[Arab News, Saudi Arabia]
Le Quotidien
d’Oran, Algeria
Democratic Islam:
'Opposed by Every Bush and bin Laden'
"Tunisian
and Egyptian Islamists confront a historic responsibility. Up to now, they have
served as a foil, permitting the powers that be to reject democracy. They are
now in a position to prove that they can be agents of it. They know they're being
watched, and that every Bush and bin Laden on earth is against them."
By K. Selim
Translated By Emily Jane Tomlinson
February 9, 2011
Algeria - Le Quotidien d’Oran - Original Article (French)
Bush or bin Laden: Since
September 2001, this false, cursory choice has been imposed on Arab societies
both by their own regimes and by the West. The idea that a democracy could
exist among Arab nations has been confined to those naive individuals who
failed to grasp that a free election happens only "once" in our
countries.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
That theory is contestable
and can generally be refuted by a proportional electoral system that allows for
an accurate reflection of political trends. It is a hypothesis that has served
as an argument for every authoritarian regime in the Arab world. The fact that
Islamists were not the initiators of the movements for change in Tunisia and
Egypt upsets a received wisdom that has been practically elevated to the status
of dogma.
In the West, democracy is -
feebly - defended; but Arab and Muslim societies were regarded as resistant to
democracy. There was, of course, Turkey. But the latter, Westerners insisted,
was a country of a very "particular" kind.
There has been a propagandist
tendency to present Arab societies as being quite tempted by the Iranian model,
when in fact the Turkish path is the more interesting of the two. In Turkey,
Islamism has not only evolved so as to integrate democratic values, but the
authoritarianism of the system has been forced to come to terms with and take
account of the evolution of society. Turkey's transformation into an emerging
economy and a regional power that asserts its views is inseparable from the
movement for democracy that so inspires young Arabs. The failure of the democratic
process in Algeria, which led to a decade of extreme violence, may have contributed
to the anti-democratic discourse.
The protest movements in
Tunisia and Egypt, however, have compelled a revision of opinion. No one now
dares assert that Arab societies must choose between dictatorship and Islamism.
These two great events will have long-lasting effects, even if they aren't
automatic; and they demonstrate that Arab societies are receptive to agents of
change other than Islamists. There are other forces capable of influencing how
the situation evolves. The cases of Tunisia and Egypt reveal that even if
Islamists are present and constitute a significant force, such societies have
the flexibility to oppose the replacement of one authoritarianism with another.
It is a questionable
assumption that a democratic election can happen only once in a Muslim country.
It is founded on presupposition - and on fear. Up to now, Islamists have tended
to feed that assumption. It is true that they've been gagged - along with other
political movements - and that this has allowed extremists like al-Qaeda to assert
a threatening vision of Islamism and even Islam.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
Tunisian and Egyptian Islamists
confront a historic responsibility. Until now, they have served as a foil,
permitting the powers that be to reject democracy. They are now in a position
to prove that they can be agents of it. Tunisian Islamists seem very anxious to
avoid the mistakes of the Islamists in Algeria.
At this precise moment,
Islamists in Tunisia and in Egypt know that they are being watched, and that
every Bush and bin Laden on earth is against them.
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