The Peace on the Horizon - 70 Years after The World War 2 in the Middle East(3)

(Arabic Version)

(Japanese Version)

Prologue

3. Three identities in the Middle East

There are three identities prevailing in the Middle East. They are "blood(ethnicity)" identity, "religious" identity and "ideology” identity. Three identities are defined as follows;

Firstly, "blood" identity is a biological identity, contemporary, called as DNA. This is given naturally when we were born as a human being. The blood identity is same as race. The largest race group in the Middle East is "Arab", but in the Middle East some other ethnic groups coexist. They are the Turks or Persians. (Although there is "Jewish", but Jewish is not race in biological meaning).

Blood identity means blood relationship. Blood relationship starts from birth. The first and closest blood relationship is shown between parents and children, and between brothers and sisters. It is called "family". When expanding relationships to uncle, aunt and cousin, it is called "relatives". “Clan” is wider concept than “relatives”. "Tribe" overwhelms "clans". "Ethnicity" is the largest concept of “blood”.

In modern society where urbanization has achieved as described "nuclear family", the blood relationship is limited in family members. "Clan" or "tribe" is almost an obsolete word. The word "ethnic group", which is the broadest concept of blood relationship, is still frequently used nowadays, but it is often used in a political slogan. In the Middle East especially among the Arabs, however, not only the top powerful politicians but also ordinary citizens use widely the word "blood".

The identity of "blood" is a native one inherited by DNA. On the other hand, the identity of "religion” or "ideology" is acquired after his berth.

Talking about the religion, Islam is overwhelming in the Middle East. Not only most of Arabs but also Turkish and Persian people are Muslim though there are a few of Coptic Christians in Egypt or Jewish in Israel.

Muslims, Christianity and Judaism are all monotheism. They are the same Abrahamic religion. But the same features between them brought antipathy and struggle. Especially the confrontation between the Islamic states and the Jewish state is unforeseeable in the future.

Islam itself has a confrontation between Sunni and Shiite sects. Even among Sunni sect there is a conflict between fundamentalist and moderate. In religion the conflict is common. Christianity had the religious war between Catholic and Protestant in Middle Ages. The modern Western civilization, however, has almost overcame the religious conflict. Nevertheless, in the Middle East they still have big problems. And the problems have even sharpened in the age of globalization that the Internet has developed.

The third identity is political or economic ideology with principle and assertion. After being relieved from the bondage of religion in Western Europe in Middle Ages, the conflict of ideology has appeared. Through the era of Industrial Revolution, ideology has transformed into capitalism. In the historical process, inequality of wealth distribution became a problem. The socialism and communism ideology have spread globally.

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) born after the Russian Revolution had spread socialism worldwide. Western capitalism and Soviet socialism fought together against Nazism in Germany in the World War II although they were incompatible each other. But as soon as the World War II was over, US-led West alliance conflicted sharply with USSR-led East alliance. It was called "the Cold War". Even if it was called "the Cold War", in fact, hot wars occurred in every corner of the world as the proxy wars. The Middle East has also become one of the front line. Before free from the religious wars inside Islam, the Middle East has been caught up in the ideological war. The disorder has expanded moreover.

Let’s check chronological order between "ethnicity(blood)", "religion" and "ideology". "Ethnicity" is inherent and genetically native as DNA. In comparison, "religion" and "ideology" are acquired after berth. In most cases, "religion" sticks to children during uninhibited childhood. Christian babies are baptized, and Muslim babies grow up hearing the prayer’s words "Azan" from the mosque like lullaby. In contrast, "ideology” is imprinted into the brains of individuals through education (especially through higher education). In other words, these three elements are taken in chronological order beginning with "ethnicity", then "religion", and "Ideology" in the last.

Taking nation or state level into consideration, the ethnic states, the religious states and ideological states (capitalism or socialism) emerged in different chronological order. In Western Europe three identities have appeared separately in history with a considerable time span. They never coexisted. However, in the Middle East three identities have been broken out in parallel in the short history of 70 years after World War II. That was the reason why so many disorder and tragedy were born in the Middle East.

(To be continued ----)

By Areha Kazuya

E-mail: Arehakazuya1@gmail.com

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