Hurriya is Arabic for Freedom:
Just Listen to Egypt Roar
by Ramzy Baroud
“Just
listen to that roar,” urged a CNN correspondent in Egypt, as thousands
of Egyptian protesters charged, fists pumped, against hundreds of armed
Egyptian security forces. What a roar it was, indeed. The protests have
shown the world that Arabs are capable of much more than merely being
pitiable statistics of unemployment and illiteracy, or powerless
subjects of ‘moderate’ but ‘strong’ leaders (an acronym for friendly
dictators).
The
times are changing, and British MP George Galloway’s comment about the
Arab lion roaring again seems truer by the day. The Egyptians have
revolted in style, and their revolution will go down in history books
with such adjectives as “great”, “noble” and “historic”.
Truth
be told, Arabs have had their fair share of conjured ‘revolutions’.
Arab regimes have always been generous in how they ascribed the loaded
term to their military coups or other stunts designed to impress or
intimidate the masses. Any modern history of the Arab world will reveal
an abundant use of the term ‘thawra’ – revolution.
The label has been
useful, for those who dared criticize a regime, or demanded basic rights
(such as food) could then be dubbed enemies of whatever make-belief
revolution the men in power championed. Innumerable Arab political
prisoners were designated ‘a’da’ al-thawra’ – enemies of the revolution –
and they paid a heavy price for their ‘crimes’.
In Egypt
alone, rough estimates put the current number of political prisoners
(from different ideological backgrounds) at 20,000. The figure must be
much larger now that the new enemies of the revolution – i.e. most of
the Egyptian population – have dared demand freedoms, rights, democracy,
and the biggest taboo of all: social justice.
If there is any revolution deserving of the name, it is this one. Thanks to Egypt,
people the world over have been forced to re-think their previous idea
of “Arabs”. Even many of us who insisted that the future of the Middle East
could only be decided by the people themselves had eventually started
to lose hope. We were told our words were redundant, sentimental, and,
at best, an opportunity for poetic reflection, but not realpolitik. Now
we know we have been right all along. Egypt is the clearest possible manifestation of the truth of people shaping their own history - not just in the Middle East, but anywhere.
The spontaneous popular revolution in Egypt
was a most befitting uplift to the collective humiliation that Arabs
have felt for so many years, but even more acutely since the US invasion and utter violation of Iraq.
“It
became almost a burden being an Arab”, a caller told Al Jazeera.
Looking “Middle Eastern” became sufficient grounds for suspicion in
international airports. It was not considered entirely racist to ask
such questions as “Are Arabs capable of achieving democracy?” In fact,
heated media discussions emanated from the type of questions that
pondered what Arabs were – or rather, were not capable of achieving.
Every war against the Arabs was done in the name of “bringing” something
to people who seemed impeded by their own collective failures. In one
of my first political science classes at the University of Washington, years ago, the professor told us that we would be “examining the Middle East, which consists of strong governments and weak peoples.” With the exception of Israel, of course.
The media has long repeated the mantra that Israel is the Middle East’s only democracy. Combined with serious doubts regarding the Arabs’ readiness for democracy, the conclusion offered is: Israel carries similar values to the US, the West, the First World,
the civilized hemisphere, and the Arabs epitomize all the ailments of
the world. It matters little that Arab regimes were made ‘powerful’ by
the backing of their western benefactors, or that oppression – in the
name of fighting the enemies of peace and progress – was urged, financed
and orchestrated with western interests in mind. The fact that the
bullets and canister teargas that killed and wounded numerous Egyptians
had the following words inscribed on it in Arabic: ‘suni’a fi al-wilayat
al-mutahida al-amrikyia’ – Made in the United States – was also deemed
entirely irrelevant to any discussion on how and why Egyptians were
being suppressed or why the Arab Lion must never find its roar.
“The much-feted Mossad was taken by surprise,” wrote Uri Avnery. The CIA was too, although US lawmakers are trying to determine “whether the CIA
and other spy agencies failed to give President Obama adequate warning
of the unfolding crisis in Egypt” (as reported by Greg Miller in the
Washington Post, February 4). Senator Dianne Feinstein who heads the
Intelligence Committee, accused the intelligence community of ‘lacking”
performance. The CIA should have monitored Facebook more closely, she suggested.
But
there can be no telling when a nation revolts. Most of the chanting
multitudes have no Facebook accounts. They don’t tweet either. In Tahrir Square,
a man with a moustache, dark skin and handsome features carried a
cardboard sign on which he had written, rather hurriedly: “I want to
eat. My monthly salary is 267 (Egyptian) pounds – approx $45 – and I
have four children.”
Others
want to breathe the air of freedom. Others still want justice. Dignity.
Equality. Democracy. Hope. How can such values be measured, or
safeguarded against?
There is a very popular word in Egypt
- al-Sabr. It means patience. But noone could predict when the patience
would run out. Arab and Egyptian intellectuals didn’t see it coming,
and even the country’s opposition parties were caught by surprise.
Everyone tried to catch up as millions -of long-oppressed Egyptians
erupted in astounding unison: hurriya, hurriya, adalah igtimayyia –
freedom, freedom, social justice.
Just when we were told that a religious strife was about to engulf Egypt,
and that the people were subdued to the point that there was no hope,
millions of brave Egyptians declared a revolution that brought Muslims
and Christians together. The courage and the bravery they displayed is
enough to restore our faith in the world - in the human race, and in
ourselves. Those who are still wondering if Arabs are capable of this or
that need not ponder anymore. Just listen to them roar, and you will
find the answer.
-
Ramzy Baroud (www.ramzybaroud.net) is an internationally-syndicated
columnist and the editor of PalestineChronicle.com. His latest book is
My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza's Untold Story (Pluto Press, London), available on Amazon.com.
