"In the past, there was a lot of war between our countries. However, now we see less fighting between countries, but this strife and violence have increased within countries, that is, in their internal issues... Now two countries do not come close to each other to fight, but you see that strife and wars within each other intensify... In fact, the form of wars has changed."
Mehri Jafari, who pointed out the increase of anti-democratic actions in the countries of the region and the widening of xenophobia among different ethnic and religious groups, says that these play a role in the increase of violence.
"The parties all consider themselves to be right. There is a lot of xenophobia and nationalism in the Sunni-Shia conflict. Xenophobia, that is, fear of the other, going to war against it, engaging in a war of mentality - this has increased. That is, it's not just a matter of infringing my rights, and then I seek to reclaim them. It's about saying, I am superior to you, my tribe, my nation is superior to yours. Whether it's the Sunni Arabs, the Shia Arabs, or the Kurds in our country, for example, you can see from all sides this sense of self-righteousness, and the basis of this is not a foundation of humanity or justice but rather viewed through the lens of xenophobia or nationalism."
Mehri Jafari says she isn't very hopeful about the emergence of a significant social peace movement against guns, war, and violence in the region.
"I don't see any improvement, and I'm not very hopeful that such a movement will arise among nations. Since 1990, we've witnessed the formation of various organizations. While they may not exist now, if you look at their numbers, perhaps they've increased. We see more than one hundred, two hundred NGOs (non-governmental organizations) or intergovernmental organizations in every country," says the human rights defender.
However, she points out that these organizations were not successful due to various reasons, including the fact that they were not based on local thinking but on foundations from the West:
"After the Second World War, we saw how nations came closer to each other, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights emerged from there. Unfortunately, we do not see such a movement in the Middle East. One reason is that we have not yet reached economic and cultural development. However, the main reason is that these organizations' direction came from the West. We have not been able to create such institutions from within our culture, so we can say whether we are on this side or on the other side and that human issues are important to us. Let's come out and say, let's end this war, let's sit down and talk... There are many differences between Western countries; they still sit and talk at the table. Let's sit down and talk about our issues."
Jafari also criticizes the lack of objection from activists operating outside the country, including human rights defenders, towards their own government's intervention in other countries.
"I observe that they lack the will to condemn their own country, for instance, the role it plays in Syria, resulting in the deaths of so many children and women. Iranian activists criticize the actions of the Islamic Republic concerning internal issues and the imprisonment of dissenters. However, I haven't seen anyone come out and question the interference of the Islamic Republic in the Syrian issue... In fact, I perceive that many even tacitly approve... We have demonstrated sensitivity in every issue, including women's and children's plight. But we haven't shown this same sensitivity when it comes to recognizing that this child, whether Kurdish, Sunni, or Shiite, is someone's child," she adds.
Link to the original story: https://www.amerikaninsesi.org/a/mehri-jafari/3059756.html