The Arab Spring – hello or goodbye to democracy?
In his report for Ha’aretz, Barak Ravid wrote: “The speech showed an expressed lack of trust in Arab nations’ ability to maintain a democratic regime; a yearning to go back to the days of ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak; a fear of the collapse of the Hashemite royal house in Jordan, and an utter lack of willingness to make any concessions to the Palestinians.”
Netanyahu also slammed those Western leaders, Obama especially, who had pressed Egypt’s generals to tell Mubarak to go. At the time that was happening, Ravid revealed, Netanyahu said in closed talks that the American administration and many European leaders “don’t understand reality”. In his last speech he called them “naive”.
I used to wonder if Netanyahu really believes the nonsense he talks. I am now convinced that he does.
The latest developments in Cairo – the apology by two of the generals on the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) – are making me wonder if the coming days will see the removal of Field Marshall Tantawi, which is what the protestors in Tahrir Square are demanding. The two generals not only apologized for the deaths of protestors, they said, according to the BBC report I heard, “We do not aspire to power and we do not want to continue in power.”
If those words can be taken at face value, they suggest to me that a majority of Tantawi’s SCAF colleagues have realised that continuing in power, even behind the scenes, would require them at a point to give orders to the army to shoot to kill large numbers of Egyptians, orders which would not be obeyed by the lower ranks and foot soldiers.
If that is the case – Tantawi’s departure would indicate that it is – the prospects for a real hello to democracy in Egypt are improving. And if something approaching real democracy can take root and grow in Egypt, the days of Arab autocrats and despots almost everywhere (probably not Saudi Arabia) may well be numbered.
Page 3 of 3 | Previous page
VGF:
November 25th, 2011 at 4:50 am
There will be no more wars Israel can Draw the American People into Fighting FOR them. If Israel “sic..leaders ? are foolish enogh to Provoke Iran any further..or stupid enough to Attack Iran.. ( Expecting The US to Cover their ass ) They Should Really Hold Up !) It is Plain to see..that to Start a War with Iran would Be A very Foolish and Futile Action that can only lead to Total annihilation of Israel..And Fuel a Fire in all the Middle East that can not lead to anything but Unending Troubles for the Whole world, Not just for the Islami Countries that Surround Israel. Their “arsenals of ” nuclears will not Save Israel, but will Assist in getting IT blown off the face of the earth rather quickly. LOTS of Enemies close at hand that are Ready & Capable of Doing The Deed., Pakistan, Perhaps ?
John Calford:
November 25th, 2011 at 7:23 am
Mr Hart,
I have not yet read your book, so I may be commenting on a non-issue.
But have you read Douglas Reed’s book : “The Controversy of Zion” ? Reed was a London Times correspondent and a distinguished author in the 1920′s to 1950′s yet even he could not find a publisher for this book, and it was only published after his death in 1975.
After an exhaustive historical review, Reed predicts virtually everything that has happened since. He was an ardent anti-zionist, like you, who (despite being accused of such – of course) was not anti-semitic; indeed his hero was Benjamin Disraeli. But, in contrast to your approach, he makes less distinction between Talmudic jews and zionists for apparently good reasons. He also provides an historical guide to the term anti-semitic, its usage and value.
It is quite a long book but very much worth reading in its entirety. For you, and any interested readers of your site, the full PDF can be downloaded free from this site:http://www.controversyofzion.info/Controversybook/index.htm
David King:
November 28th, 2011 at 8:42 am
Thanks for the link John.
To VGF
The zionists are a very simple minded lot; however there is one thing they do very well. That is survive. They will not attack Iran. They plan I believe is to get the US to do their dirty work. I base this belief on the fact that Iran has had a long time to become prepared for the attack. Apartheid israel will not put a bull’s eye on it’s back.
To Alan,
Lets hope for the best in the Middle East and an israeli civil war.