Syrian opposition faces a dilemma as the Islamic State tightens its grip

What commentators of the Arabic press are saying about the Islamic State organisation, translated by Abdelhafid Ezzouitni

Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State, has dropped the reference to Iraq and the Levant from his group’s name and has proclaimed himself caliph over all Muslims from Tangier to Jakarta, wrote Taoufik Bouachrine in an opinion article in the Moroccan newspaper Akhbra Al Youm.

The Islamic caliphate, which was abolished by Mustafa Ataturk in 1923, is being revived by Mr Al Baghdadi in Iraq and Syria after he established control of large territories over which his black flags now fly.

Ironically, the Islamic State has succeeded in forming the first “pan-Arab and Muslim army” in the history of a region that has had a long-standing dream of unity. The Islamic State army has in its ranks jihadists from Iraq, Syria, Morocco, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Lebanon and several other countries in the region. Not only that, its commander has even persuaded people from Europe, the US and Russia to fight under his group’s banner.

Now, these jihadists are at war with the “Alawite” regime in Syria and the Shiite government of Iraq. Tomorrow, they will fight the “American Satan” and all Arab and Islamic regimes. The Islamic State’s brutality and extremism have gone so far to see its members behead Muslims, Sunni and Shiite alike, for refusing to fight alongside it and to swear allegiance to Mr Al Baghdadi, who is hellbent on applying Sharia law to the letter.

The Islamic State is not merely a group of terrorists that has come to play the last cards of sectarianism planted a long time ago in Arab soil. It is a by-product of the failure of Arab regimes to build a foundation for modern legitimacy and an inclusive national identity that transcends denominational and religious affiliations.

The organisation is the perfect mirror of present Arab decline and the political despair that runs deep among large sections of the region’s youth, pushing them to suicide in the name of their misconstrued jihad, the writer said.

When certain youth watch Syria’s Bashar Al Assad drop barrel bombs on his own people while the entire world remains inactive, why would they not pledge allegiance to the Islamic State and its prince? When Arab Sunni youth see Iraq’s Shiite government pursuing sectarian policies and Iran freely using Hizbollah and other sectarian groups, why wouldn’t they join a group that promises them a fight?

The writer went on to say that leaving Arab youth without employment and hope for the future was an indirect invitation to them to join the Islamic State, which at least gives them jobs and value along with weapons.

Abdel Bari Atwan, the editor of the UK-based online news website Rai Al Youm, noted that 11 groups fighting in north and east Syria had threatened in a statement last week to drop their weapons and withdraw their fighters if the Syrian opposition coalition did not supply them with arms within a week to fight the Islamic State.

This statement has shown that the number one priority among many opposition groups in Syria is fighting the Islamic State rather than toppling the regime.

Yet it is unlikely that the National Coalition will meet the groups’ demands. Even if they got weapons, could the rebels succeed where Iraq’s million-strong army, trained and equipped by the US, has failed?

Because of the Islamic State, Syrian’s armed opposition is facing an existential threat and left to choose from four evils: to join the Islamic State and pledge allegiance to its chief; reconcile with and join the Syrian regime to fight the Islamic State; coordinate with the Iraqi government and the US to fight the Islamic State; or drop their arms and seek asylum in countries that have backed the Syrian opposition.

These options may sound shocking, but who expected that the Islamic State would tip the scales in the region, seize many places in the north and west of Iraq and declare a caliphate within two weeks?

Sobhi Ghandour argued in the UAE-based Al Bayan that there are legitimate concerns about the Islamic State. The threat, however, does not stem solely from the group’s strength, but also from the political crises in the region that it has preyed on. It also comes from local and regional forces that use the Islamic State’s acts to advance their own agendas, oblivious to the fact that they these acts will come back to bite them later.

Ghandour posed two questions: Are these countries where the Islamic State is fighting not close to Israel, which is trying hard to get Arabs and the wider world to recognise it as a Jewish state? And isn’t it in the interests of Israel to have the Arab world disintegrate into sectarian statelets, in such as way as to ensure that the Jewish state dominates the region?

Translated by ­Abdelhafid Ezzouitni