Thursday, February 3, 2011

The chickens have come home to roost. (Noureddine Boutahar)


I am taking some time out of my busy schedule to write down my thoughts about what is taking place in the Arab World these days because it is really the Arab World's watershed moment.
There are frustrated people everywhere in the world, but the Arab World has the worst-ever kind of frustration. The people in these rich countries have been put in “a boiling pot with a tight lid” for so long. The pot, however, has blown up the kitchens of Tunisian and Egyptian leaders and it is shaking that of a few others. These poor people were put there by their rulers and the West and shadow governments have been blowing on the fire, and the result is what you see today in some of these countries.
The Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions’ message is clear and they are asking for something exclusively human, I guess: freedom, democracy and a better life. That’s what people are standing up for there in Egypt right now. They want their economic rights, their dignity, and the right to rule themselves. They want real reform because they’ve had enough of fake reforms and make-up. They’ve had enough of make-believe elections and parody institutions. They’ve had enough of committees “where investigations go to die”. They’ve had enough of unkept promises and eternal waiting-rooms (country) where their dreams fade and die.
People there are fed up to the back teeth with the fallacy that they are not ready for democracy yet. They are fed up of being considered under age, unsophisticated, and not mature enough for democracy.
The wind of change is blowing through the oil-rich Arab world because people are sick and tired of seeing the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Poverty, unemployment, corruption, embezzlement, inequalities and huge disparities in wages and salaries are all themes rumbling across countries awash with wealth and enormous potential. Unfortunately, the embezzlers, the corrupt, the money launderers and other criminals have no fear of the law because they are the law. You really have a lump in your throat to see these perpetrators run scot-free and go unpunished, and unquestioned.
The lull before the storm is over, and the dictators are getting only their come-uppance for ignoring the needs of the poor and allowing corruption and official abuse to run rampant. They are reaping what they have sown. Even their patrons in the West are abandoning them and are asking them to leave. These rulers have missed out on many opportunities to make peace with their people. Now, here emerges a can-do generation which will not be satisfied with piecemeal, cosmetic reforms. Burnishing an image which has been tarnished by decades of autocracy and authoritarianism will not do the job this time. Rather, bold and far-reaching reforms are needed at all levels: political, economic, social, and judicial.
I have been talking about the tyrant rulers, but this does not mean the rulers at the top and their government officials only. There are those who aid and abet them in greedily exploiting the people and the natural resources of their countries. Sometimes you feel those rulers are helpless and are just carrying out agendas set by shadow governments, or the invisible government which in actual fact has the political and economic power. These are greedy, powerful individuals and companies both local and foreign working out plans behind the scenes to rob the people and to milk the country dry like leeches on a cow.
All freedom, peace, and democracy-loving people, let’s pray and hope that real democracy and peace come to the Arab World. Sooner the better, because chaos, anarchy, destruction, and all forms of violence are not in anyone’s interest and will not solve problems.
I also hope that life gets back to normal very soon in Egypt, that its cultural heritage will not suffer the same fate as that of Iraq, and that all my friends there (in Egypt) are safe and sound.

5 comments:

Sean Wheeler said...

Thank you, Noureddine, for your clear insight and best wishes for our friends in Egypt. I admire your strong convictions and join you in supporting an end to the oppression of common people. My students and I are watching the events in Egypt with a respectful interest and as a lesson in human rights.

Yours in peace,

Sean

YAG said...

Dear Noureddine,

The whole TV stations in Indonesia are broadcasting the chaotic condition in Egypt. We were thinking of the grassroots. We were wondering why the govt. let two horizontal conflicting sides meet and fight. Our prayer goes to the whole people of Egypt, to my fellow ILEPers.
GBU

Unknown said...

Dear Noureddine!
First of all, let me shake your hands warmly and bow before you for you courage,your sympathy and the cause you hold in your big heart for the oppressed worldwide.
Unlike some of the so-called aloof intellectuals who suffice themselve with sitting in their conditioned offices; looking deep down at the upheavals of human conditions without being able to catch a glimpse of what's going on.
I've always believed (though) somehow mythically that vampires die once nobody wills to give their blood any more.
I'd like to confirm some of your quotes(lines)"They are reaping what they have sown. Even their patrons in the West are abandoning them and are asking them to leave". In his preface to a book of Frantz Fanon(The Wretched of The Earth), Jean-Paul Sartre.
points out comparing the vatives attitudes towards the settlers( masters) " Time is drawing near, I am sure, when we will be in the ranks of those who make it".

quantum said...

I hope the chaotic conditions in Egypt will be gone as soon as possible.

Unknown said...

Vive la Revolution