The “ Shia Crescent ” Revisited

By Rannie Amiri

19 February, 2010
Countercurrents.org

“If pro-Iran parties or politicians dominate the new Iraqi government, a new ‘crescent' of dominant Shia movements or governments stretching from Iran into Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon could emerge, he [King Abdullah of Jordan] said, alter the traditional balance of power between the two main Islamic sects and pose new challenges to U.S. interests and allies. ”

The Washington Post , 8 December 2004 .

Zakaria: “You spoke a couple of years ago about the danger of a Shia crescent, meaning the Shias in Iran , a Shia-dominated government in Iraq , presumably Shias in the Gulf. Do you regret having made that comment?”

King Abdullah: “No, well, that's not what I said. What I said is I was worried about members – certain members – of the Iranian government using an agenda to create the perception of a Shia crescent, because the last thing that we need in this part of the world is a conflict between Sunnis and Shias. And so when I raise the alarm bell, I saw a political strategy that would as an endgame have the Sunnis and Shias at each other's throats ... the fault line between Shias and Sunnis goes from Beirut all the way to Bombay and it's a catastrophic subject to play with. In my view, I felt that there was an agenda out there that was going to try and push it in that respect, and also raising the alarm bell that that cannot happen.”

– Excerpt from Fareed Zakaria's interview with King Abdullah II in Davos , Switzerland , 29 January 2010 .

Although Jordan's reigning monarch had the dubious distinction of being the first to publicly articulate the fears of Arab dictators over the rise of the region's Shia Muslims – perceived as the emergence of a “Shia crescent” – it had no doubt been in their collective conscience ever since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.

It was not just a geographic designation but a warning that King Abdullah had issued after the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime. It spoke of the consequences of a string of countries where the Shia were either the majority and held power (Iraq and Iran), were of a sizable minority in close proximity (Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states – with the exception of Bahrain, where they constitute an overwhelming majority but are nevertheless not in power), formed a plurality (Lebanon), or maintained close ties with Iran (Syria, although technically run by Alawis). Without a doubt, his comments belied a racism consistent with the Arab Shias' historical discrimination at the hands of both religious and secular Sunni Arab rulers.

Three seminal events

Punctuating the apprehensions of King Abdullah II, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, and the royal families from the Gulf countries to Morocco were three seminal events:

First was the return of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to Iran and the 1979 Islamic Revolution. It stoked fears that what had led to the toppling of a Western-backed tyrant would soon find its way to their borders. The internal fallout was the ostracization of the Arab world's Shia Muslims who were now regarded as “fifth columnists” for Iran – a non-Arab Shia country.

Indeed, in a 2006 interview with Al-Arabiya TV, Mubarak deliberately conflated Arab Shias with Iranians and questioned their fidelity: “ There are Shias in all these countries (of the region), significant percentages, and Shias are mostly always loyal to Iran and not the countries where they live.”

Second was the 2004 fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq and the end of Ba'ath party rule, both of which had persecuted and brutally suppressed the country's Shia population for decades.

Third was the integration of Hezbollah into Lebanon 's political structure and the widespread popularity of its leader, Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah. After nearly two decades of occupation, Hezbollah forcing the Israelis to withdraw from Lebanon in 2000 and battling them to a draw in the July 2006 war made Nasrallah one of the most admired leaders in the Middle East . The silence of the region's heads of state while Lebanon came under relentless Israeli bombardment in 2006 was in contrast to the support both he and Hezbollah had found on the Arab street.

Unbalanced power

The “traditional balance of power” which Abdullah so feared was in jeopardy of being “altered” as a result of the above events betrays a history of deep political and socioeconomic marginalization of the Shia. Detailing it is beyond the scope of this article, but readers are referred to The Arab Shi'a: The Forgotten Muslims by Graham E. Fuller and Rend Rahim Francke (Pelgrave Macmillin, 2000) for further reference.

So is Abdullah's concern for maintaining the “traditional balance of power” simply a hope for the continued domination of the Sunni Muslim political elite over the Shia? Is this what he feared would be “altered” by the end of Saddam Hussein's despotism? Rather than hope for a brighter future for all Iraqis, apparent regret over a more equitable redistribution of power speaks volumes.

The recent explanation and clarification of his original remarks this past January was not only disingenuous, but continues to fuel misconceptions and stereotypes:

“I was worried about members ... of the Iranian government using an agenda to create the perception of a Shia crescent.”

The one who created and promulgated the “Shia crescent” concept was King Abdullah himself, as his 2004 statement clearly describes (down to the exact geography). Blame should not now be placed on the Iranian government. Doing so indicates that he has yet to forsake sectarianism as a political tool.

“ ... the fault line between Shias and Sunnis goes from Beirut all the way to Bombay and it's a catastrophic subject to play with.”

Abdullah is again keen on underlining the “fault line” between Muslims, this time extending it all the way to India . Even more telling is why he believes it to be such a “catastrophic subject.”

Should the Arab Shia be prohibited from freely airing their grievances and demanding accountability for past injustices? Stopped from speaking out against the crimes perpetrated against them under Saddam (in which many in the Arab world were complicit)? Prevented from attempting to lift the heavy hand of institutionalized discrimination levied against them in Saudi Arabia ? Barred from seeking an end to their disenfranchisement in Bahrain – where they make up at least 70 percent of the population yet constitute no part of the government or security services? Forbidden from asking why the language of sectarianism was used to justify and amplify the carnage in north Yemen ?

To open this subject and deal with it forthrightly and with justice would indeed be “catastrophic” to the regimes mentioned, and for all those who instigate, support, or benefit from these practices.

“I felt that there was an agenda out there that was going to try and push it in that respect, and also raising the alarm bell that that cannot happen.”

Unfortunately the people who have been pushing a sectarian agenda have been a handful of Middle East dictators and monarchs, specifically King Abdullah II of Jordan, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, the Al-Khalifah family in Bahrain, King Mohammed VI of Morocco, and President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen. Each of these countries – Jordan , Saudi Arabia , Egypt , Bahrain , Morocco , and Yemen – are guilty of fanning sectarian flames.

In Aug. 2009, Jordan put six Shia Muslims on trial in a military court “for promoting Shia ideology.” And both Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have recently been harshly criticized by Human Rights Watch for overtly discriminatory practices toward, and torture of their Shia citizens.

Even the desperate people of Gaza have suffered as a consequence; it was the Arab regimes who abandoned Gaza 's Palestinians while Israel imposed its inhumane siege on them, and one of the main reasons was Iran 's vocal support for Hamas.

Why Mid-East leaders promote sectarianism

So why do these leaders promote sectarianism?

To answer this, one must have some familiarity with the Shia ethos.

Ingrained in the fifth school of Islam is the notion of resistance against despotic rule and rulers. This dates back to the epic battle fought on the plains of Karbala , Iraq by the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, Hussain, against the tyrannical reign of the caliph Yazid ibn Muawiya in the year 680 A.D. Outnumbered by the tens of thousands, Hussain and his small band of followers fought bravely but were brutally massacred. The “tragedy of Karbala ” as it known continues to serve as inspiration to the Shia; endowing them with the belief that standing up to oppression and injustice, no matter how great or at what odds, is an act of faith.

The events of Karbala were recalled by Khomeini in the 1979 Revolution deposing the Shah and even by anti-government protestors after Iran 's June's elections. Although it would be incorrect to conclude that Shias are in a continuous state of revolt against the established order of the state, their 1991 uprising against Saddam in aftermath of the first Gulf War, Hezbollah's battles against the militarily superior Israeli Army in the 1990s and 2006, and the recent clashes between Zaidi Shia rebels and the governments of Yemen and Saudi Arabia, are all viewed with a leery eye by the Sunni political class in the Middle East.

The aforementioned regimes therefore believe that if a “Shia crescent” was to take shape and become reality, their authority, power and influence might be swept aside by the people as quickly as was the Shah's.

They also believe that if Arab Shias were accorded fair and equal rights, given the full benefits of citizenship, not treated as fifth columnists, not conflated with “Persians” and accorded the same dignity and religious liberties as all other citizens, domestic harmony would exist and render ineffective the use of sectarianism to further anti-Iranian sentiment.

If they did forsake it, attention could instead be paid to more pressing issues such as education, economic development, combating corruption, ending poverty and resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

One is left to wonder, though, whether these leaders believe it best to purposely ignore these critical needs in favor of conjuring up fictitious crescents, lest it unmask their own incompetence in real governance.

Rannie Amiri is an independent Middle East commentator.

Israel in America and America in Israel: where fact meets fiction

By Abu Dharr

As if a meteorological blizzard was not enough during this past winter, Washington is now afflicted by a psychological blizzard. The media mouthpieces are blowing hot and cold — declaiming wildly what an observer would call an arctic chill that is descending upon the political tundra between the Knesset and the White House. Readers of Crescent International who have been following the Zionist script through their understanding of world developments know better than to slip into emotional shelters when manufactured squalls and twisters erupt in Tel Aviv and Washington. Need we remind those who are vulnerable to mainstream media sensationalism that the regime in Washington and its Dr. Loveless opposite number in Tel Aviv consider Islamic Iran to be the most dangerous government in the world? Due to the forward character and onward pace of Islamic Iran’s duly elected President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — a trait that reminds us of the late Imam Khomeini — the USraeli ruling class may be playing its next-to-last grand scheme of deception by harping on a political castigation of “Iranian nuclear and missile programs.”

Much has been said and intimated about “I’m a Zionist” Biden who was received in his political homeland by his Zionist bosses. They used the opportunity during his official visit (March 10th) to declare that there will be 1,600 new homes constructed in (Islamic) Jerusalem — contrary to all the efforts that have gone into winning over the Palestinian Authority to the American sponsored confidence building measures. The Israeli Zionists flipped the diplomatic bird on their American Zionist Biden, thereby causing ladylike Hillary to pick up the phone and have an extended 45 minute exchange of undiplomatic words with manlyNetanyahu… (Naughty Hillary! This may not be good for your family, as Chelsea, remember, is engaged to the “tribe”). The twin-city drama starring Biden, Hillary, Netanyahu, and loose-canon Lieberman (the Israeli Foreign Minister, not the American senator) among others began flashing to the world audience such theater as, “Netanyahu bows to US demand for Jerusalem building freeze,” “US will raise the heat until Israel toes the line on Iran,” and “US ponders denying Israel arms needed for conflict with Iran.” What a show! All of this is show business. Hollywood has come to Washington. Should anyone be surprised?Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s waswaas, who compensates for the lack of a middle finger with an overflow of foul language, has a college degree in dancing or a related field of “rhythmical steps.” You must give it to him: he is putting on a good show. Shallow politicians from Arabia to America are entertained; they, as always, will release their imagination and restrict their mind. The Obama-Emanuel series will have its ups and downs; it will also have its intermissions. And the popcorn politicians will follow each episode with their power of imagination and their impotence of mind.

Meanwhile, far away from this Washingtonian movie house, the facts on the ground are roaring with details. In the real world, the Yahudi-led Obama administration is busy putting together a US-led coalition whose purpose it is to clamp even more severe sanctions on Islamic Iran, beginning with some UN Security Council resolutions and ending with who knows what military action they have on their drawing boards. Statements such as “We are going to put as tight a squeeze on Iran as we possibly can” have been made. They just do not fit the Hollywood script that is being played up by the political actors in the Washington amphitheater. You would have to put on binoculars to catch such statements as, “The [US-led] resolution will target the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps [IRGC] and its vast network of companies, which the United States estimates may include up to one-third of Iran’s total economy.” The full picture is coming into focus: as the US plays up its artificial disagreement with Zionist Israel it escalates its genuine hostility against Islamic Iran.

Another piece of information missing from the mainstream Zionist sponsored media is the fact that in late February a high-level Israeli group visited China, according to a solitary news item in the Financial Times. This Israeli mission to China included Stanley Fischer, governor of Israel’s central bank. You know something is brewing when an all important economist like Mr. Fischer goes to China and explains to the Chinese the US-led planned sanctions regime against the Islamic Republic in Iran.

According to some news reports, China imports nearly 540,000 barrels of oil a day from the Islamic Republic. Enter the American-Israeli Saudi subordinates and Emirati underlings. These Zionist loyalists cloaked in Islamic rituals will have no choice but to obey the imperialist master in doing war against Islamic self-determination and Islamic Iran. It is precisely because the confrontation mode and level of Tel Aviv and Washington against Tehran is rising that it needs a Biden-Hillary and even Obama sideshow.

For those who are watching the movie “The Crisis in Israel’s Relationship with the US” get ready for a rude awakening. The smell of gunpowder in Palestine cannot be compared to the buttery flavor of your parlor kernels that explode when exposed to dry heat. The US Treasury said in mid-March it imposed sanctions against two firms in Ghazzah — the Islamic National Bank and al-Aqsa Television — because it claimed they have ties to Hamas. US President Barack Hussein Obama owes his presidency to his Yahudi employers’ keen awareness of the up-and-coming Islamic continental consolidation of political will — their damage control to the jungle of Bush’s policies. This white Obama with a racial tan also said in mid-March that there was no crisis in ties with Israel, despite a high-profile diplomatic feud over Netanyahu’s plans to build 1,600 homes in Islamic East Jerusalem (al-Quds). In his words, “Israel is one of our closest allies, and we and the Israeli people have a special bond that’s not going to go away.” The same week, Obama the Yahudi employee said that the US would pursue “aggressive sanctions” to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon that could potentially spark a nuclear arms race in the Middle East! “That’s why we’re going to go after aggressive sanctions. We haven’t taken any options off the table. We are going to keep on pushing…,” he said.

Also in the first week of March, US Centcom Commander General David Patraeus when asked about how the Persian Gulf states in the Arabian Peninsula see a US military attack on (Islamic) Iran said, “…there are countries who would like to see a strike, us or perhaps Israel, even…” Some reports say that the United Arab Emirates foreign minister, after the assassination of Hamas member Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, remarked that his country and Israel see eye to eye on the Iranian issue.

The Saudi officials are as jittery about Islamic self-determination in Iran as are the Israelis. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have journeyed on their political pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, meeting with the king, the defense minister, and other strained and impatient officials.

In the real world the Israelis are hurting. The waves of ‘Aliyah — the tens of thousands of “Jews” who were moving to the “Promised Land” from hither-and-yon — are now history. The demographics of the Holy Land area are quickly shifting. Islamic self-determination is on its way in; secular and ungodly political trends are on their way out. The US can no longer afford to foot the Israeli bill free of charge as was the case in the past half century. Even Israel’s first line of defense, the Palestinian authority, is crumbling like a house of cards. Some late news just coming in is that the Fatah faction in Lebanon — a few thousand strong, located mainly in the south around ‘Ain al-Helwah, a group that has long been on the side of the Palestinian authority of Mahmud ‘Abbas — has gone over to Hizbullah.

With Mubarak attempting to recover from surgery in Germany, official Egypt is in a monkey’s swing. Who knows what the next grab for power will be? The octogenarian rulers of Arabia are dying off along with their credibility. The Jordanian tribal regime is taking away Jordanian citizenship from Palestinians it deems to be “security threats.” Israel in these circumstances is in mortal danger, as it should be. It knows this better than anyone else. Will it buy itself more time for survival by going to war and delaying the Islamic death blow to Zionism? Can it avoid what appears to be an “anti-Semitic” backlash in the US where treasury and troops have been stretched to the breaking point all the way to Afghanistan and Pakistan to protect Israeli interests?

Stay tuned, as AIPAC just convened in Washing-ton, DC assembling as it has in the recent past the confluence of religious bigotry (evangelicals), corporate priorities (capitalists), and political opportunists (imperialists and Zionists). And be advised that while you have the freedom to tune into their theatrics, you should not lose sight of their vista killing fields: the Holy Lands. They put on three-piece suits in Washington, after disrobing from their military gear in Tel Aviv. Will the real American please stand up!