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Universität Innsbruck
Master of Arts Program in Peace, Development, Security and
International Conflict Transformation
Warrior in my realms; a brief reading of Warrior in my own
perspective of language, culture, religion, law and politics.
Course Paper Modular Period I
Shehab Mekky
Submitted to: Josefina Echavarría
9 June 2014
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Table of Contents
Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 1
1. Warrior in my personal perspective ......................................................................................................2
1.1. What is a warrior? .........................................................................................................................2
1.2. Warrior through a more comprehensive look ................................................................................3
2. Warrior in my Mother Tongue ..............................................................................................................5
2.1. Warrior in old Arabic language .....................................................................................................5
2.2. Warrior from a recent point of view ..............................................................................................8
3. Warrior in my Culture ............................................................................................................................9
3.1. Warrior in typical Arabic culture ............................................................................................... 10
3.2. The preferable warrior in the modern Arabic culture ................................................................. 12
4. Warrior in my Religion........................................................................................................................ 13
4.1. Warriors and their role in Islam .................................................................................................. 13
4.2. The Stray warriors ...................................................................................................................... 15
4.3. A religious modern comprehensive warrior ............................................................................... 16
5. Warrior in (inter)national Politics and Law ........................................................................................ 17
5.1. Warrior in politics (nationally) ................................................................................................... 17
5.2. Warrior in politics (internationally) ............................................................................................ 19
5.3. Warriors through the (inter)national legal framework................................................................ 20
6. Shehab Mekky as a warrior ................................................................................................................ 23
Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................. 24
References .................................................................................................................................................. 26
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“Warriors are warriors not because of their strength, but because of their ability
strength to good purpose” (Greitens 2011, 187)
Introduction
Warrior, as soon as I recognized the word in my mind, I recalled the image of a Samurai
or a Gladiator or a Spartan warrior holding his/her sword and ready to defend his/her land
till death. I do not know why but maybe this is the image, I or most of us grew up
imagining. Warriors throughout time I believe had different images and different tasks
but most of them were centered on the solid definition of the word. That is to say to
protect the country till the last breath using power and ammunition.
As a kid, I was very happy when I received a toy of warriors or soldiers,
sometimes a whole army, where your role as a kid is to move these small pieces to form a
strong army capable of attaining victory. I am not sure if my family was thinking
differently when they bought me these toys. But for boys in this age, I guess it was a
warrior for the boys and a Barbie doll for the girls.
By time and as the world develops in so many ways, with the new changes and
challenges, the term used also develops in a way to adapt to these new variables. The
interpretation of the word ‘warrior’ expanded to include new meanings and possible
images for the word. The term warrior is changing periodically in my mind according to
conditions I experience and plans I carry for my professional career.
In this paper I will define and interpret the word ‘warrior’ through my own eyes,
describe the characteristics of this warrior, followed by showing the shift in that old
typical image. The following papers will unhide my thoughts regarding warrior in myself,
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my language, my culture my religion, and how this warrior operates in my country touch
basing with the legal side of this warrior. In the end of the paper, I will include a rich
conclusion summing my results upon research findings of ‘warrior’, including discussing
who is a ‘warrior’ for me in terms of personal and professional life.
1. Warrior in my personal perspective
1.1. What is a warrior?
A warrior is someone who fights to deter conquer of his/her nation, or someone who
struggle to raise the livelihood of him/her, family or even state.1
Warriors usually had special characteristics to easily identify their appearance,
intentions and sometimes nationality. The warrior image circulating now in my head as I
am writing this paper is strongly body built, heavily protected and armored male, and in
most of the times sitting on a horse. This image here has two figures, first figure that he is
a person ready to be engaged in warfare and the second figure, shows that person holding
great vigor, courage, or aggressiveness. I think this image goes back to the fact that since
“antiquity humankind has been obsessed with fighting. From the bloody dirt of the
Colosseum to the sacrificial killing grounds of the Aztecs you would be hard pressed to
find a culture, even in the present day, that doesn’t in some way express a fascination for
warfare” (Pegg 2011 ).
I agree that this fact stained the word always with a negative picture, even though
most of the warriors died defending their countries which is a noblest thing to die for.
Because there is nothing more precious than soul for the sake of protecting people and
territory of any state. But in other parts of history warriors were slaves who were made
1 Author’s definition
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to fight each other to the death for the amusement of Rome's populace, and was given the
name ‘Gladiators’. “Paestum depicts men, both bearded and unbearded, fighting each
other with spears and bleeding” (Welch 2007: 14), in addition to the negative picture here
is because the usage of the term warrior becomes subjective, because warriors are not
always fighting for good causes as most of them will assume and warfares causing
destruction and violence do indeed involve warriors. So warrior here has some sort of
ambiguity between being noble and being destructive.
On the other hand, the word for me also has moral and code of honors that were
very apparent in Samurai warriors. “The traditional cultural fusion of the Samurai’s
honor with violent behavior continued to be influential” (Ikegami 1995, 220). They
followed a philosophy and certain behaviors where for instance they sometimes kill
themselves in case of disgrace or defeat.
As a result and as time passed, warrior changed from the fighter holding a sword
and riding a horse to the recently referred as modern soldier holding a weapon and using
for example aircrafts and tanks to move. That is to say most of the possible definitions of
the word fell into the solid and military meaning of resistance. I believe a warrior can be
anything, anywhere and anytime. And it is unfair to cage the word into the past narrow
interpretations only.
1.2. Warrior through a more comprehensive look
Away from the typical warrior, a warrior for me is anyone who fights for a better future
for his/her country, family, career or even sports team. The list here never ends, but with
relation to the realms of conflict transformation and my future plan to be a humanitarian
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worker in an emergency response organization, I will focus on who is a warrior in my
country and who is a warrior in my professional life. And just to say it clear this look is
the more closer to my heart.
Egypt is a country that had two major uprisings in less than two years, a
revolution on 25th
of January 2011 and what is debatably called the second so called
revolution in 30th
June 2013. Since 25 January 2011, I never felt that there is a real
change that happened in the political, economic or even social corridors of Egypt’s
system, rather it is getting worse. I will not discuss the various reasons for this recession
but I wanted to say that I was a warrior when I chose to say no the former dictatorship,
even though, I was not prepared nor protected to take part in protests but I gave up
everything risking my life to do something I always wanted to do, and it is to bring down
a totalitarian regime. My example applies to many Egyptians. Some of them lost their
lives, other injured and whoever is left is trying. Instead of typical warriors dying in the
field, these warriors died in the street with hope that Egypt has a better tomorrow.
On a societal level, warriors in Egypt are women who suffer daily sexual
harassment (UN women 2013) in the streets of Egypt and chose to stand up and advocate
for a new law to protect them. “Non-violent discipline is a key to success and must be
maintained despite provocations and brutalities by the dictators and their agents” (Sharp,
2012: 49). These sorts of battles warriors are engaged in are means of peaceful struggle
and resistance to attain our rights in a better future. Women in Egypt had showed great
courage lately in terms of their active involvement in realms of politics and grass root
movements. Women feel outraged because they have to think twice before going into the
street, what to wear? When to go? And where? Not to forget to mention the role of the
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state and funded sexual mobs in using sexual harassment as a tool in oppressing women
to keep them away from political discourse.
I have been always interested in the humanitarian work and especially in the field
where alleviating suffering and leaving a positive footprint can be possible and
achievable. In the sector of emergency response and disaster relief organizations, I see
special types of warriors; warriors who left their countries which in some cases are one of
the best livable countries to go to a very dangerous environment to help reduce the
suffering of the affected country or region. These warriors risk their personal safety,
sacrifice their personal or social life to change things, they believe in good intentions and
humanity away from political or economic influences which unfortunately control our
world today. I intend to be one of those warriors after finishing my studies in conflict
transformation. This is for me a transformation from a warrior in my country against
oppression to another form of warrior but in another place and in a different context.
Just like Einstein said” “Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be
changed from one form to another” (Einstein 1905). Same applies with warriors; they
transfer from one place to another and from one context to another. They carry the burden
of surrounding circumstances and try to change these circumstances to a better form.
These circumstances might be political, economic, social or humanitarian.
2. Warrior in my Mother Tongue
2.1. Warrior in old Arabic language
I believe that language is largely involved in conditioning us to think the way we do. It is
the part of our upbringing, minds and culture. My mother tongue is the language I use to
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think, express my feelings, thoughts and even in some cases even dream with. I was born
in Egypt, lived a big portion of my life in Saudi Arabia, consequently my mother tongue
is the Arabic Language. Classical or Standard Arabic language (known in Arabic as
Fusha) or اللغة العربية الفصحي is the one taught in schools, spoken on TV news and written
in newspapers while Egyptian Arabic is the slang term used in daily conversations and
situations. Asif Agha in his book ‘Language and Social Relations’ says that Language is
closely linked to our social relationships and is the medium through which we participate
in a variety of social activities. (Agha 2007).
Egyptian dialect is supposed to be popular and well-understood in most of the
Arab speaking countries. “It was partly Egypt’s head start that led to the distribution of
Egyptian films and awareness of Egyptian dialect all over the region” (Hammond 2005,
113). Speaking Arabic makes me proud since my language is spoken all over 22
countries; as well it is the language of the Quran and constitutes one of the six official
languages of the United Nations system. Arabic Language is a component that unifies all
Arabs regardless their geographical location and therefore a carrier of Arab culture,
values and traditions.
In relation with the last chapter, and after experiencing the term ‘warrior’
according to my own perspective, this paper, I will engage with the word again but
through the lens of the Arabic Language. First I will explore the word in the old times,
what did the word ‘warrior’ mean in the past? How the interpretation changed though out
time to include different and new meanings? What does it mean to be a warrior today in
the Arabic language?
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Before diving into the deep meaning and possible interpretations of ‘warrior’ I
would like to mention the definitions for the word in two of well-known English-Arabic
dictionaries. 1st dictionary (Elias’ Pocket Dictionary 1973, 402) defines ‘warrior’ as
while the 2 (Hero) بطل or (Soldier) جندي or (Fighter) محاربnd
dictionary (AL-MAWRID
1996, 1045) mentions exactly the same three words defining the word. All the three
words in my opinion are related to warfare or battle conditions and conceal feelings of
resistance, confrontation and anger. A fighter fights in a fight (For example wrestlers). A
soldier defends his/her country in a battlefield and eventually if he dies he becomes a
hero or in some cases they live to tell their stories and also become heroes.
The etymology of the word according to Egyptian etymology dictionary known as
Al-wageez or المعجم الوجيز mentions that the roots of the word ‘warrior’ comes from war
and limited the use of the word to 3 situations, someone who fights an enemy or حرب
fights god2 (in terms of being non-believer and offending prophets and believers) and
finally someone who fights windmills.3
Egypt which is a part of the Arab region suffered from foreign occupation for a
long time till independence in late 1950s, followed by Egyptian-Israeli wars in 1967 and
1973 respectively and finally unresolved Palestinian-Israeli case. These events of course
molded the meaning of warrior in the subconscious minds. “Foreign occupation therefore
becomes ‘The very basis’ of contemporary Egyptian civilization” (Said 1977, 35). For
example ‘Road to Eilat’ or in Arabic (Al-Tareek Ela Eilat) الطريق الي ايالت is a movie
showing Egyptian soldiers as warriors in their successful attempt to blow up the two
2 I will focus on this definition later in ‘warrior in my religion’
3 It is said when someone is living in vain or without a clear goal for his/her life.
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Israeli vessels in the port of Eilat during the War of Attrition4. So warriors here in this
context are soldiers and heroes as well.
2.2. Warrior from a recent point of view
Honestly, I did not like the idea of warrior in Arabic language almost stuck in the typical
image of warrior, because warriors can exist in all fields and not just in the battlefields.
So I chose to ask my father who is 60 years old and I believe he witnessed the time where
Egypt had the nationalistic stain during and shortly after 1973 war between Egypt and
Israel. I asked him what you think a warrior in Egypt can look like. And what does he or
she do mainly? He answered saying that Egypt is done with wars, and this is the least
important thing to worry about. Egypt has been struggling after three years of tremendous
political unrest and thus he thinks a real warrior nowadays in Egypt is someone who
fought and still fights autocratic regime, a man or a woman struggling to offer basic
needs for his or her family amid economic deterioration (Mekky A, personal interview,
17 April 2014). The Arabic language (Egyptian dialect) is very close to the idea of Egypt
as a nation state, in other words I cannot separate my Egyptian dialect without speaking
about Egypt as a nation state.
I back up his words quoting “Many Arab countries are dominated by autocratic
regimes, a fact which fuels popular resentment against the status quo” (Tamari N.A, 6)
and thus a warrior is not that soldier fighting for independence but rather politicians and
citizens risking their personal security resisting totalitarian regimes and on the
economical level, Egyptians fighting the hard living conditions to keep up with the
minimum requirements of decent life. ‘Egyptians against Corruption’, a movement
4 inconclusive war (1969–70) chiefly between Egypt and Israel
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started in 2006 which awards an annual award called ‘anti-corruption warrior’ or المحارب
to the person who whistle blows at the corruption acts done by or under المصري ضد الفساد
the eyes of Egyptian government (Eissa 2010). This article was written on of Egypt’s top
newspapers Al-Ahram Weekly and this in my opinion shows how written media
broadened its perspective to defining a warrior.
Unfortunately I believe the usage of the word warrior has become subjective, a
warrior for me can be a terrorist for another. Some of the Islamic extremists started using
this word in refer to their so called ‘freedom fighters.’ “We mourn the holy warrior who
died in an accident” said by Ansar Beit el-Maqdis انصار بيت المقدس (World Tribune 2014)
while earlier in 2005, a group calling itself "Egypt's mujahidin" or Egypt's holy warriors,
has claimed responsibility for a Sinai peninsula bomb blast that wounded two Canadian
women peacekeepers (Aljazeera 2005). So being a warrior does not necessarily mean
doing actions based on a noble purpose or cause.
Here the falsified warriors used and manipulated with the Arabic language in
specific verses of the Quran seeking persuasion among their followers, which of course
has an echo specially in environments void of education and development. Despite being
mentioned in writings as warriors, true warriors do not kill civilians, nor carry feelings of
hatred or revenge, true warriors for me who hopefully to be mentioned positively in my
mother tongue are people who risk their comfort zone to achieve a better improvement
for a country, family or even a career.
3. Warrior in my Culture
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3.1. Warrior in typical Arabic culture
Warriors are affected by the culture they are raised in and accordingly will operate later.
How is a warrior in the Arabic Egyptian Culture? What molded that image? And how do
I look to a warrior in modern culture of my country?
Culture determines our behaviors and inter-communal responses between
individuals or groups of same community and other communities as well. Culture is more
than merely one aspect of intercultural communication where each definition serves
particular interests. Based on the previous words and my Arabic Egyptian roots, I find the
following definition of culture the closest to my mind “Culture is the effort to provide a
coherent set of answers to the existentialist situations that confront all human beings in
the passage of their lives” (Yankelovich 1981, 36). It can be a set of behaviors,
communication and language affecting our dealing with individuals, groups of my
community with each other and foreign communities as well.
I was raised in Saudi Arabia and settled in Egypt in early 2000s, both cultures I
can call them a conservative combination, the former being a strict religious conservative
monarchy and the latter being post-colonial, post-revolution5
country. Since I am
Egyptian and lived most of my teenage life in Egypt, I will focus on the former sort of
culture which includes my experience, stories and opinions in respect to the Egyptian
culture.
I mean by ‘typical’ in the head title the past times, in the last Century, Egypt as
well as most of the Arab countries in the Middle East had painful experience with
colonialism. The French Occupation followed by the Ottoman Empire and the British
Mandate ending the colonialism officially in 1979 where Egypt and Israel signed ‘Camp
5 25 January 2011 revolution and 30 June 2013 coup d’état
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David Accords6.’ These series of events created a culture of resistance to occupation,
resistance to western imperialism and even resistance to western perception of culture.
This limited the image of a warrior in eyes of the vast majority of my country to its
military context only. “This produced a deep-seated anti-Westernism that is a persistent
theme of Egyptian, Arab, Islamic, and Third World history.” (Said 1993, 39). All what
comes from the West is unaccepted and immoral and we have to fight it, this was the
majority mouth piece back in the time. “Resistance to the west was couched in the Arab
terms of the need to defend our freedom and our Arabism” (Jankowski 2002, 32). This
created a wave of nationalists also known as Nasserists aiming mainly to fight western
imperialism and influence in the Middle East. “All these new factors heralded a
postcolonial age and have naturally affected the way Arab intellectuals in common with
other intellectuals in former colonies, saw the European other” (El-Enany 2006, 87).
This image of a warrior holding a gun pointing it to the enemy nesting in the
minds did not impress me at all, I say this because this image has surpassed its time
limits, and this warrior is not supposed to be present nowadays or at least dominant.
Egypt is now an independent country and do not require this warrior as the main image
like before. This typical image affected my culture and my country a lot. The Egyptian
Army has a lot of political, economic preferences in comparison to other sectors of the
country like health or education because they as believed are the only warriors that
deserve financial and moral resources. “Egypt’s military controls not only the political
levers of power, but also the economic ones, and its involvement is getting even deeper”
(Hammond and Wan 2014). This image is transferred from the societal level to the
6 Peace treaty signed between Egypt, Israel witnessed by the United States.
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official one. This unrealistic image also created an environment for conspiracy theories
which I believe is an Egyptian traditional solution for avoiding blaming ourselves for our
own political, economic and technological lag.
Speaking about another aspect, will be the existence the idea of holy warriors,
known as Jihadists who claim to defend the religion by targeting civilians in Egypt and
outside of Egypt. It is not very difficult to observe how these so called ‘holy warriors’ or
Mujahdeen involvement in Syria, Iraq and the list goes. Cultures change and so must the
image of a warrior stuck to this culture. Globalization makes culture no more bound to a
geographical area, race or religion.
3.2. The preferable warrior in the modern Arabic culture
The Egyptian culture shortly before, during and after 25 January 2013 revolution started
to recognize other interpretations of a warrior. Warriors resisted and still resisting the
dictatorship risking their personal safety. Warriors working in a science lab over the hour
to invent a new cure for incurable disease. Warriors who use their pen to criticize and
shame the government for violating human rights. What I want to say that it has been
clear that warriors existed in every sector of the Egyptian community, all struggling for a
better future without holding the same weapon or armor of the typical Egyptian warrior.
The old image somehow changed in my mind because of two reasons in my
opinion. The first one is the appalling circumstances of the state, and with circumstances,
I mean political stagnation and economic deterioration. And the second reason is the big
gap between Middle East in general including Egypt in specific and the developed
countries on the other side of the map. “Today, Arabs are paying a heavy price for
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decades of enforced stability which western governments shortsightedly encouraged. The
result was political stagnation where issues that ought to have been addressed –
sectarianism, corruption and lack of accountability” (Whitaker 2014). This gap showed
that warriors in the military are not the mere solution to prosperity but also warriors
promoting for democracy, human rights, and good governance which is the backbone of
any developed nation. Add to these two reasons, the illogic ideas of anti-westernism since
most of the military and economic aid reaching Egypt comes from the West. “The
disconnect between political/security priorities and developmental goals could not have
been greater.” (Tschirgi 2003, 6). It is now the typical depicted image warrior versus the
modern images of warrior and the later image is still seeking its way in the minds of the
population.
4. Warrior in my Religion
4.1. Warriors and their role in Islam
The code of conduct of a warrior is to be surrounded with basic frames of religion or
humanity. Religions are supposed to organize our lives in a way by promoting good
morals and interaction between individuals of same and different beliefs based on respect
and compassion. Religion as an individual and collective meaning system influences
national and international relations by impacting the worldviews and behavior of policy
makers, nations and the cultural environment. Religion can be misused to spread violence
and can be also to promote peace. For example by emphasizing the ‘otherness’ and the
non-believers in a different category to justify and legitimize violent acts against them
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while on the other hand, religion also hold rituals and teachings calling for respect of the
sanctity of life as well as morals of mercy, compassion and forgiveness.
I am a Muslim, born as Muslim as I believe most of the believers do except in few
cases. Most of us do not choose their religion except in rare cases. Islam as all of other
religions calls for peace and humanity. I do not consider myself as a religious individual
except in practicing Islamic rituals where my head touches the ground 5 times a day.
Recently I have read, watched and even witnessed a lot of violent acts done by Muslims,
sometimes calling themselves as ‘warriors’ under the cloak of defending Islam. These
acts achieved nothing but distorted a religion, which in the very beginning had the
purpose of promoting peace and humanity and not vice versa.
The term warrior was introduced in the history of Islam specifically during the
expeditions led by Prophet Muhammad aimed mainly to defend Muslims against
transgressors at that time. “The harsh natural conditions of the Arabian Peninsula led to
the pre-Islamic practice of ghazw (raiding), aimed at the acquisition of camels and other
animals for their milk and meat” (Al-Dawoody 2011, 21). I am not going to debate
whether these expeditions were under justifications of offense or defense; I would rather
focus on the circumstances of that time that depicted the warrior as a man riding a horse
or camel, holding a sword and armor. “The nature of ghazawat (raids) may be classified
into the following two main categories: (i) preaching and making peace treaties and (ii)
attacks on the Muslims and series of incidents” (ibid). Both categories required warriors
with specific characteristics to withstand the tough circumstances.
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A warrior in Islam is linked to two aspects, the minor Jihad7which includes
military side and the major Jihad which is self-control. I would focus more on the later
one since for me it is more important. Self-control of our whims and struggling to be a
moral good doing sort of individual is crucial for maintaining peace. In a broader sense,
jihad means striving to the utmost extent of one's ability and power by exerting oneself
spiritually in the way of Allah and doing one's best to preach the message of Islam to
others. This is the jihad that a Muslim can carry out for Islam throughout his/her life
instead it is being used only in the narrower sense of fighting against a visible enemy.
“And those who strive for us - We will surely guide them to our ways. And indeed, Allah
is with the doers of good” (Quran 29:698). I would love to see warriors in Islam striving
against their own whims and doing good deeds for the sake of humanity in accordance
with the true essence of Islam.
4.2. The Stray warriors
This section of the paper will talk about some extremist Islamic warriors as they claim
themselves to be. Unfortunately few Muslims choose to focus on the narrow and solid
meaning of warriors and Jihad misusing and misinterpreting basic verses of Quran and
Sunnah.9 These falsified warriors involve in violent and barbaric acts against innocents
distorting the true essence of a peaceful religion, claiming to defend Islam and they are
way too far from doing that. Islam considers all life forms as sacred. I perceive them as
falsified because I see a warrior must distinct between his/her actions and never falls
7 The Arabic word "jihad" is often translated as "holy war," but in a purely linguistic sense, the word” jihad" means
struggling or striving. 8 English Translation obtained from www.Quran.com
9 Sayings and teachings of prophet Muhammad
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under violence to change. The value of human life is so great, that the Quran equates the
taking of even one human life unjustly with the killing of all humanity. ”Whoever kills a
soul unless for a soul or for corruption done in the land - it is as if he had slain mankind
entirely. And whoever saves one - it is as if he had saved mankind entirely” (ibid, 5:32).
This stresses that warriors must focus on respecting the lives as possible with respect to
promoting good morals and humanity actions.
For me Jihad is smiling in tough moments, forgiving, keeping patience in hard
times, struggling for good deeds, taking care of old parents in a loving way. To strive and
to struggle to change the image, the media shows.
4.3. A religious comprehensive warrior
I see a Muslim warrior concerned with raising the status of the Islamic world to focus on
two main aspects, either to study one of them or both of them if applicable, the first one
focusing on religious Islamic science (known as Fiqh10
and Aqeedah11
to try to clear and
omit the misinterpretations used by a not a few number of fundamentalists nowadays, in
addition to promote the peaceful morals of co-existence present in the religion. This point
also includes that with proper counseling of moderate Islam by specialized preachers,
these extremists can opt out from violence. While the 2nd
aspect includes life sciences for
example biology, chemistry and physics where Muslims can also take part in the race of
technology and development.
As I am interested in humanitarian work, specifically emergency response and
disaster relief, I see working as aid worker in a conflict zone for the sake of humanity and
10
Islamic jurisprudence (code of conduct) (translated by author) 11
Islamic Theology (translated by Author)
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alleviation of suffering of susceptible people is in fact a very appreciated and humane
work, in addition these people hold the courage of a warrior as well as the kindness and
the compassion of a conflict worker. Not to forget to mention that by doing that I will be
abiding with Islam morals and teachings which I guess is nearly the same with all other
religions and beliefs.
There are in fact many religious humanitarian organizations and non-
governmental organizations (NGO’s) working currently in the field in humanitarian
assistance motivated by the desire to help the less fortunate. These organizations include
warriors who combined the precious balanced equation of serving their religion and
restoring faith in humanity. For instance ‘Catholic Relief Services’ and ‘Islamic Relief’.
Prominent religious leaders have played quiet often roles to mediate peace and conflict
resolution such as Gandhi and Martin Luther King.
5. Warrior in (inter)national Politics and Law
5.1. Warrior in politics (nationally)
Speaking of a broader pillar that affects warrior in our world today is politics and law.
Politics is literally connected to every action we take in our lives; politics manage our
homes, work places, and even sports. Laws are present in our world to reform and rectify
our actions in order not create chaos. Politics and law are linked and interrelated together
along with the term ‘warrior’. Wrong management and practice of politics represented in
bad governance decreases the feeling of security strengthening the military side of the
term ‘warrior’ on the other hand, implementation of certain laws in specific incidents
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such as martial and emergency laws results in the same feeling and consequently the
same outcome.
The 21st century has come with its challenges most of which are related to
international security, climate change and poverty. I think we are now living in a world
with more conflict than cooperation. The term ‘warrior’ should be extracted from its
narrow meaning to include broader and also other forms of being a warrior, but
apparently this is becoming a very challenging issue as because of the previous
circumstances mentioned that are becoming a part of our life.
The situation in Egypt post 25 January 2011 revolution and 30 June 2013 coup
d’état is intense and violent. “Moderate has become a dirty word in Egypt. Since the
army ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, anyone who refuses to support either
side uncritically has become a traitor to both” (Bayoumy 2011) with the vanishing
moderates, often bombings in the capital and upcoming presidential elections, warriors
are only in uniforms wandering the streets either dispersing protests or diffusing bombs
or maintaining random security checkpoints in preparation for next week’s elections. This
situation has not been recent, rather a normal wave since 3 years. The sole focus on the
military side of warrior made its way along the official levels, street talks and news
headlines.
In my last paper in the previous semester about ‘security’ I said that politics are
drawn in the country mainly by the military institution. The military or as it is customary
called ‘warriors factory’ controls a big portion of Egypt’s economic system along with
other influential tools like the media. Noam Chomsky said regarding the military "They
will act as army officers usually act and seek to control the system and economy while
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crushing their opponents and human rights" (Q&A on Egypt with Noam Chomsky 2013).
This of course takes away all the attention from other possible forms of warriors present
in the Egyptian society for example, a doctor risking his/her life (risks of infection)
treating patients in a governmental hospital that lacks basic medical resources because of
the low budget if compared to those allocated to the ministry of interior and ministry of
defense.
Another example, a student seeking proper education amidst the stalled
education system. “Egypt Scores Dead Last on Schools and Egyptians Couldn't Care
Less” (El-dahshan 2013). This was the headline of an article published, simply because
security issues are taking over the country. I am not trying to undermine the efforts made
by the military and police to counteract terrorist attacks here and there but it is a matter of
balance, and warriors in other forms can also help the Egyptian society to get better
without even holding weapons or wearing uniforms. This narrow meaning gives
unrealistic expectations that only solider warriors are capable of offering a secure and
developed climate for Egypt.
5.2. Warrior in politics (internationally)
We live in a world controlled mainly by political and economic interests, which if added
to religious and cultural tensions creates violence and terrorists attacks here (for example,
the Somali famine following Somali civil war/western intervention 1993) since I am
interested in the work of emergency humanitarian organizations, I will name them as
non-state warriors and on the other side, states (individually or under the umbrella of
International organization such as the United Nations) as state warriors. The narrow look
20
of the states towards meaning of warrior made a lot of stated to spend vast amounts of
money on counter-terrorism and national security programs. So the individual narrow
interpretation of a warrior has been transferred to the state level, this time the state is
using power to gain specific interests or to intervene in a country for humanitarian
reasons which in most of the cases carry hidden agenda behind the intervention.
“However, such enforcement is often highly controversial precisely because it would
potentially sacrifice the national security of one state member of international society for
the good of the whole society” (Preece 2011, 20).
Non-state warriors or humanitarian organizations do a lot of work in countries and
regions struck with natural disasters (floods and earthquakes for instance) and man-made
disasters (Conflicts). The main motive and imperative for this work is humanity and not
strategy as in state warriors. “As warriors, as humanitarians, they've taught me that
without courage, compassion falters, and that without compassion, courage has no
direction” (Greitens 2011, preface). To be honest, some of the humanitarian organizations
have hidden political and economic interests and they use the humanitarian cause as a
justification to intervene in conflicted countries. But I am speaking here of the mere
intuition and conscience of a warrior humanitarian worker who is neutral, impartial and
acts based only on humanity and unity.
5.3. Warriors through the (inter)national legal framework
“The rule of law refers to a principle of governance in which all persons, institutions and
entities, public and private, including the State itself, are accountable to law” (Anaan
2004, 616). The rule of law, in essence, is a conceptual framework for a society in which
the state adheres to the law, ensures equality before the law, provides efficient impartial
21
justice and safeguards human rights. While international law simply is that organizes
relations between states and prohibit serious crimes (slavery, genocide for example). “It
serves as a framework for the practice of stable and organized international relations”
(Slomanson 2011, 5).
In Egypt as the warrior has mainly one form and one task, logically the legal
framework in which they act is the Egyptian Penal code and Emergency law, with the
latter being lifted in November 2013. “The Egyptian government said it is lifting a nearly
three-month state of emergency and curfew” (Casey and Haber 2013). According to
report published by Arab center for development of the rule of law and integrity, the
Egyptian judicial system “protects the society by the umbrella of legitimacy and rule of
law” (The Arab Center for the development of the rule of law and integrity, 10). But for
me it has been obvious that the penal code is the main platform where warriors in Egypt
depend upon. Along with the security challenges, sole focus on one side of a warrior;
ironic sentences have been carried out. “Egypt sentences to death 529 supporters of
Mohamed Morsi” (Kingsley 2014). What annoys me is the apathy from the society
because of the sole focus on military sides of the warrior only and that these warriors can
do whatever they want under the justification ‘war against terrorism’, or as the saying say
“The laws are silent in presence of war”. The misused or ‘politicized’ law can be a fertile
soil for turn warriors into destructive warriors and endanger the cohesion of a society,
shifting away from their primary noble role.
On the International level, the states alone or under international organizations
(UN) act according to international law serve as state warriors to try to maintain world
peace and prevent atrocities from happening and in some cases coordinating
22
humanitarian relief missions in the affected regions. These warriors hold and create new
legal documents regularly to protect human rights (UDHR, ICCPR and ICESCR12
) but as
I believe we do not live in an idealistic world, and due to conflicting interests and other
reasons which requires more than this paper to mention, the true essence of a warrior has
been lost in the international realms where political, economic and military power
influence the balance and controls relations between those warriors.
Humanitarian organizations or as I call them non-state warriors have been
devoted to human suffering alleviation and promoting humanitarian actions. The legal
framework which controls their code of conduct is the 7 humanitarian principles13
(humanity, universality, impartiality, neutrality, unity, independence and voluntary
service). Luckily those non-state actors have not been or at least most of them affected by
political influence and continue to work as noble and courageous warriors’ regardless
security risks and harsh conditions. Nevertheless, politics of humanitarian work exist and
is always a debatable topic when it comes to certain interests behind delivery aid for
instance.
Well, it is obviously crystal clear that I am biased towards non-state warriors and
their role in our world today that state warriors, this is simply because politics has defiled
relations between nations, creating humanitarian crises quiet often which to be managed
and treated via non-state warriors. It is unfair to solely blame states for our world’s
problems but they certainly hold a big share of it. Giles Bolton in his book Aid and other
dirty business says that humanitarian crises happened in DR Congo and Rwanda is a
painful reminder of what can happen when people receive no benefit from their
12
(Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights, International Covenant for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) 13
International committee of the red cross code of conduct
23
citizenship (Bolton 2008), in addition to the world’s indifference if the country
encountering crises does not possess any strategic, political or economic significance.
6. Shehab Mekky as a warrior
Throughout my personal, social and professional life, and based on the culture, religion
and language I come from, I see warrior in myself in two simultaneous pictures. When I
chose to continue resisting the return of an oppressive regime (especially after former
Egyptian army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi won a landslide victory in a presidential
elections last week), either by non-violent protests, writings or even taking role in the
Egyptian government as a diplomat, reminding myself that it is going to be a fierce battle
but I guess that is a right I have to reimburse to my country. This scenario not only will
also show that warriors are not only police or army officers but civilians demanding
better governance for their countries.
The other picture for me was to work for a humanitarian relief international
organization, and specifically in emergency response and disaster relief sector which is
the case currently. These organizations seek to relief suffering in short time range to
leave a permanent humanitarian footprint. My passion towards this work will for sure
help me to quickly gain expertise as a humanitarian warrior. There should be no
underestimating the extraordinary things that can happen, if warriors are given the right
opportunities. “We need to understand that individual effort, by thousands of people
working together, is the only way we are likely to achieve the societal outcomes we want
in areas where business and the mainstream media do not take an automatic interest”
(Bolton 2008, 304). May this work inspire me as well as others around the globe to rise
24
above national interests, self-interest to recognize humanity and offer me a satisfying and
enriching experience.
I am more biased to working in a relief International organization more than
working in pure decision and politics making circles such as Egyptian government
because I feel by working in such organizations, I can always live to see a positive
footprint in a work rarely misused or desecrated by politics interests. Making someone
life better does not change the world but for this person the whole world changes.
This does not mean that humanitarian work is not affected nor drove by politics
but for me the satisfaction and self-recognition of doing and leaving a positive footprint
in a conflict affected area to most vulnerable people is what attracts me to this sort of
work. I believe in humanity and by my work, I can always promote principles and values
of humanity and unity.
7. Conclusion
We might have different personal perspectives, cultures, religions, laws or even political
systems but what warriors have in common is way more than what they differ at.
Warriors can be state and can be individuals and can be humanitarian organizations as
well.
A warrior can be a resistor to a dictatorship; can be a negotiator with a warlord to
guarantee freedom of movement for humanitarian workers. Dictatorships, conflicts,
disasters are not permanent. Every day, warriors are being born around the world; each
does what he or she believes can attain his/her country, family, financial status, career a
better condition. They restore my faith in humanity. This reality helps me gradually to
25
change in my mind and spirit, the idea of a typical warrior holding a weapon to defend
his or her nation to a unique sort of warrior, supporting his or her good-intentions spirit
while struggling with his/her mind in silence to go on with this peaceful battle.
Warriors fight for a meaning in life and this meaning can be concealed in any
sector but focusing on the military interpretation only of a warrior undermines the true
essence of the word. Hate is an emotion possibly cultivated in warriors. Compassion and
empathy for the ‘other’ make willing warriors. Some warriors are born to indistinctly
vanish; others earn a remembrance, either in a good way or by affixing disgrace to their
names.
In the paper, I aimed to discuss all the possible interpretations and practical
applications of the term ‘warrior’ in my personal perspective, mother tongue, culture,
religion and country. As well as the results of these findings reflected on my personal and
future professional life.
26
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