Posted on 05/18/2005 12:38:48 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Some people prefer dying, drowned in their own dreams to some one saving them by reminding them that their visions and beliefs have nothing to do with reality. This was the impression that I got at the end of a recent cultural seminar, “Globalization and Identity,” organized by the Al-Khaleej Newspaper in Sharjah.
It is more or less an accepted fact that Arab dignitaries and intellectuals hate to listen to views different from their own. Several of our writers are well aware that there are people harboring harsh thoughts against them simply because of opinions expressed in their writings. I would have adopted a conciliatory position when faced with opposing views but I would also try to back up my arguments with solid facts and logic. I admit that my writings may contain ideas that are unacceptable to some people but to describe them as poisonous is too much.
The seminar gave the younger generation, mainly from the Gulf, opportunities to express their views. The freshness of their ideas and their originality made one of the participants from the older generation refer to himself as a dinosaur — while admitting openly that many of his ideas were outdated.
The Arab political experience in the Arab East came under heavy fire at the seminar. Some of us pointed out that the prevailing policy had only resulted in greater oppression with more bloodshed, apart from a number of missed opportunities and the mindless wastage of human and material potential. This argument cited the experiences of the Iraqi Baath and some other parties in Sudan and Yemen. These parties rose to power on ideas inspired by freedom for Palestinians, war against American and Western imperialism, and the integration of all Arabs into a single nation. On the other hand, when these parties came to power, no freedom was to be accorded to the southern Sudanese when they were asked to merge with the north. No independent identity was to be allowed the Kurds in Iraq. No freedom was allowed to citizens who belonged to different ethnic groups, different schools of religious thought and different political viewpoints. All citizens should submit to the will of the party which ruled, at first as a group then as a gang and finally as a family. The parties adopted high-sounding slogans designed to keep the people quiet. Such policies were criticized in the seminar for their apparent mistakes in implementation.
It was almost impossible to make the intellectuals of the old generation understand the criticism. Some of them showed us the texts of the pioneers of Arab nationalism that called for racism or suppression. Their stance was on several counts stupidity and arrogance far removed from the reality that the Arabs have suffered for generations. A participant even wanted to give details of how massacres were being committed. He pointed out that it was during the British occupation after World War I that poison gas was first used to kill people in Iraq. This kind of argument was attacked on the grounds that the conduct of an occupation force is never a justification for the excesses of the government that claims nationalistic credentials.
Another main difference of opinion that surfaced in the seminar was the matter of pan-Arab nationalism. The emerging logical argument was that the shift to a greater Arab nationhood should begin first from the separate smaller nations. A nation in which citizens do not find equality, justice and transparency will never be able to participate in the building of a meaningful and cohesive pan-Arab nation and society. The advocates of the pan-Arab nation shied away from the more pressing local issues by using talk about greater Arab nationalism. Their efforts could be compared to putting the cart before the horse. Neither the horse nor the cart will make any progress.
Hardly any logical and enlightened dialogue takes place among the Arab elites. They do not, consequently, realize the significance of creative disagreement that has helped other societies move forward. If the elites have lost this quality, what can be said of those who are in power whose guiding principle is vested interest.
The Sharjah seminar was not a waste in the sense that it heralded the emergence of a younger generation that thinks with its head instead of heart. This generation has already gained a foothold in the cultural arena; it is a generation that believes that the reform of the part is essential for the reform of the whole. It also believes in the equality of human beings whose voices, even in whispers, are more powerful than the whistle of bullets and the shouting of slogans.
If we want to win the war on terror and spread freedom in the Middle East, we need to export liberalism.
Classic liberalism. Not modern liberalism.
Once we've turned them into a bunch of John Kerry sissies, then we can start teaching them about classic liberalism, a free market economy, liberty for all. But if we really want to beat them, we need to start training an Iraqi Jesse Jackson.
Arabs are the biggest losers the world has ever seen.
Actually, Islam is probably the fastest growing faith in the world, seconded by Christianity.
Well its a small sprout but it exists.
STRIKING parallels between Arab nationalists, Marxists and Islamofascists and American liberalism: When they're in control they seek to supress all opposition, use racist policies to keep people down (or dumbed down) and they demand unquestioned loyalty to the One Party State. Very similiar to the American left.
Our presense in Iraq and Afghanistan is behind this.
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