BEIRUT — In the span of five days last week, I had the pleasure of participating in five different events that brought together concerned civil society activists, assorted professionals, academics, and a few public figures from across the Arab world. These gatherings are routine nowadays, but are also noteworthy because they mirror a wider determination among Arab men and women to chart a new path out of the mediocrity, violence and despair that define many aspects of Arab society these days.
This trend stands in sharp contrast to the two other main dynamics that define the region, and that we also witnessed last weekend: the American government meeting with assorted “moderate” Arab regimes to forge slightly dreamy plans that have no realistic hope of success, because they do not have the support of public opinion; and, Islamist forces that enjoy large support among the Arab public, but have no clear answers to the real challenges that face our countries, such as employment, democracy and dealing with foreign powers, including Israel and the United States.
Briefly, here are the five events that I participated in last week:
1. A public panel discussion at the American University of Beirut on the role of civil society and think tanks in promoting change in this region, with two leading Arab activists and intellectuals: Dr. Paul Salem of Lebanon who heads the new Beirut-based (but regional) Carnegie Middle East Center, and Dr. Saadedine Ibrahim of Egypt who founded and heads the Ibn Khaldoun Center for Development in Cairo.
2. A brainstorming session with a group of 20 students, civil society activists and journalists from the Arab World, Europe and the United States, who came to Beirut as part of a trip to Jordan and Palestine to learn of developments on the ground, and to explore how to promote joint work with colleagues from those countries. Most of them were affiliated with the Ibn Khaldoun Center or the American University of Cairo.
3. An evening panel discussion at Al-Burj bookshop in downtown Beirut to honor the late Samir Kassir’s memory, on the occasion of the Arabic-language publication of his history of Beirut book. Kassir was assassinated in 2005, though his work and life continue to inspire many people who share his commitment to a brand of Arab modernity that weds the best of universalist democratic values with the riches of Arab history and identity.
4. The next day, I flew to Amman, Jordan, for the first of a series of regional seminars organized by the Beirut-based Arab Center for the Development of the Rule of Law and Integrity, a Beirut-based non-governmental organization working to analyze and improve the state of the judiciary, mass media and political participation in the Arab region.
5. Back in Beirut, I attended a full-day seminar on Saturday, 13 January, exploring the positive and negative aspects of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 that ended the Israel-Hizbullah war last August. Organized by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation of Germany and the local Cultural Movement in the Antelias region of north Beirut, the gathering brought together distinguished scholars, lawyers, activists, UN officials, diplomats and politicians of all shades.
I mention these events not because they are especially noteworthy or unusual, but precisely because they are so routine. Similar gatherings take place in scores of Arab cities every week, throughout the year. Committed individuals and concerned organizations come together like this on the basis of a shared focus and aim: To analyze why our region suffers such low quality public politics and wasted national potential, while our societies are characterized by a wealth of individual talent, and human dignity and integrity.
This noteworthy dynamic brings together ordinary men and women and elite members alike who have seen their societies and lives degraded, yet who remain determined to chart a path to a better future. They refuse both the subservient tutelage of American hegemony and the imprecise final destination of Islamist mass mobilization. They are neither deterred by being jailed, beaten or intimidated, nor overly impressed by invitations to meet with Arab kings, emirs and presidents for life, or with their sons. They meet, talk, research and publish on crucial public issues, spark wider debates through the mass media, and challenge but also engage with authority.
Tens of thousands of determined, honest, and loyal Arab individuals demand to exercise responsibly their rights as citizens, rather than to retreat into the passivity of immobilized subjects. One day, they will generate enough momentum to break through the barriers that have confined them and their societies to the current state of mediocrity and immobilization. This is why I remain confident that the Arab world will see better days ahead, while autocrats and incompetent leaderships, along with their guards and sycophants, will face a moment of reckoning.
Rami G. Khouri is an internationally syndicated columnist, the director of the Issam Fares Institute at the American University of Beirut, editor-at-large of the Beirut-based Daily Star, and co-laureate of the 2006 Pax Christi International Peace Award.
Copyright ©2007 Rami G. Khouri / Agence Global
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Released: 16 January 2007
Word Count: 795
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