Game Of Thrones Kurdish Sub
Anfos Sin
When he delivered his fiery speech to Congress in March, declaiming the Iranian regime, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu deployed a rather memorable phrase. He equated the Islamic republic with the jihadists of Isis, arguing "both want to impose a militant Islamic empire" on the world. He went on to say that both the extremists and Tehran's leadership were waging "a deadly game of thrones."
The Washington Post's WorldViews blog picked apart Netanyahu's speech that day here, but the Israeli leader planted another seed. What if the fantasy world of Game of Thrones, the vastly popular HBO series based on the books by George RR Martin, was indeed transposed to the fractious Middle East?
**A disclaimer: The analogies are far from exact (which ought to be expected when you graft imaginary medieval fantasy things onto a real part of the world that is a lot more complicated.) If you have not watched the show or read the books, you probably won't follow the allusions to current affairs; if you have, you may likely disagree with them.**
The wealthiest and most powerful house in Westeros, the Lannisters are kingmakers. To the house's lead patriarch, family matters before all. The Lannisters' influence can be felt in direct and subtle ways across the realm, even in places far from their domains. They are criticized by some for having a record of abuse and brutality, while others resent how their power has been built purely on the natural resources found beneath their lands.
Now, they are hounded wherever they turn. Some, faced with little choice, were co-opted by those they shouldn't trust. Others have gone underground or abroad and are waiting for their fortunes to change. There had been talk of spring, but for the Starks, winter truly came.
The Greyjoys remember fondly a distant age when they counted large swathes of Westeros under their dominion, but it's ancient history to almost everyone else. Steeped in their own traditions and ways, their recent interventions in parts of the region have smacked of political navet.
House Martell of the southern region of Dorne has always seen itself as distinct from the other major houses of Westeros. They come from a different ethnic background and take pride in their own myths and legends. Their hatred of the Lannisters is matched only by the long-standing enmity for the Tyrells (see below).
They've had to hold their nose and find common cause with the Lannisters, despite obvious differences. Their rivalry with (and mistrust for) the Martells of Dorne is on a constant simmer, and sometimes flares into open conflict.
The Wildlings are in truth fleeing these monstrous creatures, some of whom are zombie Wildlings. The White Walkers are shockingly effective in their tactics, and swallow up new recruits into their mysteries at frightening rates. There's a lot of debate over where they come from and what they want, but everyone agrees that they're awful.
Their clashes with the Wildlings and White Walkers have intensified in recent times. Some people believe they are as lousy a pack of scoundrels and criminals as those who they battle. Their lobbying efforts in the main capital have yielded a degree of support.
*WorldViews recognizes that this parallel exaggerates the degree to which the United States has been sidelined from the strategic discussions in the Middle East. It is obviously still a key, perhaps preeminent actor in the region.
**WorldViews recognizes that these parallels obscure some of the criticism of the Iranian and Israeli governments, and do not mention the negotiations for a nuclear deal with Iran, Tehran's support for proxy militias in other corners of the Middle East or Israel's problematic treatment of the Palestinians. But you try finding all of that in the Westeros of "Game of Thrones."
In the current era of decadence, nearly all republics, monarchies and princely regimes in the Arab region prefer the value of blood, kinship and anxiety over freedom, competence and political participation. Jordan is no exception.
One of the virtues of YouTube is that, with a few quick clicks, you can open a rich archive, providing scenes from the past that throw light on such paradoxical moments as the one Jordan is experiencing today.
Thus the royal lineage appears in its official form: a presentation of purity and devotion to family and homeland, with the people as proud spectators, happy with their fathers, children and brothers.
However, the picture-perfect scene offered by the dynastic ruling families, is frequently cracked by events violating the manufactured image of purity, bringing it back, at times shockingly, to a crude level of realism.
Hamzah, half-brother of King Abdullah, was made Crown Prince when his father appointed Abdullah as his heir shortly before his death in 1999. However, King Abdullah relieved him from that post by appointing his own son Hussein as Crown Prince in 2004.
The presumed purity between the brothers and sons of the Hashemite dynasty, projected by years of images and discourses, made way for a tremendous clash of interests and an intense bitterness that can be summed up in four simple words: the struggle for power.
Jordan was previously shaken in 2019, when Princess Haya, sister of King Abdullah and wife of Dubai ruler Mohammed bin Rashid, fled with her two children to Britain, where she filed a lawsuit seeking protection for her and her children.
Her case too revealed a hidden side of the story, one only talked about following a leak or by Western media, as for example happened with the disappearance of the Emirati princesses Shamsa and Latifa.
The case of Princess Haya, who was considered the favorite of her later father King Hussein, was met with a resounding official silence in Jordan. Haya has not returned to the Kingdom since her escape, and King Abdullah sufficed with an official visit to the Emirates a few days after the incident, which was said to aim at containing the matter.
It is true that the possibility of external interference and the interests of regional poles are still in the balance, but looking back at the great vibrations witnessed by the ruling Arab monarchies and families, we will find one reoccurring theme: the relentless pursuit power.
In our region, which has witnessed the worst wars and crises, non-democratic regimes can withstand the many confrontations and fluctuations, as long as their armies and security services are under control, and as long as their reign is controlled by a tight circle of kinship, blood, and mutual interests.
The scene closest to memory prior to the Jordanian event happened in Saudi Arabia in 2017, when the current Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman overthrew his cousin, Mohammed bin Nayef, who was then Crown Prince and Minister of Interior.
The Saudi throne had previously been shaken when in 1975 King Faisal bin Abdul Aziz was assassinated by his nephew Faisal bin Musaid bin Abdul Aziz. That elimination was an eloquent lesson learnt about how relations are shaped within the Saudi ruling family.
It seems Prince Muhammad bin Salman is well aware of the history and reality of his family, as the growing presence of the prince prompted most members of the Allegiance Council in the House of Saud to swear allegiance to him, and thus, when King Salman leaves the throne, he will become the undisputed king.
Yet, in the public sphere we are offered the image of Mohammed bin Nayef visiting Mohammed bin Salman, bowing to him and kissing his hand. Meanwhile, he is removed from the scene completely, as the latter only deepens his influence and authority.
What exactly happened with the Saudi princes at the Riyadh Ritz-Carlton Hotel will exclusively remain subject to leaks in the Western press. Locally, it will remain a story of sweet words and expressions of complete loyalty to the young prince and the homeland.
Countries rich and poor are equal in terms of establishing systems of kinship, in which the citizen only communicates with his surroundings and society, through the mediation of the king, the prince, the ruler and his sons.
This is not limited to the Arab monarchies and Emirates. The late Syrian President Hafez al-Assad did the same thing by handing power to his son Bashar, as Saddam Hussein did to his son Uday, Muammar Gaddafi to Saif, Hosni Mubarak to Jamal, and Ali Abdullah Saleh to Ahmed.
Returning to the current consternation in Jordan, it seems it was seemingly folded through the mediation of the uncle, Prince Hassan, who himself was Crown Prince before King Hussein removed him for the benefit of his son Abdullah a few days before his death. Today he is mainly exercising a role in securing the continuation of the system of government as the current king sees fit.
This is an issue that is supposed to be at the heart of public debate, as it is basic right of every citizen to know what happens at this level of government. And if there truly are traitors and secret agents, then who are they? And what are their plans? And, most importantly, where is justice in all of this?
The struggles for thrones, and the rifts in the ruling families, are part of a drama, in which the personal is mixed with the political. It is a subject extremely difficult to deal with directly and transparently. If not, we would have already seen the The Crown in multiple Arabic formats on Netflix.
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