Suddenly The Middle East Is In Turmoil: What Is The Cause? The Cure?
Posted: Thursday, February 17, 2011
by Joel Hendon
http://hebronics.org/index.html
The world is fully aware of the recent uprisings which have deposed the President of Egypt and also Tunisia’s President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali's decision to step down in January. The demonstrations continue in Tunisia, apparently insisting that Ben Ali step down now. There has been unrest and some demonstrations in most of the other nations in the region and they are increasing since the uprising in Egypt was successful in deposing President Mubarak.
Peaceful protest march in Algiers 2010-Wikipedia photo used by permssion
Algeria has been plagued with protests since the beginning of the year with the same goal as Egypt’s, that of demanding that President Abdelaziz Bouteflika resign. The protests are being originated by small trade unions and other political parties. The problem according to the news media is again, the economy. Just how serious and how successful these protests will become, is yet to be determined.
Libya which has been ruled by Colonel Gaddafi longer than any ruler in the Middle East or Africa, and prohibits protests of any kind, is reported to have had hundreds of people taking to the streets of Benghazi, in a day of demonstrations. A critic of the government, an attorney was arrested during the protests. Reports from Libya say the country is now calm. However, it is also reported there is an online campaign in progress for demonstrations tomorrow, February 17.
Jordan has historically been a fairly peaceable nation, having had stability of leaders. The death of their ruler for 46 years, King Hussein, left his son King Abdullah II in charge. The nation has been hit hard by the world economy downfall, causing the King to fire the Prime Minister Samir Rifa and appointed Marouf al-Bakhit, a former army general and ambassador to Israel. But this did not keep thousands of protestors from taking to the streets since the new year began.
Syria has been in turmoil for years. It has been under emergency law since 1963 under the leadership of President Hafez al-Assad who died in 2000, leaving the leadership to his son, Bashar al-Assad. At this time, the country underwent a degree of relaxation. The new president released hundreds of political prisoners, but real political freedom and a shakeup of the state-dominated economy did not materialize. The people called for a “day of rage” to coincide with the deposition of Egypt’s Mubarak, but it did not materialize.
Saudi Arabia has not yet seen a lot of trouble from it’s people, primarily because of it’s enormous wealth from oil. But there have been problems from radical extremists which have been a bother to them. There have been calls for reform which has caused them to be cautious and try to appease those who want to reform the harsh Shariah Law without causing difficulties from the radicals.
Iran may be in much deeper turmoil than is widely known. Many groups have protested against the present regime, while others have protested against the anti-regime protestors. The government itself has called for a large rally on Friday, February 18, to express hatred towards the regime’s opposition.
It follows demonstrations organised by the regime's two main opposition leaders earlier in the week in support of the unrest in neighbouring countries. The protest quickly turned into anti-government unrest which left two people dead and others injured. (Iran: BBC News-February 16, 2011)
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has threatened to quell any protest in opposition to the government. There have been reports of harsh retaliation towards protestors and even a death or two, these apparently have not been confirmed and are denied by the government.
Bahrain: Violence is occurring as this article is being written. Hundreds of police have used batons and tear gas to disperse thousands who gathered in Pearl Square in the center of Manama, the capital city before dawn this morning demonstrating against the government. Bahrain is subject to such troubles because of the majority of populace are Shia Muslims while the ruling dynasty is Sunni. The Al-Khalifas have ruled this nation since the 18th century.
Reasons for the protests are said to be economic hardship, lack of political freedom and discrimination in jobs in favor of the Sunnis.
Yemen is said to be the Arab world’s most impoverished nation. Their current President Ali Abdullah Saleh announced on February 2, that he would not seek another term in office after having served for decades. He also told the parliament that he would not hand over power to his son. He said this after days of protests.
The anti-government protestors have clashed with pro-government protestors and police have had to be called in to break them up. Political reform is what the protestors are calling for.
Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan are constantly faced with violence within in addition to any war against the al Qaeda and Taliban.
What is to become of all this? Although the breakdown of the world economy is the underlying cause of much of the unrest, there is also the conflict between Islamic Shariah Law with that of Democracy. The solutions, if any, are simply evanescent hopes. There are seers who make wild predictions, there are those who profess to see the outcome explained in the Holy Bible and various other predictions. This writer cannot see them. Only time will tell and it appears that there is not a good solution on the horizon. I do know that the Almighty God has control and will have the final say. It would be most beneficial for all men to heed His present admonitions.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)I just read the comment you left on my article, Joel, thanks! Your article has wonderful information. I hope that corrupt regimes are made to give way. I think they will be, but I suspect that there'll be more violence than there was in Egypt. Egypt was like a miracle to me.Yes, but things are really happening. Unfortunately, the Muslim Brotherhood is behind a lot of it and it is as anti-American as any can be. Thanks for reading and the comment.Dear Mr. Joel,
I read your good analytical article, I would like to add few points, that you may missed, since I do live in the region, and know the way we feel and think.
1. You did not mentioned anything regarding USA intervention in the region, especially in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, even many army bases in Saudi Arabia, and the Arabian Gulf region, which contribute a lot t these problems, we do not like US existence on our land, I hope you agree with me.
2. The breakdown of the world economy was caused by USA government, which left all the world suffer
3.There are no conflict between Islamic Shariah and Democracy as we see democracy, and not as US and Europe see democracy, we can not apply western democracy on different culture, and different nations.
4. We as Muslims, believe in God, by the way as you know, most of the prophets are, born in the Arab region, which we believe in all of them, we also believe that we can live together with different religions on the each.
Best Regards;
Ibrahim
I'm sorry to hear all that Ibrahim. I'm sure you don't like our presence in your countries, but we are not in any without the leaders permission, and in many cases, request our presence. And we were not responsible for the world economy breakdown. Our foreign aid to many of your countries and others have helped ruin our economy.
And if anyone cannot see the extreme vast difference in Shariah and ANY Democracy, they cannot see well at all. There is no similarity whatsoever. Your comments are a perfect example of ignorance.
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