The Israel-Hamas war has placed a spotlight on the absurdity enveloping the parts of the Arab world subjected to Iranian interference: Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, and Iraq.
Despite being afflicted by deepening financial and humanitarian crises and not having been attacked on October 7, leadership or entities in Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, and Iraq have responded to the Israel-Hamas war with aggression against Israel and its American ally. The response demonstrates the continued devaluation of standards, obscene priorities, the absence of accountability, and the rendering of life in these societies as meaningless. The disregard exhibited by the leadership and militias for the welfare of their country and their peoples, particularly ones already facing abject conditions, signals the presence of environments willing to entertain pyrrhic victories. (READ MORE from Eric Bordenkircher: Dismantle USAID’s LGBTQ-Riddled Educational Programming)
While many in Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, and Iraq advocate for the demise of Israel, the introduction of an Iranian agenda into their domestic equation is pushing these countries to existential crises. The consumption of maximalist, sectarian-infused Iranian objectives by some Arab Shia and their arming by Iran has exposed their bankrupted, debilitated, divided, sick, and suffering populations to further death, destruction and disease. The absurdity of their willingness to advance Iranian interests — the annihilation of Israel and Iranian regional hegemony — portends greater instability, destitution, and violence.
Lebanon
Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia militia and political party, is responsible for Lebanon’s top billing in the theater of the absurd. This scion of Iran, also a member of the Lebanese government and parliament, has single-handedly pushed Lebanon to the brink of disaster. Since October 8, Hezbollah has regularly targeted Israel with rockets, mortars, and drones and permitted Palestinian militants to launch attacks on Israel from Lebanese soil. Hezbollah claims its actions are necessary to deter Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip even as they expose their Lebanese brethren to full-scale war.
Assad’s survival as leader during a 12-year civil war is largely attributable to its 40-year alliance with Iran.
Hezbollah’s actions epitomize the ridiculous and the irrational. A country suffering is forced to sacrifice and suffer even more. Furthermore, the Lebanese must live each day with the fear that at any moment the country will be sent back to the stone age by an Israeli retaliatory attack. And for what? An act of solidarity? Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel have done nothing to deter Israeli operations in Gaza.
Lebanon is in a state of financial ruin. Four years of a historic economic collapse has witnessed a 98 percent devaluation of the Lebanese pound. The inflation rate stands at 212 percent. The caretaker government fails to implement the necessary reforms to secure an IMF bailout. Now Israeli retaliatory strikes and the threat of full-scale war obstructs the chances for improvement and keeps tourism and investment dollars away.
Lebanon is in a state of disrepair. Major thoroughfares are impassable during rainstorms. Medicine is in short supply. Electricity is limited to several hours a day. Hezbollah believes waging conflict on a country (a decision not supported by the Lebanese government) that has not attacked Lebanon to be more critical than addressing the country’s healthcare problems and virtual absence of electricity.
Lebanon is in a state of disorder. Compounding the financial ruin is Lebanon’s refugee population. Lebanon hosts the highest number of refugees per capita in the world. Roughly 1.9 million Syrians and Palestinians take shelter in Lebanon making the total population about5.3 million. And Hezbollah exacerbated the refugee problem. The Hezbollah-initiated conflict created 76,000 Lebanese refugees, inflicting additional suffering and burdens on the Lebanese.
The absurdity is particularly acute considering Lebanon’s history.
The eldest child of Iran’s extraterritorial revolutionary endeavors, acted similarly in July 2006. A Hezbollah attack on northern Israel triggered a 33-day war. The Israel Defense Forces subsequently destroyed much of southern Lebanon and infrastructure throughout Lebanon. The apology by Hezbollah’s leadership to the Lebanese public for the miscalculation now rings hollow. Apparently, Hezbollah believes miscalculations cannot reoccur. (READ MORE: Biden Is Enabling Enemies by Way of Diplomacy in the Middle East)
Allowing Palestinians to launch attacks on Israel from Lebanese territory and the December announcement of a Palestinian youth group that will contribute to the Palestinian resistance — Vanguard of the Al-Aqsa Flood in Lebanon — is eerily reminiscent of Lebanon’s destructive past with Palestinian refugees. During the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, Palestinian armed groups freely operated inside Lebanon. Their attacks on Israel from Lebanese territory provoked Israeli retaliatory strikes, an Israeli invasion, and helped trigger the 15-year Lebanese civil war. History has taught Hezbollah and its supporters nothing.
Yemen
Competing with Lebanon for top billing in the theater of the absurd is Yemen. The Houthi movement, Iran-funded and inspired, governs more than three quarters of the Yemeni population. It has repeatedly targeted Israel with missiles, attacked U.S. warships, and attacked and hijacked cargo ships in the Red Sea either tangentially connected to or have nothing to do with Israel.
Houthi actions seemingly defy logic. The Yemeni people already exist in a precarious state. Like the Lebanese, Yemenis are now told to endure further sacrifice and suffering for a war that does not involve them. Using Iranian-provided weapons, the Houthis attack neutral cargo ships and a U.S. warship subjecting Yemenis to repeated American and British bombings. And to what end? For what solidarity? The Israel-Hamas war continues unabated.
Yemen is in a state of civil war. Since 2014, the Houthis and other Yemeni factions have been fighting for control of the country. Saudi Arabia and the UAE entered the fray in 2015. Fighting has claimed more than 150,000 lives. Without resolution to the civil war, the Houthis place the country in the midst of another conflict. They invite involvement from additional actors and ensure additional death and destruction for their ravaged country.
Yemen is a humanitarian nightmare. The United Nations considers it the largest humanitarian disaster in the world. Hunger and disease have claimed roughly a quarter of a million lives. Cholera, measles, and diphtheria outbreaks are compounded by a seven-year famine. Under these circumstances 21 million out of roughly 28 million people require international assistance. Iran’s scion believes attacking neutral cargo ships takes precedence over ensuring Yemenis can eat and drink clean water.
These security threats mean that the Iraqi government will continue to fail its average citizen.
Yemen is a dying society. Yemeni men of fighting age are in short supply. The Houthis have turned to recruiting and enlisting boys as young as 10 years old. As the ranks of Houthi child soldiers grow, so does the death toll. Between January 2020 and May 2021, almost 2,000 child soldiers died in battle. Houthi actions in the Red Sea and against Israel accelerate the dissolution of Yemeni society.
Syria
Playing a supporting role in the theater of the absurd is Bashar al-Assad’s Syria. Assad’s survival as leader during a 12-year civil war is largely attributable to its 40-year alliance with Iran. Iranian support has turned Syria into a locale for its militias and others to attack Israel. Periodic rockets and mortars are launched from Syria into Israel.
Syria’s indulgence in the ridiculous and irrational is exceptional. Assad welcomes attacks on Israel from Syrian territory despite failing to reconquer one-third of Syrian territory for over a decade. The attacks provide no reprieve from violence and complicate the ability of Syrians to recover and rebuild. The Syrian people are pushed deeper into squalor and distress.
Syrian society is in shambles. The civil war has claimed the lives of between a quarter and a half million people. According to humanitarian aid organization World Vision, half of Syria’s pre-war population (approximately 22 million) has been displaced. Ninety percent of Syrians live in poverty. Nevertheless, Assad believes Palestinians in the Gaza Strip warrants attention and support. (READ MORE: How to Undermine Friends and Empower Enemies in the Middle East)
Adding to the absurdity is Bashar al-Assad’s critique of Israeli actions. While speaking at a November Arab-Islamic summit in Saudi Arabia, Assad stated that Israeli attacks on Gaza have made the Palestinian predicament “more unjust, oppressive, and miserable.” These criticisms of Israeli actions come from a man who laid siege to and destroyed Palestinian refugee camps in Syria. He starved, displaced, disappeared, and murdered thousands of inhabitants in the name of fighting “terrorism.” It is a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black.
Iraq
Rounding out the cast are Kataib Hezbollah, Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, and other Iran-affiliated militias operating out of Iraq. These Iranian prodigies repeatedly attack American bases in Iraq (maintained at the invitation of the Iraqi government) with rockets and drones in response to the Israel-Hamas war. They seek to punish the U.S. for supporting Israel. On January 7, they announced the widening of their operations by targeting Israel.
The absurdity present in Iraq is quite remarkable. Iraqi people are endangered by Iraqi militias (who supposedly operate under the aegis of the Iraqi government) because the Iraqi government has invited guests — U.S. military advisors and trainers — to improve Iraqi security against a resurgence of the Islamic State (IS). Have the Iranian-backed militias forgotten how many Shia were massacred by IS? Talk about biting the hand that feeds you. And why? For what? An Israel-Hamas conflict that has no bearing on Iraq and for militia action that cannot influence its outcome.
These security threats mean that the Iraqi government will continue to fail its average citizen. Since the end of the first Gulf War, Iraq’s electrical grid has continued to underperform. Water scarcity remains an outstanding issue. Instead of bringing the militias to heel for endangering already beleaguered Iraqi citizens and focusing on improving their lives, the Iraqi government condemns U.S. retaliatory strikes on Iraqi militias.
The absurd performances by Hezbollah, the Houthis, Assad’s Syria, and Iraqi militias provide little hope for a significant portion of the Arab world. Their fixation on the Israel-Hamas war threatens the existence of what is left of their states and societies. These scions, prodigies, and allies of Iran endanger their brothers for nothing. The fighting in the Gaza Strip continues while the Lebanese, Yemeni, Syrians, and Iraqis are driven further into poverty, starvation, sickness, and insecurity. Because Iranian influence and interference is relentless, a theater of the absurd in the Arab world will remain in the spotlight for the foreseeable future.
Eric Bordenkircher, Ph.D., is a research fellow at UCLA’s Center for Middle East Development. He tweets at @UCLA_Eagle. The views represented in this piece are his own and do not necessarily represent the position of UCLA or the Center for Middle East Development.