Egypt: Wael Abbas refuses to meet President Bush
Egyptian blogger and activist Wael Abbas just announced on his blog that he turned down an invitation to meet up with Bush.
Here's what Abbas wrote:
بوش مش رئيس جمهورية بلدي ولا ولي أمري ولا ولي امر العالم كما هو متخيل. بوش مش رمز لأي حاجة كويسة أصلا علشان حد يتشرف أو يتكرم بمقابلته. مقابلة بوش تلطخ أي شريف وليست تشريف أو تكريم. انا مالياش حاجة عند بوش ولا طالب منه حاجة ولا في ايده اي حاجة ليا وحتى لو في ايده انا مش عايزها وانا اصلا ضد فكرة اي تدخل امريكي في مصر لا بالخير ولا بالشر – انا عايزه يكف اذاه بس ويبطل مساعدة ومساندة النظام المصري. سيبكم من غزو العراق والبلاوي الكتير التانية اللي بوش عملها في العالم كله انا كفاية عليا ان بوش يقول مبارك رجل سلام. انا لم ارفض هذه الدعوة لخوفي من الانتقاد او بمعنى اصح الشرشحة بتاعة بعض التيارات السياسية لان بصراحة احنا في مصر لا عندنا تيارات سياسية ولا بطيخ من بابه ولان ببساطة كمان هاقابل بوش بتاع ايه مش علشان انا قليل لا بالعكس علشان بوش ده ايه اصلا بوش مش نلسون مانديلا ولا غاندي ولا الام تريزا الله يرحمها ولا حتى بانكي مون اللي زي قلته
انا الصراحة لو كانت جات لي دعوة لمقابلة اوباما – ومحدش يزعل مني – كنت ها ارحب جدا على الاقل الحق قبل ما اوباما يمسك ويوسخ الدنيا وتبتدي الناس تنتقده ببساطة لاني ها اقابل رمز تاريخي للتغيير في امريكا ورمز لرئيس دولة منتخب ديمقراطيا بجد والناس بتحبه وعندها امل فيه وده نموذج نتمنى نشوفه في كل دول العالم بداية بمصر وممكن كمان اتجرا واقول ان انتخاب اوباما من اهم الاشياء منذ حركة الحقوق المدنية للسود ورموزها زي مارتن لوثر كينج ومالكوم اكس
لكن بوش ده رمز لإيه؟ انا باشتغل على الحريات السياسية والفردية وعلى مقاومة القمع والعنف والديكتاتورية بوش بيرمز لإيه في اللي باشتغل عليه؟
الادارة الامريكية القديمة للاسف عارفة انها رايحة وبتشتغل بمبدأ يا رايح كتر من الفضايح وبتعمل انها بتكرم عدد من المناضلين في حين انها في الحقيقة بتلوثهم وعايزة تنسب الفضل في نضالهم ونجاحهم لنفسها قبل ما تمشي. أنا باحب الشعب الأمريكي والشعب الأمريكي هو اللي بيحتضني ويكرمني وليست الإدارة الأمريكية
وربما أمريكا ليست النموذج الامثل في حرية الصحافة ولا الاحزاب السياسية
لكن تجربة المجتمع المدني الامريكية جديرة بالاهتمام
Bush is neither my president nor my father; he is not the world's legal guardian as he would like to imagine. Bush is not a symbol of anything honorable to honor anyone who meets him; Meeting Bush would tarnish an honest man's reputation – it is by far nothing worthy of pride. I owe Bush nothing and he owes me nothing and even if he has something that I might want, I no longer want it. I am inherently against any American involvement in the Egyptian business be it good or bad. I just want him to hold his peace and stop supporting the Egyptian regime. Put the Iraqi invasion aside with all the other worldwide disasters that Bush brought on the world, it is more than enough for me that Bush calls president Mubarak “a man of peace”.
I did not reject the invitation for fear of criticism and live skinning of some political parties in Egypt because I can safely assume that we do not have anything even close to political parties in Egypt. Simply why would I be interested in meeting a person like Bush – he is not a Nelson Mandela or a Gandhi or a Mother Teresa -may she rest in peace.
Had this been an invitation to meet Obama – no offense – I would have gladly accepted it. At least I would have had the pleasure of meeting the man before he assumes office and dirties his hands. Now people love him and I would have liked to meet him when people still love him. I would have had the honor of meeting the icon of change in American history. He is the symbol of a truly democratically elected president. This is the model that we would like to see all over the world, starting with Egypt. I might even have the audacity to say that Obama's victory is a new landmark since the African American civil rights movement and its symbols – namely Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. But who is this Bush and what does he represent? I serve the causes of political and individual freedom and fighting oppression, violence, and dictatorship so how does Bush serve my cause?
The old American cabinet knows that they are on their way out so they decided to create havoc on their way out. They also decided to honor some activists when in fact by doing so America is disgracing them. They want to take credit for their strife and success before its fifteen minutes of fame are over. I love Americans as people and every time I visit America, it is because the Americans are supportive of me and my cause…. Maybe America is not the ideal solution for freedom of press and political parties but still it's civil society is an interesting experience to study and analyze.
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I am sorry to say this but you are nothing but a sophist with no substance, incapable to reason and understand that Democracies can be and are sometimes inherently tyrannical by their nature… Here we go again judging the morality of 19th century America by today’s Standards and coming up with 3rd rate pub quizzes trivia (FYI slavery at that time was morally acceptable and legal). The USA has always had wars and enemies since its inception. If it is not the Mexicans, it’s the French, the Chinese, the Koreans, the Vietnamese, the Russian, each other, and now it is our turn. They practised genocide on the native population and indulged in slavery for decades after everybody else has stopped. It is just the nature of that expansionist regime that has the ambitions of an Empire. However, and I do not need to hide nor flip flop, the American system of governance still and remains a model for governance (Slaves were not considered as fully fledged citizens – they were just a commodity), which bit of my argument don’t you understand???
Also, I am not dodging to answer your question. I just need more that few comments to do a post-mortem of the political through the Islamic world. However if you insist allow me. This is going to be coming on many different tranches. I believe you suffer form “The Iranian Liberal Syndrome” you are judging 1.5 billion people through your experience. You are obsessed by the “Return of sharia law”. The reality on the ground shows totally the opposite. From Morocco to Turkey major reforms had been taking place to totally remove religion from all aspect of law. All the Maghreb countries have a legal system based on French jurisprudence apart from the family law until recently. The Mudawana in Morocco reformed family law and made polygamy but impossible in practise. The new code gives women rights comparable to women in many developed countries. Opposition political parties are legal, and several have been formed in recent years.
كره تجاه الرئس بوش يرتفع ارتفاعا شديدة…:
“نعت صحفي عراقي الرئيس الأميركي جورج بوش الذي حل في زيارة مفاجئة ببغداد خلال مؤتمر صحفي بأنه “كلب” باللغة العربية وصوب حذاءه تجاهه دون أن يصيب هدفه.” http://aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/690310D7-51A2-41FB-A175-34678C4CA784.htm
-أندريه, http://www.myarabicstories.com
Moreover, the last elections the Istiqlal Party a central right party won dislodging the socialists. . For the first time in the history of elections in Morocco, they have been monitored by foreign observers including the U.S.’s National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and 42 others. Yes, this election according to the observers was fair and square. The Islamist did not win as predicted by the merchants of doom and gloom and American political experts. They only managed to get 52 sits out of 325. Let’s not forget; only 20 years ago the FIS next door in Algeria had a landslide. Algeria is a secular state and according to the constitution, no political association may be formed if it is “based on differences in religion, language, race, gender or region. They took French laicism literally and applied it. Tunisia, women enjoy equal rights, polygamy is legally banned and Ramadan is not observed by a presidential decree. Libya is a Stalinist state. The same apply to Syria. Lebanon with all its problems is a multi-faith democracy. Jordan is a monarchy with a mix bag of political parties made of Islamists, leftists, Arab nationalists and conservative. Iraq according to the west is a democracy and comes under the banner of the free world (Well that is debatable) with an American dissertation for a constitution. Egypt, you tell me, you are the expert- as far as I know the mullahs have not taken over power.
The reasons for these changes are very simple, as many Arab countries (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Jordan, and Libya recently in much slower pace) are consolidating assets and wealth and the legislative bodies are defining the legal framework to speed the process (Creating some legislative parallel with EU legislation). This is exactly what happened in Russia and most eastern European before becoming fully fledged democracies. First; the oligarchs (maily ex-communist operatives) took over any type of economical activity and literally helped themselves. The best way to protect foreign investments and the Wealthy Oligarchies that are pouring capital in North Africa is, Initially to share the cake between these emerging super holdings under the control of few families then use the institutions of the state to protect them and legislation (under a credible democracy) to legitimize the whole process. The more economical and financial assets are consolidated, like an accordion, the more liberties people are having. Massive Infrastructure projects are taking place and wherever the unemployed is removed the islamists are beaten. It is as simple as that. Islamist will be suffocated under that system as their relevance will diminish with time. The independence of the judiciary and the army will be necessary (see what has happened in Turkey for many years) to protect the Status Quo and anybody resorting to political intimidation or violence will be labelled as terrorists and all measures regardless of their severity to redress this immediate treat will have all the blessing of the international community. This is already starting to happen as we speak.
Other issues such as the abolition of capital punishment (In practice there is no capital punishment in Morocco) are being debated in the parliament. A General reform of Moroccan Nationality has been passed by parliament. I lived in Morocco during Hassan II 25 years ago and believe me it is heaven on earth now. To just dismiss these changes is simply a deception. There is a relentless process of total privatizations of public utilities and assets. The real Estate prices are going up the roof (A meter of land in the Centre of Tangier or Marrakesh will cost more than twice the price in Toronto, London or Paris ) The emergence of a middle class with an extremely entrepreneurial spirit and consumerism will reshape the politics of the country. Many years ago I used to visit Spain and Portugal regularly and believe me it was hundreds of times worse than any country I visited in North Africa today. It took all the might of the west and after billions of EU tax payer’s money to make some meaningful democracy out of many of these southern European countries. If only 10% of that effort was invested in any country south side of the Mediterranean we will have democracies as dynamic as any European country. They will be a beacon of hope for the whole region. Sadly there is no political appetite for that. The Arab world is a mosaic with different truths. For a start a Berber is neither a Khalligi nor a Somali is a Syrian. They have different realities and priorities. What do you mean by change?? What democratic institutions Poland had under General Wojciech Jaruzelski _ What did Walesa (apart from the politburo) find that does not exist today in the Arab world? It was just a historical fortuitous event that happened in Russia and cascaded across Eastern Europe. If we manage the same in one Arab country the rest will follow. That is exactly what happened during the independence movement, the same will happen once the democratization process starts. However, the mess the USA created in Iraq is not helping at all. I think I know who you are talking about when you bring up “ Sharia” – Kuwait, with all 3 million of them (Not even the population of Casablanca) and Saudi-Arabia with the surrounding mini states I could not find on the map. All in all, it is the population of one country in the Maghreb. This is the political analysis of “Fox News” not anybody with one iota of objectivity and common sense. It is exactly like viewing the whole west through a specific lens and coming up with all type of ludicrous conclusions. Portraying the plurality and diversity of the Arab world through the mini gulf emirates prism is simply criminal. People have lost there lives and have been tortured, exiled for the advance of democracy in many Arab countries. Who are you to come and erase them from our collective memory because you are an ignorant? Where were people like you during the Years of Lead? Where was the west apart from doing the dirty job of those dictators? (Include the CIA and French intelligence, in disposing of dissidents).. I want to know one thing, where was the west when warplanes and heavy weaponry attacking major Urban areas for daring to challenge the regime. Cities like Casablanca, Tangiers, Al-Husseima, Nador, and Oujda were bombarded. Democratic Student Movements crashed and attacked like in the University of Fes, Casablanca. Hundreds of political activists disappeared and some until today we do not where their remains are. There was a wall of silence in Paris, Washington and in all European capitals. The West has a serious disease called selective historical Amnesia In the sixties, seventies, and eighties all this movement were spontaneous, advocating more democratic polical participation and a transparent accountable government. Most of the leader of those movements and political parties were thrown in jail. People like Driss Benzekri who became in 1993 “Equity and Reconciliation Commission and International Criminal Court” Director. People like Abderrahim Bouabid, Anis Balafrej, Abraham Serfati, Abdelatif Zeroual, Sion Assidon, Saida Mnebhi, and thousands like them. (If you want to whole list get « Le Reigne Hassan II ») Contemporary Islamism at the time was supported financed and helped to flourish by the USA to stop the advance of communism and influence of the Soviet-Union in the Middle East. It was contained and limited to miniscule pockets in Islamic world. Islamism as it exists today was totally unknown in many countries in the Arab world. Whereas I believe that tyranny is not the monopoly of totalitarian regimes, you think that Democracies are incapable of being tyrannical or they are justified in doing so. Whereas I think they can be as manipulative as deceitful and as hungry for blood as any dictatorship. You hail them as the new messianic absolute truth. I see democracies as the best of a bad lot. If communism has failed, Western Democracies have not resolved our problems. However, they still and remain mankind only hope for a better life. Yes we are back to “The Ring of Gyges”, and not much has changed since then. Sadly, your motives and drive seem to me to be of a sectarian nature.