A Spark Becomes A Flame: Uprisings Shake The Arab World!

By Bill Fletcher
ZNet
February 4, 2011

http://www.zcommunications.org/a-spark-becomes-a-flame-uprisings-shake-the-arab-world-by-bill-fletcher

Just when it felt like Western imperialism had the upper
hand in North Africa and the Middle East, a firestorm
unfolded.  First in Tunisia, followed by sparks igniting
in Oman, Jordan, Algeria, Libya, Yemen, and, yes, Egypt,
uprisings and mass demonstrations have started shaking
the Arab World.

In many respects the uprising in Tunisia was among the
most surprising.  Tunisia, a virtual neo-colony for the
French since it first achieved independence in 1956, has
been ruled by two successive pro-Western dictators.
Yet, in a matter of days, stability devolved into a mass
movement against corruption, tyranny and economic
injustice.  The spontaneity of this upsurge, along with
those shaking the Arab World as a whole, does not mean
that there has been a lack of organization and a lack of
protracted struggle.  In each country various social
movements have been in operation for years carrying out
extremely difficult, and often life-threatening,
struggles for democracy and economic justice.    Amongst
these social movements has been the under-reported labor
union movement.

In watching events unfold in the Arab World, and
especially in Egypt at the moment, it is important to
understand what is NOT happening.  Contrary to the
Iranian Revolution of 1979, what we are not seeing is
one or another variety of an Islamist uprising.  In each
country-and Lebanon is a special case that is in the
midst of a particular political crisis-there has been a
convergence of forces from the opposition.  Whether in
Tunisia or Egypt, the opposition includes Islamists, but
it is far broader, involving communists, socialists,
nationalists as well as pro-capitalist democrats.  This
in and of itself is a remarkable development
particularly in light of the amount of attention that
the US media has given to Islamist movements in the Arab
and Muslim worlds to the exclusion of everyone else.  In
fact, until Tunisia, one could have been led to believe
that the only opposition forces in the Arab and Muslim
worlds were Islamists of various stripes.

A second point to make here is that while the pictures
from these mass movements are overwhelmingly of men,
women have been very active including in spokesperson
roles for segments of these movements.

A third point is that it is far from clear where these
uprisings and mass upsurges will go.   In each country
there is no leading political party or even an organized
political front of forces speaking for or mobilizing the
opposition.  While this is exciting to the extent to
which it displays for all the world the anger,
frustration and courage of hundreds of thousands of
people, this movement can dissipate, and actually it can
dissipate quickly, if history is any judge.    If, in
the case of Egypt, the Mubarak regime decides to try to
wait out the uprising or militarily crush it, the
question will be (1)whether there is sufficient unity
within the ruling bloc to support such actions, and (2)
whether a leadership core and organization from among
the people can cohere that can take the movement to its
next stages.

The Obama administration, and the imperialist
establishment as a whole, was certainly caught with its
pants down.  Egypt is a key strategic ally for the USA
in North Africa and the Middle East.  It is the second
largest recipient of US aid (after Israel) and is viewed
as an essential force for imperialist-defined stability
in that region.  Its tolerance, if not connivance, in
the isolation of Gaza in the face of the Israeli-imposed
blockade is one small example of the role that the
Mubarak regime has played at the service of the USA.

Thus, the US is caught between the rhetoric of
democracy, free elections, etc., vs. its need for pro-
Western stability in the region.  The latter course has
generally won out, irrespective of the tyranny of a
particular regime.  Now, however, the world is watching
as the flames spread throughout the Arab World demanding
a self-determined democracy, rather than any sort of
regime imposed on it by the USA or its allies.

This is a time to celebrate the courage and
determination of those who have marched day after day
for progressive change.  It is also a time to ensure
that the Arab World is able to exercise its own
direction without imperial influence.  That means
cutting US military aid to dictatorial regimes and no US
covert funny-business, including US-imposed successor
regimes.  It also should mean that those supporting a
progressive, democratic future for the Arab World find
ways of assisting the social movements that are engaged
in this fight.  They will not succeed based on magic.

-------------------------------------

Bill Fletcher, Jr. is an editorial board member of BC, a
Senior Scholar with the Institute for Policy Studies,
the immediate past president of TransAfrica Forum, and
the co-author of "Solidarity Divided."

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