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Thursday, February 24, 2011
Arab Democracies Will Challenge
By RamÓN A. Flores
Albuquerque resident
It has been truly inspirational to see how the Egyptian people claimed democracy for themselves by overthrowing an autocratic regime which has been in power, in one form or another, since 1952. But as this democratic wave sweeps the Arab world once again the United States confronts its central dilemma in the Middle East: What is more important to the U.S., the promotion of democracy or its oil agenda and Israel's security?
Since August 1953 when the U.S. overthrew the democratically elected government of Mohammed Mossadegh because Iran nationalized its British dominated oil industry, the U.S. has consistently chosen to prop up autocratic regimes like the Shah of Iran or Hosni Mubarak while it verbally urges these regimes to be more democratic and respect the rights of their citizens.
A key factor in justifying this betrayal of America's historic commitment of democracy is the demonization of Islamic organizations in the Muslim World. We bought Mubarak's argument that we can't have authentic democratic processes lest the Muslim Brotherhood be elected and turn Egypt into a radical Islamic Republic like Iran. Indeed the Muslim Brotherhood as "bogeyman" has been the dominant theme of American pundits since Mubarak's overthrow.
Islamophobia has been a potent force in Western Civilization since the Crusades of the 11th and 12th centuries. Islamophobia is second only to anti-semitism (the hatred of Jews) as being the oldest of Western prejudices.
For the record, most sources agree that the Muslim Brotherhood as an organization did not become involved in the daily demonstrations of the Jan. 25 movement until the third day of demonstrations. Individual members of the Youth Wing of the Brotherhood had been involved with democratic youth movement since the beginning because they are young, tech savvy, liberally oriented educated people whose social profiles are nearly identical to the founders of the Jan. 25 movement.
The Youth Wing challenged the older, more conservative leadership of the Brotherhood to commit to the Jan. 25 movement. Just as the youthful democratic movement transformed Egypt it is also transforming the Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood was never the Islamofascist "Bogeyman" portrayed by Mubarak and American pundits and it is less so now.
The real challenge to American foreign policy is the vast majority of Egyptians regard Israel's grinding blockade of Gaza and the steady encroachments in East Jerusalem and the West Bank as ongoing atrocities demanding response. An authentically democratic Egypt, like the now democratic Turkey, will be less subservient to the United States, more oppositional to Israel, and friendlier to Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah than our good old reliable ally, the dictator Hosni Mubarak. Arab democracy will challenge the U.S. to clarify what it truly values: democracy or oil and Israel?
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