Glass Towers, Fire Outside: The Middle East Wealth-And-Horror Show Can No Longer Hold

–OpEd–

In this dark corner of the world, in our Arab lands, where glass cities seem like ghosts, skyscrapers soar like accusing fingers reaching toward the sky, escaping a scorched earth.

Here, nations drown in endless riches — oil flows like a river through the veins of the economy, fueling major investment funds, building modern cities, and forging wide political and commercial ties with Israel. Yet walls of isolation are erected, not to protect, but to keep prying eyes from the chaos of the other world.

But behind these walls, restless voices rise from burnt lands and war-torn countries, the sound of bombs striking the ground like the tolling of an apocalyptic bell.

In the shadow of that other side, where hunger rules and death stands guard, there is no escape. People fight to survive, raising their hands not to grasp the heavens but to avoid falling. In this turmoil, the rich let their neighbors die slowly, as if death were as natural as the sun setting after a weary day. Is this their fate — to watch, close their eyes, and shut their ears?

Economic inequality 

The Middle East and North Africa is one of those spots on earth that both inspires minds and crushes souls. According to the 2022 World Inequality Lab report, this region ranks among the most economically unequal in the world. Here, the richest nations, like Qatar, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia, bask in excessive luxury, while other countries crumble under the weight of war and devastation — Palestine, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. It’s as if each nation lives in its own bubble, isolated from the suffering of the other.

This disparity isn’t just about numbers or statistics — it’s chaos in the making, a glaring inequality that resembles an open wound, explaining the many disasters afflicting millions. Around us, countries collapse one by one. Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Sudan, Libya, even Iraq, Egypt, and Tunisia — all drowning in disorder, torn by endless armed conflicts and shattered economies. Meanwhile, the wealthy states like Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman prosper, living on what seems like another planet where money flows endlessly, and billionaires thrive without a care for those around them.

It’s a world split in two: one half drowning in misery, the other floating above the clouds. These wealthy countries, seated on thrones of gold and oil, have done little to change the fate of their war-torn neighbors. Poverty, hunger, and war become a distant, blurry backdrop, unworthy of attention, while the rich continue building their glass towers, living in an isolated reality, far from what lies beyond their towering walls.

Language of violence

In this stark contrast between the gleaming capitals of the rich and the cities ravaged by war and collapse, the question arises: are these wealthy nations truly safe? Do they think that economic inequality and insecurity won’t breed monsters? Reality hits them with the truth: in this interconnected world, no one can remain isolated.

What happens on the margins inevitably reaches the center. Refugees cross borders, tensions rise like storms, extremism grows in the shadows, and violence becomes the only language. The wealthy Arab countries may believe they can build walls of gold to shield themselves from the chaos of the outside world, but they are mistaken.

In this interwoven world, nothing stays in place. Crises creep like ghosts in the night, knocking on the doors of even the most fortified palaces. Instability and poverty nearby aren’t just distant news stories — they are fires smoldering beneath the ashes, waiting to ignite everything around them.