The Arab Spring

Yes, I am trying to catch up.

Here is a view of the "Arab Spring" from someone who has been living in the Middle East for a couple of years.  The writer is an academic by training and a natural observer of events.

OK.  My observation of events since Egypt (viewing this from inside the Middle East), is that we are watching the beginning of a period of deep personal reflection in the region.  So many people that we know had friends and relatives in Egypt, and we heard the same story from a wide variety of families:  those coming to the square, day after day, were motivated by three things:  a general frustration over corruption, the need for jobs, and the desire to restore a sense of pride in Egypt.  While I know that not all of the thousands had this motive, the themes are there.  When these motives were attacked by clerics... with the charge that the demonstrations were "un islamic"... each participant faced the question.... did they feel that their actions were unislamic?  The various al Jezeera mini documentaries show this dilemma over and over.  Thus, while I agree that there are strong political forces at work, and serious concerns about the outcomes of these "revolutions", I believe that we are seeing a profound period of personal reflection that will be important to the future of the region.  This is about them, not us; this will take time, it will be bumpy.  But it is the reflection of the choice to be citizens, and as I say, a deeply personal period.

Just to add to this anonymous input, it seems to me that the "Arab Spring" is not about "democracy", as we understand it, but about "justice", as Muslim's understand it.  Someone once told me that it was significant that Islam doesn't have a clergy, but does have a lot of lawyers.

Regards  —  Cliff