Reports from Amman Jordan
by Samah Sabawi
| Part VIII - Democracy Devoid of Politics Bush’s
multi million
dollar US project to democratize the Arab World, The Middle East
Partnership Initiative (MEPI), has promised it will “leave politics
alone.”
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September 17, 2004
US offers Arab World a democracy devoid of politics. From Amman, Jordan A democracy devoid of politics makes no sense, but what does make sense in the Arab World anymore? The Jordan Times reported this week that Bush’s multi million dollar US project to democratize the Arab World, The Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), has promised it will “leave politics alone.” MEPI was born in the aftermath of Sept.11. It started off with one goal: to spread democracy in the Arab World. The goal was conceived out of the simplistic assumption that Arabs hate Americans because they hate freedom. Bush’s ingenious plan was to spoon feed the savage Arabs doses of freedom and democracy until they learned to love everything American. A plan that is both naïve and insincere. MEPI’s democratization attempt was met by skepticism from Arab governments who needed assurances from the US that it poses them no threat. So last week the director of the Abu Dhabi office of MEPI, Mr. Hans Wechsel, told Reuters: “I’d like to dispel this fear that we’re somehow here to clandestinely fuel opposition groups who want to cause problems for governments in the region. We’re after purely structural changes and not political ones.” MEPI made it clear that it does not plan to promote change in the political system; rather it will focus its efforts on combating the “ideologies of hate” in the Arab World which create an atmosphere for terrorism. Hum…the ideologies of hate! So, if is not the oppressive, undemocratic governments that create the “ideologies of hate”, then could it perhaps be born out of Israel’s brutality against Palestinians? According to MEPI, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has a trivial effect in promoting “hate” in the Arab world. “There are some ideologies of hate in the Middle East coming out of the political and territorial dispute," said Mr. Wechsel, "but there are a lot of acts of terrorism that are not linked to it.” Please allow me to translate: The US has spent 190 million dollars and requested a further 150 million dollars to help “reform minded” groups in the Arab world through their MEPI project, but at the same time it has promised that it will work with current regimes in the Arab world to ensure they will not be affected by its efforts. The clear message is that the US plans to protect the current regimes in the Arab World that it deems useful, regardless of their political or democratic inclinations, as long as they help the US fight against the popular Islamic upsurge which according to MEPI appears to hate for the sake of hating alone. But here is a burning question: Wouldn’t fighting against a popular upsurge, regardless of its nature or religious affiliation, be an anti-democratic act in itself? Here is another burning question: How can MEPI promise to stay out of politics when according to their website MEPI is structured on four reform pillars one of which is the political pillar. “The MEPI political pillar champions expanded public space where democratic voices can be heard in the political process.” Finally, the most burning of all questions is how can this project even begin to convince the average person in the Arab world of its good intentions when it refuses to understand what Arabs hate about the US. It is not their freedom or their democracy. Simply put, it is their foreign policy, which strips Arabs of both freedom and democracy. MEPI is an extension of this policy. It is offering a democracy outside of politics, it supports the current Arab regimes and it too turns a blind eye to Israel’s atrocities. A democracy devoid of politics is like a lemonade devoid of lemons. It tastes sweet and it will give you a rush, but it will not work towards strengthening your immune system, neither will it offer you a cure for that nasty flu. Samah
Sabawi, originally from
Gaza
and whose permanent residence is now
Ottawa, is a writer, playwright and well-known activist. Her articles
appear in several popular online journals. Her Palestinian Diary
is exclusive to YayaCanada.
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