As Arab Revolutions Rage, Anti-Christian Extremism Rears its Head
“At a time when the seawalls of autocracy that we once
deemed indestructible are collapsing, one after another, it still needs to be
said, at the outset, that great changes are never effected in one day, and that
at least for the moment, not everything about the revolutionary saga is rosy.”
As a journalist, it's
probably a comparison that one in more inclined to draw. But while glued to the
television watching that terrible tsunami sweep away everything in its path, only
to abandon Japan to rush toward Hawaii, why not spare a thought for the
irresistible protest movement spreading across the Arab world?
At a time when
the seawalls of autocracy that we once deemed indestructible are collapsing,
one after another, it still needs to be said, at the outset, that great changes
are never effected in one day, and that at least for the moment, not everything
about the revolutionary saga is rosy. In post-Mubarak Egypt - an Egypt still controlled, it must be recalled
by the army that Islamic extremism, and more specifically anti-Christian
extremism, is again rearing its ugly head, taking advantage of the same “blind
eye” that was turned toward it by the fallen regime. Libya is sinking into what
seems likely to prove a lengthy civil war, a consequence of which, inevitably,
will be de-facto partition, the possibility of which the CIA doesn’t rule out,
and which is underscored by France's decision to send an ambassador to
Benghazi, the anti-Qaddafi capital.
The more reassuring aspect of
the Arab tsunami is that it has occasioned governments that have survived it by
the skin of their teeth, or relatively speaking, were spared to feverishly undertake
such a large number of reconstruction projects. In this respect, and to speak
only of the Arab region, it’s natural that the Lebanese should squint in two
directions, gazing at Syria with one eye and Saudi Arabia with the other. These
two countries have been so deeply implicated in our domestic problems that we
credit them with the power to make it rain, or make the sun shine, depending on
whether they are as thick as thieves or pulling dirty tricks on one another.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
Calls to demonstrate may have
gone unheeded in Saudi towns yesterday, but the alert is far from over. Yemen,
Bahrain and the sultanate of Oman have been smoking for weeks like menacing
embers at the borders of the oil-drenched kingdom. And while the members of the
Gulf Cooperation Council continue to stand shoulder to shoulder, their American
protector is nevertheless advocating that peaceful demonstration be permitted,
and recommended, above all, that minimal constitutional reforms be granted, of
the sort that King
Mohammed VI of Morocco has just brought himself to permit.
For its part, the Baathist regime in Damascus seems to have been lending an
ear to Lady Prudence when it decided to offer allowances to needy families, reduced
taxes on imported foods, the granting of presidential amnesties to individuals
convicted of certain crimes and misdemeanors, as well as some elderly and ill
prisoners. The amnesty, it should be said - and without wishing to interfere in
Syria's internal affairs (a courtesy which that country does not always pay us)
- is of crucial significance to the Lebanese, in more ways than one.
Firstly, obviously, it
reminds us of those hundreds of our compatriots who have been detained,
sometimes for decades, in Syrian prisons, their very existence denied by the
authorities. Secondly, it reminds us of those incredible cases, unveiled by
Human Rights Watch, of Syrian dissidents kidnapped and handed over to Syrian
authorities by Lebanese security officials, always ready to do dirty work on
behalf of their masters across the border. And, finally, it reminds us of the
great prison that tiny Lebanon once was, and which it risks becoming again, if
Syria - even a reformed Syria - fails to change its imperious attitude toward
our country.
The Lebanese escaped from
that great prison thanks to the Cedar Revolution of
2005. It would seem, however, that once was not enough: the bars on the cell
windows have multiplied since then, and the [Hezbullah] militia has been armed
to such an extent that they can steal the show even in the face of direct
Syrian and Iranian interference, flagrantly perverting our country's democratic
traditions. The people clearly and freely pronounced their opposition to these
aberrations in 2009. And the pro-sovereignty assembly tomorrow in the Place de
la Liberté,
offers them the chance to do so again, and put aside partisan feelings in the
interests of a priceless social good. Even the most pig-headed factions will
get the message: we can vote with our feet.
