From Mazin's journal: Transformation in the Arab World

"Mubarak has been an ally of ours in a number of things and he's been very
responsible on, relative to geopolitical interest in the region, the Middle
East peace efforts; the actions Egypt has taken relative to normalizing
relationship with Israel.. I would not refer to him as a dictator" US Vice
President Je Biden ( a lackey of AIPAC)

I first visited Egypt 30 years ago in 1981 to do research for my master's
thesis which was later published in my first book "The Bats of Egypt". I
visited Egypt twice since then and I recall vividly police abuse of their
own people and yet the Egyptians I encountered mocked and joked about
dictatorship. We tried at least from a distance to support our Egyptian
brothers and sisters as they struggle for freedom. Arabs everywhere (yes
even here in occupied Palestine) are talking about a transformation and
about revolution. But all such transformations carry pain. Over 200
Egyptians were killed, thousands injured, and there is much destruction.
Yet in a nation of 85 million people this is still a relatively peaceful
transformation. While dealing with the present is critical we must also at
this juncture start to look post dictatorship in the Arab world and plan the
future.

I recall vividly a talk by a self-described "Liberal Zionist" (an oxymoron)
at Duke University on 1 March 198l; at 77 year old he had no inhibitions in
saying "Zionists do not want democracy in the Arab world." He explained
that if Egypt was a democracy, it would not have signed a peace deal with
Israel since the sentiments of the Arab people does not accept such
arrangements that could be done with someone like President Sadat or King
Hussein. On this point he was absolutely correct but in the long run such
short-sighted perspective is self-destructive (1).

As I watched last night Hosni Mubarak make his (hopefully last) speech, I
was very much reminded of the last speech of the Shah of Iran, Marcos of the
Philippines, Bin Ali of Tunisia. They all claimed after so many years of
torturing their own people that they now want to "reform". The US funded
and supported the brutal Mubarak regime for over 30 years even as plenty of
evidence from human rights organizations documented its abuse of its own
citizens. See example videos of torture by Egyptian police (2). This is
also the same police who, on the instruction of the Mubarak dictatorship,
beat international activists trying to provide humanitarian relief to
besieged Gaza (3). Mubarak then went on to for the first time appoint a
vice president (his intelligence chief and ex-army buddy Omar Suleiman) and
appoint another army officer as prime minister. It is now recognized that
his reign is ending and a new era is beginning.

It is rather amusing that the brutal dictator of "Saudi" Arabia (a country
named after a ruling family!) called to support Mubarak and stated that the
demonstrators are hooligans and criminals. Anyone who knows anything about
Egypt knows that this amazing and inspiring mostly nonviolent revolution is
a true expression of the will of the Egyptian people regardless of their
political or religious persuasions (leftist, Muslim Brotherhood, Nasserite
Arab Nationalist, Christians, Muslims, etc).

In other news in brief for those who don't keep up with internet news or
those who watch mainly the (supine) Western Media:
-Large demonstrations by Egyptians and human rights defenders at Egyptian
embassies around the world all demanding democracy
-Israeli embassy in Cairo essentially emptied (an apartheid state embassy in
the largest Arab country is an abomination)
-Israeli pundits very worried about how Egypt might look after Mubarak.
-There are many signs that the Egyptian military (like the Tunisian
military) may be critical in this struggle. Already there are instances
where the demonstrators were protected from the Egyptian police by the
Egyptian military. See footage (4)
-A number of human rights groups and Egyptian community representatives
abroad all called for ending the Egyptian police brutality. By contrast EU
and US government officials are making feeble statements to hedge their bets
and at best call for "peaceful" actions from "all sides". Slowly they
were
forced to modify their retorhic to talk about "change" but must finally call
on their puppet Mubarak to leave power and insist that he and his sons and
family return the billions stolen from the Egyptian people.
-A number of religious and civil organizations in Egypt broke their silence
to support the ouster of the "last Pharaoh"
-The dictatorship cutting of web and mobile phone services and banning
reporting by groups like Al-Jazeera did little to stem the tide of protest
because people are living it daily in their homes and on the streets and
they are not being incited from outside.
-Protests spread to Jordan and Yemen (two other Western supported
governments). There are now plans for large protests in Syria and other
countries.
-On the Palestinian Authority TV news, they noted that Mahmoud Abbas called
Mubarak and stated his support for stability of Egypt. Other news outlets
stated that he fully supports the Mubarak regime. Hamas then came in to say
that they support the Egyptian people. Sadly, I think all rational human
beings know which horse to bet on in this struggle between people and a
western-supported dictator who accomplished nothing for his people and
instead enriched his family (his sons are billionaires in a country in which
tens of millions of people live on less than $1 a day).

I wrote seven months ago that "The political leadership in the fragmented
Arab countries and Palestinian authority have convinced themselves that they
have no option but to endlessly try to talk to politicians from Tel Aviv and
Washington (the latter also Israeli occupied territory) hoping for some
'gestures'..I know most politicians like to feel 100% safe (mostly for their
position of power) and are afraid of any change. But I wish they would
realize that daring politicians make the history books and those who hang
around trying to protect their seats will be forgotten. Cowardice is never
a virtue." And then I concluded that "In the demonstrations yesterday, a
child in Gaza was carrying a sign that says 'we demand freedom' and a child
in Cairo that says 'children in Egypt and in Gaza want the siege lifted'.
That is our future - not elderly politicians meeting to do media damage
control with empty words. "(5)

But make no mistake about it: no power transformation happens without a
period of unrest, instability, and pain. I believe in these difficult
periods, humans are tested. Some are weak and may even try to use the
situations to make some quick personal profit. Others are of strong and
decent character and this shows in their watching for their neighbors and
their community. I have seen countless pictures and heard countless stories
of acts that can only be described as heroic (e.g. people protecting the
national museum in Cairo or their neighbors' houses). Intellectuals are
stepping forward to articulate rational scenarios for the future. People
helping other people. So I think we will weather the transition. As to
what the future holds. Clearly, the era of ignoring the masses is gone. It
will not be easy since we have a legacy of decades of poor education (one
that does not emphasize civic and individual responsibility etc). Getting
rid of dictators is not enough. Building a civic participatory society is
not easy (Europe's enlightenment did not come just from removing a few
dictators).

People's expectation raised for change will dash against the reality that it
will take decades to create systems of governance, accountability, economic
justice, etc to allow for unleashing the great potential in the Arab world.
And there is great potential (natural resources, water, educated
hard-working middle class etc). It is critical that people begin to chart
this future honestly and pragmatically. Slogans will not work. We the
people must take responsibility for our own lives and for our communities.
We need to take time to educate children in a very, very different way than
we were educated. The beginnings may be simple. For example, in many Arab
countries, people were thinking that as long as the country is not theirs
(ruled by dictators), they can only watch over their own personal space and
literally dump trash in the public space. In the new era, they have to
learn that public space is theirs too. Order and respect for fellow
citizens and for the country will have to be taught very early to our
children. This is but one example for laying a brick in the road to real
freedom and real prosperity. The bricks though are many and they will have
to be fashioned and laid by the people. It is very hard work but it is the
only way forward.

(1) I challenged him on this in the Q&A and then wrote a follow-up letter
that was published in the Duke Chronicle. See
http://www.qumsiyeh.org/zionistpositionfailstorecognizeotherside/

(2) Torture at Egyptian police stations, here are three examples (warning
disturbing content!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhQRFz65M6s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCHM6LYiBsY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8KG5N_yq1s

3) Egyptian police beat Free Gaza convoy activist on December 30, 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yT4tk2RiNIo

4) See this associated press story about role of Egyptian military
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/01/29/ap/middleeast/main7296653.shtml
and this interesting footage of military shielding demonstrators
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfqcEsDwgYQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQD-X9G9xfk

5) Mazin Qumsiyeh "Of Cowardice, Dignity and Solidarity"
http://www.qumsiyeh.org/ofcowardicedignityandsolidarity/

Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD
http://qumsiyeh.org