Political practices of a colonial state

11.10.23
Israel/Palestine conflict 2023
 9/11 for Israel?
o Mossad et al. couldn’t predict and protect
o Hamas: very brutal attack, but not state-actor, not qualified as political negotiator
anymore
o Domestic Israel politics, weaking the state security
 Palestine
o Society suffers not only under Israelian pressure, but also under Hamas
o Heterogenous community
o Suffer since 2006 under the Hamas (politically, economically)
 Bringing back Political Islam
o Dismantling under Trump
o Religion as a political ideology
o Biden administration 6 bl. Dollar to Iran, system of oppression and leader of Islamic
network, already under Obama
o 1970s: Islamic Revolution Iran (79), rise of Hezbollah in Lebanon (82), …
 Use of political power (unbalance of power) in the region
o Normalising Israels political relations with the Arabic countries, now jeopardized
o Deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia endangered
 One reason for the attack of Hamas? – could be one of the relevant factors
 De-stabilizing the region (for whom it’s convenient? – different actors with
different interests)
 Handling the relationship between Israel and Iran to prevent a long regional conflict
 Hamas
o Supported by Iran
o Transnational terror organisation
 Many civilian casualties
o Criminal leadership in Hamas
o Risk: rise of islamophobia again
 Other global actors in the region
o China and Russia as supporters of Iran
o Israel (Netanyahu) – not ally of China
o Saudia Arabia, China – USA (traditional USA, but now more balancing)
 Katar’s interest in the region
o Ideologic (global/transnational Islam), not economic
o Close to Islamist organisations
o Arab Spring, soft power (economic), headquater of Taliban in Quatar

Political practices of a colonial state

The Sykes-Picot Agreement 1916
 Post-WW1: global structure changed
 End of empires and modern state building
o Fall of the giant Ottoman empire
o Lost of North Africa, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Palestine, Jordan
 Under European influence, mainly through colonialisation
 o Turkey and Persia kept their independence

GB and France role in the Modern Middle East

 Western powers to influence the Middle East: Sykes-Picot Agreement
o Sykes – GB foreign minster
o Picot – France foreign minister

 Main Arab Middle East lack of self-determination

Concept of mandate and protectorate
 Same concept as colonialisation, but a term which felt more moderate for the 20 th century
 New state after fall of Ottoman empire, European countries protect the new states, because
they were perceived as too weak
 Create new national states, to transform the power, many single states instead of one powerful
empire (Arabestan)
Form of state:
 Monarchy: GB
o Transjordan, Egypt, Irad, Morocco, Monarchies of the Persian Gulf
o Depends on the form of monarchies (representative – absolute)
o Prior tribal structure or Kalif-system, no monarchic-history in these countries before
 Republic: France
o Syria, Lebanon, Tunesia
o depends on the form of republic (free – authoritarian)
 until today legacies of these relations visible (fluent English in Jordan, schools in French in
Lebanon)
 Turkey and Persia kept their independence
Model of the protectorates
 Central administration with local rulers
o Creation cooperation
o New state boundaries and protection of minorities
o Secular local rulers by strong Western affiliations
 “Western puppets”: administrate new state + fully linked to GB/France
 Also nationalist and secular, but not for progress and independence
 1920-40: attraction to political Islam and leftist were assumed to be
more “anti-system”/revolutionary; national secularism back warded –
local rulers as “westernized”  confusion of codes
  all became authoritarian, very important base for IP in Middle East
 Problem: corruption, lack of independence, inefficiency
o Interest in cultural opening
 Kurdish nation will be without territory since 1916
Social-political reaction towards Western colonialists
 Rise of 1st Modern political Islamic movement: Muslim Brotherhood (Egypt, 1928)
o Founder: Hassan al-Banna (teacher)
 Writes manuscripts, founds transnational group
 Islam not only a religion but a political ideology
 No tolerance to Western colonialisation, no tolerance to secular and corrupted,
nationalist local rulers
  Instruments: Quran (religion) and sward (political)
 Jihad, religious equality and justice as political
 Transnational Islam
o Criticizing Western rulings and social opening, traditionalist
o Important impact on Islam community (esp. rural areas)
 Arab-nationalist (30s/40s)
o Syria, Egypt, …
o Basis for the Arab Nationalism and the Ba’th party
o Secular and nationalist
o Against Western colonialisation
 Influence until today on global politics
o Muslim Brotherhood put their legacy on radical-reformist Islamic Political actors
 As potential power attractive, as practical power loose of Charme
 Both anti-colonialist, but with different mind-set:
o nationalism + secularism
o political Islam
o third group: left, Marxist/Leninist