Some Arabs See Beginning of New Era
By DONNA ABU-NASR
Associated Press Writer
March 1, 2005, 3:16 PM EST
KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia -- It was a scene the Arab world's autocratic
regimes have dreaded -- and through the power of satellite TV, it
could catch on as fast as the latest hit music video: Peaceful,
enormous crowds carrying flags and flowers bringing down a government.
What happened in Lebanon this week, analysts say, is the beginning of
a new era in the Middle East, one in which popular demand pushes the
momentum for democracy and people's will can no longer be disregarded.
Television stations broadcast Beirut's protests live into homes,
coffee shops and clubs across the Middle East, with the dramatic
images of Lebanese youths wearing red-and-white scarves and waving the
country's red, white and green flag as they handed out roses Monday to
troops who had been ordered to block them. The coverage, lasting all
day with hardly a break on some stations, culminated with the
Syrian-backed government's resignation.
Inevitably, it raised the question among many spectators: What about
here?
"I wish this could happen in Yemen," Ahmed Murtada, an unemployed
Yemeni, said in San'a. "But here, tanks would prevail."
Anas Khashoggi, a 46-year-old management consultant in the Saudi city
of Jiddah, said he followed Monday's events from beginning to end. "I
wanted ... to see how the government reacts to the will of the
people," he said.
Was he disappointed? "Not at all," he said.
The scenes from Lebanon come as Saudis are having their first --
albeit small -- taste of democracy. In the second round of the
country's first nationwide elections ever, Saudi men go to the polls
Thursday in the kingdom's east and south to choose municipal councils.
The monarchy has been promising reform, but going slowly.
Newspapers in Saudi Arabia and Egypt -- authoritarian nations where
the state heavily influences the press -- did not shy away from
showing the protests.
"The Lebanese street joins the opposition," read the banner headline
across the front page of the Saudi daily Okaz, along with photos of
the Lebanese protest tents and a banner in Arabic reading, "We want
the truth."
In Syria, however, the state-controlled media was largely silent. It
reported on the resignation of Prime Minister Omar Karami but did not
mention -- much less show pictures -- of the protests. State TV aired
none of the dramatic footage the few Syrians with satellite dishes
could see with a flick of the channel.
Syria has kept a firm hand on its small reform movement. But it had a
rare instance of civil violence last year, when riots in March between
Kurds and police spread to parts of northeastern Syria and killed at
least 25 people in unrest sparked by a soccer brawl but fueled by
Kurdish resentment.
"What happened in Lebanon conforms with our hopes for every Arab
country," said Michel Kilo, a Syrian intellectual. "It was a rehearsal
for a peaceful popular movement that unfolded right before our eyes."
The protests in Lebanon -- triggered by the assassination of the
popular former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on Feb. 14 -- come on the
heels of a string of democratic steps in the Arab world, including
elections in Iraq and by the Palestinians, and Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak's promise to allow multi-candidate presidential
elections.
But the forcing out of Lebanon's government sets a very different
precedent in a region where freedom of speech is muzzled, human rights
activists are jailed and sons either succeed or are being groomed to
succeed their fathers.
"For the first time in the history of the Arab world, a country's
policy has come face-to-face with the will of the people who went down
to the street and said: 'We don't want you,'" said Dalal al-Bizri, a
Cairo-based Lebanese sociologist.
"The minimum feeling among Arab masses now will be: 'Are the Lebanese
better than us?'" she said.
Many may be wary of where the people spirit takes Lebanon. If the
protests drag the country into civil war or prompt a fierce Syrian
response, as some critics have warned, bloodshed could scare off
others.
Also, Lebanon's uniqueness in the region could lessen the events'
impact. Its 3.5-million people belong to 17 sects, with large
Christian and Shiite communities. Its press is the freest in the
Middle East. Its issues are with external domination from Syria, not a
domestic government, and the protests resulted from the explosive
trigger of Hariri's murder.
Still, with television making people power visible to all, "it's a
phenomenon that will catch on the way music video clips have caught
on," said al-Bizri.
It may not spread quickly, however. Sherine Bilal, a 19-year-old
Egyptian student, was wary of the limits imposed in her country, where
protests are usually restricted to university campuses.
"Here, if we try to demonstrate, we can only do it inside these
walls," Bilal said from at the American University in Cairo. "Even
then, it's only about certain things."
But Dawood al-Shirian, a Saudi talk show host on Dubai TV, had a
warning for Arab governments, pointing to Ukraine's Orange Revolution:
"Either they embrace the orange, or they will find themselves slipping
on the peels of bananas."
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"I have a simple four-word answer: Save Social Security first."
-- Bill Clinton (January 27, 1998 State of the Union Address)
"Why would I listen to losers?" -- Arnold Schwarzenegger
"Long term commitment in relationships is only necessary because it takes
so damn long to raise children. Marriage may well be some kind of trick
to keep the males around beyond sexual satiation." -- Captain Compassion
"Progress is the increasing control of the environment by life.
--Will Durant
Joseph R. Darancette
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