Until when will we stay helpless? [Archives:2002/32/Viewpoint]

How many times in life have you felt helpless? Many times may be a logical answer. But rarely could be an ideal one. However, when asking this question to Arab nations today, the current conditions that we are living in make us believe in one and only one correct answer to the above question, and that is all the time.
When looking at the devastation that Palestinians are growing through every day, and when concluding that the US attack against Iraq has become eminent without being able to do a thing, helpless is the least that can be said in describing ourselves.
How in earth did we reach such a humiliating level of helplessness and vulnerability? Why have we become mere spectators and sometimes victims without the ability to raise a finger to object?
There are times in life when you wish you were dead rather than witnessing humiliation in all forms and ways. We dont even need to make this wish. We are already dead since a long time ago, perhaps since 1967. We may be living from the outside, but from the inside we are obsolete.
Some may argue that being helpless is because of the conditions imposed on us. Well, this is a foolish way to escape responsibility. It is our own doings that caused us to be so backward and weak. We have decided to be mere consumers and servants of dictatorships that think only of themselves. We are the ones who accepted the reality we are in, and which we imposed on ourselves.
We should understand that no matter what others do to help us, they would never succeed in getting us out of the mess we are in without our own work and dedication. We must realize that it is our own responsibility to change our conditions and eliminate all factors of backwardness and helplessness.
Each and every one of us is responsible for every dying child in Palestine, and we will all share responsibility in case of an upcoming humanitarian disaster in Iraq.
But if you ask me whether there is still some hope, then I would answer positively. Hope always exists and history has proven that no nation stays at the bottom and no nation can stay at the top all the time. We need to realize that we have reached the lowest level ever in our Arab history, and it is time for us to rise again. At the same time, the mightiest powers of the world have already reached their peak and it is quite difficult for them to grow further, otherwise they will be digging their own graves.
I have lost hope in our Arab leaders, but it is the people that I rely on in renewing my hope. It is up to normal citizens to rise to the occasion and bring the anticipated change. We must work together to bring true change, which will bring an end our helplessness: this term, which has dominated our lives for far too long.

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