Here we will resume our analysis of violent fanaticism by looking at the large, fanatical, movements in the world that do, or will, directly affect us. If you did not read the first part of this series last week, I encourage you to do so.
The Current Crisis in the Middle East
The flashpoint of global fanaticism, currently, is the Israel and Gaza war. It amazes me how this conflict garners more attention among Americans than do the issues directly affecting their own lives and futures. The far-left calls Joe Biden “Genocide Joe” because he keeps aiding Israel. I call him Genocide Joe for the 120,000 dead Americans this past year due to Fentanyl overdoses, all of which comes over a wide-open boarder. I suppose we all have our priorities.
This issue stirs up vitriol with almost anyone you speak to, depending on where they land on the subject. Attempt to be reasonable, and you will be labeled either a “Zionist” or a “Terrorist Sympathizer” by the average know-nothing, depending on which media outlets they follow.
Many speak about this clash, arguing that it is a religious war, a fight over real estate, a conflict between Eastern and Western ideology, or a conflict between colonizer and indigenous people (oppressor and oppressed). I am convinced that it is, actually, simpler than all of that, and it is due to a reason that has fostered many other cases of fanatical ideology throughout history; National and cultural pride.
Why does the entire Middle Eastern region hate Israel so much? Is it because there is an ordained showdown between Islam and Judaism and these two religions are destined to fight it out? That does not wash. Until the establishment of Israel in the 1940s, millions of Jews lived throughout the Middle East with little drama.
The main reason behind the hatred for Israel in the Middle East is because Israel is an outsider nation that is tiny, with a small population on a diminutive piece of real estate, yet it has smacked the entire region around for the past 75 years. That is the reason for the fanaticism involved. Getting decisively defeated, over and over again, by a seemingly diminutive presence, that is an outsider and a different culture, one that the combined power of the entire region can’t match, proves a major blow to cultural pride, and this is the primary reason for the intense hatred. Generations now grow up indoctrinated into this fanaticism.
The hatred of the State of Israel is the foundation on which all contemporary Jihadi Terrorism is bult. Yes, the “true believers” will make it a religious thing, which aids in the recruitment of fanatics who are willing to commit suicidal mass attacks. However, the real reason for the maniacal hatred is the national pride issue. Middle Eastern culture views the small outsider nation state as a talon of the West that is imbedded and can’t be pulled out.
Scapegoat Ideology
In the first installment of this series we analyzed how the “other” that garners fanatical hatred is often used as a scapegoat. This sentiment is very strongly present in the Middle East. The region is dominated, exclusively, by dictatorships. Some of these nations are much worse than others, of course, but oppression is the norm. If you are a truly oppressed people (not a make-believe oppressed people like American leftists claim to be) then for some strange psychological reason you are likely to find a scapegoat. Is it really your own people that brutally suppresses you? That is a hard pill to swallow. No. Instead, it must be all that “Zionist” influence that now ravages your nation.
Further, if you are a tyrant, say, the kind that hangs girls from cranes because they want to remove their hijab, then you are all for pointing the attention of your subjects towards the scapegoat that you paint as their true enemy, diverting their attention from your own brutality.
Thus, Israel takes on a role in the cultural psychology that greatly outstrips its actual influence, and it becomes the focus of all ire for all wrongs done, real, embellished, or entirely imagined.
How does this affect us? Well, remember that cultural pride issue? How does such a diminutive nation dominate the whole region? There can be only one answer in the minds of the defeated: Israel is only successful because it is backed by and supported by……………….
The West. And, in particular, the Great Satan, the United States. Make sense now?
The Threat
In the United States, immigrants tend to assimilate into the culture much better than in Europe (at least for the time being). Statistically, citizens of Middle Eastern ethnicity or of the Muslim religion do not commit any higher percentage of mass violence than do any other religious or ethnic groups. Those are the facts based on crime statistics for decades pulled from the FBI’s reports, ignore what the media tells you and look it up. Yes, lone wolf terror attacks have been committed by US citizens from that community, but such attacks remain commensurate to the population size, with no higher representation than what is committed by other ethnic or religious groups.
To explain further: Ironically, the only crime that seems to have a consistent, direct correlation to any given population size within the United States, is mass casualty attacks. For example, about 60% of active killer events are perpetrated by Caucasians, right in line with 60% of Americans being Caucasian, and this is the same for all ethnicities and religions groups, including Middle Eastern citizens. Could international conflict spur more lone wolf attacks from this population? Sure. But these would remain single perpetrator, or perhaps very small group activity, not another 9/11 (remember 9/11 was committed by foreign operatives, not citizens).
The true heightened terror threat that we face in our contemporary time and near future comes from the terror organizations that are active abroad and, unfortunately, already infiltrated within the Continental United States. Who are these groups?
The Terror Organizations of Concern
Like anything else that emerges out of a large and diverse culture, Jihadi terrorism is complicated and there are many players. There is the Suni-Shia divide that is ever present. Al Qaeda and ISIS are both Suni groups. They do hate Israel, but they also hate Iran, as well as Iran’s proxy group Hezbollah in Lebanon. Iran and Hezbollah are Shea, and both fought, and continue to fight, against ISIS. So, in a very bizarre way, these enemies of the United States are also enemies of our enemy. In a more bizarre twist still, Hamas is Suni, but it has the backing or Iran. If you seek rationality, well, these groups are obviously not the place to look.
Now, clearly, the Suni terror groups have been far more involved in direct attacks on the West then the Shea ones which tend to operate strictly within the Middle East, but with the current conflict we might see a significant change in that paradigm. There is significant evidence indicating that there are many Hezbollah cells now within the United States. This organization is not like Al Qaeda or ISIS in their mode of operation, and these cells will likely lay in wait for an international conflict in which the United States may act against their interests. Hamas has been, historically, active and predominantly interested only in fighting Israel, but there is further intel that suggests cells from this group may be within the United States, again, awaiting orders for when and how to activate. The activation order will likely come from the heads of these groups based on United States activity in that region, if not from Iran.
We are likely to see another 9/11 scale attack committed by foreign operatives who have infiltrated our nation. When it happens, you can thank the politicians who have left our borders open.
Next week, we will address the current, domestic threat of fanaticism.
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