The great historian H.A.L. Fisher in his monumental work History of Europe states that “The Mediterranean had ceased to be a Roman lake. From one end of Europe to the other Christian states found themselves confronted with the challenge of a new oriental civilisation founded on a new oriental faith...
“The new religion [i.e. Islam] had from the first a great political value. Into the wild, lawless, infinitely divided Arab world it brought unity of belief, submission to authority, a tranquilising daily ritual of prayer and the abstinence from strong drinks which has given the Moslem armies throughout history a special advantage.”
The world and history has always understood Islam and Christianity as two great religions, acknowledging (as with Judaism) their origin to Abraham, worshiping one God, but otherwise separated by a centuries-old religious and cultural divide that has never been bridged.
Fisher states that there is in Islam a body of mystical literature which, in the purity of its religious emotions, vies with the spiritual masterpieces of Jewish or Christian faith. Islam is, however, also a religion of warriors that grew up from the shepherds that peopled the vast deserts of Arabia.
One has, therefore, to see the recent rise of Islamic State (IS, also known as Isis) also from these historical perspectives. In October 2014, IS issued a clear threat to the heart of Christianity, Rome. In a picture on the cover of their official magazine, Dabiq, behind the bold words ‘The Failed Crusade’ they showed a mock-up caliphate controlling Rome with the IS black flag flying boldly over the obelisk in the centre of St Peter’s Square.
As if this was not enough, IS, a few months later, released a grizzly video showing the beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians it had held hostage for weeks in Libya.
Soon after, tweets were released by IS warning: “Today we are south of Rome. We will conquer Rome with Allah’s permission.”
We all hope and pray that Allah will not grant them that permission. Our conception of Allah, at least, is very different from theirs – our God is good, loving, benevolent and caring.
Libya is our next door neighbour. It is now in a state of total turmoil and confusion. Nato weapons distributed so freely and generously to anti-Gaddafi forces without distinction ensured that post-Gaddafi Libya would become ungovernable.
The very nations that so willingly joined forces to ‘free’ Libya from Gaddafi have washed their hands of the aftermath
Several weeks before Nato airplanes began seven months of bombing of Libya in 2011, Gaddafi had warned in the French newspaper Le Monde that destabilising Libya would bring chaos to the country. Extremists (at that time IS had not yet established itself firmly in the world consciousness so he mentioned Ben Laden factions) would take over. “There will be chaos ... You will have immigration, thousands of people will invade Europe from Libya,” he warned.
This is the state that Nato bequeathed to Libya and the world. Now the very nations that so willingly joined forces to ‘free’ Libya from Gaddafi have washed their hands of the aftermath.
It is in the light of this that we have to view the recent incursions of IS in the Libyan conflict.
The video of the beheadings of hostages is free publicity by IS to shock the world and gain to its side fanatical recruits and financial support from undisclosed sources with hidden agendas, mostly, but not solely, from the Middle East.
These may also include states known for their past underhand support of pro-Islamic movements.
All this provides for the perfect mixture of an explosive situation right beside our doorstep. Malta is in all probability not an end aim of these warring movements, but because of its strategic importance in the centre of the Mediterranean and as a side-door to entrance in Europe, it may be a convenient and necessary step in their tactical plans.
Although we should not panic, we should at the same time be very vigilant. IS is in essence not a religious movement, although its adherents claim that Islam is their guiding light. It is a mixture of religion and crude politics – more politics than religion, at least to its mostly invisible leaders.
Its way of doing things and projecting itself is attracting to its side young fanatics from all over the world, some, as has been shown lately, of a very young age hardly out of school. One example is the three 15- to 16-year-old schoolgirls who disappeared from their London homes on February 17 – all well-off, all well educated, from a highly regarded London school and who are now reported as having entered Syria to join the IS recruiting forces there.
As a first and essential step, winning the war against IS in Libya requires a unified government. The internationally recognised government in Tobruk formed by the Libyan House of Representatives after the free elections held last summer should be the focus of the United Nations for achieving a unified government in Libya.
This is not easy to achieve given the many groupings and tribal factions in Libya, but in the circumstances there is also no other option or way forward.