The Arab Freedom Epic By: Rami G Khouri.

[canadian]

The Arab freedom epic

Published On Tue Feb 1 2011

A youth waves Egyptian flags in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Tuesday as protests against the Mubarak regime continue.
Peter Macdiarmid/GETTY IMAGES
Rami G. Khouri




LONDONWhat a supreme irony it was for me to be in London and Paris between Saturday and Tuesday this week, as the popular revolt against the Hosni Mubarak regime reached its peak in Cairo, Alexandria and other Egyptian cities.
To appreciate what is taking place in the Arab world today you have to grasp the historical significance of the events that have started changing rulers and regimes in Tunisia and Egypt, with others sure to follow.
What we are witnessing is the unravelling of the post-colonial order that the British and French created in the Arab world in the 1920s and 30s and then sustained with American and Soviet assistance for most of the last half century.
It is fascinating but quite provincial to focus attention as much of the Western media is doing on whether Facebook drove these revolts or what will happen if Muslim Brothers play a role in the governments to be formed. The Arabs are like a bride emerging on her wedding day and many people are commenting on whether her shoes match her gloves, when the real issue is how beautiful and happy she is.
The events unfolding before our eyes are the third most important historical development in the Arab region in the past century, and to miss that point is to perpetuate a tradition of Western Orientalist romanticism and racism that has been a large cause of our pain for all these years. This is the most important of the three major historical markers because it is the first one that marks a process of genuine self-determination by Arab citizens who can speak and act for themselves for the first time in their modern history.
The two other pivotal historical markers were: first, the creation of the modern Arab state system around 1920 at the hands of retreating European colonial powers. Some of them were intoxicated with both imperial power and, on occasion, with cognac, when they created most of the Arab countries that have limped into the 21st century as wrecks of statehood.
Then, second, the period around 1970-80 when the Euro-manufactured modern Arab state system turned into a collection of security and police states that treated their citizens as serfs without human rights and relied on massive foreign support to maintain the rickety Arab order for decades more.
Now, we witness the third and most significant Arab historical development, which is the spontaneous drive by millions of ordinary Arabs to finally assert their humanity, demand their rights, and take command of their own national condition and destiny.
Never before have we had entire Arab populations stand up and insist on naming their rulers, shaping their governance system, and defining the values that drive their domestic and foreign policies. Never before have we had self-determinant and free Arab citizenries. Never before have we had grassroots political, social and religious movements force leaders to change their cabinets and reorder the role of the armed forces and police.
This is a revolt against specific Arab leaders and governing elites who implemented policies that have seen the majority of Arabs dehumanized, pauperized, victimized and marginalized by their own power structure; but it is also a revolt against the tradition of major Western powers that created the modern Arab states and then fortified and maintained them as security states after the 1970s.
The process at hand now in Tunisia and Egypt will continue to ripple throughout the entire Arab world, as ordinary citizens realize that they must seize and protect their birthrights of freedom and dignity.
It is a monumental task to transform from autocracy and serfdom to democracy and human rights; the Europeans needed 500 years to make the transition from the Magna Carta to the French Revolution. The Americans needed 300 years to transition from slavery to civil rights and womens rights.
Self-determination is a slow process that needs time. The Arab world is only now starting to engage in this exhilarating process, a full century after the false and rickety statehood that drunken retreating European colonialists left behind as they fled back to their imperial heartlands.
It takes time and energy to relegitimize an entire national governance system and power structure that have been criminalized, privatized, monopolized and militarized by small groups of petty autocrats and thieving families. Tunisia and Egypt are the first to embark on this historic journey, and other Arabs will soon follow, because most Arab countries suffer the same deficiencies that have been exposed for all to see in Egypt.
Make no mistake about it, we are witnessing an epic, historic moment of the birth of concepts that have long been denied to ordinary Arabs: the right to define ourselves and our governments, to assert our national values, to shape our governance systems, and to engage with each other and the rest of the world as free human beings, with rights that will not be denied forever.
In January 2011, a century after some Arabs started agitating for their freedoms from Ottoman and European colonial rule, and after many false starts in recent decades, we finally have a breakthrough to our full humanity.
Rami G. Khouri is editor-at-large of Beiruts Daily Star, and director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut.(http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/931803--the-arab-freedom-epic)

 

[canadian]

Excellent article on happenings in The Middle East.

 

[canadian]

End Of An Empire By: Thomas Walkom.

Egypt and the end of empire (again)
Published On Wed Feb 2 2011
By Thomas Walkom National Affairs Columnist




The 1956 Suez crisis confirmed that a bankrupt Britain could no longer dominate the world. Egypts current upheaval is a sign that Americas era is coming to an end. For Canada, the decline of yet another imperial protector means wrenching change.
In substantive terms, the differences between 1956 and now are vast. Then the crisis was over who ran the Suez Canal. Now it is about who runs Egypt itself.
But like the Suez crisis, todays events signal that a dramatic shift in global power has occurred.
Like Britain in the 1950s, America no longer has the wherewithal to maintain its empire. It is crippled by debt. Its industrial economy has been savaged.
Even its currency is under siege, as up-and-comers like China and Brazil muse about the need for a new international standard of value.
While vowing to cut spending, Americas politicians have so far refused to significantly scale back the countrys immense and expensive war machine.
But like Britain after World War II, Washington will soon have no choice. The American people will simply not agree to see police and fire services at home slashed just to keep troops in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, North Africa, South Korea and Japan.
Nor, as events spiral out of control in countries like Egypt and Tunisia, will the U.S. easily be able to keep its stable of client states in line. Empire is just too pricey
In 1956, events in Egypt forced Canada to choose between a declining imperial power with which it had sentimental ties and a new, harsh reality.
Then the declining power was Britain which, along with France and Israel, had decided to seize Egypts recently nationalized Suez Canal.
Reality, meanwhile, was represented by the U.S. the worlds newest great power and one that did not approve of Britains Suez adventure.
Canadas response was rather brilliant. In effect, it sided with the U.S. by refusing to endorse Britains attack.
But at the same time, it disguised this support by inventing the concept of United Nations peacekeeping.
The prospect of having peacekeepers patrol the Israeli-Egyptian border muddied the issue and allowed the real miscreants France and Britain to withdraw their troops from the canal zone with a modicum of dignity.
Today, however, there is no recognition on Ottawas part that the world has changed.
Instead, Canadas Conservative government as well as the opposition Liberals continue to carefully toe the American line.
Like U.S. President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he wants democratic reform in Egypt but not necessarily now and not in a manner that would upset American strategic interests.
As Obama calibrates his position from day to day, Canada acts in lockstep.
What Ottawa seems to forget, however, is that the U.S. no longer has the power to make countries like Egypt accede to its wishes.
The Americans are increasingly pinning their hopes on Mohamed ElBaradei to act as a moderate replacement for dictator Hosni Mubarak who now has promised to step down in September.
Yet history suggests that ElBaradei, who lacks any popular base, would soon be replaced by the real alternative power centres in Egypt which are more Islamic and less Israel-friendly than Washington would like.
A more realistic Canadian foreign policy would take this into account.
Its true that no single country is yet powerful enough to replace the U.S. Its also true that America, like Britain 55 years ago, is a sentimental favourite among Canadians.
But as an imperial power, the U.S. is not what it was. We have to come to terms with that.(http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/931623--walkom-egypt-and-the-end-of-empire-again)

 

[haqiqat]

The Egyptian Revolution in Context

The Egyptian Revolution in Context

Tue, 02/01/2011 - 02:19 james The protests in Egypt are not wholly a product of Mubarak's mistreatment of the Egyptian population for the last thirty years. Israel is heavily involved with the troubles, too.
Israel wants three things to come out of this conflict-
A pipeline transporting water from the Nile to Israel for their swimming pools.
Control of the Suez Canal, as it is a choke point for trade between Europe and Asia (read China) and
The break up of Egypt to remove it as a military force and as an economic ally of China
The long held dream of the Zionists for Israel is a land stretching from the Nile to the Euphrates. They are already in Iraq on the banks of the Euphrates through their proxy, the US. The two blue stripes on the Israeli flag represent these two rivers (though this will be denied).
The Israeli Govt has been putting pressure on Egypt for some years now to deliver on Anwar Sadat's promise to pipe Nile water to Israel as part of the agreement to regain the Sinai Peninsula which was occupied by Israel after its attack on Egypt, Jordan and Syria in 1967. Though this agreement was alluded to in press briefings at the time it was not spelled out and is not widely known. Mubarak has been holding out and recently stated outright that no Egyptian water would be delivered to Israel.
Israel has been lobbying the countries of the Upper Nile to gain access to cheap (of course) Nile water and to pressure Egypt into reviewing old water sharing agreements, dating back to the days of British rule, that greatly favour Egypt. Israel has been encouraging these countries, Sudan, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda to build new dams and irrigation projects to bring Egypt to the negotiating table. But Mubarak has not wanted to negotiate a new agreement with these countries as it will inevitably mean less water for an increasingly thirsty Egypt. Equally, Mubarak cannot agree to the generally unpublicised Israeli demands for water because no one in Egypt would stand for it. Never mind the fact that they don't have the water to spare. Israel would know all this and so have been jamming Mubarak in between a rock and a hard place. And they are keeping him there still.
The pressure has been upped further with the coup in Tunisia in which Israel is complicit and suggesting that Egypt would be next. Wikileaks has been playing its a part too. The expectations of a government overthrow have been raised exponentially, setting the scene for civil disturbance.
Also not widely known is the fact that there already exists a pipeline delivering water from the Nile to Al Arish in the Sinai, forty kms from the Israeli border. This same area is now being touted as an area of armed civil unrest. This link (h/t to AP of Twelfth Bough) takes you to a story that is doubly interesting once this pipeline is borne in mind. Egyptian solders have been cleared by Israel to enter the Sinai to control this situation. However, equally possible is that Israel put pressure on Cairo to send these troops to set up a manufactured threat to Israel 'security' and thus providing the cassus belli for war leading to the capture of the Suez Canal and perhaps further to the Nile to gain access to water. The article linked above is laying the storyline for a future Israeli invasion into Sinai and onto the Suez Canal.

Map source
The Suez Canal is one of the major world sea route choke points. It sees most of the sea traffic between Europe and Asia. No doubt it generates some serious income. But it is the ability to close it down that gives the controller power over other countries including China. These two points would be very appealing to Israel, well known for exploiting any advantage. In the event of the Straits of Hormuz being blocked through war with Iran, the importance of the Suez Canal will skyrocket because oil tankers will have to use it or suffer huge further economic penalties through having to navigate round the Cape of Good Hope. China will be very vulnerable because US and NATO rule the seas and the more time China's tankers spend at sea, the more vulnerable they are to attack or seizure.

Map source
Israel is currently planning to pipe oil undersea to Haifa from the pipeline head at Ceyhan in Turkey that brings Caspian Basin oil to the Mediterranean Sea. There is also a pipeline under construction through Iraq paralleling an old (but still functional, I'm told) pipeline to Haifa. There is a planned expansion of an existing pipeline down to the port of Eilat from Haifa and from there by tanker through the Gulf of Aqaba into the Red Sea and beyond to Asia. Israel intends to plant itself in the middle of the oil trade routes. This will give Israel a lot of power over Europe and Asia and Israel will certainly use this to gain concessions at every turn. The pipelines to the ports of Haifa and Eilat together with the Suez canal are critical control points to choke off oil to China in the event of war.

314369.jpg
Map source
The US and Israel are currently causing trouble for Yemen, Somalia, Sudan and now Egypt. All these countries adjoin the strategic sea route of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Other countries on the Red Sea are Saudi Arabia, Eritrea and Djibouti. Can they expect the same? I think so.
The Muslim Brotherhood and the Egyptian Army are standing on the sidelines while the protests continue to grow awaiting their cue.
I believe the protesters are very genuinely angry after thirty years of repression. I also believe they are being deliberately further enraged by the police and the looters and not to mention the snipers (who could well be Israelis, as in Tunisia) to provide the excuse for a violent crackdown which will usher in an "extreme" government that will include the Muslim Brotherhood and the army.
So in this sense, the people, the protesters, are being set up as patsies. The more violently they react, the better as far as the psychopaths (MB, the Egyptian Army and the israeli armed forces) are concerned. And just in case they don't, there will be plenty of agent provocateurs on hand, I'm sure.
The new "extreme" government (with strings leading back to Israel and the CIA through their long held connections to both the army and the MB) will provide a cassus belli for war with Israel who will plead 'self defence', as they always do.
So the army and MB, too, are being set up as patsies. Egypt is sending troops into the Sinai (with israel's approval - read 'request') to become a 'threat to their existence' along with armed protesters - all fabricated, of course. The resulting war and internal civil strife for Egypt will lead to it being broken up into at least two countries, Upper and Lower Egypt and weakening and impoverishing it in the process
My hope is that the Egyptian people can see what is coming and take whatever measures they can to head off this scenario and somehow grab victory for themselves out of this. And that through their local leaders, they can actually get in control of it.
The US, the UK through NATO together with Israel are past masters at Balkanising countries that have strategic importance to them. The process impoverishes these countries through weakening their ability to resist the criminal trade in drugs and humans (incl body parts) that NATO sponsors. This trade in death and despair funds wholesale corruption throughout these societies further weakening them.
Kosovo, for instance, is far worse off now than it ever was. As is every single country that has seen military intervention from the great liberators, US and NATO and the budding colonialists, Israel. This fate awaits the people of Egypt. They will cease to be a military threat of any kind. They will be defenceless against NATO and they will become stepping stones for NATO's jackboots as it marches towards its goal of full spectrum dominance of the whole world. Egypt is about to be transformed into another stepping stone by these massive forces if things continue to go to plan for the Globalists.
However, . . . . however, . . everything doesn't go according to their plans. The Globalists have failed to bring in their planned One World Currency. They have failed to maintain control over Russia with the rise of Vladimir Putin. They have failed to launch a war on Iran and the have failed to cower them as well. They failed in their invasion of Lebanon in 2006 and they failed to start a world war through that. This planned attack against Egypt is a response, in part, to their failure to gain access to the Litani river in Lebanon. They failed to provoke a wider war through their absolutely inhuman bombing of Gaza. They have failed to overthrow and retake the governments of Venezeula, Bolivia and Equador.
The forces of the Globalists and their consequent effects are threatening and everywhere to be seen. But the forces that have rebuffed them have all been unseen. They seemed to materialised out of nowhere. The people who came down out of the hills to rescue their leader, Hugo Chavez, and save their revolution; the people of South Lebanon who organised and believed in themselves who overwhelmed and repulsed the 'spare no expense' army of Israel; these were not foreseen.
So let us pray for the people of Egypt that they see the enemy for what it is more and more and it's plan in the immediate future. Let us trust that they will prevail through yet unseen methods using unseen resources and unexpected assistance. Their fate is our fate.
Spread the knowledge that is coming in from and going out to Egypt. Spread it around the world. Post links and share the goodwill and show support in any way you can think of. The forces of darkness gain their power to a very large extent through deceit; through hiding their plans, their intentions and their methods. Every bit of exposure helps.
Many thanks go to McJ for providing the maps and assistance in loading them