The Struggle for Self-Determination in the Arab World: The Alliance between Arab Dictators and Global Capital

The Struggle for Self-Determination in the Arab World: The Alliance between Arab Dictators and Global Capital

Is 1848 Repeating Itself in the Arab World?  Is history repeating itself? Have the events of 1848 in Europe repeated themselves in the Arab World? Will 2011 see the same outcomes as 1848? Only the Arab people can decide. Their fate is in their hands, but they should learn from the mistakes of 1848 and seriously address the role of the capitalist class.

 

Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya

Global Research  

The Arabs are seeing their second wave of revolt against colonialism. The first wave of revolt started between the First World War and at the end of the Second World War. It involved the Great Arab Revolt, with British and French support, against Ottoman Turkey during the First World War and then Arab revolt against Britain, France, and Italy during and after the Second World War. [3]

During the formal period of colonialism, the authority of the colonial powers (Britain, France, and Italy) were politically visible. Today, the Arab World is under the "invisible authority" of the neo-colonial powers.  These include the U.S., Britain, and France.

The modern-day neo-colonial powers maintain control over Arab countries through the supervision of their economies and the control of their political leaders, who serve neo-colonial interests as vassals. Thus, 2011 is not only the start of the second wave of Arab revolt against foreign rule via imposed dictators and corrupt regimes, but it is also part of a broader struggle against neo-colonialism.


Starting with Tunisia, revolts and protests have broken out across the Arab World. Algeria, Yemen, Jordan, the Israeli-occupied Palestinian Territories, Mauritania, Sudan, and Egypt have all been electrified with activism. Added to this is the political tension in Lebanon, continued instability in Iraq under American-led foreign military occupation, building tensions in Bahrain, and the balkanization of Sudan.

At first glance the Arab World seems to be in turmoil, but there is much more than meets the eye.

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Has There Been An Egyptian Revolution?

Paul Craig Roberts
Infowars.com
February 15, 2011

I popped the champagne cork to celebrate the Egyptian people’s success in driving out of office the American puppet, Mubarak.  However, as I wrote on February 1, Mubarak’s departure doesn’t guarantee that his successor will not find himself wearing the same American harness.  As Gerald Celente puts it, “Meet the new boss, same as old boss.”

It remains to be seen how much of a revolution has occurred.  Marx and Lenin would be put off by the idealistic jubilation over a spontaneous revolution that caused Mubarak to resign after a couple of weeks of protests.  Marx and Lenin would say that nothing has changed.  The materialist basis of the old order is still in place: the elites, the police, the army, the bureaucracy, the U.S. Embassy.   Moreover, no vanguard has appeared to lead the revolution to completeness.  Marx and Lenin would heap scorn on the prevalent idea that the material interests of the old ruling order, which is still in place,  have been brought in line with the material interests of the Egyptian people.

Marx and Lenin, believed that no revolution could succeed that did not destroy all representatives of the old order. The effective force in history, Marx and Lenin said, was violence. The Bolsheviks murdered every member of the Czar’s family in order to obliterate any hope that the old order could be reinstated.
How many revolutions have succeeded without violence?  Even the American Revolution was violent, and not merely against King George.  Colonists who thought of themselves as British and remained loyal to England were dispossessed and had to flee to Canada.  Although not Marxists, the American revolutionaries were unforgiving.

Netanyahu: Israeli army ‘ready for all eventualities’

AFP
February 15, 2011

The Israeli military is “ready for all eventualities” as the Arab and Muslim world undergoes “an earthquake,” Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday just days after Egypt’s regime collapsed.

“An earthquake is shaking the whole Arab world and a large part of the Muslim world and we don’t yet know how these things will turn out,” the premier said at a swearing-in ceremony for new army chief Major General Benny Gantz.

“We are ready for all eventualities because we know that the foundation of our existence, and our capacity to convince our neighbours to live in peace with us, is based on the Israeli army,” he said during a ceremony at his Jerusalem office.

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February 12, 2011 2:12 PM

John Bolton: Egyptian Democracy May be Bad News

Posted by Brian Montopoli  

ASHINGTON - Former U.S. ambassador John Bolton said in a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference Saturday that Americans should be wary of the fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, arguing that it could lead to the country falling in the hands of anti-American Muslim extremists.


It is the "responsibility of our government to protect our interests and our values and our friends and our allies," Bolton said. Referencing former President Theodore Roosevelt, he added  that "first and foremost we must make the world safe for ourselves."

Mubarak's fall may end up making America less safe, Bolton said, because in a democracy a radical group like the Muslim Brotherhood may end up in power. He warned of the threat of "rising radicalism in the Middle East" and said Sharia law could soon be imposed on Egypt's citizenry.

"We have to have a careful and prudent approach to these developments, because we've seen revolutionary situations go wrong too many times before," said Bolton, pointing to the Nazis, Hamas and Hezbollah.

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Mufti warns of revolution in Saudi Arabia

Mufti warns of revolution in Saudi Arabia

Mon Feb 14, 2011 4:44PM

 

Saudi Arabian Mufti Sheikh Yusof al-Ahmad has warned that unless the government fights poverty and unemployment, it will face a revolution like those in Egypt and Tunisia.

In a video published on the internet, al-Ahmad says due to the poverty rate of 22 percent, the recent popular uprisings in the Arab world will permeate into Saudi Arabia.

Last year, the floods in Jeddah -- Saudi Arabia's second largest city -- resulted in the deaths of tens of people and homelessness of thousands and sparked public anger, al-Arab newspaper quoted the Mufti as saying on Monday.

The way people express their anger has changed in an unprecedented way, due to the injustice and the feeling of being oppressed, he added.

Al-Ahmad criticized the Saudi government for allocating 112 billion Saudi rials (USD 29.8 billion) to King Abdullah University and 72 billion Saudi rials to Princess Noura University in Riyadh, saying such budget was enough to build 72 universities and create 300,000 jobs for the citizens.

Al-Ahmad said supervision over public assets was necessary to prevent overspending.

In 2009, the Saudi Arabian members of parliament announced that in spite of the kingdom's three-year plan for fighting poverty, around 22 percent of the people are live below the poverty line.

Saudi Arabia's official figures put the country's unemployment rate at 10.5 percent, while according to the unofficial figures, joblessness stands around 20 percent.

'CIA million-dollar modeling couldn't predict Egypt revolution'

Egypt's military leaders have dissolved parliament and suspended the constitution, taking power from deposed president Hosni Mubarak. The higher military council said it would stay in power for six months, or until elections are held. A committee is now being formed to amend the constitution and set laws for the interim period.

Some Egyptian and Arab media are reporting that the 82-year-old former head-of-state is in poor health and may even be in a coma. There has been no official response from Cairo to the rumours regarding Mubarak's condition.

Meanwhile, after Washington called events in Egypt a victory for democracy, author and journalist Afshin Rattansi says it's not an American triumph.

Gaddafi tells Palestinians: revolt against Israel

Ali Shuaib and Salah Sarrar
Reuters
Feb 14, 2011

Palestinian refugees should capitalise on the wave of popular revolts in the Middle East by massing peacefully on the borders of Israel until it gives in to their demands, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said on Sunday.

Gaddafi is respected in many parts of the Arab world for his uncompromising criticism of Israel and Arab leaders who have dealings with the Jewish state, though some people in the region dismiss his initiatives as unrealistic.

He was giving his first major speech since a popular uprising in neighbouring Egypt forced President Hosni Mubarak to resign, an event which electrified the Arab world and prompted speculation that other Arab governments could also be toppled.

“Fleets of boats should take Palestinians … and wait by the Palestinian shores until the problem is resolved,” Gaddafi was shown saying on state television. “This is a time of popular revolutions.”

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