Suddenly, to be an Arab has become a good thing. People all over the Arab world feel a sense of pride in shaking off decades of cowed passivity under dictatorships that ruled with no deference to popular wishes. And it has become respectable in the West as well. Egypt is now thought of as an exciting and progressive place; its people’s expressions of solidarity are welcomed by demonstrators in Madison, Wisconsin; and its bright young activists are seen as models for a new kind of twenty-first-century mobilization.
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Al-Araqib was the last village I visited before my arrest. Al-Araqib is not just a village, but the very heart of a nation and a people. On 5 May 2010, I was there under the tent of Sheikh Sayah, a local leader. There was a big crowd after the destruction and the reconstruction of the village. We met there until late at night, taking advantage of the desert darkness.
بلغ الانهيار البطيء لمؤسسات القيادة الفلسطينية الجماعية في السنوات الأخيرة حد الأزمة في خضمّ الثوارت العربية الجارية، والتجليات في وثائق فلسطين، وغياب أي عملية سلام ذات مصداقية. لقد سعت السلطة الفلسطينية في رام الله التي يسيطر عليها محمود عباس وحركة فتح التابعة له للاستجابة لهذه الأزمة بالدعوة إلى إجراء انتخابات تشريعية ورئاسية، حيث يأمل عباس أن تعيد الانتخابات، الشرعية لقيادته.
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The slow collapse of Palestinian collective leadership institutions in recent years has reached a crisis amid the ongoing Arab revolutions, the revelations in the Palestine Papers, and the absence of any credible peace process. This is above all a moment of new possibilities in the Arab world, and indeed in the entire Middle East. We have not witnessed such a turning point for a very long time. Suddenly, once insuperable obstacles seem surmountable. Despotic regimes that have been entrenched across the Arab world for two full generations are suddenly vulnerable. Two of the most formidable among them -- in Tunis and Cairo -- have crumbled before our eyes in a matter of a few weeks. Another in Tripoli, one of the most brutal and repressive, is tottering at this moment. Read More"You can't maintain power through coercion," President Barack Obama declared at last Tuesday's press conference, taking aim at dictators in the Arab world and Iran. Two days later, he brought the weight of his office to bear on Mahmoud Abbas to get the Palestinians to withdraw a resolution condemning Israeli settlements from the United Nations Security Council. Read MoreI have long dreamed of a popular, grassroots movement in the Middle East throwing off the shackles of pro-American dictators such as Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who finally resigned last Friday. The army will take over for now. Read MoreAs revolutionary events sweep Egypt, and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stubbornly insists yet again on staying at least into September, the United States is today dealing with the fallout of decades of unstinting support for an authoritarian Egyptian police state. The heavy American legacy is manifest in the American tanks parked in Tahrir Square and the made-in-the-USA tear gas canisters security forces fired at demonstrators. Egyptians know that the U.S. Read MoreCurrent events in Egypt and Tunisia have the entire region and beyond glued to their television sets. The all-too-spoken-about Arab street has risen, seemingly from the dead. But while it is satisfying to see a dictatorial head of state being ousted by his own people, it is far too early to rejoice. Read More |
