As Ever It Was

The Middle East is as it was ever, a seething
viper's nest of tribal and sectarian violence.
Fanatical enthusiasts of fundamental extremes,
hurling bellicose accusations at one another's
tribal traditions and scorn of their opponents'
version of Islamic zeal as Shia hurl descriptive
epithets of apostate slander at Sunni belief and
custom and the compliments returned in bloody
match-ups destroying expendable lives.

Bedouin with their still-nomadic lifestyles
clashing with urban elites. Christian Arabs
cringing before the onslaught of Muslim Arabs,
determined to expunge vestiges of holy sites
dedicated to Christ even while purporting
veneration as an honoured prophet named in
the Koran. Infidels, may not under threat of capital
punishment defile by their presence, Mecca.

Murderously brutal dictators, theocrats and
tribal princelings prey on hapless populations,
favouring their supporters and fellow tribesmen,
vigorously violating the most basic of human rights
of all others, while maintaining an iron fist of state
security and corresponding public 'peace'. In
deference to Islam's dictums of brotherhood
and peace, as long as kuffirs know their place.

Volatile antipathies, honed and burnished
over the ages in a proud tradition of
representing the one true faith within a sea
of Islam-insulting rivalry, seethe incessantly
below the surface of a restless geography.
Where might is right and atrocities casually
inflicted upon the weak and the powerlessly
undefended. Revolt kept scrupulously at bay.