The Betrayal of the Arab Spring
By Dr Syed Amir
Bethesda, MD
In 1798, Napoleon invaded Egypt which was nominally under Ottoman suzerainty, but in fact, ruled by powerful Mamluk overlords who took great pride in their fighting prowess. They, however, had failed to keep up with up-to-date weapon technology and newer strategies of warfare. One of their generals boasted, “Let the French come, we shall crush them beneath our horses’ hooves.”
The Mamluks went into battle armed to the teeth, but with obsolete weapons -- sabers, bows, axes and muskets -- no match for the state-of-the-art arms and tactics of the French army. Predictably, they were crushed in a one-day battle on July 21, 1798, known as the Battle of the Pyramids and the Napoleonic forces marched triumphantly into Cairo.
The logic of real politic applies perfectly to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict today. Gaza, the scene of a third Israeli invasion in six years, is a wretched piece of land in which 1.8 million Palestinians are squeezed into139 square miles of territory, making it one of the most densely populated places on earth. The rate of poverty and unemployment has been around 50 percent for some years. As I write this article, the Israeli army is pursuing a bloody mission of cleansing Gaza of Hamas fighters who have been lobbing primitive, unguided rockets at Israel causing little damage. Hamas, a conservative, religion-based movement has been ruling Gaza since 2007, but Israel has exercised tight control over all land, sea and air routes, choking all economic life. Since the advent of its military government, Egypt has also sealed its side of the Rafah crossing into Sinai, depriving the Palestinian of their only opening that previously served as a lifeline.
In the current conflict, the two sides have suffered hugely asymmetric losses. The Israeli bombing and shelling have killed nearly two thousand Palestinians, an overwhelming majority of them civilians, including many women and children, as opposed to about 69 Israelis, almost all military personnel. Gaza has no power or running water and hospitals are overflowing with the dead and injured. Meanwhile, Hamas fatuously issues empty threats to eradicate Israel, but in reality is powerless to protect even its own citizenry. Worse yet, it unilaterally keeps breaking ceasefires, knowing that it would invite brutal reprisals.
With unlimited US support, Israel has become a regional superpower, able to militarily overwhelm any combination of Arab forces. Its per capita income of $38,000 now rivals that of Western Europe. Since its creation in 1948, there has never been such a disparity in the military, economic and technological strengths of Israel and the Arab world. The American support of Israel in its campaign against the Palestinians has been crucial. In addition to the three billion dollars it annually doles out to Israel, the US Congress found time just before going on summer recess to give $225 million dollars to update its air defense system. Obama administration in the midst of the conflict authorized Israel to draw offensive weapons from the American stockpiles normally stored in Israel to meet emergencies.
While an unquestioning support of Israel has been a long-standing American policy, a new development has further exacerbated the problem -- the impotence of the Arab world. In a recent issue, The New York Times quoted Aaron David Miller, a scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington: “ I have never seen a situation like it, where you have so many Arab states acquiescing in the death and destruction in Gaza and the pummeling of Hamas,” he commented. “The silence is deafening.” Among leaders of Muslim countries, only the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has condemned Israeli actions, characterizing it as “genocidal.” Turkey has already paid a heavy price for supporting the Palestinian cause, losing tens of millions of dollars in tourism and trade with Israel.
The passivity of the Arab-Muslim world in the face of the ongoing carnage in Gaza is a reflection of the turmoil and chaos it is currently experiencing. The much heralded Arab Spring sparked in Tunis on 17 December 2010, following the self-immolation of a street vender, Mohamed Bouazizi , has turned sour. The promise of a new period of renaissance to follow has all but vanished.
From Pakistan in the east to Tunis in the west, a tidal wave of militancy, religious extremism and sectarianism is engulfing the Muslim world, tearing it apart. Many in despair would like to retreat to the security and familiarity of a storied past of centuries ago. In its July 5th issue, under the headline, “The Tragedy of the Arabs,” the respected British weekly The Economist lamented, “A thousand years ago, the great cities of Baghdad, Damascus and Cairo took turns to race ahead of the Western world. Islam and innovation were twins. A civilization that used to lead the world is in ruins.” Muslim societies, alas, have failed to change with time.
Egypt has reverted to a military dictatorship, supplanting a democratically elected Government, while Libya has degenerated into a lawless state ruled by warlords. In Pakistan, the Taliban, mired in a mediaeval mindset, openly aspire to subvert the state, refusing to recognize its constitution. They terrorize the public killing religious minorities -- Christians, Hindus, Shias, and Ahmadis. Prior to the recent military operation, the Government had lost control of some areas of the country. Now a fiery speaker from Canada, Dr Tahirul Qadri, is threatening to topple the elected Government and promising to solve the country’s horrendous problems overnight as if by some magic.
Of all the Arab countries, the worst catastrophes have befallen upon Iraq and Syria, both previously prosperous states albeit run by ruthless autocrats. Following the disastrous American invasion of Iraq in 2003, the country descended into civil war, with Shias and Sunnis, who had lived together peacefully for centuries, at each other’s throat. Thousands died in the mayhem. Baghdad, the golden capital of Caliphs Al- Mansur and Harun ar-Rashid which once proudly hosted Al-Mamoun’s House of Wisdom, is in shambles.
The story is worse in Syria. What started as a peaceful movement against the dictator, Bashar al-Assad, has degenerated into an ugly sectarian conflict. Tens of thousands of innocents have been killed in this vicious civil war and nearly half the population is living as refugees on charities in Turkey, Jordon and Lebanon. A sinister, militant Sunni militia, calling itself “Islamic State”, has captured big chunks of Syria and Iraq, where it has established an antiquated version of Caliphate, brutally killed hundreds of Shias and Sunnis, driven out Christians and Yazidis, an ancient religious minority, and banned women from going out without covering their hair and faces. Iraq and Syria appear to be on the verge of disintegration.
The heart-wrenching scenes of misery and destruction of Gaza and the gratuitous destruction of human life are ubiquitously splashed across the TV screens worldwide. The UN and the rest of the world watch, express indignation and moral outrage, but are unable to restrain the onslaught. With the Arab-Muslim world in such disarray, Israel with a population one-third of that of Karachi and an area less than 70% of Sindh, is likely to continue to impose its will on the Palestinian population indefinitely.
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