Speaking another language
A leading political thinker has called for an Arab awakening as the way out, writes Mona El-Nahhas
Mustafa El-Feki
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Mustafa El-Feki, head of the People's Assembly's Committee for Foreign Affairs, has described the current Arab situation as being "very bleak" but offered a solution to the dilemma. "We should stop blaming others for our problems," El-Feki told a gathering at a recent book fair seminar. "We are to some extent responsible for the current state of affairs. If Arab countries had true democracy, are progressing in technology and have one united agenda, we would never have reached such a humiliating state," El-Feki said.
El-Feki expected an American military strike against Iraq to be launched "very soon because the American concept believes the Iraqi issue needs urgent surgery".
Talking about the possibility of a peaceful transfer of power in Iraq, El-Feki said this may preempt an American attack but would not halt American ambitions to have a presence there. "America has decided to be there and to get its hands on Iraq's petroleum. If it manages to achieve this without recourse to military action, that of course would be much better for its interests," he added.
However, El-Feki stressed that regime change depends directly on the will of the people. "Opening this door would lead to nothing but erasing the peoples' will," he warned.
On the Palestinian conflict, El-Feki believed it would take a long time before any settlement is reached. "The US would never play the role of mediator unless it received permission from Israel, something which will not happen now," El- Feki said, noting that Israel had become the definer of American policy in the Middle East. "He who believes that 11 September was the main factor behind America shirking its role in the Arab-Israeli conflict is completely wrong. The US started to abandon its role in the Middle East several months before September 2001."
El-Feki said the only problem Egypt had with the US was related to Washington's policy of backing Israel.
Concerning Egypt's role in the light of current events, El-Feki said the country was attempting to play an effective role at the regional level, "although the general state of Arab apathy had restricted such movement". He added he was not in favour of confronting superpowers. "We are not capable of doing this for the time being. In addition, the current international circumstances are not conducive. Russia is no longer on the scene and Europe, while rejecting the American policy, remains silent. So what we really need is an active diplomatic movement.
"It's time for Arab regimes to reopen their files with the aim of conducting comprehensive reforms," he said. In this connection, El-Feki called for widening the limited scope of democracy within Arab countries. "This is very important if we are keen on finding common ground with others," he said.
El-Feki criticised the Arab media, describing them as still being incapable of communicating with others. "To make others hear us, Arabs should learn the technique of understanding the way the other side thinks. We should talk to them using their language instead of ours."
El-Feki stressed the necessity of correcting the image of Islam which was tarnished following 11 September. "Israel began describing martyr operations in the occupied territories as being terrorist acts, a message which lessened world sympathy for the Palestinian cause.
El-Feki wondered aloud why Al-Azhar no longer sends scholars abroad on scholarships programmes. "This is the best way to show the world the true face of Islam which is based on tolerance," he said.
