Muddle East
The uprisings throughout the Middle East have led to a very muddled situation. In Tunisia and Egypt the uprisings were focussed on removing old and decrepit dictators who had been in control for 23 and 30 years, respectively, and they were successful in that. A similar situation exists in Yemen, where the dictator, Abdullah Saleh, has been in office for 32 years and in Libya, where Col. Qaddafi has been in control for 40 years! But, in Libya, Qaddafi is pretending that there is already "democracy" because they have local "popular" committees, although it is a pyramid and he sits on top. In Bahrain it is more a question of the Shia majority trying to overthrow the Sunni rulers. There have been shootings in Libya, Yemen and Bahrain showing that the powers in charge have got the message that this is serious and they are suppressing the rioters with deadly force. But, Qaddafi is anti-American, while the Khalifa royal family in Bahrain is pro-American, and the US sixth fleet is stationed there. In Jordan, the situation is complicated by the fact that the majority of protesters are Palestinians and the majority of the King's supporters are Beduin.
But, one common feature in all these places is that the rioters are mainly anti-American and anti-Semitic. In Tunisia the synagogues have been surrounded by mobs calling for all Jews to be killed, a common feature of Muslim mobs. In Cairo's Tahrir Square CBS's chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan was mobbed by a crowd of ca. 200 men shouting "Jew! Jew!" and she was separated from her crew and sexually assaulted for about 30 mins, before she was rescued by a group of women and policemen. She is now recovering in a hospital in NY. What is most disturbing about this incident, by no means the first such attack on a foreign reporter, is that CBS failed to report it for 4 days, and when they did they left out the small matter of the fact that the crowd was anti-Semitic, even though Logan of course is not Jewish. Such a mob doesn't wait to ask. Those who think that democracy, with its rational basis and protection of minorities, is soon going to arise in Egypt, or the whole "Muddle" East, should think again. The situation is somewhat akin to that in Christian Europe when the protection of the autocratic rulers who protected the Jews was removed to give greater freedom to the population. Ironically the populace turned on the Jews and there were anti-Semitic pogroms. History is repeating itself in the Muslim world.
The Arab world would like to repeat the peaceful "people power" revolutions that took place in the Philippines to replace the dictator Marcos and the so-called "velvet" revolution that enabled Slovakia to split off from the Czech Republic, as well as the "orange" revolution that resulted in elections in Ukraine. But, there were also violent clashes in Poland against the Solidarity movement and in Russia against Yeltsin's anti-Communist coup. Although one can predict that in the end the people will be victorious, it may take a long time before actual democracy ensues.
In Iran the situation is quite opposite. While the Arab dictators (except for Qaddafi) are seen as having been pro-American, and so the mobs that removed them are anti-American, in Iran the leaders are virulently anti-American and anti-Semitic and so the rioters are pro-American. Quite a distinction. Yet, I am sure that as they have their own rioters in Iran that oppose their regime, the leaders of Iran are busy helping the Muslim Brotherhood to take a more active role in trying to take over Egypt. At present the Army is in control there, and the Israel-Egypt peace treaty is being honored. But, for how long this will last is anybody's guess. All the major opposition groups, Ayman Nour, Mohammed El Baradei and the MB are calling at least for "changes" to the Treaty. Remember it was elements of the Army that assassinated Pres. Sadat of Egypt because he made peace with Israel. Don't expect the peoples of the "Muddle" East to do what is in their own rational interests, mobs by their nature are irrational.
But, one common feature in all these places is that the rioters are mainly anti-American and anti-Semitic. In Tunisia the synagogues have been surrounded by mobs calling for all Jews to be killed, a common feature of Muslim mobs. In Cairo's Tahrir Square CBS's chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan was mobbed by a crowd of ca. 200 men shouting "Jew! Jew!" and she was separated from her crew and sexually assaulted for about 30 mins, before she was rescued by a group of women and policemen. She is now recovering in a hospital in NY. What is most disturbing about this incident, by no means the first such attack on a foreign reporter, is that CBS failed to report it for 4 days, and when they did they left out the small matter of the fact that the crowd was anti-Semitic, even though Logan of course is not Jewish. Such a mob doesn't wait to ask. Those who think that democracy, with its rational basis and protection of minorities, is soon going to arise in Egypt, or the whole "Muddle" East, should think again. The situation is somewhat akin to that in Christian Europe when the protection of the autocratic rulers who protected the Jews was removed to give greater freedom to the population. Ironically the populace turned on the Jews and there were anti-Semitic pogroms. History is repeating itself in the Muslim world.
The Arab world would like to repeat the peaceful "people power" revolutions that took place in the Philippines to replace the dictator Marcos and the so-called "velvet" revolution that enabled Slovakia to split off from the Czech Republic, as well as the "orange" revolution that resulted in elections in Ukraine. But, there were also violent clashes in Poland against the Solidarity movement and in Russia against Yeltsin's anti-Communist coup. Although one can predict that in the end the people will be victorious, it may take a long time before actual democracy ensues.
In Iran the situation is quite opposite. While the Arab dictators (except for Qaddafi) are seen as having been pro-American, and so the mobs that removed them are anti-American, in Iran the leaders are virulently anti-American and anti-Semitic and so the rioters are pro-American. Quite a distinction. Yet, I am sure that as they have their own rioters in Iran that oppose their regime, the leaders of Iran are busy helping the Muslim Brotherhood to take a more active role in trying to take over Egypt. At present the Army is in control there, and the Israel-Egypt peace treaty is being honored. But, for how long this will last is anybody's guess. All the major opposition groups, Ayman Nour, Mohammed El Baradei and the MB are calling at least for "changes" to the Treaty. Remember it was elements of the Army that assassinated Pres. Sadat of Egypt because he made peace with Israel. Don't expect the peoples of the "Muddle" East to do what is in their own rational interests, mobs by their nature are irrational.
posted by Jack Cohen at 9:15 AM
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