The Absent Arab Mind

Asharq Al-Awsat

9 hours ago

Yesterday, this newspaper published a piece by Saudi columnist Dr. Abdulghani Al-Kindi. 'Why Did Israel and Iran's Clash Surprise the Arabs?' is not merely an important column; it is a text that deserves to be shared, explained, and amplified.
It's a remarkable article about the absence of any role for the Arab- or perhaps sedated- in most of the region's crises. I will comment based on my own experiences, as an Arab citizen, journalist, and editor-in-chief, the things I have seen and continue to see, and what can and cannot be said.
Were it not for my apprehension of the kinds of superficial readings that have become the norm in a world that seems more and more like the virtual sphere of social media, I would have republished Al-Kindi's article in full, at the end of this very column. Instead, I will quote from it and offer commentary, within the margin available to me.
'The recent Israeli strike did not only expose the frailty of Iran's domestic standing, it also exposed a crisis of Arab political consciousness. For twenty years, regional political analysts have consistently ruled out Israeli military action against Iran... either because they had bought into Iran's propaganda or because they had believed in the conspiracy theory that the Iranian-Israeli conflict is nothing more than theatrics choreographed to undermine the Arab world.'
Kindi is pointing to the reiteration of a pattern. We've seen this before: the liberation of Kuwait, 9/11, the rise of al-Qaeda and everything it unleashed, the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, and in the lead-up to that moment.
The absurd 'Abu Adas' story fabricated following the assassination of the martyr Rafik Hariri is another example of this pattern, and we saw it again with the emergence of ISIS, as well as the July 2006 war in Lebanon (the so-called 'misadventure'). A prominent example is the myth of an Arab Spring: the turmoil in Arab countries was rebranded as the 'Arab Spring,' while the Syrian revolution was deliberately demonized.
We saw it in the denial of Bashar al-Assad's crimes, as well as the appalling and shameful complicity of his allies. We saw it in every war on Gaza, all the way to October 7, 2023. We saw it in Lebanon, with the 'pager attack,' assassination of Hezbollah's leaders and cadre, and later, the killing of Hamas leaders.
We saw the same reactions to how the Houthis were dealt with, engagement with the new Syria, and in the relentless effort to obstruct and mislead. We see it all day, every day, on social media: not only is social media rife with disinformation, many of the academics and intellectuals on these platforms have made a casual habit of branding others as traitors, pursuing character assassination, and have pushed obsolete ideas that only further stifle the Arab political mind.
Kindi goes on: 'This strike might herald a more balanced political consciousness that is grounded in reason rather than sentiment, puts science above superstition, and values realism before conspiratorial ideas.'
He also calls for an embrace of 'objective and methodical reasoning rather than ideological rhetoric and hollow slogans. We urgently need to make this shift if we are to restore respect for academic disciplines and methodological standards, and to move beyond bombastic rhetoric, vague discourse, and senseless generalizations.'
That is exactly what we hope to see as well, particularly in the Arab media, which has proven to be the crisis behind every crisis. We can do nothing but remain hopeful and continue to try. Sadly, however, the same hopes are echoed with every crisis, and every time, things only seem to get worse. Still, all we can do is hope and keep trying.