Friday, February 25, 2011

Domino of Events in the Region

On Friday last week we were watching the Friday prayers in Tahrir Square in Cairo. Millions had attended and shouted slogans calling for the cleansing of the Government from Mubarak agents. I was watching the scenes in Benghazi today, protesters had a banner saying " Thank you Egypt , Thank you Tunisia" . Protests and demonstrations are the word of the day everywhere and any time. More interesting were demonstrations in Amman, Jordan and other cities throughout the Arab world.  It seems that the domino of developments in the Middle East is so quick and so unpredictable that analysts cannot find the opportunity to provide insight into the events. Even the Saudi Monarchy has felt the tremors and has announced welfare measures for their citizens. Its also interesting to note that most of these cities have a square or circle named Tahrir or Freedom and yet they have to struggle and suffer for freedom.
The hypocrisy of the Obama Administration in sharply condemning certain repressive socialist or anti -imperialist governments such as Qaddafi and only lightly criticizing pro American dictators like Mubarak and Ben Ali has become evident. The question remains whether the ultimate model for governance in these countries is a western style liberal democracy, an Islamic Republic similar to the Iranian style or a more liberal Islamic Democracy like what is experienced in Turkey or Malaysia.
There are two major concerns for the future of  these nations, the first is the interference of foreign powers particularly the US which senses a loss of influence and  feels threatened for the safety of the Zionist regime. The second concern is for the dictatorial forces, the forces of wealth, power and media or hypocrisy who still yearn to regain power, this time with another face and color.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello,

Your view of current uprisings is limited as is your view of the world situation. You said:

"The hypocrisy of the Obama Administration in sharply condemning certain repressive socialist or anti -imperialist governments such as Qaddafi and only lightly criticizing pro American dictators like Mubarak and Ben Ali has become evident."

That statement seems quite accurate, and if you were more informed, you would realize that the Middle East countries are not the only victims of Obama's hypocrisy.

However, if you want to discuss hypocrisy, let's include the entire IRI government. Please, don't you recall your own president, broadcasting to the entire world, scolding the governments of those who rebel to 'listen to the people,' to treat protesters humanely, and on and on and on.

At the same time, his own country's protesters are labelled 'seditionists' 'against God,' beaten, imprisoned, tortured, and even killed. Really. Are you simply unaware of the way things really are in your own country? Have you some sort of special circumstances that prevent you from seeing it, hearing about it? Are you simply an IRI propagandist, or what?

For all of us, here's wishing for peace, self-determination for each human being and an end to the violence.

Best wishes.

Anonymous said...

@Massoumeh Ebtekar
Fantastic article.