The Egyptian people have finally awakened to the reality of decades of oppression, dictatorship, backwardness and extreme poverty. For now, they are united in viewing Hosni Mubarak as the one obstacle to their freedom and democracy — but will they finally take responsibility for the true reason behind the long line of tyrannical Egyptian regimes? Will they examine their own failures and contributions to their problems? Or will they continue to blame America for supporting their dictator? Will they reject victimhood status and stop finger-pointing? Will they finally join the rest of the world in a new era of friendship based on mutual respect and not based on tribalism and the “us against the West” mentality?
The idea that America is behind the Mubarak dictatorship is ludicrous, but it has become a slogan not only in the Arab world, but also among many Americans. Chris Matthews of MSNBC has repeatedly blamed America for the Mubarak dictatorship. I have news for Mr. Matthews: only 3 men have ruled Egypt since 1952. Gamal Abdel Nasser was much more oppressive than Mubarak and he was certainly no friend to the US or to any other Western country. The fact is that Egyptians, and the Arab countries in general, have continually installed their own dictators, without America’s influence. America can only hope and encourage dictators who are not bellicose and who do not hate the US.
The majority of Arab dictators have been enemies of the West. The US never supported Al Assad of Syria, either father or son, nor Mohmar Gadhafi of Lybia, and yet they are brutal dictators. The West needs to understand that there is something intrinsic in Islamic culture that creates animosity with the West and it has nothing to do with what the West does or does not do. Every Muslim leader who aspires to gain popularity will be guaranteed it if he gives a speech calling America the “Great Satan.” Ahmadinejad’s popularity skyrocketed in Egypt after insulting the American president on American soil in his speech in New York. It is a litmus test in the Arab world that a truly loyal Muslim leader must automatically be an enemy of the West.
This is not a coincidence. Sharia (Islamic) law obliges the Muslim head of state to do violent jihad against non-Muslim countries and never truly befriend them or treat them as equals. Muslim leaders often hide their friendship with the West, and it is time for us and for the Arab world to openly ask: why? Why is it that befriending Western nations will brand them as “puppets of the US,” the one description no Arab leader can survive? To avoid the devastating title of “US puppet” Muslim leaders go to great lengths to appear harsh and critical of the West when, in fact, they really want co-existence. They end up having the well-known two faces of the typical Muslim leader: a friendly one to the West in private, and a critical one in public. That game must be exposed for what it is and it must end.
For some in the American media to take the Egyptian uprising as an opportunity to blame America for the Mubarak regime is not only wrong and untrue, but unfair to both Egypt and the US. This cheap-shot propaganda will not help the Egyptian people move beyond the blame-game, which they have perfected over many generations, and which keeps them in their miserable state. If anything, the Egyptian people today need to see reality and take responsibility. They must critically examine the real causes that turned a great ancient civilization into such a mess.
Nonie Darwish is the author “Cruel and usual Punishment” and the President of FormerMuslimsUnited.org.
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