Tag Archives: Arab

A Letter to Humanity – Wake up, 2012 is near

Dear Humanity,

We will soon be entering 2012 – the beginning of the end. I am not a conspiracy theorist, and I do not think the world is going to end next year, but I believe we are going to witness a nexus of events that will change the world forever.

2011 was one of the most historic and memorable years in living history: from the Arab awakening; to the killing of bin Laden; the continuos downturn of the world economies as well as the Japan earthquake; we have seen events unfold that will shape the course of 2012.

There is no rescuing the euro crisis: nobody actually knows what is going to happen to the economies across Europe. America, too, is in an unimaginable amount of debt and there are little signs of improvement. Many political analysts are predicting that the US will attack Iran next year and this — as analysts suggest — could lead to World War III. You can read more about that here

If you haven’t realised by now, our countries are controlled by big corporations who care about profits over people. I was just in the U.S. – a country where the media, big food corporations and the pharmaceutical industry are all ‘in it together’. The media repeats adverts of junk food over and over again until it is indelibly printed within our subconscious; we are then given man-made drugs when we become ill, which, at best, suppresses our sickness. Never will the corporations and pharmaceutical industry recommend natural remedies – which are far more effective and better for us – simply because it will detract from their profits. Unlike here in Britain, the health care system in the U.S. is private – money is therefore made when people become ill. Get it?

Food, however, is just one of the means used to keep us in our sullen and stuporous state of somnolent sleep. The music industry and the major record labels will keep churning out the likes of Rihanna, Lady Gaga and Justin Beiber to keep us entertained and divert our attention away from what’s important in life.

We saw people demonstrating against the wealthy ’1%’ across the world this year – people’s consciousness is slowly changing and, because of the state of the world economy, people are unwilling to put up with corporate greed and capitalism.

Gil Scot-Heron’s famous line The Revolution Will Not Be Televised has been banded around a lot this year. One meaning of the phrase could be: true revolution occurs in the mind first before manifesting outwardly. And it’s true, little progress will be made in our society until we change our inward states. We have to first free ourselves from the shackles of our avaricious desires before we can change ourselves and, ultimately, implement freedom and change in society.

My intuition – whatever that may be – tells me that we need to prepare ourselves for whatever occurs next year. Things are changing and changing fast. We have been sleeping for far too long, it’s time to wake up. Unfortunately, what we don’t realise is if we worked together –  and stop killing and betraying one another – we would achieve far more together than we could ever do individually. Our short-sightedness and untamed inner self doesn’t always allow us to see it that way, however.

Truly, we are one human family but we often forget this. The Arabic word for human, Insaan, comes from the root word to forget. Our natural state is therefore inclined towards forgetfulness and headlessness. But these states manifest in people who are diverted away from Reality through mindless entertainment. People who are awake have a piercing insight into Reality. So let’s prepare ourselves and awaken to a new year which is in our hands, not theirs.

Your brother in humanity,

Omar Shahid

About these ads

Ex Director General of Al Jazeera Wadah Khanfar speaks at City University

Ex Director General of Al Jazeera, Wadah Khanfar, came to City University this evening for the annual memorial of the late James Cameron (journalist).

Khanfar resigned from his post at Al Jazeera on September 20 after eight years in charge.

Here is a summary of what he said:

  • With speculation that Al Jazeera could lose its impartiality now that it is being taken over by a member of the Qatari royal family, Khanfar said (I’m paraphrasing): ‘People aren’t stupid, if the coverage changes they will know and complain – maybe even stop watching the channel. What Al Jazeera have achieved in 15 years could be wiped out in 15 days.’
  • He also spoke of the importance of the next generation of journalists. He said they should do everything to protect themselves from being ‘hijacked from corporations and politicians.’
  • He also criticised America for their failings in Iraq. He said America have failed to understand the culture and history in Iraq. ‘They’ve [America] made so many mistakes  because of their ignorance and their inability to understand Iraq.’ He talked about the country’s rich history and how centuries ago, it thrived in a time that the West was lagging behind in terms of prosperity and development.
  • Khanfar was asked about Al Jazeera’s alleged lack of coverage in Bahrain. He said: ‘We were the first to report in Bahraini streets. We followed the story until the Bahraini rulers kicked us out.’ He also said: ‘The story of Bahrain was never as important as as other Arab countries.’ He cited that whereas in Libya where there was military interference and it became a international conflict, Bahrain never had the same sort of urgency. Furthermore, the demonstrations weren’t continuous but stopped and started.
  • One of the more interesting things he said was that: ‘there are people who don’t want the Arab spring to reach its destination.’ Meaning that those who have protested across the Middle East and North Africa have done so to achieve freedom and democracy. But democracy in some countries, of course, wouldn’t suit the interests of certain countries.
Omar Shahid
Follow me on Twitter: omar_shahid

Florence Nightingale & The Arab Revolutions

Florence Nightingale once wrote:

“[The] Arab would be the most thriving man in the world under any government but this. He will be beaten almost to death, as they often are, rather than give up.”

Thursday marked six moths since the beginning of the Syrian uprisings. Despite the systematic brutality of the regime – leading to 2,600 civilians deaths, according to the United Nations – protesters refuse to surrender. The regime has, with great ignorance, exacerbated the problem by murdering and torturing their own people.

Indeed, if there is one thing that the world should have learnt from the Arab spring – especially the dictators residing in the East – it is that Arabs, as Nightingale said, will not “give up.” True, many Arabs are protesting because they have been deprived of basic rights for decades, but what’s keeping them going now is the hatred of the regime that has killed their friends and family members. Perhaps in the case of Syria, the torturing and killing of children.

Nightingale travelled to Egypt in the mid-19th century when the country’s political conditions were despotic and corrupt. The rule of Mehmet Ali had just come to an end and one of his grandsons had just succeeded him (a clear example that nepotism is not a recent phenomena in the Arab world). Neither, in fact, is police brutality, as Nightingale remarked upon seeing a young boy being mistreated in Cairo:

“A police officer, who seized a miserable boy, threw him down, and dragged him away. The boy’s white turban came undone, and streamed upon the wind; the bastinado stick appeared: the Secretary (our friend) tried to interfere, but could do nothing. It made one quite sick, as all the details of government do in this horrid country.”

During Nightingale’s sojourn in the Arab world, her profundity helped her perceive certain truths – serving as a reminder of the stark similarities between the Arab world then and now.

While it might seem that not much has changed over the last 150 years – since the beginning of this year, we have seen: Tunisia’s Ben Ali, Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak and Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi all toppled respectively. But what really has been achieved?

Although Tunisia could well be on its way to a healthy democracy, parliamentary elections and the constitution will not be finalized for a year. Hosni Mubarak has been replaced with his crony – Field Marshal Mohammed Tantawi – who seems shy of reform. In Libya, many are dubious over the role the west will play in the country’s affairs. Syria has yet to see a high-profile ranking official defect – neither has there been any sign of discord within the Alawite sect that rules supreme. America has yet to completely denounce the regime in Yemen, as President Abdullah Saleh refuses to loosen his grip on power. And the smaller protests in Bahrain, Iraq, Morocco, Jordan, Oman, Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Sudan have not led to drastic changes.

This should not undermine the progress that has taken place, however.

While it is true that the protesters have initiated change in the Arab world, ultimately, it is the callousness of the regimes that have caused their own downfall. As we have seen in Syria and Yemen – where protestors are continually gaining momentum – when human beings are treated inhumanely, protests turn into revolutions.

Nightingale, Florence. Letters From Egypt: A Journey on the Nile: 1849 – 1850. Selected and Introduced by Anthony Sattin.

Omar Shahid

The Insane, Power Hungry Arab dictators & America

The Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, talked to Libyan state TV today, blaming the recent uprisings in his country on Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden. Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s former President, also blamed the Egyptian revolution on foreign forces. What has made these leaders become so detached from reality? Couldn’t have the protests have arisen because of the decades of repression and dictatorships? It is these sort of pugnacious, arrogant, egotistical gangsters who have ruled the Arab world for too long. But why have they been allowed to stay in power all this time?

According to Psychology today magazine, there are two types of power. There is socialised power and individualised power. The first type, is used to benefit others, whereas, the second, is using power for personal gain. It seems as if it is individualised power that most of the governments in the Arab world seem to have today. Many of the Arab countries have puppet governments, who far too often, sell themselves at the expense of their own nation. These rulers are the reason why their people live on less than $2 a day.

Many leaders delude themselves into thinking that they are using socialised power, when, in fact, they use their power only for personal gain. It is obvious that it is not just Arab leaders who deceive their people, Western leaders do too. English journalist Robert Fisk, believes the Iraq war was about oil- but more interestingly- America and England not only lied to their people, but also lied to themselves in order to justify what they were about to do.

I do not believe, though, that all the corrupt leaders in the world went into politics to repress their people and steal from their country. But what I do believe is that, ‘power corrupts’ and once a leader realises that the country’s affairs and resources are at his/her disposal, they become power hungry and want more and more. There is a saying in Arabic which says “If the son of Adam (humankind) had a mountain of gold, they would only want another one.”  The quest for materialism in order to attain happiness leaves an individual empty, as wealth and power do not lead to spiritual satisfaction. And this is why many of the Arab leaders refuse to give up power-they are never satisfied as they continue their quest for materialism.

Power is a very dangerous thing, and if abused, can lead to the hardening of the heart and corruption of the soul. If the heart and soul are not sound, a human being becomes totally detached from reality, and, in effect, will lose their mind. An Egyptian retired army general, Mahmoud Zahir, called Hosni Mubarak ‘mentally and psychologically ill.’

Algeria’s General Mohamed ‘Toufik’ Mediène, is the world’s longest serving intelligence chief, having been head of Algeria’s intelligence for almost 20 years. General Toufik once described himself as the ‘God of Algeria’- a man cleary suffering from illusions of grandeur.

The German President Christian Wullf called Gaddafi today a ‘psychopath.’ And, well, anybody who has seen Gaddafi’s recent speeches, has vague knowledge about his personality, or has even looked at his face, will probably question his sanity too.

It is these types of Arab dictators which America have funded with both wealth and military support. But these autocrats are now being threatened with the recent uprisings, and the prospect of a new dawn and civilisation in the Middle East beckons.

What many of us don’t know though, is what is happening behind the scenes. What actually caused these uprisings? Was it merely inevitable? Do regions always end up imploding after years of repression? Or has the CIA had a hand in what has happened in the Arab world in a canny attempt to overthrow the old Arab dictators and replace them with newer ones who will serve America’s interests to a greater degree than ever before? President Obama, however, rejected the claim that America has had anything to do with the uprisings in his speech about Libya yesterday.

Realistically, although President Obama called the violence in Libya ‘outrageous’ and condemned what was happening in the country, America has no real strategic interests in the Libya. Furthermore, 80% of the oil from Libya goes to Europe, so if anything, the protests in Libya will concern Europe much more than America. The same cannot be said about Bahrain, where both President Obama and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, have been reluctant to blame the Bahraini regime who – like the Libyan regime – have ordered the indiscriminate killings of protestors. Bahrain, for America, is a completely different ball game. Bahrain has 6,000 American military personnel, the country is also home to the US Fifth Fleet, a major logistics hub for US Navy ships, and is therefore a base for American warships.

What is still unclear for the time being is whether the uprisings across the Arab world will change the region for the better, or whether new puppet regimes will emerge as a result who will be just as brutal as their predecessors.

Muammar Gaddafi seems like the next Arab leader to be ousted from power after losing much support from his government; and as his support weakens both in his country and in the International community, it doesn’t seem as if he will be able to retain power for much longer.

I pose one last question. If America have been supporting dictators for decades and have treated them as allies, what does this tell us about the rulers and leaders America oppose and call ‘terrorists’? Does this make them the ‘good guys’ –  the ones who have not been corrupted by their power, maybe?

Omar Shahid