The Arab Spring: A pact with the devil Posted about 6 hours ago | 0 comment By Reem Al-Jazi. All my life, I had images of the devil in the back of my mind. He looked odd; he was a pure illustration of evil, and you can always spot him and know he is the bad guy …he probably had a red suit, horns and a pitchfork stuck to his hand … Today, the devil has changed faces …wardrobes … and in so many ways even changed skins and languages. Today, I am no longer able to recognize him, I just see his victims all over the world , and it kills me that I am truly blind to see him … yes it does. For so many Egyptians, the devil was the Muslim Brotherhood…. On the 3rd of July 2013; Egypt’s military toppled the country’s democratically elected president and arrested him, while rounding up some of his top supporters. Consequently, the movement was demonized and fought against in the region as most Arab leaders, including Jordan and Saudi Arabia, feared their influence and their opposition affiliated agendas. The successful attempts in Egypt to discredit the only elected president in its history were aimed to deter the party worldwide. Liberals in the region celebrated this move assuming the end of political Islam, envisaging the end of evil as many neo conservatives in the US have described it. Unfortunately, this move, if anything, has politicized a radical form of Islam in the Middle East and has aborted any attempts for democratic elections; giving birth to a new generation of angels of hell. So we haven’t killed the devil or have we? It is true that US support for anti-Soviet forces in Afghanistan back in the 80s was one of the turning points attributing to the presence of a newly created devil. In fact after defeating the Brotherhood, the world turned its face towards Syria, supporting the Salafi Jihadists in their holy war against the Assad regime: the same Jihadists who were once called Freedom Fighters during their war against the Soviets, the same people who were later called terrorists following the 9/ 11 attacks, and the exact same people who are now called rebels….. One fact is certain in this whole roller coaster like change of equations in the region , is that the Saudi backed Wahhabi triumph over the Muslim Brotherhood has put the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia back in the game. For the past couple of years, Qatar has rivaled with the Kingdom over gaining power in leading the Arab states, the July coup in Egypt however embraced the Wahhabi influence paving a way for a new form of alliance in the region. Fosters of this notion in the world want us now to believe that this exact Wahhabi movement, which has been the cradle for Al Qaeda ideologies, has come to the salvation of the middle East….Of course with the support of their long lasting enemy : the West. To make the image even more blurry, the West and the Saudi-led Arab forces are now determined to fight alongside the Syrian rebels to fight evil … now embodied in Bashar al Assad regime. Saudis, who are enjoying the euphoria of victory after defeating the Brotherhood, have signed a holy pact with Satan to fight against his twin. Torn between calls for democracy and at the same time disrespecting elections …fighting against the moderate Muslim Brotherhood and at the same time supporting the much more conservative Salafi rebels ; the moderates of Arabs find themselves trapped in a puzzling maze heading to an unclear destination….Are Arabs really lost in translation ? Are we really unable to recognize evil and incapable of avoiding it? Are hopes of finally achieving democratic regimes in the region an illusion and has the train of the Arab Spring actually derailed? Unfortunately, no one can answer this. For the moment, I believe we really should prioritize our needs as a nation: we perhaps do not need revolutions now…. we do not need a military intervention in Syria …we do not need another Iraq scenario … all we need is a priest, a sheikh or a well-respected exorcist … to get rid of the devil within …that has been possessing us for decades already.. Reem Al Jazi
Posted on: Wed, 04 Sep 2013 11:24:55 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015