Pro Israel Commentators Trying To Play Off Arabs Against Turkey

Lee Smith tries a little divide and conquer:

Long before Arab nationalism identified Israel and the United States (and before that the European powers) as the enemy, it was the Ottomans who were called to account for everything that was wrong in the Arabic-speaking regions. The Ottomans certainly encouraged Middle East sectarianism: playing up confessional differences, empowering some sects while weakening others, and balancing minorities against each other. Arab nationalism was inspired by Turkish nationalism, but it was a doctrine that asserted Arab independence from the Ottomans. There were no longer Sunni, Shia, Druze, Alawi, etc., only Arabs, unified as one against the outsiders, the colonizers.

He could be on to something, especially in Lebanon, where Ottoman rule is one of the periods where different Lebanese have different views of history. Yet, it is a short-sighted view for Israel and America, because Turkey’s Gain is Iran’s loss:

With Turkey capturing the hearts, minds and wallets of Arabs, Iran will increasingly find it harder to carry out its agenda of destabilizing the region and the globe.

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