Dr. Mohamed Berween
One might ask, what do we mean by the concept of the “Arab World?” How it came about, and what is its future? To answer these questions, let me look at it from three perspectives:
(1) Geographically
It straddles two continents, Asia and Africa. It consists of five distinct sub-regions:
(a) Al-Maghreb (or Northern Africa).
(b) Al-Neel (or the Nile River),
(c) Al-Mashreq (or the Levant),
(d) Al-Khaleej (or the Gulf), and
(e) Al-Janoob (or the Horn and East of Africa).
Within these five sub-regions there are twenty-two states as follows:
(1) Al-Maghreb states include Libya, Tunis, Alegria, Morocco, and Mauritania.
(2) Al-Neel states include Egypt and Sudan.
(3) Al-Mashreq states include Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine.
(4) Al-Khaleej states include Suadi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahran.
(5)Al-Janoob states include Djibouti, Somalia, and Comoros.
This huge region stretches across more than 13,000,000 square kilometers (or 5,000,000 square miles), it contains numerous raw materials needed for economic growth and development, and has more than one-fourth of the gas and oil reserves in the World.
(2) Demographically
It is a region of many people with extraordinary histories and cultures. Most of its inhabitants are Muslims and Arabs. The word Arab, here, is applied to all people in the region – Muslims, Christians and Jews who speak the Arabic language and identify themselves with the ways of life in the region.
Some of the inhabitants are descendants of linguistic and ethnic groups that pre-date the arrival of the Arabs to the region.
The Amazigh in North Africa, for instance, constitute roughly speaking between 15 and 30 million of the population of the regioni . They represent a significant portion of the populations of Algeria and Morocco, the vast majority of them are Muslims who prefer to speak their own language, preserve their own culture, and do not want to be called Arabs.
The ethnic and linguistic diversity of Sudan is also represented by more than 40 non-Arab ethnic groups and only about 60 percent of the Sudan population consider the Arabic language as its native tongue.
The vast majority of Kurds, in Iraq and Syria, are Muslims but not Arabs: In Iraq, they represent about 15%-20% of the populationii , and in Syria, the population of the Kurds represents about 3 to 5%iii .
In addition, there are other non-Arab groups in the region, such as, Turkmen and Assyrians (in Iraq and Syria); Armenians and Greeks (in Lebanon); Egyptians and Nubians (in Egypt); Circassian (in Jordan); blacks and Beja (in Sudan); Maur/black and Maur (in Mauritania); and othersiv ; Sharks, Turks, Tawariq, Tabou, and Greeks (in Libya).
(3) Politically
The concept of the Arab World was the main slogan used by the Arab nationalist movements in the second half of the 19th century to liberate the Arab people from the Ottoman Empire which was ruling the region at that time.
One might argue that this concept is an idea that was “born dead”, and from the get go, it was not intended by those who introduced it to be successful. It was just a “strategic designation” developed during the heyday of the British empire, to be used to kick out the Ottoman rule from the region.
It was a “misconceived idea” that never existed historically in the context that we know it nowadays. In other words, I would say that it was introduced to the Arab people, as a “feel good politics”.
Yes, throughout the region history, there have been Arab People all over the region, but they never constituted one united nation — from the Gulf states in the east to Morocco’s Atlantic coast in the west.
For instance, during the Ottoman rule which last for centuries, roughly from the 13th century until the World War I and the end of the Ottoman empire in 1924, the Kurdish area enjoyed a considerable amount of autonomy and the Kurdish princes had allied themselves with the Ottoman Sultan.
This political concept became popular during the heyday of the of the concept of the “Arab Nationalism”, which was a mere “Hypothetical intellectual concept”. It was a product of the colonization era and a resentment against Western occupation.
It went on to dominate the Arab politics from the First World War to the Arab defeat at the hands of Israel in 1967.
As a result of this unexpected humiliating defeat, Arab Nationalism lost its attractiveness in the Arab streets and became a mere political tool for the Arab dictators to legitimize their regimes, especially, the soldiers who came to power through coup de ta.
Some Facts and Incidents One could argue that the war on Gaza has approved a numerous ugly and sad facts, and shown clear incidents that reinforce the real American and European intent toward the Arab people.
The following are some of these facts and incidents:
First: The Palestinian people are, unfortunately, facing a barbaric and brutal Israeli aggression by themselves, while the vast majority of the Arabs people have failed miserably to support them, and more sadly, they have found that the Arab regimes secretly supporting and encouraging the Israeli to get rid of the freedom fighters. The following are quotes are just some of the reactions of the Arab Rulers to October 7th, 2023, as they were recalled by Bob Woodwrd, an American investigative journalist, in his book “War”, he stated that:
(1) When Blinken, Secretary of State of America, visited Jordanian King Abdullah II in Amman, on October 13, 2023, the king told him: “We told Israel not to do this, we told them not to trust Hamas, Hamas is the Muslim Brotherhood, Israel must defeat Hamas. We will not say this publicly, but we support the defeat of Hamas…”.
(2) When Blinken, visited Abu Dhabi and met with Mohammed bin Zayed, on October 14, 2023, he told him: “Hamas must be eliminated, we have repeatedly warned Israel that Hamas is the Muslim Brotherhood, we can give Israel time to eliminate Hamas, but it must first help us calm our citizens from the images of violence and destruction in Gaza, by bringing in aid, establishing safe zones, and controlling the violence of the settlers in the West Bank. Let it help us with our citizens and we will give it space, to eliminate Hamas“.
(3) When Blinken visited Riyadh and met first with Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, on October 14, 2023, he told him: “Israel should not have trusted Hamas, and Netanyahu warned us repeatedly, Hamas is the Muslim Brotherhood”. … Then he continued by saying: “Terrorist groups are not only trying to eliminate Israel, but they want to overthrow other Arab leaders. …, and what comes after Hamas may be worse, …, and we will not pay a single dollar to rebuild Gaza after the chaos that Netanyahu created.”
(4) When Blinken met the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, On October 15, 2023, he told him: “I want the problems caused by October 7th. to disappear. A Palestinian state must be established before normalization with Israel. I do not want that, but I need it to justify normalization …with Israel” (Woodward, 2024). So?!
***
Dr. Mohamed Berween – Emeritus Professor of Politics and Administration, Texas A&M International University, Laredo, Texas, USA
____________________
