Must Read -The resurrection of pan-Arabism

[malaise]

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/02/201121115231647934.html
<snip>
The Egyptian revolution, itself influenced by the Tunisian uprising, has resurrected a new sense of pan-Arabism based on the struggle for social justice and freedom. The overwhelming support for the Egyptian revolutionaries across the Arab world reflects a sense of unity in the rejection of tyrannical, or at least authoritarian, leaders, corruption and the rule of a small financial and political elite.

But this is not an exact replica of the pan-Arab nationalism of those days. Then, pan-Arabism was a direct response to Western domination and the 1948 establishment of the state of Israel. Today, it is a reaction to the absence of democratic freedoms and the inequitable distribution of wealth across the Arab world.

We are now witnessing the emergence of a movement for democracy that transcends narrow nationalism or even pan-Arab nationalism and which embraces universal human values that echo from north to south and east to west.

This is not to say that there is no anti-imperialist element within the current movement. But the protests in Egypt and elsewhere promote a deeper understanding of human emancipation, which forms the real basis for freedom from both repression and foreign domination.
----------------
We're all fighting the same fight.

[xchrom]

1. Recommend

[WhiteTara]

2. this is a shining moment

and I am in awe of how it can be done. Gandhi and King would be so proud.

[PCIntern]

3. Nasser led the last pan-Arabist group right into ruin

with the devastating loss to Israel. Pan-Arabism is not necessarily good news AFAIC. I really think it's a bit early to be talking about how tee-riffic this all is until we see exactly what type of government emerges and the type of leadership. There is a big vacuum there and we all know what Nature does with those...