A 'Teaching Moment' For Arab Americans?

Rather than marginalising one another even abroad, Arab Americans should take a page out of the revolutions sweeping the Arab world [CC - Matthew Dailey]


Arab Americans Should Look Beyond Their Differences and Come Together As Revolutionaries Of The Mideast Came Together.

By Khaled A. Beydoun
Last Modified: 19 Mar 2011 17:44
Courtesy Of "Al-Jazeera"

The revolutions sweeping through the Arab world and North Africa captured the world's attention.

Will the Arab and national Diasporas in the West mobilise to help their countries of origin through processes of reform?

Those of us who care about the futures of our homelands should work together, in solidarity with the young leaders spearheading progressive change in the region.

As an Egyptian American with family who marched into Tahrir Square and faced the force of police batons and gunfire, the revolution that commenced on January 25, 2011 had as much a personal slant as it did a political one.

This is true for many Americans, whose ancestral homelands are currently experiencing the sort of democratic awakening, or dawn, they believed impossible just several months ago.

Blaming The 'Other'

The United States is home to an eclectic and diverse population of Americans who are originally from the Arab world and North Africa – from as far east as Bahrain, and as westward as Mauritania.

Like the region they hail from, Americans from the Arab world are diverse and eclectic, but also disconnected and divided.

Those of us in the Americas, Europe and elsewhere share common narratives of displacement and struggles against the forces that drove us and our parents from the region.

The success of organic and popular revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, the unfolding movements in Bahrain, Yemen, and Libya, and the call for reform in Sudan, Algeria, Saud Arabia, Palestine and other nations, represents a burgeoning spirit of cross-national affinity built upon a common call for reform.

Dictators holding on to a precarious brand of control have perpetuated regional disunity by blaming domestic uprisings on others, such as "meddling" Tunisians or Egyptians in the words of Libya's head, Muammar Gaddafi.

A Different Tale

The people on the ground are telling a different tale, one of solidarity and inter-regional linkages. A frequent symbol of this is the conjoining of different national flags – Tunisia or Egypt's usually – in protests and online forums.

The names of other countries' leaders, deposed or soon-to-be deposed, are used in chants and slogans to drive home the same point – the need for reform.

This new-found unity in purpose – the fight for peoples' rights – should not turn us blind to the diversity of the region.

The rich array of ethnic and religious communities makes calling these uprisings "Arab" or "Muslim" very difficult.

North African states boast indigenous Berber nations, who faced considerable persecution (particularly in Algeria), while Egypt is home to a vibrant Coptic community that has also endured considerable discrimination and violence before Mubarak was unseated, and after, sadly.

The Egyptian Muslims who rose up to protect their Coptic brothers and sisters in the face of attacks represent the type of solidarity we should all strive for.

Arab identity is also particularly contentious in Sudan and Lower Egypt, home to Nubian and African populations that preceded the incursion of Arabs.

Ethnic, religious and sectarianism is most pronounced in Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq, where an amalgam of peoples were consolidated after the introduction of the nation state into the region by western powers.

The remaining Arab nations cannot be classified as ethnically or religiously homogeneous, whether because of indigenous populations or the presence of large numbers of non-Arab guest workers.

Americans who hail from the Arab world and North Africa embody the region's heterogeneity. We have important differences in racial and ethnic ancestry, complexion, dialect, religion, and with regards to the latter, sectarian and confessional affiliation.

To speak of Americans from the Arab world and North African in singular terms may expedite social or political convenience, but it establishes a distorted image of these Diasporas as homogeneous and currently politically united. This representation is inaccurate.

Political Integration Undermined

A range of factors undermined the political integration, and unity, of these Diasporas.

First, the platform has been dominated by Arab Americans, specifically from the Levant countries and Egypt, who have prioritised their national concerns and marginalised the others. For example, while Palestine is a central cause, these revolutions expose the problems of Arab repression as well.

Second, one cannot overlook the latent role of racism, or a pigmentocracy that privileges those with lighter skin, as a dividing line. In the Middle East and North Africa, as with some other regions, a premium is put on those of lighter skin colour. This is retrograde and destructive, and has no place in modern thinking.

Third, religion is a critical factor: Christians from the region generally have an easier time assimilating, while their Muslim counterparts – particularly amid today's rising tide of Islamophobia – are being pushed toward America's societal fringes. At the same time, some Muslim political movements have unfairly treated the region's Christians as the enemy and the region as monolithically Muslim.

We have to move from this politics of difference to a unity of purpose. Today's movements for change should lead us.

If the diverse peoples of Tunisia and Egypt can organise across ethnic and religious lines to topple their repressive governments, then Americans who originate from the region can also come together politically to promote a more promising future in their adopted country.

Furthermore, the peoples' victories in Tunisia and Egypt have surely inspired the swelling movements throughout the region. There is a proliferating spirit of oneness among nations in the Arab World. Yet, some resist it.

Indeed, Lebanese-Americans should champion the cause of democratic reform in Sudan, and Egyptian Americans must be not turn a blind eye to the calls for change in Bahrain, and so forth.

A New DAWN

Americans from the Arab world should not only emulate that spirit of unity, but also actively work in order to further the interests of their brethren at home.

Those living in America can support the people back home by pushing for sustainable democracies and reform throughout their region of origin. Our organisation offers a venue for solidarity action.

The organisation I co-founded, Democracy in the Arab World Now (DAWN), will embrace our differences in identity for the sake of a higher goal – building better societies.

Our platform avoids the divisions that have held back the countries and the region's people from working together. It embraces the spirit of the reformers on the region's streets.

DAWN aims to bring together leaders from the various Diaspora communities in the United States, and provide them with a broader audience to address their respective nation's crisis or domestic concerns. In addition, we hope to translate experiential parallels into lasting bonds, where Lebanese, Sudanese, and Tunisian Americans, for instance, can speak to the media, Congress, and other venues of influence with a common chorus, instead of disjointed and less organised solo positions.

We are not Arabist, nor religionist, nor do we prioritise the need for reform in one country against the other. We could be said to be proceduralist.

Our main goal is supporting the processes of reforms in the region so that governments better represent all the peoples' in their borders, from the country's natives, to refugees and guest workers.

Governments that rule by repression and demagoguery have no right to rule – and our objective is to galvanise our Diasporas under this common banner.

Those in the Diasporas of all stripes, hues and political positions who trace their ancestry back to the region, should follow the lead of the reformers back home.

By working together, we can overcome the divisions and the top-down political structures and ideologies that have kept us all down, and promote a new dawn for the region – and our communities in the United States.

Khaled Beydoun is an attorney and co-founder of Democracy in the Arab World Now.

'Naturalising The Flow Of History'

"Now it is time to make historic reassessments in order to transform our region into one of stability, freedom, prosperity, cultural revival and co-existence" [AP]


Turkey's Foreign Affairs Minister Says Mideast Revolutions Are Vital To Restore A Common Destiny Of The Masses.

By Ahmet Davutoglu
Last Modified: 16 Mar 2011 10:38
Courtesy Of "Al-Jazeera"

The wave of revolutions in the Arab world was spontaneous. But it also had to happen. They were necessary in order to restore the natural flow of history. In our region – west Asia and the south Mediterranean – there were two abnormalities in the last century: first, colonialism in the 1930s, 40s and 50s that divided the region into colonial entities, and severed the natural links between peoples and communities. For example, Syria was a French colony and Iraq a British one, so the historical and economic links between Damascus and Baghdad were cut.

The second abnormality was the cold war, which added a further division: countries that had lived together for centuries became enemies, like Turkey and Syria. We were in Nato; Syria was pro-Soviet. Our border became not a border between two nation states, but the border between two blocs. Yemen was likewise divided.

Now it is time to naturalise the flow of history. I see all these revolutions as a delayed process that should have happened in the late 80s and 90s as in eastern Europe. It did not because some argued that Arab societies didn't deserve democracy, and needed authoritarian regimes to preserve the status quo and prevent Islamist radicalism. Some countries and leaders who were proud of their own democracy, insisted that democracy in the Middle East would threaten security in our region.

Now we are saying all together: no. An ordinary Turk, an ordinary Arab, an ordinary Tunisian can change history. We believe that democracy is good, and that our people deserve it. This is a natural flow of history. Everybody must respect this will of the people.

If we fail to understand that there is a need to reconnect societies, communities, tribes and ethnicities in our region, we will lose the momentum of history. Our future is our sense of common destiny. All of us in the region have a common destiny.

Now, if this transformation is a natural flow of the history, then how should we respond? First, we need an emergency plan to save people's lives, to prevent disaster. Second, we need to normalise life. And finally, we need to reconstruct and restore the political systems in our region, just as we would rebuild our houses after a tsunami.

But in order to undertake that restoration, we need a plan, a vision. And we need the self-confidence to do it – the self-confidence to say: this region is ours, and we will be the rebuilders of it. But for all this to happen, we must be clear about the basic principles that we have to follow.

'Trust The Masses'

First, we need to trust the masses in our region, who want respect and dignity. This is the critical concept today: dignity. For decades we have been insulted. For decades we have been humiliated. Now we want dignity. That is what the young people in Tahrir Square demanded. After listening to them, I became much more optimistic for the future. That generation is the future of Egypt. They know what they want. This is a new momentum in our region, and it should be respected.

The second principle is that change and transformation are a necessity, not a choice. If history flows and you try to resist it, you will lose. No leader, however charismatic, can stop the flow of history. Now it is time for change. Nobody should cling to the old cold war logic. Nobody should argue that only a particular regime or person can guarantee a country's stability. The only guarantee of stability is the people.

Third, this change must be peaceful – security and freedom are not alternatives; we need both. In this region we are fed up with civil wars, and tension. All of us have to act wisely without creating violence or civil strife between brothers and sisters. We have to make this change possible with the same spirit of common destiny.

Fourth, we need transparency, accountability, human rights and the rule of law, and to protect our social and state institutions. Revolution does not mean destruction. The Egyptian case is a good example: the army acted very wisely not to confront the people. But if there is no clear separation between the military and civilian roles of the political institutions, you may face problems. I am impressed by Field Marshal Tantawi's decision to deliver power to the civilian authority as soon as possible.

Finally, the territorial integrity of our countries and the region must be protected. The legal status and territorial integrity of states including Libya and Yemen should be protected. During colonialism and cold war we had enough divisions, enough separations.

This process must be led by the people of each country, but there should be regional ownership. This is our region. Intellectuals, opinion-makers, politicians of this region should come together more frequently in order to decide what should happen in our region in the future. We are linked to each other for centuries to come.

Whatever happens in Egypt, in Libya, in Yemen, in Iraq or in Lebanon affects us all. Therefore we should show solidarity with the people of these countries. There should be more regional forums, for politicians and leaders, for intellectuals, for the media.

Usually the "Middle East" – an orientalist term – is regarded as synonymous with tensions, conflicts and underdevelopment. But our region has been the centre of civilisation for millennia, leading to strong traditions of political order in which multicultural environments flourish. In addition to this civilisational and political heritage, we have sufficient economic resources today to make our region a global centre of gravity.

Now it is time to make historic reassessments in order to transform our region into one of stability, freedom, prosperity, cultural revival and co-existence. In this new regional order there should be less violence and fewer barriers between countries, societies and sects. But there should be more economic interdependency, more political dialogue and more cultural interaction.

Today the search for a new global order is under way. After the international financial crisis, we need to develop an economic order based on justice, and a social order based on respect and dignity. And this region – our region – can contribute to the formation of this emerging new order: a global, political, economic and cultural new order.

Our responsibility is to open the way for this new generation, and to build a new region over the coming decade that will be specified by the will of its people.

Ahmet Davutoglu is Turkey's minister of foreign affairs.

This article was first published by The Guardian.