Is it us or them? [Archives:2002/23/Focus]

COMMON SENSE
By Hassan Al-Haifi
All I really want to know is, when are they going to leave us alone? asked Mamdouh.
Faris was somewhat puzzled by the question, Who are they?
They, are the enemies of this proud nation of ours the Arab Nation the Moslem Nation. They are the Zionists, the Masons, the West, the former Commies and now even the Hindus are after us Mamdouh thought he got it pretty much straightened out for his friend.
First of all, Faris wanted to narrow down the issues. You cant place yourself all over the globe and just consider yourself as a bona fide member of every oppressed society on this side of the Atlantic. Second of all, from an Arab perspective, I would think that really, we are partially responsible for our demise. We simply are incapable of managing our affairs. We are lacking in initiative, intellect and political will. Therefore, we submit our will to what we perceive is forces that we are unable to challenge. This is true domestically and in our international relations. I cannot say that we truly have the making of an Arab Nation, let alone an Islamic Nation. I might even say, that the elements of such affiliation were more apparent, when most of our fraternal Arab and Moslem states were under the yoke of colonialism than we have now!
You mean, to say that there is no hope of a renaissance for the great glory of the Arab or Moslem Nation? asked Mamdouh
Of course not, at least for now. It is probably easier to get a visa to Israel than to get a visa to many of the Arab States. It is easier to find work in Alaska, than to go work in some of the oil rich states, who would prefer to import their laborers from non-Arab and even non-Moslem countries than to take their less fortunate Arab brothers or fellow Moslems. There are just to many realities that do not lend credence to the supposition that we are homogeneous in any way Faris was showing Mamdouh that the Arab World and the Moslem World are fragmented beyond repair.
Mamdouh saw this as a temporary political situation: I bet you ten to one that if it was up to the common citizen, in any Arab or Moslem country, we would have no borders between any of these countries, there would be free transfer of capital and the other inputs of production between the different Arab or Moslem countries. Our state is the product of many years of colonialism, etc.
Faris had another view: But, how long has it been since the colonialists have left? We have done nothing to come closer together as a nation. On the contrary, our own brothers in charge of the Moslem and Arab countries have brought us further apart than the old traditional regimes. Let me give you a case in point. When the Zionists in Palestine started to drive out the Palestinians from their homes, every independent Arab country at the time, which were mostly ruled by reactionary kings, sent whatever they had in terms of forces, arms etc. to defend the unarmed Palestinians, because of the affinity that drove them to this, notwithstanding the fact that the enemy was already then better armed and equipped. Nevertheless the affinity was a clear indication that even those reactionary kings reacted positively to the threat looming in Palestine. But look at what is happening now? Israel is having a free hand to do whatever it likes in the Holy Land, and our gung ho progressive leaders, with all the armaments they have amassed and the nationalistic rhetoric they have bombarded us with all these years, prefer to look on as spectators, insisting that the only path to take is the path to peace. What kind of peace can we ever have with an enemy, who insists on his own brand of demagogic chauvinism and has contempt for all the Arabs, even those who call for peace? Moreover, our leaders are more concerned with the wishes of the international community than the wishes of their own constituencies or subjects. How can you expect to see any good omens anywhere in the Arab or Islamic world? Even our own religious values are being distorted by mysterious new advocates, who have turned the entire Moslem world to likely candidates for even harder times to come!

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