Revolutions in the Middle East – A HISTORIC MOMENT compiled by Sheila Musaji

Compiled by the always reliable and resourceful Sheila Musaji

 

The people of Tunisia were the first to stand up to a dictator and demand democracy.  Now Egypt and Yemen have joined them.  This is a moment of hope for real change and justice.  Pray for the people of these countries that they may have success.

President John F. Kennedy once said, “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”

SOME KEY ARTICLES:

Arab Americans Call On US To Support Egyptian Protestors, Niraj Warikoo http://www.newstime.co.za/WorldNews/Arab_Americans_Call_On_US_To_Support__Egyptian_Protestors/19689/

Arab Democracy and Israel: They Can be Compatible, Mitchell Plitnick http://palestinenote.com/blogs/blogs/archive/2011/01/28/arab-democracy-and-israel-they-can-be-compatible.aspx

4 Reasons Why Egypt’s Revolution Is Not Islamic, Haroon Moghul http://www.religiondispatches.org/dispatches/guest_bloggers/4133/4_reasons_why_egypt%E2%80%99s_revolution_is_not_islamic/

A ‘democracy Renaissance?’, Arsalan Iftikhar http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/01/28/iftikhar.egypt.protests/

A people defies its dictator, and a nation’s future is in the balance, Robert Fisk http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/robert-fisk-a-people-defies-its-dictator-and-a-nations-future-is-in-the-balance-2197769.html

Al Jazeera creates consciousness in Arab world, Susan Krashinsky http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/africa-mideast/al-jazeera-creates-consciousness-in-arab-world/article1887313/

Al Jazeera English, livestream from Egypt http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/2007829161423657345.html
Al Jazeera’s Egypt coverage embarrasses U.S. cable news channels, Alex Pareene http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/01/28/cable_news_egypt/index.html

All eyes on Egypt, Daniel Martin Varisco http://tabsir.net/?p=1354

Al Qaradawi tells government shooting protestors is haram http://abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&id=223207

Al Qaradawi calls on Mubarak to leave http://www.zawya.com/Story.cfm/sidANA20110129T142831ZPCO99

Al Qaradawi hails Tunisian people for their revolution http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=234253

ASSOCIATION OF BRITISH MUSLIMS SUPPORTS THE AWAKENING!, Mohammed Abbasi and Paul Salahuddin Armstrong
http://mmabbasi.com/2011/01/28/the-association-of-british-muslims-supports-the-awakening/

China micro-blogging sites censor ‘Egypt’ as search term http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jouZpFFMjFynq1IYbEUDeba-qCqQ?docId=CNG.67623850a684b3db3f7388147dd9cea7.1b1

Contemplating a post-Mubarak Egypt http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2010/05/201054113420341905.html#

Could this week’s protests actually effect lasting change?, http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/01/27/protests_egypt_mubarak_change/index.html

Days of rage, photographs of Egyptian revolution http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/01/25/day_of_rage?page=0%2C32

Did Someone Recycle the Shah of Iran’s Last Speech for Hosni Mubarak?, Shirin Sadeghi http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/15hnf2/www.huffingtonpost.com/shirin-sadeghi/did-someone-recycle-the-s_b_815694.html

Egypt flips internet kill switch, will the U.S., Dan Costa http://www.islamicity.com/m/news_frame.asp?Frame=1&referenceID=55468

Egypt Revolution: the purity protests, Mike Giglio http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-01-28/egypt-revolution-the-purity-protests/

Egypt, Tunisia and the youth revolt in the Middle East, Eboo Patel http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/eboo_patel/2011/01/the_youth_of_the_middle_east.html

Egyptian revolution, a very fine thing, Gary Leupp http://www.counterpunch.org/leupp01282011.html

Egypt’s day of reckoning, Robert Fisk http://www.islamicity.com/articles/Articles.asp?ref=IN1101-4455

Egypt’s new political dawn, Walter Ambrust http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2010/09/201093011464564228.html

Egyptians’ Fury Has Smoldered Beneath the Surface for Decades http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/29/world/middleeast/29mubarak.html

Mohamed ElBaradei: When Will the West Stand for Self-Determination?, Robert Naiman http://www.illumemag.com/zine/articleDetail.php?Mohamed-ElBaradei-When-Will-the-West-Stand-for-Self-Determination-13469

Mohamed ElBaradei: Egypt’s Potential Future Leader? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/28/mohamed-elbaradei_n_815529.html

From Tunisia to Egypt VIDEO, Tariq Ramadan http://www.tariqramadan.com/From-Tunisia-to-Egypt.html

German Government Supports Efforts For More Democracy In Egypt http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110128-705275.html

The Guardian running continuous updates on Egyptian protests http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2011/jan/28/egypt-protests-live-updates

How the US State Department fought to keep Twitter in Tunisia & Egypt http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/01/28/inside_the_state_department_s_arab_twitter_diplomacy

The Lede running continuous updates on the crisis in Egypt http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/29/latest-updates-on-protests-in-egypt-2/?partner=rss&emc=rss

Muslim Brotherhood: Don’t fear Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, Bruce Reidel http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-01-27/muslim-brotherhood-could-win-in-egypt-protests-and-why-obama-shouldn’t-worry/

Muslim Brotherhood a ‘wildcard’ in Egyptian uprising, Elizabeth Tenety http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2011/01/egypt_uprising_the_muslim_brotherhood_a_wildcard.html

Muslim Brotherhood: Fear of Islamists paralyzes the U.S., Tony Karon http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2044902,00.html

Online activism fuels Egypt protest, Fatma Naib http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/01/2011128102253848730.html

Protests in Egypt – live updates, The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/jan/27/egypt-protests

The road to Jerusalem runs through Tunis and Cairo, Philip Weiss http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/01/28/weiss_jerusalem_cairo/index.html

Tech world stunned at Egypt’s Internet shutdown http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/01/28/BU3T1HFPGM.DTL

Time to give democracy a chance, Shadi Hamid http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/01/29/hamid.egypt.democracy/

Tunisia: Raining on the Tunisian Revolution, Mona Eltahawy http://www.monaeltahawy.com/blog/?p=386

Tunisia: The Thrill and Consequences of Tunisia, Rami G. Khouri http://www.agenceglobal.com/Article.asp?Id=2484

Tunisia: The God’s that are failing, Mustafa Aykol http://thewhitepath.com/islam-muslims/the-gods-that-are-failing/

Tunisia offers a possible model for Arab reform without autocrats or theocrats, Hussein Ibish http://www.ibishblog.com/article/2011/01/25/tunisia_offers_possible_model_arab_reform_without_autocrats_or_theocrats

Tunisia: Reflections on Tunisia, James Zogby http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/82374

Tunisia’s Uprising and the Arab World, Mona Eltahawy http://www.monaeltahawy.com/blog/?p=381

Tunisia: Big trouble in Tunisia for America’s Mideast Raj, Eric Margolis http://www.ericmargolis.com/political_commentaries/big-trouble-in-tunisia-for-americas-mideast-raj.aspx

Tunisia: What Tunisia Means to the Arab World, Rami G. Khouri http://www.agenceglobal.com/article.asp?id=2481

US Policy: US reconsiders $1.5 billion in aid to Egypt http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2011/01/28/us_reconsiders_aid_egypt_1_5_billion/index.html and http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/01/201112915194130323.html

US Policies: On The Wrong Side of History, Joel Hirst http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joel-d-hirst/the-wrong-side-of-history_1_b_815389.html

US Policy: Rand Paul Wants to End foreign aid, including Israel and Egypt http://www.jta.org/news/article/2011/01/27/2742734/rand-paul-end-foreign-aid-including-israel

US Policies: Fear Extreme Islamists in the Arab World? Blame Washington, Jeff Cohen http://www.truth-out.org/jeff-cohen-fear-extreme-islamists-arab-world-blame-washington67267

US Policy and the Middle East Protests AUDIO, Rashid Khalidi http://www.thetakeaway.org/2011/jan/28/how-is-the-middle-eastern-media-reporting-on-protsets/

US Policy: Revolts in Middle East Stunning Repudiation of Bush Doctrine, Ian Fletcher http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ian-fletcher/revolts-in-middle-east-st_b_815536.html

US Policy:  Secret U.S. document exposes support for protestors http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/8289698/Egypt-protests-secret-US-document-discloses-support-for-protesters.html

US Policy: Democracy & Political Order – TAM article collection http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/democracy_political_order/

US Policy: Democracy, Freedom, and Imposition:  How Best Can the US Effect Democratization in the Middle East, Louay Safi http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/democracy_freedom_and_imposition_how_best_can_the_us_effect_democratization/

US Policy: America’s Image – How others see us, TAM article collection http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/americas_image_how_others_see_us/

US Policy: Double standards, TAM article collection http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/double_standards_corruption_secrecy/003115

US Policy: Reaction to President Obama’s Cairo Speech, TAM article collection http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/reaction_to_president_obamas_cairo_speech_article_collection/

US Policy: Egypt Protests Show American Foreign-Policy Folly, Stephen Kinzer http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-01-27/egypt-protests-shows-american-foreign-policy-folly/

US Policy: State of the Union and Obama’s disillusionment with world politics, Louay Safi http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/82504

US Policy:  No Longer Caring About Democracy, Bolton Disparages Egypt Protests And Defends Mubarak http://thinkprogress.org/2011/01/29/no-caring-democracy-bolton/

US Policy: Obama Forced to Rethink Mideast Policy as Protests Roil Cities in Egypt, Indira A.R. Lakshmanan http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-29/obama-forced-to-rethink-mideast-policy-as-protests-roil-cities-in-egypt.html

US Policy: President Obama, say the ‘D-Word’ , Mark Levine http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/01/201112811331582261.html

US Policy: Time for US to Recognize Democratic Islam, Alex Becker http://www.iviews.com/Articles/articles.asp?ref=IV1101-4453

Uncle Sam & The New Arab Revolt http://www.economist.com/blogs/lexington/2011/01/america_and_arabs

US Policy: Washington eyes a fateful day in Egypt, Marc Lynch http://lynch.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/01/28/a_fateful_day_in_egypt

US Policy: Western hypocrisy towards Arab World stands exposed http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-articles/leading-article-western-hypocrisy-towards-the-arab-world-stands-exposed-2197801.html

US Policy: Why can’t we watch Al Jazeera in the U.S.? http://www.salon.com/news/media_criticism/index.html?story=%2Fpolitics%2Fwar_room%2F2011%2F01%2F28%2Fdahl_al_jazeera

US Policy:  Most U.S. aid to Egypt goes to military http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/29/us-egypt-usa-aid-idUSTRE70S0IN20110129

US Policy: The United States and the Prospects for Democracy in Islamic Countries, Stephen Zunes http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephen-zunes/post_1617_b_812666.html

US Policy:  How did the U.S. get in bed with Mubarak?, Justin Elliott http://www.salon.com/news/egyptian_protests/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2011/01/29/egypt_america_alliance

US Policy:  Open Letter to Pres. Obama about Democracy Promotion in the Middle East and the Muslim World, CSID http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/open_letter_to_president_obama_about_democracy_promotion_in_the_middle/

Policy: What next for Egypt, the USA and the Middle East?, Alex Spillius http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/8290551/What-next-for-Egypt-the-USA-and-the-Middle-East.html

Why Egypt matters, Roger Hardy http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12311889

Will Egypt ignite the next big oil shock?, Andrew Leonard http://www.salon.com/technology/how_the_world_works/2011/01/28/is_egypt_the_next_big_oil_shock/index.html

With Egypt, Diplomatic Words Often Fail, Helene Cooper http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/30/weekinreview/30cooper.html

SPREADING DEMANDS FOR DEMOCRACY

Arab World: Arab rulers only option is reform http://www.islamicity.com/m/news_frame.asp?Frame=1&referenceID=55458

Arab World: From Tunis to Amman to Sana’a, wave of protest spreads across the region, Sam Jones http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/28/amman-sana-protest-arab-world

Arab World: How Tunisia’s revolution transforms politics of Egypt and region, Paul Salem http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2011/01/arab-world-how-tunisia-revolution-changed-politics-of-egypt-and-region-.html

Arab World: Will there be a domino effect? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12204971

Arab World: The Winds of Democratic Change in the Arab World,  Louay M. Safi http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/82480

Arab World: Greater Middle East Initiative (GME), TAM article collection http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/greater_middle_east_initiative_gmei/

Arab World:  The CASABLANCA CALL FOR DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS by Arab scholars and activists https://www.csidonline.org/component/content/article/591-casablanca-call-for-democracy

Arab World: PALESTINE PAPERS – A new truth dawns on the Arab world, Leaked Palestinian files have put a region in revolutionary mood, Robert Fisk http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-a-new-truth-dawns-on-the-arab-world-2194488.html

Arab World: More Tunisia’s please, Mona Eltahawy http://www.monaeltahawy.com/blog/?p=374

Arab World:  Government’s Reactions expose gulf between leaders and the people, Abeer Allam http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d9a223c8-2bc1-11e0-a14f-00144feab49a.html?ftcamp=rss#axzz1CSOQ0vO4

Iran: Ahmadinejad’s Days Are Numbered, Reza Aslan http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-11-23/iranian-lawmakers-move-to-impeach-president-mahmoud-ahmadinejad/

Jordanian protesters demand political reforms http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/28/us-jordan-protests-idUSTRE70R4L120110128

Jordan: Thousands of opposition supporters rally in Jordan, demand political freedoms, economic change http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5ipChGXej5wxuNz_4icXaNmcpOFmw?docId=5786088

Palestine:  Egypt’s uprising and its implications for Palestine, Ali Abunimah http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11762.shtml

Saudia Arabia: Is Saudi Arabia Next?  http://www.theburningplatform.com/?p=10317

Syria:  If Egypt falls, Syria must follow, Farid Ghadry http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2011/01/28/if-egypt-falls-syria-must-follow/

Yemeni protesters demand change of government – video http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2011/jan/27/yemeni-protesters-demand-change-video

THOSE WHO DON’T SUPPORT DEMOCRATIC CHANGE

Joe Biden says Egypt’s Mubarak no dictator, he shouldn’t step down… http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Backchannels/2011/0127/Joe-Biden-says-Egypt-s-Mubarak-no-dictator-he-shouldn-t-step-down

Pamela Geller cheers for mass arrests, worries that Obama will throw our “ally” under the bus http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/01/28/geller_egypt/index.html

Israel fears radical takeover in Egypt http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4020585,00.html

Israeli’s are wary of events http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704680604576110501958572620.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Pro-Israel groups cool to Egyptian protests, Justin Elliott http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/01/28/pro_israel_groups_egypt/index.html

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah slams the protestors http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/01/29/egypt.middle.east.reaction/

THINGS YOU CAN DO

Sign Credo Action petition to President urging Secretary of State State Hillary Clinton: Demand Mubarak resign and call for free and fair elections immediately here.  http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/egypt_free_elections/

MPAC has the information for you to take action and call or write the White House and your representatives about the situation in Egypt here http://www.mpac.org/issues/foreign-policy/action-alert-call-white-house-state-department-elected-officials-to-express-concern-over-egyptian-government-crackdown-on-peaceful-protests.php

QUOTES

They are demanding that Mubarak leave. The longer we hang to his coattails, the longer we are likely to look like the country that supported the Shah up to the bitter end.
— Rashid Khalidi

In Egypt, we British loved democracy. We encouraged democracy in Egypt – until the Egyptians decided that they wanted an end to the monarchy. Then we put them in prison. Then we wanted more democracy. It was the same old story. Just as we wanted Palestinians to enjoy democracy, providing they voted for the right people, we wanted the Egyptians to love our democratic life. Now, in Lebanon, it appears that Lebanese “democracy” must take its place. And we don’t like it.
— Robert Fisk

As young Arabs around the Middle East continue to use Twitter and Facebook to awaken versions of democracy Renaissance around the region, they would be wise to remember the concepts of nonviolent civil disobedience taught by such giants as Henry David Thoreau, Leo Tolstoy, Vaclav Havel, Lech Walesa, Mohandas K. Gandhi and the Rev. Martin Luther King.
— Arsalan Iftikhar

The Obama administration line (as summarized by Joe Biden, interviewed by Jim Lehrer on PBS), can be summarized as follows: Egyptians have the right to protest. Many are middle class folks, with legitimate concerns. But we should not refer to Mubarak as a dictator. It’s not time for him to go. He has been a key ally of the U.S. and Israel, in the “Middle East peace process” and the War on Terror. Egypt is dissimilar to Tunisia, and it would be “a stretch” to suggest that a trend is underway. The U.S. should encourage those protesting and Mubarak to talk. Everyone should avoid violence.
—Gary Leupp

And the lessons of Iraq and Tunisia and Egypt are that you don’t install democracy anywhere; no, democracy must arise from the people themselves, you damage the processes of establishing popular will by seeking to impose such a system. The western democratic revolutions also arose from within.    The lesson of Tunisia and Egypt for American foreign policy is that the United States is the most conservative force in the world, in this region. It didn’t see democracy coming because it didn’t want to see it coming to the Arab world and to the palaces we supported. And when democracy did come, the U.S. creditably reversed field in Tunisia, but has stuck by its dictator in Egypt.
—Philip Weiss

A somewhat similar pattern can be observed in Egypt, Syria and Iraq as well, in which independence from colonial rule led not to democracy but brutal autocracy. The secular dictators that dominated these countries promoted a combination of nationalism and socialism, while imprisoning, torturing and killing their political opponents, which included the Islamic groups. Factions among the latter grew radicalized, waging “jihads” against their oppressors, and, ultimately, their Western patrons.    In other words, the Westerners who are understandably alarmed about “Islamic extremists” today should understand that there is a political context that helped create these people – a context to which their governments, knowingly or unknowingly, often contributed.
— Mustafa Aykol

“What is indisputable, though, is that Tunisia has captured attention, generated excitement and become an inspiration to many Arabs. There is, of course, a difference between being inspired by a performance and repeating that performance.”
— James Zogby

“Dictatorships are stable,” I have often been told by friends who object to my unwavering commitment to democracy promotion, “In a dangerous world we need stability more than freedom.” My answer to them has always been, “dictatorships are stable, until they aren’t.” Their argument continues, “But not all cultures are the same,” they say, “they don’t all value individual freedom as much as we do, we should stop pushing on them our western ideals,” and with their words serving as judge, jury and executioner for the world’s oppressed.
— Joes D. Hirst

For decades beginning during the Cold War, US policy in the Islamic world has been aimed at suppressing secular reformist and leftist movements. Beginning with the CIA-engineered coup against a secular democratic reform government in Iran in 1953 (it was about oil), Washington has propped up dictators, coaching these regimes in the black arts of torture and mayhem against secular liberals and the left.    In these dictatorships, often the only places where people had freedom to meet and organize were mosques – and out of these mosques sometimes grew extreme Islamist movements. The Shah’s torture state in Iran was brilliant at cleansing and murdering the left – a process that ultimately helped the rise of the Khomeini movement and ultimately Iran’s Islamic Republic.
— Jeff Cohen

“The question is whether we spend that time focused on what pushes us apart, or whether we commit ourselves to an effort – a sustained effort – to find common ground, to focus on the future we seek for our children, and to respect the dignity of all human beings.”
—President Obama, Cairo speech 2009

Improving relations between the United States and Middle Eastern nations is not simply a matter of changing some policies here and there.  For too long, U.S. policy toward the Middle East has been fundamentally misguided. The United States, for half a century, has frequently supported repressive regimes that routinely violate human rights, and that torture and imprison those who dare criticize them and prevent their citizens from participation in peaceful civic and political activities. U.S. support for Arab autocrats was supposed to serve U.S. national interests and regional stability. In reality, it produced a region increasingly tormented by rampant corruption, extremism, and instability.
In his second inaugural address, President Bush pledged that the United States would no longer support tyrants and would stand with those activists and reformers fighting for democratic change. The Bush administration, however, quickly turned its back on Middle East democracy after Islamist parties performed well in elections throughout the region.  This not only hurt the credibility of the United States, dismayed democrats and emboldened extremists in the region, but also sent a powerful message to autocrats that they could reassert their power and crush the opposition with impunity.    In order to rebuild relations of mutual respect, it is critical that the United States be on the right side of history regarding the human, civil, and political rights of the peoples of the Middle East.  There is no doubt that the people of the Middle East long for greater freedom and democracy; they have proven themselves willing to fight for it. What they need from your administration is a commitment to encourage political reform not through wars, threats, or imposition, but through peaceful policies that reward governments that take active and measurable steps towards genuine democratic reforms. Moreover, the US should not hesitate to speak out in condemnation when opposition activists are unjustly imprisoned in Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, or elsewhere. When necessary, the United States should use its considerable economic and diplomatic leverage to put pressure on its allies in the region when they fail to meet basic standards of human rights.
—CSID Open Letter to Pres. Obama signed by 1,600 American –  Muslim and non-Muslim experts and scholars on the Middle East 2009

There is a difference in being an idealistic critic and an idealistic politician or even a statesman.  President Lincoln once equated the navigation of the ship of State with navigation through the Mississippi River; by necessity one has to follow the path of the river.  Even though one may be travelling south, when the river meanders to the north, one has to go along that short distance.  It takes time and sustained effort by a visionary leader to gradually institute new policies while educating and carrying the people along. It is not easy to challenge wrong policies and the propaganda of decades. Those idealistic politicians who get too far ahead and do not take appropriate time to educate the people are overwhelmed by the entrenched opposition and court failure. The good policies and noble intents find a place on the dust heap of history.
—Mirza Beg

The winds of democratic change are blowing in the Arab world and Arab states would be better off to accommodate rather than resist. Arab states can choose to either use its refreshingly young energy to build a more inclusive political order and more prosperous economy and society, or can ignore the writings on the walls and, hence, turn the winds into unpredictable storms.
— Louay Safi

“The Obama administration should take a firm stand with the forces of democracy in the Middle East and against the corrupt of dictators. By so doing, the United States does not only remain true to its values, but it will also invest in the refreshingly young future of the Middle East rather than its withering dictators.”
— Louay Safi

Failure now to support Egyptian men and women braving police bullets and batons, and being too closely identified with an ageing agent of tyranny, could wipe out Washington’s credibility with a generation of young Arabs. Cairo, the very city where the US president famously declared a “new beginning” in relations between the America and the Muslim world early in his presidency, could become the graveyard of that ambition.
— Alex Spillius