Tuesday, March 01, 2005
The "Arab Street" finally explodes
For a long time, one of the big pet phrases of the anti-war movement (also known as the anti-Israel movement, the pro-Islamist movement, the anti-American movement, and a host of other terms) has been "the Arab Street." This seemingly-mythical creature, they warned, would rise up and strike back against the US with great wrath should we not heed their wise counsel.
But for various and sundry reasons, the beast seemed to slumber, only occasionally rousing itself for a brief, yawning squawk before returning to somnolence.
Until recently.
In the last two months, I can honestly say I have seen the Arab Street actually rise up, make its voice heard, and bring about great changes.
The first was in Iraq. There the Street, in valiant defiance to the threats of the "insurgents," turned out and voted in the first free, democratic election in the Arab world.
The second was in Lebanon, when the Street finally stood up to Syria's nearly-30-year occupation and demanded their freedom.
After years of warnings, the Arab Street is finally speaking -- nay, shouting. And in contradiction to the predictions of the Left, it isn't calling for Death to America, Death to Israel, Death to the Infidels, Death to the Invaders, Death to all those who oppose us.
It's crying out for freedom.
It is finally time to listen to the "Arab street."
1 Comments:
By 
Gordon Smith, at
Tue Mar 01, 12:32:00 PM:
Jack,
I've been watching the middle east news, and I've been reading the right's take on the events there in the last few days.
Firstly, it's wonderful that those who long for freedom are making their voices heard and that the media is paying attention to these voices.
However, our MSM has some serious limitations, and one is its inability to integrate competing narratives. I think that the Arab Street is crying out for freedom, yes. But I think this has been happening in fits and starts for ages. The latest news of large demonstrations comes in the wake of Ukrainian demonstrations and, previously, Sistani's Iraqi demonstrations calling for elections the Bush administration didn't want to have.
The Ukrainians appear to have gotten the sweet end of the stick, and the jury's still out on Sistani's supporters. Maybe the Lebanese will secure their freedom, and maybe they won't. But either way, there will still be plenty of America-haters in the middle east to keep us worried for decades to come.
Broad generalizations about the democratic phenom sweeping across the Middle East are heartwarming, and, to Bush supporters, very relieving. However, the picture is more complex than Fox News is reporting.
I'll happily whack my forehead and say, "Gosh, that George Bush was right when he invaded Iraq based on lies! He's transformed the whole middle east into a petri dish of democracies!" But I'm not going to do it based on the news we've heard so far. That would be like proclaiming that democracy won over in China after seeing the column of tanks stopped by a courageous student.
Interesting and exciting stuff, isn't it? We live in interesting times.
