Strategies of avoidance
By
Magdi Mehanna
Let us not fool ourselves: 2003 should not go down as the year of Arab disappointments -- there are few, if any, prospects that 2004 will be better. The recent Gulf summit corroborates this prediction, and the next Arab summit in Tunis, in March 2004, is likely to underscore the point. The scene is depressing as far as any one can see.
Libya is scrapping its WMDs programmes as a free gift to the US and Israel. Domestically speaking, the picture is hardly better. Democracy is still a mirage, human rights a charade, and the economy pathetic. As individuals, we have little to look forward to. The most any of us can hope for is to maintain emotional, social, and economic equilibrium -- avoid tensions, dodge a bit of stress and retain a semblance of dignity.
I am not pessimistic, only realistic. Nor am I particularly upset. This is not because I am numb and senseless and thick-skinned. It is because I have decided to shut myself off from the defeat and grief that envelops us. I shall have my inner peace, even if I have to shield myself against a sordid reality.
I advise everyone to seek their own path to serenity. Since we are so incapable of changing Arab reality, our only recourse is to seek ourselves the peace and tranquillity our governments have been unable to secure in the past half century.
* This week's Soapbox speaker is a journalist and former co-editor-in-chief of Al-Wafd.
