Thousands of years ago a man named Abraham fathered two sons, Isaac and Ishmael. The rivalry between these two sons has the power to cause chaos even now in 2012. The rivalry is now known by a new name, the Arab-Israeli conflict.
With the threat of a nuclear Iran in the not so distant future and the sudden uptick of anti-Semitic speech throughout the Middle East, it is clear that the malice between Isaac and Ishmael is as palpable today as it was then. Is this to mean that the world is watching an ancient blood feud play out and could it be coming to a head?
The Arab Spring was presented to the American people as a beautiful outpouring of democracy across the Middle East region. However, now it looks more like the cementing of a new Islamic Caliphate. Instead of democratic rulers, we have seen the rise of rulers like Mohammed Morsi, the new president of Egypt. Morsi is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and despite his early calls for moderate Islam, his actions as of late suggest otherwise.
This week Morsi proverbially cleaned house as he ousted several high ranking military officials by “accepting their resignation.” On the heels of this move, Morsi seized further power by enacting a constitutional declaration that allows him both executive and legislative powers. This same declaration also gives Morsi the power to select the writer of Egypt’s constitution. In short, before the last of the Mubarak posters have been pulled down, we have a new dictator.
Morsi has been busy in regards to the nation of Israel as well. It has been the long-standing opinion of the Muslim Brotherhood that Egypt must vacate the peace treaty with Israel. The treaty I am referring to is the Camp David Accords. These accords cost Sadat his life and many speculate that it was at the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood.
To cap off the week Morsi has been quietly sending tanks and armored personnel carriers to the Sinai Peninsula under the auspices of rooting out militants that have attacked both Israeli and Egyptian forces. Now reports are indicating that Morsi is considering leaving these tanks in place on a permanent basis. This is a clear violation of the Camp David Accords. When asked about the accords, a Morsi spokesman made this quote, “The state respects international accords but at the same time serves the interest of the nation and Egyptian citizens.”
So when you couple the new radical government in Egypt with the radical government in Tehran you could have the beginnings of a Six Day War situation.
The only difference is you could have potentially more actors on the stage then you did in 1967. Aside from Iran and Egypt, you have to consider that the Syrian Regime is rapidly losing ground to Islamic rebels and even in Western friendly countries like Saudi Arabia the anti-Israel sentiment is growing.
Just this week popular Saudi cleric Salman Al-Odeh went on a tirade about the Jewish state. His statements ranged from accusing Jews of carrying out blood rituals and human sacrifice to stating the Jews role in the world is to wreck havoc and cause widespread destruction. This is a popular statement of anti-Semitism in the Middle East and it is also know as “blood libel.”
This appears to be in unison with all of the anti-Jewish statements flooding out of Iran during their annual Quds day. Quds Day is a day of solidarity with the Palestinian people on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan.
It appears that with all of this set up we will undoubtedly see war in the Middle East soon. The Israelis have been openly holding what amounts to a referendum on when to unilaterally attack Iran. When this happens what the rest of the world could possibly see is the fulfillment of thousands of years of speculation on the troubled house of Abraham. With the instillation of these new governments across the Middle East, all the dominos are set and now it’s only a question of when the first one will fall.
Many people in the West scoff at the idea of religious Armageddon, however in the Middle East it appears to be more of a reality than a joke.
Image: Ammunition Hill Museum Exhibits, Historic Images of Jerusalem; Courtesy of deror_avi
