Marginalisation — cause of many evils

The West Asia North Africa conference convened in Amman last week for its sixth annual session. His Royal Highness Prince Hassan focused in his keynote speech on the question of marginalisation, of which the peoples of WANA region suffer.

The prince attributed to marginalisation the sufferings of women in this region, which results into lack of legal empowerment, an issue that denies women here many political rights, economic privileges and assertiveness as human beings.

The WANA conference’s agenda tackled resilience, innovation and growth for women’s empowerment, using access to legal aid to retrieve lost political and economic rights.

As a background for the theme of his speech, the prince said: “These are times when as Plato said, what is just or right means nothing more than what is in the interest of the stronger party. These are times when there is a large gap between the word of the law and the rule of the law — and bridging this gap can sap the will out of the most well-intentioned person. And yet, during such times, the world can only be grasped by action.

“But I need to elaborate more on the concept of marginalisation which does not only constitute an impediment to women’s empowerment in our region. It is marginalisation in its wider connotation, which generated crime, violence, terrorism and degradation of human dignity.”

In a recent study about the mindset of a suicide bomber, the results gave strong indicators that deprivation, humiliation, desperation and marginalisation are the main components in the mind of a true believer.

It is the concept of marginalisation that induces the feelings of alienation and generates the instant euphoria that a suicide bomber tastes at the moment of killing innocent victims.

Feelings of marginalisation helped Osama Bin Laden recruit thousands of refugee camp dwellers to join his Al Qaeda wars, terrorism and sabotage. 

Hundreds of European Muslims fighting the regime in Syria were candid enough to tell the press that feelings of marginalisation in their European milieu generated a sense of alienation that is addressed by searching for a new Islamic identity forged by blood and baptised by membership of a new commune.

What is happening in Iraq now is one manifestation of the pernicious impact of marginalisation. 

The 12 million Arab Sunnis suffered with dignity since 2003 the horrors of humiliation, degradation and deprivation. But when they realised that a new cycle of inferno-like rule will last for another seven years with the same prime minister, they revolted in Mosul. 

Prince Hassan, with his foresight, issued a warning to Arabs and all WANA region peoples to save the future of their countries by avoiding marginalisation of certain components of their societies, on whatever grounds, whether political, or religious or ethnical.