Dar al-Hayat Lebanon

Let Us Envy the Americans and the Chechens

By Zuheir Kseibati     

January 03, 2008

Lebanon - Dar al-Hayat - Original Article - (English)

In the unhappy language of statistics, and without pretending that fortune tellers are authoritative or legitimate, we cite some figures from the end of 2007, which elucidate the common denominator in the region:

• In Iraq, 568 people were killed in the last months of 2007.

• In the Somali capital of Mogadishu, 6,500 civilians were killed last year, with more than 8,500 wounded. In the same vein, some 1.5 million people were displaced from the capital that is lost in its myriad of weapons.

• In the last clashes between "Fatah" and "Hamas" in Gaza on New Year's Eve, seven Palestinians were killed, while Israel came through 2007 with only one suicide attack …And on the first day of the new year, 30 Iraqis were killed by a suicide bomber who attacked people offering condolences.

Killing prevails across the region and respects no sanctity - to the extent that the Palestinians, saddled with tragedy, no longer ask after the identity of those who kill women and children and bring down homes upon their heads…Are they killed by Palestinian bullets, the rockets of factions, or the fire of the Israelis?

Killing has become an arm of diplomacy and of policy in the region, from Iraq to Somalia and Palestine. The national unity slogans, as they multiply, become even more distant from reality and dreams, and are they are the same from Baghdad to Mogadishu, Gaza and Ramallah, and even to Beirut, lost where need meets fact.

Isn't the attempt to disseminate models of "unshielded" states, whose legitimacies, institutions and constitutions have been breached, nightmarish and fearful enough? In such states, officials lash out and exchange curses with a view to snatching concessions from the "patriotic" rival-enemy -  the local "enemy" accused of working for the devil, of manipulating destinies and nations.

Killing is used to change maps. Tragically for the Arabs, they realize what is in store for them in the darkness of night when a brother becomes Public Enemy Number One, an agent of George Bush or his favorite rival, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad … or even Hugo Chavez, until Fidel Castro finally recuperates from his health problems.

Arabs can envy the Iranians, who were promised elections this year, and the most powerful weapons, spiritually cursed … Or they can envy the Americans who are counting the remaining days before George Bush leaves the White House. Or even the Chechens, who have come to understand the limits of the game of nations and the killing fields.

The region is awaiting, first of all, an imminent visit by the US president, whose greatest "achievement" has become merely to envisage a viable Palestinian state, while always offering Israel everything that will liquidate that dream of a state and encourage the Palestinians to destroy what is left of their cause.

Bush will not deceive anyone. More accurately, he is no longer able to tout promises and distribute medals. For he has left behind bloody chapters in Iraq's history, bloody chapters neither the Republicans nor the Democrats will be able to erase from the memory of America and the world. But how innocent are the Iraqis?

The region is also awaiting an Arab Summit due to take place in Damascus. This summit must be assumed to be an occasion for solidarity and an end to the collapse and breaches, as a prerequisite to salvation. More importantly, the summit, if it takes place, should provide an opportunity to explore the reasons behind the spread of such "unshielded" states that expand at the pace of a volcanic explosion. The summit, dubbed an "Arab" meeting, reminds one of the slogan of the Riyadh Summit, the function of the Arab League and the common interests that have always deterred the winds blowing from outside the region.

Perhaps the term "self-criticism" has become old-fashioned. At the very least, wouldn't it be a good idea to contemplate the likely consequences of sticking to the policy of rivalries, of brandishing competing slogans and voicing our pride in the Arab-Arab tug of war, while neighboring powers besiege the region - at times in the name of countering the dreams of Bush, and at other times, under the pretext of preserving national "unities" or teaching us the language of killing in Palestine, as Israel does, so that every Arab becomes a terrorist?

Ever since the inception of the Arab Summit, the initial core cause has been Palestine. With it, the Arabs discovered freedom. Today, the Palestinians in Ramallah protest against what they consider as Hamas' attempt to strangle the word and freedom of opinion in Gaza.

Where does the true problem lie? Does it lie in the "loss of word," the internecine bloodshed, the expansion of unshielded states, or the endeavors to veil the real perpetrator?