[nasional_list] [ppiindia] Arab Hypocrisy

From: "Ambon" <sea@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <"Undisclosed-Recipient:;"@freelists.org>
Date: Sun, 1 Jan 2006 16:06:27 +0100
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            Sunday, 1, January, 2006 (01, Dhul Hijjah, 1426)


                  Arab Hypocrisy
                  Dr. Khaled Batarfi, kbatarfi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

                 
                    
                  Are we Arabs cursed with political and social hypocrisy? The 
more I study our modern history, the more I come to suspect we are. You want 
examples, I have many. You want explanations, we need to talk!

                  The most obvious case in point is the way our Arab leaders 
talk versus the way they act. Since the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, 
leader after leader promised to make us one great nation, stretching from the 
Atlantic Ocean to the Arab Gulf.

                  The Sharif of Makkah was the first to betray the Ottomans 
that installed him as governor of Hijaz (Western part of Arabia) when he allied 
himself with the British in World War I. The promise was to make him the Caliph 
of all Muslims, the King of All Arabs. When the British chose instead to give 
him independence in Hijaz, and installed his sons in Jordan and Iraq, he lost 
his interest in Arab unity.

                  In the 1930s, the Baathists came up with the slogan, "One 
Nation With One Immortal Message." But the same party ruling in two neighboring 
countries couldn't make it happen. Leaders of Iraq and Syria wouldn't unite the 
two nations because they couldn't solve one simple but crucial question: Who 
was going to be the big boss?

                  Egypt's Gamal Abdul Nasser followed with his own version of 
Arab nationalist movement. He started the string of failures when he lost the 
Sudan, which was part of the Kingdom of Egypt and Sudan. Then he lost his 
greatest political project to unite Egypt and Syria, because his men were too 
busy bossing their Syrian counterparts around. He and his successor tried again 
with the Sudan and Libya, and again all plans failed because of the clash of 
personalities and the question of who bossed whom.

                  More attempts were made in the last 25 years. The most 
lasting, if still disappointing, is the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The six 
Arab Gulf nations started this project a quarter of a century ago, but so far 
we don't have one common currency, passport, ID card, education structure or 
integrated business systems.

                  Following the GCC example, another council for the western 
Arab countries was created in the late 1980s. Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, Libya 
and Mauritania announced grand plans for cooperation and integration. Not to be 
left behind, Egypt, Yemen, Iraq and Jordan created a third Arab cooperation 
council.

                  The first still suffers from more than clash of 
personalities. Wars and the promise of wars among Algeria, Morocco and 
Mauritania kept progress in check. Another war, the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 
1990, disintegrated the second. Members took different sides in the conflict. 
When Iraq lost, the rest left.

                  It was always like this with Arab leaders - either they 
become the rulers of rulers, or they won't make it happen. You can get as much 
free talk as you wish, but when it comes to action, personal interests, egos, 
and national pride come first.

                  From top to bottom, double talk, double standards, and 
two-facedness rule. When an Arab official talks about sacrifices, he probably 
doesn't mean himself or his family. The fat cats won't lose weight, and the 
skinniest are the ones who should tighten their belts.

                  When some intellectuals criticize the cheap hypocrite, I know 
they are playing offense as the best way for their own defense. Saddam alone 
bought hundreds of them. He paid salaries and distributed benefits, cars and 
other valuable gifts. One of his rare signs of wisdom was the conclusion that 
recruiting a journalist was cheaper than buying a tank and more rewarding.

                  When Iraq invaded Kuwait, many Arab intellectuals were caught 
in a serious dilemma. Some were getting "help" from both sides, the generous 
Gulf states and Iraq. But only Saddam would make them pay, financially and 
physically, if they didn't deliver their part of the deal. They finally decided 
to join the winning camp. Pan-Arab magazines, like the Paris based Al-Watan 
Al-Arabi, had to make a U-turn on a week's notice. Other Iraqi financed 
publications followed suit without a word of explanation to their bewildered 
readers.

                  Religious leaders are not immune from the virus of hypocrisy. 
Many call for jihad but won't go or send their own kids to fight in Iraq; 
collect money for charities but won't pay themselves; preach modesty while 
their egos are over inflated and supersensitive, and criticize corruption and 
bite off more than they can chew.

                  The rich and powerful are politicians by nature. For them, 
perception is more important than reality. Beware when they preach social 
duties and responsibilities. What they really mean and care about is what their 
country and society can do to make them more rich and powerful.

                  If that is the case in the democratic world, which has better 
check and balance mechanisms and stricter rule of law, imagine the case in the 
dictatorial Third World! Here, I believe, the search should start for answers.

                  The above is my two-cents worth and I need yours, dear 
readers. For a better understanding of the hypocrisy phenomenon, may the 
conversation now begin.
                 

           
     


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[nasional_list] [ppiindia] Arab Hypocrisy

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