Three Decades of Filing the Middle East’s Dynamics
Today's article is my very last for Kompas as its reporter, rounding off my career for this newspaper that began early 1991.
By
Musthafa Abd Rahman from Cairo, Egypt
·5 minutes read
Geographically and geopolitically, the Middle East comprises Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, the Gulf countries (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Oman), and Yemen. In the literature on international relations, the Middle East is also called the Near East or Western Asia.
The states in the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of East Africa are ethnically linked as Arab nations, where Arabic is the spoken language and Islam is the predominant religion.
However, due to their similarity in language, ethnicity, religion, and historical connections, North Africa (Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Mauritania) and parts of East Africa (Sudan, Somalia, and Djibouti) are often geopolitically referred to or at least associated with the Middle East. The states in the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of East Africa are ethnically linked as Arab nations, where Arabic is the spoken language and Islam is the predominant religion.
Due to commonalities in ethnicity, language, and religion, the three regions have the same historical background, namely the history of Arabia with all its dynamics from the 7th to the 21st century. The countries in the three regions are now part of the Arab League, which consists of 22 member countries, headquartered in Cairo, Egypt.
Outside the Arab world, the three major countries that are included in the Middle East are Israel, Turkey, and Iran. In fact, Afghanistan is also often referred to as being geopolitically part of the Middle East, even though geographically, it is in Central Asia.
Final report
I am immensely grateful that I was entrusted with handling Middle Eastern issues, reporting for the Kompas daily for 31 years out of Cairo. From Cairo, I covered events across not only the Middle East, but also North Africa.
Today's article is my very last for Kompas as its reporter, rounding off my career for this newspaper that began early 1991. The wide scope of responsibility in covering the Middle East was both a challenge and blessing, in that it provided impetus for me to study in depth the many nations that inhabit the vast region and, as chronicled in history, demonstrate their unique characteristics.
Arabs were once the most advanced civilization from the 7th to the 14th century. As for Turks, they gained prominence during the Ottoman dynasty in 1299-1453. Persians have a very long history dating back to 3200 BC and have maintained their existene until today. There are also Jews, who have a long history and are now one of the most advanced nations on Earth.
Working in the Middle East was a challenge because it seemed to be the “hottest" region with political conflicts that simmered persistently. The Middle East conflict in modern history stemmed from the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, which triggered the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948, followed by the second from 1967 to 1973.
Therefore, “hard news” is the type of journalistic reporting in the Middle East. Coverage on wars and political crises was the main menu, which also served me as a ground to forge my expertise in journalism. Covering a very vast area, of course, entailed traveling from one country to another.
I visited almost all 22 Arab countries on journalistic assignments. On several occasions, I also had to cover new outside the Middle East, such as the 2008 Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in Senegal, West Africa.
Many times, reporting from the field proved an uneasy task that required extraordinary sacrifices, even putting life at risk at times. As far as I can recall, my first journalistic assignment outside Egypt was in 1993 in the Palestinian territories (West Bank and Gaza Strip), in the aftermath of the Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) that same year.
The Palestinian issue became my focus of intense exploration, which resulted in the publication of a book titled Jejak Juang Palestina, dari Oslo hingga Intifada Al Aqsa (Tracing the Palestine struggle: From Oslo to the Al Aqsa Intifada) in 2002.
I had been with Kompas for only around two years at the time, as a contributor. The assignment was meaningful in developing my perspective that the Palestinian conflict, and Arab-Israeli conflicts in general, were hegemonic issues in the Middle East. Any journalist covering the Middle East must hone their knowledge of the details of these issues. The Palestinian issue became my focus of intense exploration, which resulted in the publication of a book titled Jejak Juang Palestina, dari Oslo hingga Intifada Al Aqsa (Tracing the Palestine struggle: From Oslo to the Al Aqsa Intifada) in 2002.
Following the Palestine coverage were various journalistic assignments throughout the Middle East, with myself having to endure suspense situations at times, such as when I entered the Gaza Strip in 2012 in the wake of the war between Israel and Hamas. As a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas had yet to be agreed at that time, the taxi I was traveling in was monitored by an Israeli Apache helicopter that hovered low above the taxi. I felt as if I were resigned to the helicopter firing its missiles at the taxi.
Another suspense-filled experience was when I entered Tripoli, Libya, from Tunisia, and entered Benghazi from Egypt in 2011, during the Arab Spring.
Another unforgettable experience was when we struggled in desperation to enter Syria from Turkey through an illegal entry point in 2012. We had to crawl several hundred meters to pass the barbed fence on the Turkish-Syrian border, feeling that Turkish border troops could intervene at any time. Luckily, we escaped unnoticed. Another suspense-filled experience was when I entered Tripoli, Libya, from Tunisia, and entered Benghazi from Egypt in 2011, during the Arab Spring.
It’s also worth telling the intricacies of entering Afghanistan under the Taliban regime in 1997 and during the post-Taliban regime in 2001. The experience is chronicled in my book, titled Afghanistan di Tengah Perubahan (Afghanistan in the midst of change), which was published in 2002.
Finally, I have no words left to say except the hope that Kompas may continue to prosper in the hands of the new generation.