New West Order

I am perhaps supposed/expected to write something about Egypt and congratulate its people for toppling their dictator, but I don’t feel this is time for celebrations/congratulations: Seeing the military clearly taking over the power doesn’t please me. I will therefore wait till a new constitution is voted and new legislative and presidential elections are held, and then perhaps I may congratulate the Egyptians for the great courage and determination they have shown.

The recent events in Tunisia and Egypt have shown us that the people’s determination and organisation is key when they want to free themselves. The events have also shown us once again the hypocrisy of the Western democracies.

Video: The crab revolution

The world has reacted in different ways after the Israeli raid on the Freedom Flotilla and the killing of nine Turkish activists. As expected, the USA have sided with Israel and did their best to block any strong condemnation of the pirate state by the Security Council. Europe reacted in the usual mild manner regretting the deaths and

Poll: Why do Arab leaders prefer to be treated in foreign hospitals?

Isn’t this an intriguing phenomenon? I would have thought that it’d be very embarrassing for a president to be rushed outside his country to a foreign medical institution in order to receive treatment. What would that say about the state of the health sector in said country? Mubarak has been rushed to Germany to have a benign tissue removed in a gallbladder surgery and, back in 2005, our very own Bouteflika was rushed to our arch-enemy France to be treated for a gastric ulcer.  What is it with the digestive system of Arab leaders? Must be the stress of ruling such thriving economies! There are many possible reasons why

Mubarakhenaten

The 14th ordinary session of the assembly of the African Union which took place between 25/01 and 02/02 in Addis Ababa reminded me of the interesting positions of the Arab states leaders in the African rulers longevity ranking.

We can indeed find three of them in the top 10 with Libyan Muammar Gaddafi (1st), Egyptian Hosni Mubarak and Tunisian Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. And if we consider the Algerian ruling system specificity (same people behind a changeable president) and the Moroccan monarchy (with different kings) we can safely add them to this top 10 list.

These regimes are still in power despite the will and hopes of their populations, and the means they use to stay in charge have little to do with democracy. But for some reason, these rulers always seek legitimacy arguments. I bet it is because they feel for their peoples and want to ease the pain their presence created and nourishes. And by providing such ingredients to the populations, they help them feel better and happily accept to follow these leaders they never chose. Such arguments could even have the surprising effect of turning parts of the populations into genuine supporters of these leaders.

Therefore, I decided to organise a sort of contest of the best legitimacy arguments. I must warn you though, I don’t know much about the internal affairs of most of these states, so it’s not advised to take the results too seriously.

If I were president Mubarak

I am sure that many people are wondering what Mubarak is playing at after the hysterical and embarrassing theatrics that the Egyptian media arsenal has treated us to for the past week (and which intensified alarmingly following the defeat of the Egyptian national team in the play-off in Sudan). I certainly have been wondering what he could possibly hope to achieve from this masquerade. Initially, I read the analyses which interpreted it all as a carefully crafted plan to propel Gamal Mubarak into his father’s presidential spot, which he has been warming-up for his son for the past 30-odd years, keeping Egypt under the longest emergency state rule in modern history. This coup would have made little Gamal the legitimate heir to the, erm, republic. I read these analyses without much conviction because it all seemed so surreal, so far-fetched, so desperate. To me, it was simply a football match which could not possibly sustain all the political accoutrements that were being slammed upon it.  How could anyone get to become president by manipulating the masses rapture which will be unleashed by qualifying to the World Cup?

Anouar Malek’s comment

I am no fan of A. Malek and disagree with him politically and also on the way he practices his opposition to the Algerian regime.

But since I posted Al-Aswany’s analysis of the Algeria/Egypt crisis I thought it’d be only fair if I posted a contribution by an Algerian intellectual. Those who read Arabic will understand it’s on a different level than Al-Aswany’s.

كنت أتوقع دوما باليقين أن الأقلام هي التي تبادر وتتحرك لتعري وتكشف الحقائق، لأن القلم له قداسته وله مكانته عبر تاريخ البشرية، ولكن ما توقعت يوما أن الأقدام هي التي ستلعب دورها حين ترتد الأقلام، وتكشف الكثير من الخبايا والخفايا التي تعمل جهات متعددة على إخفائها وطمسها، طبعا لحاجات تحلب في أقداح حماية مصالحها وكينونتها وترسي بها دعائمها التي بلا شك مهددة دوما بسبب الظلم والفساد.

كرة القدم تحولت هذه المرة للعالم العربي برغم ما آلت إليه الرياضة من بزنسة وتطفل، هي المدرسة الحقيقية التي أبانت وستبين الكثير من الخلل في منظومة الحكم العربية، وهذا الذي عجزت فيه المعارضات بمختلف ألوانها وأطيافها وإيديولوجياتها وتطلعاتها. أقدام اللاعبين الجزائريين كانت اليوم أكثر حجة من عقول الكثيرين ومن أقلامهم وقراطيسهم وحبرهم، حيث وقعت أساطير عديدة ومن المريخ، تبدأ بكشف زيف الأخوة العربية التي يتبجح بها رعاة الأنظمة وسدنتها، ويتغنى بها في مواسم الحصاد خاصة. وجعلت تلك الأقدام من الجلد المنفوخ معجزة تيمنا بقميص يوسف الذي به ثلاث براهين بقيت خالدة في التاريخ، حيث بدد كذب الإخوة الأسباط لما أعطوا الذئب لأول وآخر مرة قلادة البراءة، وأثبت طهارة يوسف من مكر نسوة آل فرعون على أرض مصر، ثم أعاد البصر للوالد يعقوب الذي ابيضت عيناه من كمد وأحزان الفراق.