christians in the Middle East. “Such an action would empower marginalized European parties battling against the erosion of Europe’s traditional character. It would also provide the Catholic Church with some leverage that it could employ with the Muslim world, demonstrating that it is capable of affecting the conditions of Muslims in the West, just as they are capable of affecting the conditions of Christians in the East.” (http://europebusines.blogspot.com/2010/01/general-middle-east-war-coming.htm).

The religious holy wars have isolated Kurds and Shii and Sunni Muslims in Iraq. As the war on terror continues locals fight for the right to practice their own religions, have representation in the new government, and aid the many Iraqi refugees that fled to neighboring Iran, Syria or Jordan. It is rare to find a Jew or a Christian residing in Iraq. If they could make it to Israel they have. The control for the “Holy land” seems to be never ending. Who is an Arab and who is allowed to reside in the Jewish or Arab settlements is a warring sentiment that seems to have no ending. The Middle East residents who are the main target audience of Arab television news networks like Al Jazeera are more likely to primarily identify themselves as Muslims rather than being recognized as citizens of their own country, according to a study by Al Jazeera last month. “At a time when the US is focusing on the development its foreign policy related to the Middle East, Nisbet states that the findings would have important implications for the country because Arabs who identify themselves primarily as Muslim have a more unfavorable view of the United States than are those who see themselves chiefly as citizens of their country,” (http://in.news.yahoo.com/139/20101120/894/twl-middle-east-al-jazeera-viewers-ident.html?printer=1).

What are your borders, Israel? Will there ever be a bipartisan state? Will there be a Palestinian state? Those questions are worth dying for many Zionists and Islamic fundamentalists. The struggles in the Middle East can be traced to the Holocaust in World War II, but also farther back in history as the Jews were pushed out of Russia and Egypt. Understanding the turmoil in Middle East, one can make the argument that the area will never be counted as a region-state because the borders continue to be disputed. The EU found a way to connect in a way that the Arab League never could, but is still trying.  The Arab League, popular name for the League of Arab States formed in 1945 in an attempt to give political expression to the Arab nations. The original charter members were Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Transjordan (now Jordan), Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. Palestinian Arabs were represented, but were not initially added to the charter because they did not represent a recognized government, but was still given full status and a vote in the Arab League. Then the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was granted full membership in 1976. Other current members include Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea (pending in 1999), Kuwait, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates.

“The Arab League and European Union have shared relations since the EU's development into a more political power rather than an economical one, in the 19th summit of the Arab League in Saudi Arabia, Javier Solana attended the summit, giving the EU's full support to the Arab League's Peace Initiative of 2002. Following this summit, he had several meetings with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa. In the summit, he addressed the Arab Leaders: ‘once again we find ourselves together, the European Union and the Arab League, once again we have an opportunity to re-affirm our joint commitment to the values of civilization that we share, more than ever Europeans and Arabs have to face common challenges, I am confident that we will find new ways to improve our cooperation’"(Arab League — Infoplease.com).