Has the Arab Spring wilted?

Gamal Hindawy

Sha'ban 11, 1433 2012-07-01

Letters To The Editor

by Gamal Hindawy (Letters To The Editor, Crescent International Vol. 41, No. 5, Sha'ban, 1433)

The great hopes aroused by the ouster of two long-ruling dictators in Tunisia and Egypt appear to have dimmed.

Two other dictators followed: Colonel Qaddafi of Libya (brutally murdered through a US-NATO attack) and Ali Abdullah Saleh eased from power through a Saudi-brokered deal in return for amnesty from prosecution, but others have managed to survive. This is especially true of the Saudi ruling family.

Dictatorial regimes have successfully diverted attention from their illegitimacy by focusing on Syria where the regime is not any better but the real game is different. Syria is targeted in order to damage the resistance front against Israel and to pave the way for an attack on Islamic Iran. In this criminal enterprise, the Saudi and Qatari regimes are playing a lead role. Turkey has been given a supporting role while the US, Israel and several European countries are providing logistical support.

The real reason for the lack of success must be found in the absence of muttaqi leadership as pointed out by Br. Zafar Bangash in his analysis in the June issue of Crescent (“Impediments to development in the Muslim world”). Muslims must avoid simplistic analysis of the reality facing them. The Ikhwan in Egypt may have missed an opportunity by not properly understanding the true nature of the military. They may end up paying a high price for it.

Gamal Hindawy

Los Angeles, CA, US