Fear Not Democracy

Now that the desire for democracy is spreading like fire in the Arab World, some Westerners are having second thoughts. It is the same questions that have been asked for the last fifty years but unfortunately, people don't learn from their past mistakes and inevitably keep repeating them. Again American and European intellectuals are wondering aloud whether the new democracies will be fanatical and anti-West. Again these same intellectuals are asking if we are going to replace dictators by Iranian backed mullahs in Iraq, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and worse yet Hamas in Palestine. But if there is anything the world should have learned in the last fifty years from the Middle East, it is that democracy and political participation are moderating forces. Beside the obvious fact that Arabs should have the right to chose their leaders, it is also good for the world that they do. The more the autocratic regimes in the region block political dialogue, repress human rights, oppose free expression, and ignore sectarianism and racism, the more monopoly the preachers, imams and mullahs have in being the opposition to these failed regimes. Islamist political parties have the edge in the autocratic Middle East because they have a pulpit from which to propagate their message.

The Muslim Brotherhood is so popular in Egypt because they are the only party of opposition. Same goes for all the strong parties in Iraq like the Dawa Party and the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq. However, already an Egyptian secular alternative is offered in Ghad Party, which means Tomorrow in Arabic, and it has mobilized the opposition so much that its leader, Ayman Nour, is now imprisoned by the Mubarak government. In Iraq countless secular Kurdish and Arab parties have sprung in the last two years since the American invasion. During the last fifty years Islamist political groups have flourished in the Middle East under the guise of being religious groups while any secular alternative was not allowed to flourish.

We should help Arabs reclaim their region through democracy. There will be oscillations between religious and secular movements and governments but they will have to answer to their populations which will make them reconsider fanaticism and extremism. We have examples in Iran and Turkey, while Iran now is loosening its fundamentalism in response to public pressure, Turkey's Islamists are ruling with great care not to awaken a secular backlash.

Ar(a)b[or]

A barren tree, once full of life
Stands leafless, brown ice in gloom
A barren tree, once full of strife
Stands not a spark, not a flower in bloom
A barren tree, once full of promise
Stands in sorrow, a promise but for tomorrow
As for today, not a leaf dares there stay

Arabs Hunger for Rights Denied to Gays

Arabs and Muslims around the world complain of the injustices that they have endured in the past century and seemingly infinite road of oppression paved ahead. In spite of many ideological movements from Nationalist to Pan Arabism, from Communist to Islamist, from leftist liberalism to fanatic extremism, all have been defeated by the global will to control the strategic petroleum reserves in the Middle East as well as its central geography and by the will of dictatorial, autocratic regimes that work in concert and coordinate their efforts with the Military-Economic World Powers. All the troubles of the Middle East result in one important consequence, namely, that Arabs are not sovereigns. They have no right to the land on which they have lived for thousands of years, they can be expelled from it at whim and if they remain in the land they have no say in its affairs, its natural resources, its riches, and how it interacts with the rest of the world. Although, Palestine is an extreme case of this Arab Nonexistentialism, not a single Arab nation today is ruled by its citizens. In fact, the Arab Diaspora, citizens of many nations around the world, enjoy more freedoms than their original compatriots. The blame for these great injustices lies, above all, with the Arabs at home and abroad for the inability to organize, speak openly, and push for democracy, in the loosest sense of the word, to self rule. It is true that obstacles against Arab self-rule are large but they are not insurmountable and the more difficult the task, the sweeter the achievement.

Arabs must push their governments in the Middle East and abroad to support nascent democratic organizations, to protect human rights, to have access to free press, to free political prisoners, to guarantee the rights and equality of all citizens no matter what their race, sex, creed, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. We must be consistent in our call for equality; we cannot impose our belief systems on others who do not share it. Israel’s greatest failure was not brought upon it by Arabs but by its inconsistent logic and Israel must face these discrepancies in ideology if it is to survive. Is Israel God’s gift to the Chosen People, if so then how is that reconciled with the Palestinians, who are not Jews and so, do not share that belief? Is Israel a Jewish State, if so then are the Arab Israelis, who constitute more than 20% of Israel’s population, full citizens or second class citizens and, if not so, then what’s the problem of allowing all of historic Palestine to be one state for Jews and Arabs? After centuries of European oppression, Israelis have turned into oppressors and are now grappling with these issues. Unfortunately, however, Arabs are not dealing with their own illogic. To my horror and amazement, Arab and Muslim American groups were at the forefront of the Anti-Gay movement in the United States in recent months. These Arab groups are a clear manifestation of Arab frustration and impotence being devoted to stripping the rights of women, gays and other minorities away.

My shock was two fold, first because it is morally wrong; second because it is politically devastating. How are we, Arabs, to speak for our rights while denying other human beings similar rights to the ones we enjoy? Why do Arabs seem intent on exporting all that is wrong with the Arab World instead of importing to it the freedoms of the world? From a moral stand point, a difference of belief does not entitle us to deny gays and lesbians basic human rights just as a difference of belief does not entitle Israelis to expel Arabs from what they perceive as God’s gift. From a political stand point, we are being ideologically discordant, how can we exclude others from having those same rights that we fight for in the Arab world, namely the right to speak freely, to marry whom we want, to raise families in peace, to believe in what we want without fear of retribution. The Black Caucus, despite being deeply religious, recognized the inconsistencies of fighting for the freedom to marry between races and the currently proposed ban on gay marriage, why can’t we see the hypocrisy? Furthermore, the gay community has been one of the few unwaveringly pro-Palestinian groups in the United States, a group that has suffered discrimination throughout the ages and is thus very sensitive to discriminatory policy towards Arabs after September 11, 2001. Finally why? Do we not have enough enemies? Do we not have enough propaganda in articles, in television shows, in news programs and from the government? Why are we making it more difficult to build an American constituency that is interested in true peace and democracy in the Middle East? Why do we parade with the Christian Right who support extremist, Zionist AIPAC and who await the destruction of Al-Aqsa Mosque, the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple and the return of the Messiah? Interestingly, the Christian Right, Israel’s “best friend” in US politics, await the Messiah who will kill all disbelievers, including Jews; another contradiction Israel must deal with.