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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JohnM who wrote (94024)	4/16/2003 9:23:08 PM
From: Nadine Carroll	Respond to of 281500

I'm talking about the perception in the ME if Graham the son appears to be an agent of the US government. Different. Perception in the Mideast is so deeply entwined in a nest of conspiracy theories that nearly ANYTHING we do feeds into them. In order to get the Arabs thinking differently, we have to shock them even to get their attention. Fortunately, the swift collapse of Iraqi defenses and cheering Baghdadis seems to have administered such a shock. Whether the effect will be temporary or longer lasting remains to be seen. From the Jeruasalem Post: Palestinian reformers drawing lessons from Saddam's fall By KHALED ABU TOAMEH For more than a decade, Saddam Hussein was a hero for most Palestinians, who described him as one of the great modern Arab leaders. But the swift collapse of his regime has prompted many to change their mind and to finally admit that their erstwhile champion was nothing but a ruthless and corrupt dictator responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and the destruction of his country. Since the fall of Baghdad last week, many Palestinians have joined the increasingly growing chorus of Arab writers, intellectuals, and politicians who argue that other Arab dictators should draw conclusions from his downfall. The war in Iraq has bolstered Arab and Palestinian reformers who believe that the time has come for real change in the Arab world. The change, they say, should begin by getting rid of the Arab despots and their corrupt regimes. In the words of one Palestinian analyst, "It's time for the Arab world to turn over the page of repression." The new voices come amid ongoing demonstrations in support of Saddam in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. However, since the collapse of hiss regime, there have been fewer such demonstrations. The change is evident in the way the Palestinian media have been covering the war since the collapse of Saddam's regime. Newspapers have started publishing pictures of US marines in the grand palaces of Saddam and his sons, as well as pictures of former Iraqi prisoners with severe signs of torture on their bodies. They are full of articles arguing that the Arab presidents, emirs, and monarchs must change their ways of governing, or they could meet the same end as Saddam. Most of the writers speak of the need for more democracy and human rights at home. Yet commentators have been careful not to include Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat in the list of corrupt Arab dictators who should step aside, though some have hinted that he, too, needs to learn the lesson. "Our Arab brothers want to rid themselves of the tyrant regimes and of those who steal their resources," said Fuad Abu Hijleh, a respected Palestinian columnist. "The Arabs were saddened by the fall of Baghdad. But this feeling faded away at the sight of Iraqi citizens storming the secret police headquarters and the dark torture cells where many people perished. I believe that the security advisers of all the Arab regimes saw the footage and have realized that the Arab peoples despise the institution of torture. We hope that the Arab regimes have learned the lesson and will now close down their repressive bodies." Hafez al-Barghouti, editor of the daily Al-Hayat al-Jadeeda, launched an unprecedented and scathing attack on Saddam and other Arab dictators, saying no one will shed a tear if they are targeted by the Americans. "We won't cry for Arab regimes that don't give their constituents any freedom other than the liberty to shout slogans," he said. "No Arab will cry for his leader because Washington won't be able to steal more than what the leader has already stolen from his people. Nor will the US humiliate the Arabs more than their leaders have already humiliated them." "The Arab regimes have no credibility," said Amin Makboul, a senior Fatah official in the West Bank. "In order to face external challenges, the Arab leaders should give their people freedom and democracy." Another top Fatah activist, Taisir Nasrallah, believes that the war in Iraq will have a negative impact on the general Arab and Islamic order. "The entire Arab order is in urgent need of reconstruction," he said. "What happened in Baghdad proves that the Arab order is dying." Palestinian legislator Muawiyah al-Masri says the wide gap between Saddam's regime and the Iraqi people is one of the main reasons for what happened in Baghdad. "What is needed now is the democratization of the Arab world according to the wishes and aspirations of the Arab masses and not as a result of American pressure," he said. A Palestinian journalist in Nablus said that the attitude to Saddam began shifting when Palestinians saw on the Arab TV stations all the palaces he had built for himself and his cronies, while his people were starving. He adds that many people in the city are convinced that Saddam saved his own life and the lives of his two sons at the cost of betraying his people. "The people are very angry with Saddam because they weren't aware that he was such a big dictator," he said. "I myself feel like taking a shoe and hitting all the Arab leaders on their heads." jpost.com