Intibah and Ghassan Kadi: CAUTION AGAINST USE OF SECTARIAN CONCEPTS AND LANGUAGE. By Ghassan Kadi 23 September 2014

* A post Ghassan felt obliged to make after efforts failed in private to alert a budding new American analyst to the problems of the language and concepts he was using in a region wracked with sectarianism. The screen shots of the discussions are interesting and highly informative reading about the issue as well as showing examples of the problems the movement was encountering with some domineering solidarists who displayed towards the natives from the region a level of arrogance and disrespect for their lived experiences and knowledge.

CAUTION AGAINST USE OF SECTARIAN CONCEPTS AND LANGUAGE.
By Ghassan Kadi 23 September 2014

This article, which was posted on many groups, I hate to say, is full of inaccuracies and incongruent analogies, but my comments are not going to focus on this.

I quite frankly find it rather dangerous to use/coin the term "Shia Circle". As if it wasn't bad enough for the Islamists (Sunnis) to use the term "the Shiite Crescent" as a means of fear-mongering and a recruitment drive. Now, our friend and ally Andrew Korybko, who should know better, is using a much stronger term that implies encirlement and siege. If the Islamists find out that Western analysts are using such a term, they will use it as fodder and run with it. They will scream out "look at what Iran and the Shia are planning to do to us", and this will give them more reasons and excuses to cry out for taking up arms and push harder to incite new recruits to join the ranks of the IS and other organizations.

As a matter of fact, they are already making such outcries. They are already proclaiming that the Persians invented Chess and are the masters of trickery and military cruelty. They are already claiming that Lebanon is in the hands of Hezbollah and that Iran totally controls Syria and trying to control Iraq and that what we are witnessing now in Iraq is a counter Sunni revolution. Why in God's name does this very well-intentioned author want to give them more ammunition to their naïve argument?

Obviously, Andrew is unaware of what goes on within Sunni circles and how preachers brain-wash the minds of Sunni youths. He is unaware that his words can be used as weapons by the enemies of Syria. This is why, as Syrians, we have to make a vehement appeal to our Western friends and allies to make well-informed statements. We must plead to them to learn about our culture and how Arab/Muslim movers and shakers make their marks on opinions, how they win and lose hearts and minds, how and why Muslim youths are lured into the ranks of ISIL, and how certain words, well-intentioned as they may be, can have serious and very harmful outcomes.

To put things in perspective, in retrospect, the haphazard and ill-informed use of words that come from a position of lack of understanding of the Arabic/Muslim culture is not any different from say an Arab writer writing about American politics and referring to African Americans and to homosexuals in derogatory terms. What is it that makes Western analysts think that the Arab culture does not have its own sensitive issues that require knowledge of the culture?

It means so much to us to have supporters from all over the world, and we are greatly thankful to them. Some however are adamant not to listen to local voices that are trying to help them better understand the cultures they are dealing with. As a Syrian who is fairly senior in age, I find it is rather offensive when I see juvenile and irresponsible words used willy-nilly without any consideration to my culture, all in the name of support.

If some non-Arab supporters don't know what they are talking about and are not fully aware of the sensitivity of what they are saying, and more importantly, if they are too stubborn to accept that they need to learn, it would be much better off for us, if they (with respect) stay out of it.

See original link to post and discussion
https://www.facebook.com/groups/283089981710448/permalink/853883161297791/

Analyst Andrew Korybko posted this in the group and the discussion below the post follows after concerns raised about the term and concept of "Shia Circle".

https://www.facebook.com/groups/283089981710448/permalink/853499794669461/

Korybko introduced his article : "[h]ere is my latest article on "Syria’s Yemeni Opportunity and the Rise of the Shia Circle":
https://sputniknews.com/columnists/20140922193177888-Syrias-Yemeni-Opportunity-and-the-Rise-of-the-Shia-Circle/
"The inclusion of the Houthis into the Yemeni government and their speedy and skillful demonstration of force and influence over the past week place Saudi Arabia on the strategic defensive. Not only do they have to contend with the prospect of an Iranian-friendly government on their southern Shiite border, but taken in a regional perspective, it appears as though Iran is cementing its Shia Circle. All of this bodes well for Syria, as the Saudis are now faced with a conundrum over whether to aggressively pursue regime change in Damascus and risk domestic Shia destabilization, or to negotiate with arch-rival Iran and reach an agreement to mitigate overall tensions."