‘Israeli occupation, extremism, failure of Arab Spring biggest challenges for region’

AMMAN — The Israeli occupation, extremist groups and the failure of the “Arab Spring” in some countries constitute the main challenges currently facing the region, according to a senior political expert.

At the 26th anniversary celebrations of The Middle East Studies Centre on Saturday, Ali Fakhrou, a former Bahraini minister, discussed the obstacles facing the Arab world.

He named the major challenge as “Israeli colonialism, which is expanding economically, politically and technologically, not only on the occupied land but also all over the Arab region”. 

Promoting the narrative that the interference of regional powers, such as Iran, is more dangerous than the Israeli presence in the Arab world means promoting an alleged collaboration between Arab states and the Israeli regime as a way to end the interference of those regional powers, he warned. 

The former minister noted that Takfiri extremist groups are the second most pressing challenge Arabs face, warning that it might develop as a worrying phenomenon in Syria and Iraq as these groups expand and enjoy increased intelligence and military support. 

Addressing the “Arab Spring”, Fakhrou said that it was the youth’s inability to organise the transition from the revolutionary stage to structured political work which, in some countries, led to civil or sectarian wars. 

 “Arabs had the chance but lost it…They turned the Arab Spring into an autumn,” Fakhrou added.

Bringing stability back to the Middle East requires reestablishing Arab unity and achieving democracy, Fakhrou stated.

For his part, MESC President Jawad Al Hamad held the view that political reforms and achieving unity to be among the biggest challenges for the region.

The centre’s Executive Director Bayan Omari presented MESC’s achievements and activities in 2016, including the organisation of political salons and workshops, the issuance of 13 reports on crises in Arab countries and suggested methods to deal with them, such as the implementation of the Arab Thinking Forum and seven research papers.