Sudden Introspection in the Arab World

Arab world looks inward War stirs change in 'system of negativity' that prevails

By FRIDA GHITIS
KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait -- The crushing defeat of Saddam Hussein's dictatorship has fueled an extraordinary display of introspection and vocal self-criticism in the Arab world. It is too early for Arab liberals to rejoice over the ultimate outcome of the Iraqi campaign, but the excitement is palpable among many advocates of democratic change for this stagnated region.

The phenomenon is incalculably important because without introspection, this pivotal part of the world will never change. Without change, the Arab people will be condemned to growing poverty, continuing repression and simmering hatred. The rest of the world, in turn, will be forced to endure as the extremists in the center of the Islamic world export their own brand of hatred.

For decades, Arab leaders, the region's media and the population at large -- known pejoratively as the "Arab Street" -- have utterly refused to look within for the causes of the Arab world's rapidly multiplying problems. But events in Iraq have shaken this society profoundly.
Reporters on Arab satellite channels were catching their breath from reports of brave and determined Iraqi resistance when U.S. forces entered Iraq and Saddam statues began tumbling to the ground. The Iraqis, it turned out, despised their leader.

Why, the people are asking, did Arab governments fail to prevent this war? Why did they appear to support Saddam? What are they afraid of? Why was the reporting by Arab journalists so inaccurate? Will an occupying power lead a long-oppressed people to real freedom and democracy?
Few people in the Arab world are ready to openly praise the Americans, but many have started, at long last, challenging the system that has made the region a land of political oppression, human rights abuses and religious extremism.

Conversations with people here are still filled with references to the sinister motives of Washington and to the evil ways of Israel's Ariel Sharon. But, suddenly, there is more than that. Shafeeq Ghabra, a leading Kuwaiti political scientist, sees a major development -- an opportunity to overtake what he calls a "system of negativity" that glorifies and justifies all that is failing and "misleads the population into an illusionary journey of sandcastles that eventually come crashing down."

Hamza Dushgani, who staunchly opposed America's march toward war, recently confessed in the daily Arab News to the electrifying impact of watching Saddam's likeness slapped with the dirty sandals of joyous Iraqis. Without turning pro-American, she pondered the Arab history of missed opportunities and miscalculations, "Leaders that don't lead; schools that don't teach; clergy that preaches hatred; a press that excels at pointing fingers at the outside." It is always someone else's fault, she noted ruefully. "The Crusaders, the Mongols, the British, the Communists, the Zionists, and lately, of course, the Yanks."

An editorial in the same paper, sarcastically entitled "It's All Israel's Fault," accuses the Arab language media of falsely blaming every single malady on Israel's occupation of Palestinian lands.

Let's be clear about this: the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is paramount in the minds of Arabs. Their deep mistrust of the United States for what they view as one-sided support for Israel is practically universal here. But the glimmers of introspection are beginning to allow for other important subjects to become a topic of conversation.

Suddenly, there are more conversations about how the Palestinian issue has been exploited and used to avoid tackling other injustices. The calls for democracy are becoming better organized, even as radical Islamists make gains within the new democratic institutions. (The Kuwaiti Parliament, for example, voted democratically against granting women the right to vote.)
Traditional institutions are coming under criticism. The Arab League has been the target of a firestorm of recrimination for its handling of the Iraqi crisis. And intellectuals in the area shake their heads in disbelief at the work of regional leaders trying to come up with a coordinated response to what is happening in Iraq.

Until now, the calls for modernization have been met with scorn, as dangerous imports. As one Arab commentator put it, "We import cars and clothes and machinery."

Why, he wonders, are we reluctant to bring freedom, democracy and human rights? In the aftermath of the Iraqi war, these imports may just be on the way.

Ghabra explains it best when he says that America has indeed made many mistakes, but, he adds: "What about us? Where is our share, what have we done? There are so many things we can do in the Arab world instead of blaming." Now that the question has been asked, there is a chance that the answers will also come forth.

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