Thirty Years of Tyranny
By Dr Ghulam M. Haniff
St. Cloud, Minnesota
Yet another tyrant has fallen. It brings to an end Husni Mubarak's thirty-year tyranny on Egypt. However, the Arab World has still many autocrats left. At this moment many of them are shaking in their sandals. Their thrones are no longer as secure as in the good old days of Western colonial hegemony.
Incredibly, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, descendent of the tyrannical Saudi ruling family, demanded "dignity" for Husni Mubarak, a man who robbed billions from the desperately poor of Egypt.
Given the sanctimonious sense of entitlements among the Arab rulers his claim for dignity is absurd, as it is strange. One may ask what about the dignity of the common man, those killed, maimed and injured? And those robbed and dispossessed? And most of all, of Mohamed Bouazzi, publicly slapped by a policewoman in the marketplace of Tunisian city.
Contrary to their traditions some of the paramount Arab chieftains began calling themselves "kings." The self-coronation took place in the middle of the twentieth century. The British government, ever duplicitous in its dealings knew that they could be bought with a mere title, initiated the clever ploy. The title held. Among the vast ill-literates of the Arabian landmass there was no one to oppose the claim.
In the Arab tribal universe the tribal chiefs arrogated much of the land to themselves. The Prophet of Islam tried to transcend the tribal structure over a thousand years ago but those with privileges persisted on preserving it.
Saudi Arabia belongs to the people who live there, Egypt to the Egyptians, Bahrain to the Bahrainis, and Palestine to the Palestinians. The land belongs to the people, not to the rulers. This is a concept unknown to the rulers in the Arab world.
The common people, the average wage earner, and others toiling from dawn to dusk, have a right to choose their rulers. The Prophet considered these human beings to be equal to all others but that is not case anywhere in the Arab World today.
No popular uprising ever occurred in the historical Arab world. The last revolution among the Arabs was the dawning of Islam, together with its revolutionary teachings. In the years that followed the leaders, Muawiya, Yezid and others, ignored the message of Islam and re-imposed the tribal culture.
The most powerful dictator in the post-colonial Arab world has been booted out. His competitor in the hierarchy, Saddam Hussein, was hanged earlier. Now the energy of the masses can be released, first in Egypt, later through Cairo's guidance in the rest of the Arab world. But that is not likely to happen. The United States and Israel are going to keep their friends, dictators and tyrants, on the throne for quite some time.
Are there any democratically elected leaders in the Arab World? Not one that has legitimacy of the people. Rulers are all propped up on their thrones by the Western allies. If the West wanted democracy decades ago they would have simply done so, but they did not. What they wanted were pliable tyrants to do their bidding.
Abdullah of Jordan is so shook up that he is likely to run into the arms of the Israelis. He, of course, trusts the occupiers of Beit-ul-Muqqadas far more than his own people. It is embarrassing for Muslims to realize that he is a direct descendent of the Prophet. He is a disgrace to the community of Islam.
Mahmoud Abbas and his side kick, Saeb Erakat, have already given the Israelis far more than they asked for, and are now willing to hand over the rest. WikiLeaks released the documents showing how they deceived the Palestinian people by giving away land.
Perhaps Abbas is too dense to realize that a peace treaty with the Israelis means total surrender. It will be the end of all the Arab and Muslim claims to Palestine. It will be an end to an identity, Palestine, for all times. But Abbas is likely to sell out for a handful of dollars. That is what the Arab leaders did to advance Western colonialism.
Abbas is of course quite nervous about the overthrow of the Egyptian dictator. He is hastening to hold elections of his own lest he be overthrown. After all he has been dragging his feet for years on the issue of the elections.
In this entire tumultuous change the Arab rulers and Israel are on the same side. They want the United States to intervene on behalf of the rulers.
No leader in the Middle East wants to see the Arabs free. Israel claims to be the only democracy in that region, but it is a democracy only for Jews and no one else. And it is a democracy based on stolen land.
Washington's attempt to play both sides in the Egyptian revolution was widely rejected by Wael Ghoneim, the CEO of Google in Cairo. He advised America to stay out of the uprising after having supported the brutal dictator, Mubarak, for thirty years. Almost every Western leader is now singing the tune that they were with the people all along, when in fact they supported Mubarak for decades.
The Western rulers are now playing up the scenario of the "uncertain" future for Egypt, the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood and the ascendancy of the Islamic extremists, their favorite bogeyman in order to de-stabilize the region. These speculative strategies are designed to derail the quest for democracy and to put their favorite Western oriented gentlemen (wog) on the throne again.
And some of them in all likelihood would carry the title of "His Majesty" or "His Royal Highness." The colonizers know that the "natives" can always be bought for a handful of trinkets in return for oil or gold.
