Jefferson Corner

One thing for sure, the “secularist/nationalists” and the “salafi/islamist” in Egypt and in Tunisia all conspired willingly or unwillingly to abort the “Arab Spring” or what is left of it. Both are unfit to lead let alone govern.

I am sure the hundreds of thousands of young and old, rich and poor, ideologically free who went to the streets and took down the regimes of Bin Ali and Hosni Mubarak and Muamar Qaddafi, little did they know their hard work is hijacked by “leaders” and “followers” that best can be described unfit to lead and unqualified to govern and take the countries forward, rebuilding nations people and infrastructures destroyed by decades of corruptions, police state and failing institutions.

These “secularist/nationalists” and “salafi/islamists”, and the likes of Daniel Pipes and that other pseudo intellectuals like the creep Bernard Henry Levy should know they did not bring about the Arab Spring, in fact they have nothing to do with it all.

The Arab Spring was born out of the people desire to be free, to have a quality, decent respectable life, free from fear of the knock on the door in the middle of the night, free from fear to go to jail sentenced by a judicial systems at best corrupt, unjust and at the pecking of the president, the ruling party and intelligence service. A decent house and a decent job, a future for their families and a place under the sun.

The thousands who died did not die waiting for creeps and veggie-intellectuals the likes of Bernard Levy or Daniel Pipes to bring about democracy and good governance to the Arab countries. Not Arabs, not Americans, not Europeans want or desire a democracy seeded in Zionist ideologies and corrupting financial and political systems that are destroying societies and nations from within. What an insult for the hundreds of millions of Arabs to have these two Zionists think they are the “intellect” behind the Arab Spring.

The thousands who died and went to jail did not wait for the “secularist/nationalists” whose failures, in fact whose support for dictatorial regimes in Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen brought about failing states and kelpto-dictatorship. While the Brothers went to jail, Egyptians so called “intellectuals” were heading almost all government institutions from radio and TV to national newspapers, national publications and were spreading the lies that kept Mubarak regime going for decades.

The thousands who died and the millions who took to the streets in defiance of the police and bullets did not go out so that “salafi/islamists” can go out and take the laws in their hands and determine who is a pious righteous citizen and form a nation in their own ugly dark vision.

The young and the brave Egyptians did not bring down the regime so that Egypt can be ruled by “fatwa’s” from many unfit, unlearned if not misfits who are sawing the seeds of anarchy and sectarianism. The young revolutionaries did not bring down regimes to have the state substitute one ‘secular corrupt police” with a “ religious virtue police” whose interests and understanding of the state and people does not go beyond “sex and booze”.

The biggest danger facing “Arab Spring” and citizens of states like Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Iraq, certainly Syria is not American imperialism but Sunni Salafi terrorists whom in the case of Syria are the biggest danger and threat to the Syrian revolution and uprising and its chance of bring down Bashar and his criminal regime.

Al-Nusra and Alqaeda never contributed any good to the renaissance of the Arab or Muslim states and their agenda if any thing is questionable funded by certain evil forces from within the Muslim world Zionist related mafia, and from drug money generated in the opium fields of “Mujahideen and Taliban” and the cocaine trafficking in Sub-Sahara and separatists forces operating within Algeria, Mali and the Sahara.

Too bad for the citizens of these states, whether Arabs, Berber, Kurds, Muslims, Christians and Jews, religious and secular the “salafi” terrorists movements are the biggest threat to what we know today as Tunisia, Libya, Yemen, Syria, Iraq. These “salafi” terrorists are sowing the seeds of hate and ‘sectarian’ strife in Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Iraq and are committing terrorists and murderous acts whose victims are innocent people. And in Libya they are the one standing in the way or rebuilding the nation.

Not so sure if these ‘salafis” in Tunisia, or Egypt, or Iraq or Libya or Syria ever contributed money or efforts to building a school, a clinic, perhaps a bakery or social clinics let alone a factory to employ people or sport centers or rehabilitation clinic or vocational schools or a library or a science museum. The only thing they are capable of doing is killing and committing cold blood murders of innocent people and destroying nations with the hope of bringing about a retarded backward “jahylia/ ignorance” Islamic state

One has to always questions how do these “salafi terrorists” get their funding to buy arms and weapons to attack and kill and destroy and to travel the “jihad route”.

These “Islamist terrorists” with their acts and vengeance and their ugly dark vision of an “Islamist” state shares common interests with America’s imperialism and Israeli Zionism in their conspiracy to abort the Arab Spring.

Let all these Islamist Jihadist and terrorists go back to their home countries and let the Syrian people fight for their future. If America and Israel succeeded in one thing, they did succeed in nourishing and nurturing “Islamic terrorism” starting with the Mujahideen in Afghanistan, the source of all evil and terrorism in the Muslim world. I am sure the Arab and Muslim world would be much better off if the Mujahideens and Taliban’s were defeated by the Soviets.

It seems the tens of millions the United States injected in Egypt to promote democracy went down the drain, with most of the beneficiaries of such funding are now undermining the first free presidential election in over 7,000 years. Unless Arabs; left and right, Islamists and Secularists, nationalists and independents accept the principals of “democracy” of one person one vote, free and transparent elections, citizens not government funded parties, accountability and transparency, there is no hope for democracy in the Arab world.

If the world and the Arabs think the “Arabs” are ready for democracy they better have a second look and a second thought. What is happening in Egypt now is nothing short of deliberate undermining of the fledging and infant democracy in Egypt with the opposition (National Salvation Front) and the trio of (Hamdeen Sabahi, Amr Moussa, Mohamed ElBaradei) determined to drive President Morsi out of office and bring a quick end to democracy in Egypt.

Of course President Morsi and the Muslims Brothers also share the blame for the anarchy and the collapsing of the Egyptian state having failed to understand the priorities of the Egyptian people and the priorities of those who faced Mubarak’s bullets to bring down his dictatorship. The priorities are not of rebuilding state institutions but addressing the pressing needs of a failing economy, poverty, hungers, broken down if existing infrastructures, high unemployment, personal dignity, civil and human rights abuses standards at police stations, security agencies and the courts. A new constitution was the last thing on the mind of Egyptians and this is where Morsi lacking political acumen and smarts failed and failed miserably.

The opposition, “sore losers” taking advantage of Morsi failings, lack of political experience and shortcomings not only are determine to make his presidency short one, but are active in enticing and promoting violence and anarchy in the streets of Cairo and other cities to make up for what they lack in wide popular support. Together with Mubarak “fuloul” they are working hard to have a second revolution to replace and undermine the first revolution.

President Morsi and the Muslim Brothers ignoring the “pulse” of the Egyptian streets for jobs and dignity and recognizing the “State” institutions are for the most part untouched and unaffected by the “revolutions” wrongly were determined to remaking the “state institutions” in their own image, a task that will take decades and not months or years and once again, it was not the priorities of the revolution. The fear of the Brothers complete take over of “state institutions” even if not the objective is a serious threats that Egyptians are not willing to substitute one party state with another one even if this party is the Muslim Brothers.

However Egypt is not the first country to experience undermining of a fledgling democracy and free elections. The Palestinians leadership of the PLO and Fatah were the first ones to undermine and abrogate free elections, the first and perhaps the last free elections in the Arab world.

In 2006 the Palestinians under Israeli Occupation went to the poles in the first ever-free election held in the Arab world, an election that all international observers testified to its transparency. Hamas won that election defeating long time decadent and corrupt Fatah and the PLO.

The Palestinian established leadership of the PLO and Fatah did not accept the result of the elections and decided to conspire with Israel, Jordan, Egypt and the US to undermine such transparent election, actions that lead to the bloody routing of Fatah out of Gaza and the take over of Gaza by Hamas and a division that had dire consequences if not criminal consequences for the leadership starting with the Israeli siege of Gaza and subsequent Israeli attacks on Gaza and the murders of thousands of people and the repeated destruction of Gaza.

However Palestine and Egypt are but few examples of the failings of Arab democracy. In Iraq the American invasions and the end of Saddam dictatorship did not bring democracy to Iraq but brought anarchy and sectarianism. Many thanks goes to the American legal experts who helped draft the Iraqi constitution that, rather than bring about transparent and accountable democracy and government established and entrenched evil “ sectarianism” as we see today with Almalki’s government and the start of the disintegration of the Iraqi state as we know it thus achieving the objective of the American Zionist Neocons behind the war.

Tunisia and Libya are not doing any better. In Tunisia the post revolution government so far failed to address pressing issues that lead to the uprising with priorities to economic and regional development, employments and improvements of the daily lives of people. The “Salafis” who were not in the front lines of the revolutions are now bent on transforming the civil state to a “theocratic state” in their own image and the “secularists” thus far failing to have a vision of the new state one that can accommodate “Islamists” and “secularists” or make a dent in the failing Tunisian economy and regional development.

Libya continues to suffer from armed “anarchy” with national government under constant threats from armed militias that having fought Qadafi dictatorship are now pushing to establish their own anarchist’s dictatorship. Very few in Libya are willing to put aside their weapon and spend badly needed time and talents to rebuilding state institutions, a process that needs the good will and support of all Libyans.

The recent elections in Jordan were nothing but a rerun and repeat of past elections with no real and material changes that truly and practically addresses key failings of the state, specially corruption, failing and inefficient state institutions and keeping Jordan as an international welfare state.

Perhaps Hilary Clinton is right when she stated “lack of experience” of emerging political leaders as a shortcoming. However perhaps Lt. Col. James Lacey is more accurate in describing the status in the Arab world with his prediction of the collapse of “Arab Civilizations”. This prediction came in his published article “ The Impending Collapse of Arab Civilization” in the Naval Institute: Proceedings. Concluding that it is the Arabs that are failing not Islam as predicted by Bernard Lewis and Samuel P. Huntington.

It is so ironic that the Arab world with so much natural resources, many internationally renowned thinkers and intellectuals is unable to bring about a civil change in dictatorial governments rather than bloody revolutions and uprisings. It is also unable to bring about real and material reforms in existing governments that are badly in need of reforms before the streets goes bloody.

Dr. Moncif Elmarzooki, President of Tunisia is correct when he stated in an interview in Asharq Al-Awsat (23/12/2013) and I rephrase, that the Arab Spring was not about Sharia or about ethnicity, sectarianism and nationalism, it has every thing to do with liberty, civil rights, freedoms, end of a police state and freedom from economic deprivations, corruption and dysfunctional state, decent life with full rights of citizenship.

This was the case in Tunisia, in Libya, in Egypt, in Yemen, certainly in Syria. US supported if not sponsored “secular” governments ruled with blood and iron, jailing and executing opposition, disfranchising large segment of the population in favor a ruling party and elite that looted the countries and rendered the nations of divided, those inside jails and those outside, those with a life style that many dreams of and a majority living in dire poverties.

In Tunisia as it was in Egypt, in Libya and in Yemen, it was not the “Islamists” who lead the revolution and took to the streets, forcing ruling dictatorship out of office. It was the young, mostly educated who lead the charge against oppressions and the state security forces and corrupt incompetent governments. Sharia, Isalmizations and “secularism” of the nations was not the driving force behind the success achieved by the people as they took to the streets breaking the wall of fear and defying bullets, and water cannons.

Over the last year or so I have been following, many writers and opinion makers and their analysis of the Arab Spring with views ranging from a “conspiracy by the US and the West against “nationalistic governments” as some claims the case in Syria and Libya, while others mostly “Islamists” claim the Arab Spring was all about “virtues and Islamic value systems” with many “liberals” in the West claiming it was an international conspiracy. With all due respect to all views, the Arab Spring was all about freedoms, civil liberties, dictatorship, failing government institutions, disfranchising majority of people. It was all about the rights of “citizenship” since people in most if not all the Arab world are referred to as “subjects” but never “citizens” with its wide ranging meaning.

Arab “nationalists and secularists” on the one hand are worried that the emerging powerful “Islamists” movements will change the nature of the state from a “nationalist and secular” to an “Islamistist and religious” and as part of the “Ummah”. This is at a time when these “Arab nationalists and secularists” disfranchised” important segments of the populations that are not “Arabs” such is the case in North Africa and in Iraq, failing to recognize the unique and enriching diversity of the “Arab” world with its Arabs, Berbers, Kurds not to mentions Christians, Jews, and others.

“Islamists” are moving now toward committing the same mistakes. By insisting on the “religious/Islamic” nature of the state they are disfranchising a substantial part of the nation who are Non-Muslims and “secularists” who do not adhere to the nature of an “Islamization” of the state or the institutionalization of the “Sharia” but believe in the “civil” nature of the state where citizens are equal in rights, opportunities and duties irrespective of ethnicity, faith, and gender, and as citizens of the state and not members of a “sectarian community” be it Muslim, Christians or Jewish. “Islamists” are unfortunately leading these states toward divisions and “sectarianism”.

Both sides, “Islamists” and “Secularists/Nationalists” are simply forgetting why the Arab Spring came about, freedom, civil liberties, economic reforms, educations, opportunities, and poverty. Most if not all of the people (Muslims. Christians and Jews) are true believers but they too want “Heaven” in the hereafter only, they want to live a decent life here on earth, a life of freedom from wants and poverty, a life free of fear from the knock on the door past midnight, they want respect of their rights as citizens in dealing with a chocking and frightening and discriminating “bureaucracy” that can be described as “hell on earth”, one oiled by bribery, corruption and ‘Mahsoobia”, dividing the people into those “with connections” and those “ without connections”. They want accountability and transparency from their governments and their elected officials. All of these rights have nothing to do with social virtues. It has every thing to do with “rights of citizenship”.

Religion, sectarianism, Sharia or secularism could not of itself solve or address the deep and entrenched problems of the “Arab” word from hunger, poverty, ignorance, lack of development, lack of science and technology, lack of education, lack of equal opportunities, dysfunctional bureaucracy that is main contributor to failing economies in almost all of the Arab world, certainly absence of accountability and transparency.

More than any thing else, the Arab world needs competent, honest, dedicated social, economic, educational, scientific, political leaders and competent corrupt free public servants that can bring the Arab world into the 21st century. All the money in the world will not and could not solve the problems plaguing the Arab world unless the people, the citizens take charge and do something about their own fate and future. They too have a duty and obligation to be part of the solution. They must not trust their future to “Islamists” as they trusted their fate to “secularists” but make sure the state is a “civil state” with rights of citizens to their faiths, independent of state or governing institutions.

Ps. The absence of “codifications” of Sharia allows countries, certainly groups to define it and exercise it according to its own ideology or interests.

I think if the likes of Mohamed Hassanaein Haikal had the courage to speak up then as they speak now, perhaps there will be no need for an Arab Spring or a New Skyes Picot.

Mr. Haikal no doubt an intelligent man and a committed Arab Nationalist failed to do the right thing and failed to speak up when he was within the “inner circles” of the late Gamal Abdul-Nasser. The man who lead the military coup in Egypt that toppled the monarchy and who failed miserably to set the stage for the “democratization” of the Arab World.

An Arab World with free elections, political parties free and independent of military regimes, accountability, transparency, economic and educational systems that failed at every turn and of course a state and people free of the dreadful “Mokhabat” that controlled the lives of people and kept the regimes in place. But for Nasser’s failures Mubarak will be unheard of and could never qualify to be president of Egypt, nor will Bashar or Hafiz, Saddam, or Ali Saleh or Bin Ali or Qaddafi will be heard of.

The late Nasser and his inner circles set the stage for incompetent, failed Arab regimes in Yemen, in Sudan, in Syria, in Iraq, in Libya certainly in Algeria with a military that failed at winning wars (except Algeria war of independence) and setting the stage for a bloody “Arab Spring” in Libya, in Syria and of course the millions of causalities in Iraq, not to mention the failed leadership of Arafat. One can understand the frustrations of Mr. Haikal and many so called “Arab Intellectuals and nationalist” because they were and are “irrelevant” to the Arab Spring and the emerging freedoms taking place now.

These days, the “Arab Spring” is coming under assault from all sides from “Arab Nationalists” who see in it as an “American-Zionist” conspiracy and a new way for the West to divide once again the Arab World as Mr. Haikal claims to “Islamist Fundamentalists” who are hijacking the Arab Spring.

Haikal: “What happening now is not a ‘spring’ but a new ‘Sykes Picot’ to divide the Arabs”.

Nasrallah: “What Yemen, Syria and the region are witnessing is part of a Zionist-American plan of fragmentation”

More surprisingly, the Syrian Arab Spring is coming under attack and assault by the likes of Sheik Hassan Nasrallah who sees the people uprising against a criminal regime in Syria as a “conspiracy” against the “Syrian State” and the Assad regime and its claimed role of “steadfastness and resistance” of course not against Israel but against democracy and reforms in Syria.

Both Mr. Haikal and Sheik Nasrallah failed to give credit to the hundreds of thousands if not millions who took to the streets in Yemen, in Egypt, in Libya, in Syrian, in Tunisia and in Syria, demanding freedom, liberty and accountability from corrupt dictatorial regimes that oppressed the people and ruined the nations economies while looting the country through nepotism, corruption, mismanagement using the “police state” as an instrument of perpetuating their rules.

Arab intellectuals and nationalists give more credit to an insignificant almost a non-entity like Bernard Henry Levy while discounting the roles of the thousands who gave up their lives so that dictators like Qaddafi, Ben Ali, Saleh and Mubarak are out of power. The statements of Haikal and Nasrallah are an insult added to injury.

Of course on the other hand the Arab Spring was not the making of the “Salafis” nor of the Muslim Brotherhood, but the making of the people with active support and leadership of a non-political media savvy young people who with their commitments, courage breaking the wall of fears and strong commitments to the democratic process and democracy made all that happens. The Salafis and the Brothers simply road the wave and collected the fruits and rewards while those young paid dearly with their lives and because they are not well organized and well funded are now marginalized.

But for the fact that criminal ruthless leaders like Qaddafi and now Assad failed to see and recognize the people’s demand for freedom and liberty after years of oppression decided to use the military to wage war against the people and the nation we will not see the kind of menacing militias that are the main threat posing clear and present danger to the Arab Spring specially in Libya.

No one can deny the role played by these militias as those within Libya and now Syria and the brave fight they put up against criminal regimes and army, and the sacrifice they paid with their lives. However all that does not and should not justify the way they are holding the nation and people hostage as is the case in Libya and we hope it will not be the case in Syria.

If the Arab Spring is to succeed in countries such as Libya, Yemen, Syria, Tunisia and Egypt then these “Islamist fundamentalists” must give up their weapons and arms as is the case in Libya and allow the people to exercise their hard won rights to freedoms, to free speech, to free associations without having these militias and “Salafis” enforcing their will and vision of an “Islamic State” through the power of the gun and through black mail and intimidations of citizenry in the streets, in the media, and their dismissal if not abrogation’s of hard won rights for women in countries such as Tunisia.

What the Arab Spring needs most to succeed is an open democratic process that does not exclude any one based on race, ethnic origin and faith. In order for the Arab Spring to succeed it needs strong enlightened and intellectual leadership that can shape the vision for the future, establish a modern nation state where the people are the source and only source of power and constitutional powers, not the Mullah or the Militias as a substitute for the “army” or of the “mokhabartat”.
Keeping in mind democracy is a work in progress and could not be achieved over night even among the most enlightened people and nations.

The French Revolution continued for over 3 years, with more than 40,000 casualties and with “liberal assemblies” competing and fighting with “right wing” monarchists. So please give the Arab Spring a chance to find its way forward and mature.

Sami Jamil Jadallah

No, not the Brothers Karamazov but the Muslim Brothers. Any one who listens to popular media and politicians in Israel and the US would think that the Muslim Bothers are coming from Mars, invading the planet Earth, changing our ways of life and turning democracies to theocracies. Read the rest of this entry »

Sami Jamil Jadallah

I thought the original title “ The Failing Arabs” would be too offensive to a very proud people and nation. People who pride themselves with a rich history enriched by Islam and an Islam enriched by diverse cultures, civilizations, and faiths. The Arab world at one time was a unique and rich mosaic of cultures, faiths and civilizations and yes, success. Sadly all that disappeared. Read the rest of this entry »