Arab anger
Four weeks into the Anglo-American invasion, the Arab street is expressing its anger over the war. Sherine Bahaa examines the regional response
Demonstrations are no longer the only tool for Arabs to demonstrate their anger at the war; the furious public is now resorting to boycotting American and British products to express their feelings.
The number of demonstrations may be low -- being confined to Fridays after prayer -- but tensions remain high. "Iraq is only the start", is a phrase known to every Arab. The invasion of Iraq has nothing to do with the liberation of a people or installing democracy; the public knows this but governments refuse to acknowledge it.
According to Saudi Arabian sociologist Khaled Al-Dakheel in an interview with Al- Ahram Weekly, "the Arab public cannot understand the aggression. The only thing people can do is express their feelings and try to stop it."
It is this very notion which encourages hundreds of Arab volunteers from Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt to cross the Syrian-Iraqi border to help their Iraqi brethren in their struggle for liberation.
"We will defend all Arab lands, from Baghdad to Al-Quds," said a native of Akkar in northern Lebanon as he was getting on the bus to take him to the Iraqi-Syrian border.
Lutfi El-Barbari, the Egyptian electrician who drove over United States soldiers in their base in Kuwait, was the first to vent his anger. El-Barbari injured 15 solders in the incident on 30 March and was himself shot twice. During interrogation El-Barbari admitted that, "yes, I attempted to kill Americans in Udairi. I was motivated by what was broadcast by some Arab satellite channels and I tried to kill the soldiers."
The suspect, who has been charged with attempted murder, said he was fighting jihad against the US-led coalition. Iraqi General Hazem Al-Rawi has stated that 4,000 volunteers have arrived in the country and are willing to become martyrs for the cause.
On 27 March, Syria's Grand Mufti Sheikh Ahmed Kaftaro, the country's top Muslim religious authority, called for suicide bombings against US and British troops in Iraq.
Islam categorically outlaws suicide as a crime against oneself but it allows it in defence of Muslims and their land, and celebrates as "martyrs" those who make the supreme sacrifice.
There have been two suicide attacks against allied forces since the war began on 20 March. Four US soldiers were killed in one attack and three in the other.
Agence France Presse spoke to some Saudi Arabian nationals regarding their feelings on the war, quoting one man as saying, "what is happening is breaking my heart and trampling my dignity. The Iraqi people will never forgive us and we will never forgive ourselves for failing to help them," he said as he was watching scenes of death and destruction in Iraq broadcast round the clock by Arab satellite TV stations.
The war is not the only reason behind public anger; the war is merely the straw that broke the camel's back. The people are frustrated with their paralysis and the impotence of Arab regimes and their failure to take positive steps either on a domestic level or on a regional level, pointed out Al- Dakheel.
"They [Arab leaders] do not have a vision of a state, they know nothing about building the security of a country, about how to bring about political reform; they cannot commit themselves to real economic development. Our leaders are not thinking along these lines," he continued. "They just want to bend to the wind and remain in power."
For their part, Arab governments are struggling to stay on top of the demands of their people for action, leaving leaders with no other option but to harden their rhetoric.
In an interview with The Weekly, Abdel- Wahhab Badrakhan, a renowned Arab columnist, said Arab governments should do more than simply condemn the war. "Arab governments provided concrete proof that they do nothing. They remained silent in the build-up to the war, and remained quiet when the war started."
But the Arab regimes should be clever enough to anticipate the possible post-war scenarios for the region. The war is not an end in itself. "The [allied] aim of liberating Iraq or overthrowing the regime of Saddam is simply a justification for establishing a friendly regime and then redrawing the entire region," said Al-Dakheel.
The first insight into this came this week when the US administration started discussions for appointing an American governor to run the country for more than six months until the country is capable of self- government, and placing the oil reserves under United Nations control.
Last Sunday, US Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said that an interim authority would be, "a bridge to the process that creates a legitimate government in Iraq".
Badrakhan explained that, "conditions will be imposed on the Arab countries to prevent them from posing a threat to Israel."
While the downfall of Arab regimes is favoured by the Arab street, the war seems to be having the opposite effect on the general public, namely endearing the "street" to Saddam Hussein. Despite 12 years of sanctions, Saddam managed to keep the country together, a job that not all Arab regimes can claim to be capable of.
Saddam has managed to develop a strata of resistance which has remained steadfast throughout the intensive bombardment of their country.
During a demonstration in the centre of Amman after Friday prayers a 20-year-old student was quoted by Jordanian television as saying, "if they [the resistance] are supporting this autocratic regime that much, then they definitely have a point."
Protesters there even went as far as asking Saddam to save the Arab street from their leaders. "The Iraqi army is not defending the Iraqi regime but they are defending the Arab nation, our history and culture," said Ahmed Kamal, a Yemeni student.
The Arab world is divided over Iraq, with some countries strongly opposing the US-led war and some offering tacit or open support for the coalition forces.
For his part, Al-Dakheel believes that self- interest prevents Arab countries from opposing the US because "Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan all need the US. Jordan and Egypt need the finances while Saudi Arabia needs the security."
Jordan, he goes on to say, discreetly offered to cooperate with the US in Iraq. Officials have reluctantly admitted that their country is hosting US troops armed with Patriot anti-missiles. The Jordanians hope their cooperation will bring trade and other financial benefits at the end of the war. In its 2004 budget, the US had ear-marked $459 million to be allocated to Jordan.
The kingdom has long had to perform a balancing act between heavy reliance on US economic aid on the one hand, and being stuck at the heart of Middle Eastern politics on the other, located as it is between Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia and the occupied West Bank.
Saudi Arabia has also allowed more US troops to be stationed in its territories, though confirming it would not take part in the war.
"France and Germany also share some sort of mutual interest with the Americans, and even they openly opposed the war. This shows the uniqueness of our political culture in the region," he said.
He maintains that Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia agree that the Iraqi regime should be removed but they cannot simply announce it. In fact, the French position was balanced. They said it bluntly, they were against the war but not in favour of the Iraqi regime. This regime should be removed. "Our position is not clear because our culture would not allow the states to declare what they believe in," he concluded.
