There is trouble in Tunisia , mainly between Salafists and the government. The government has already imposed curfew in 8 Tunisian states including the capital Tunis after the violent protests between security forces and Salafists. The clashes started when Salafists attacked some arts exhibition claiming it was defaming Islam in Tunis then the security forces arrested a group of them. The arrests were followed by a series of violent protests by the Salafists in several Tunisian states.
It is the latest escalation between in Tunisia between the Salafists and seculars as well the most direct and violent clash between Salafist and government .The government there follows the Islamist Al Nahda Party.
I am worried about Tunisia because unlike Egypt if the revolution fails there , say good bye to democracy in the Arab World for real. Tunisia is the cradle of the Arab spring without doubt , if it fails it will affect us all.
Of course what happens in Tunisia echoes Egypt and its effects have started. Already our media now is catching the golden moment in Tunisia and is scaring the people from the Islamists like MB and Salafists in Egypt because strangely now Islamists are bad and ..just elect Ahmed Shafik who make them crawl to their dark caves !!!
What happens in Tunisia is dangerous without doubt yet Tunisians will sort it out as they want. I hate how the media is using it in order to market Shafik as the savior against the bad Islamists.
The Islamists in Egypt got their own failures , it is enough to see what happen in the constituent assembly today. By the way huge security down against Islamists did not produce anything except terrorism. Ideas are fought by ideas , educate your people for people and do not fear their choices.
In the Arab world rulers like in Egypt prefer ignorant people to rule because they are easy to be deceived.
I bet some in Cairo are praying that General Rashid Amar would save the day.
The largest threat to moderate, tolerant muslims is the smaller extreme element that has given themselves the power of life & death over all other muslims. They decide who lives & who dies, how people must behave, even how they must think and what they are permitted to think about.
ReplyDeleteThis causes problems for non- muslims but it is muslims who are suffering the most. It will lead to the law of the jungle where the strong oppress the weak & poor rather than serving them.
Shafik is a poor choice for Egypt. Morsi only slightly less so. One of the contadictions of democracy is the moment you relax and stop caring what happens to others, the whole system can be engulfed in crisis.
The U.S. saw this when they foolishly elected Bush Jr. in 2000. And this is a mature democracy. Democracy is never guaranteed. There are always those waiting for a chance to strangle it. Iran was supposed to be one but it never came about and is now an open dictatorship.
Iran has its own Khaled Said. He was a student leader arrested for protesting against newspaper closures and violent invasions of student housing by security forces in 1999. His name is Akbar Mohammadi(he was a muslim) and he was tortured to death by Khamenei agents.
"One of the contadictions of democracy is the moment you relax and stop caring what happens to others, the whole system can be engulfed in crisis.Democracy is never guaranteed. There are always those waiting for a chance to strangle it." Those statements are so very true.
DeleteBush Jr. two term elections were fraudulent, which means big money can and will win in any democracy.
DeleteYou are mostly right, except for the personal issue with Bush Jr.
ReplyDeleteDemocracy doesnt mean that the "best" leaders are always elected (according to your views). However it does mean that the people can easily correct the "mistake" in the next elections by electing a new president, if it was indeed a mistake.
Thus, maintaining a honest election system and freedom of speech is more important than the persons elected. The integrity of this system was never compromised in the USA even with Bush or any other "bad" president.
This elections system is the main problem for extreme religious people. They dont believe that the source of authority and rules in the state are the people of the state. They think that the source of authority and rules is God, and if there is a conflict, they will go with God's rules.
If you are closely following the events in Tunisia you will be careful to conflate Salafi and Muslim. Ennahda represents the majority view of religious minded muslims. The brotherhood probably also do in Egypt the problem is therefore less about muslims in politics but about politicians per se. The FJP desire for power is less to do with Islam and more to do with politics. Secularists and the atheist fringe are as Tunisian observers will note are instigating and inciting the reaction they so want to stir shit and create confusion. That tactic is equally prevalent in Egypt and Baradiei Sabbahi AF and Morsi are all embroiled in dirty politics not just the former NDP gangs of criminals.
ReplyDeleteThe Tunisian revolution seems, for the most part, to be succeeding. Every place faces difficulties when shifting to a democratic system, and the mentality that sustains dictatorship remains a latent force constantly looking for a vacuum or void to exploit. If a critical mass of the population takes control of their fate, however, oligarchic power seekers can be limited and restrained.
ReplyDeleteSecrecy, impunity, and leaving too much power to an elite is risky. These things enable powerful politicans to violate constitutions almost at will.
Remember that European states went through many phases when trying to establish democracy. The Middle East and North Africa will face many similar difficulties as well in its process but it is possible to succeed anywhere if the will exists.
I press my thumbs for the people in egypt! Greetings from germany!
ReplyDelete