I’m about to start uploading the clips for this evening’s very special holiday edition of One Jerusalem Radio’s Omri Ceren Show. In acknowledgment of the season we’ve scheduled even more optimism and cheer than usual, starting with a segment about the religiously-driven return of polygamy to the UK and Chechnya. Suffice to say that it’s not because fundamentalist Methodists are sweeping across the region. From there things only get better with segments about the newest additions to Iran’s arsenal, Hamas’s Islamization of the Gaza Strip, and of course this nonsense. Per the usual routine you can tune in live to ask questions and participate in the chatroom, or you can grab the podcast afterward directly from the episode archive.
In between Dan Diker will join the show, this week to talk about how Egypt and Saudi Arabia are reacting to Iran’s growing regional assertiveness. Small example of the pool balls bouncing off each other just on the issue of Egyptian/Israeli relations: Arab nationalism 101 is that you use Israel as a scapegoat to funnel internal dissent outward but in the Middle East the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Now plant that enemy’s proxy in Gaza right between Egypt and Israel, boosting the incentive for government-to-government cooperation even though Egyptians would turn against Mubarak if he publicly colluded Egypt’s “Gazan brothers and sisters.”
Now add in a weird dynamic where Israel and Egypt usually compete for functionally zero-sum US ties, except they’re both so frustrated with the US stance on Iran that they might close the triangle and cooperate to undermine Iran – except the Obama administration would oppose that, putting them in a position where they’re blocking rapprochement between two ostensible allies. Terrific.
I already linked to this April article yesterday in the context of Hamas as an outpost of political Islam but let me link it again as prep for today’s Diker segment:
In the last week, Egypt has moved against Iran and its allies in the Arab world. Cairo arrested a Hizballah cell that was preparing terrorist operations on Egyptian soil, organized a campaign against Hamas weapons and money smugglers in the Sinai Peninsula, and stepped up efforts to displace Qatar — an Iranian sympathizer — as a mediator on Sudan, Lebanon, and other inter-Arab issues. It remains to be seen whether this policy shift will become a sustained part of a grand strategy to restore Egypt’s leadership among Arab states or, instead, a more-defensive approach designed to parry previous humiliations from Iran’s allies. It is apparent, however, that Cairo is sending a signal to Washington that the “nuclear file” is not the only — or even the most urgent — aspect of the Iranian threat.
The US went to Egypt and said “we’re really committed to helping you out with this Israel thing,” and the Egyptians responded by insisting that they pay attention to Iran. If for no other reason, you should tune in today to hear what happened when the Bush and Obama White Houses tried the same stunt with Saudi Arabia.
References:
* Obligatory Post About New Organ Harvesting Story That Provides “No Evidence” For Organ Harvesting Libel (UPDATED) [MR]
* Arab Countries In Iran’s Middle East [Omri Ceren Show]
* Media Outlets Shocked To Find Hamas Imposing Islam, Digging Up Dead Christians Because They “Pollute The Earth” [MR]
* Egypt’s Campaign against Iran Sends Washington a Signal [Washington Institute]
Related Mere Rhetoric Categories:
* The Omri Ceren Show
* Egypt
* Saudi Arabia
