Posted on 01/22/2004 4:31:35 PM PST by saquin
THE Arab world should stop blaming others and accept responsibility for its own failings, a panel of reformist Arab political and business leaders urged yesterday.
The speakers at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos said that many Arab governments were “in denial” about the need for real political reform.
The statements are likely to cause anger in conservative Arab states such as Saudi Arabia, which have been resisting calls — particularly from the West — to become more democratic.
They were also a swipe at Arab leaders, including Islamic militants, who blame the West for the problems in the Arab world.
Bassem Awadallah, the Jordanian Minister of International Co-operation, said: “Arab governments have failed to act over the past few years. Arab governments need to rethink their models of development.
“This is something that is not happening. The political reform issue is a real one in the Arab world, and we are deceiving ourselves if we think this is just an invention coming from Washington.
“Arab governments have not moved on reform; they are in denial. They think the administration in Washington will go away and that the pressure will stop.”
Mohamed Alabbar, chairman of Emaar Properties of the United Arab Emirates, said that Arabs should stop blaming others: “We blame others for so much, but we should blame ourselves for arranging our affairs so badly. It is not something people like to hear. The state of victimhood in the Arab world should stop.”
Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, the Crown Prince of Bahrain, one of the more progressive Arab states, said: “All across the Arab world, barriers are erected. There are barriers to trade, barriers to ideas — people are too sensitive, and people are expected to conform to a norm. Stability is maintained, but innovation and entrepreneurship is strangled and destroyed.”
The Arab world is suffering poverty, unemployment, lack of democracy, oppression of women, and abuse of human rights. Population growth has made it difficult to provide adequate education.
The panelists agreed that the workforce was growing so rapidly that it would be almost impossible to create enough jobs to prevent unemployment from rising even further.
Mr Awadallah said that the demand for reform would grow, with the young increasingly aware of what they were missing: “The overwhelming majority of the Arab people are under 30. This is the future of the Arab world. They watch CNN, Al-Jazeera; they read the internet, and they want the same opportunities and expect the same personal freedoms as elsewhere. This is what will drive reform.”
However, Gamal Mubarak, the head of policy of Egypt’s ruling National Democratic Party, and the son and heir apparent of President Mubarak, insisted that reforms were taking place.
He said: “We are not starting from scratch. We have been engaged in a comprehensive economic and political reform programme for two decades. We’ve more and more opened society up for debate and dissent. We still have a long way ahead of us.”
Mr Mubarak also insisted that the US and the war on terrorism were not the prime reasons for reform.
The discussion generated a relatively gloomy response from the audience of around 200 Middle East experts.
In a poll, two thirds of the audience insisted that Arab governments were undertaking less reform than they were given credit for.
Asked whether an “Arab renaissance” would begin in the next five years, only 51 per cent of the audience said yes.
I see the problem! Dudes, change the channel!
THE world should stop blaming others and accept responsibility for its own failings,
I used to have a coworker who was always complaining about his problems (wife, money, racism holding him back, etc.). I got him to shut when I asked him how much of his problems were his fault.
Exactly.........and no doubt Osama and his ilk are confounded, but they have drawn the spotlight of world attention and only hasten the change they so virulently detest.
A night-time satellite shot of the Middle East shows Israel ablaze with light, industry, and productivity, surrounded by a pitch-dark, 14th century Arab world. The Arabs simply rage at their own failure, refusing to own it, and instead, blame Israel. That act is wearing mighty thin as the 21st century begins...
More like last ten centuries
Fascinating, considering the Arabs had the cranial HP to be runnimg the planet by now, if they hadn't bought into Mohammed.
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