It is much easier to perceive a supposed ‘enemy’ or a problem within the boundaries of the present time. When right-wing parties in Europe look at Islamist terrorism and immigrants, they look at such issues through a narrow context that only includes certain actors and events, such as 9/11 and the recent terrorist attacks, and exclude the historical and political narrative behind it all. Similarly, in the Muslim world, there are certain problems that are often looked at without its historical context – and that’s the problem between Sunnis and Shi’is. In every conflict that exists in the Middle East, the issue of sectarianism is always used as a lens for explanation. In Yemen, for instance, it is seen as a Saudi-led coalition launched a war against the Zaydi Shiite armed group known as the Houthis. In Syria, the war has also often been portrayed as a sectarian conflict between a Sunni majority population and a minority Shiite ruling elite. ISIS have also carried out one of the most ruthless genocides against Shi’is in Iraq and Syria, as the terrorist organization’s magazine Dabiq features 14 pages justifying violence against modern…
