When we stop breeding like rabbits

The reactions of Arab intellectuals on the crisis in Argentina reveal the anxiety about the rediscovery of their belonging to a backward society

Zvi Harel

"Each new baby with us is a new debt. Where will our governments take the money to take care of him for medical care, education, a job... and we are multiplying like rabbits", wrote the publicist Abd-Rahman A-Rashad this week in the newspaper "A-Sharq Al-Awast" published in London. This is the essence of the horror that the crisis in Argentina is causing in the countries of the Middle East. The Palestinian commentator Majed Chiali, who lives in Syria, provides a wealth of data that explains why Arab countries are closer to Argentina than what he calls "the developed countries". "The illiteracy rate here reaches about 59% (among women about 74% on average for all Arabs), we have only one and a half computers per 1,000 people, 41 newspapers per 1,000 (compared to 250 newspapers in the advanced countries), 49 telephone lines, only 110 A dollar per capita per year is invested in research (compared to $1,211 in the advanced countries) and approximately $32 per capita in infrastructure development, compared to $1,132 in the developed world.

Chiali's data is partially based on UNICEF reports and reports from Arab research institutes, and some of them are not updated for 2001. But even the relative updates do not change the overall picture. His article, one of many written by Arab critics immediately after the collapse of Argentina, reveals the anxiety about the rediscovery of their belonging to the world of poverty and backwardness.

But if this rediscovery of the state of the Arab nation is familiar, the poignant question that is rarely dealt with is repeated. "Why don't we see the public taking to the streets demanding to change the government like the Argentines did? And the corruption in Argentina is nothing compared to the corruption in countries like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria and the Palestinian Authority. The official national debt of Saudi Arabia is similar to that of Argentina (about 160 billion dollars), and the unofficial one touches 300 billion, unemployment in Argentina is not higher than that in Egypt or Jordan, and so is the level of poverty... So, why is the Argentine citizen able to force the His government to resign, while the Arab bows his head in submission and forgiveness?" The editor of "Al-Quds al-Arabi", Abd al-Bari Attoan, was puzzled.

The partial answer to this is provided by Khaili. According to it, the percentage of citizens who are interested in politics in a country like Egypt reaches 33% and the percentage of those who participate in elections is usually no greater than about 48% of all eligible voters. The result is that "we don't have public opinion", states Attoan. At least not public opinion that can influence the government. And so, when on the one hand the Arab regimes rule through "harsh repressive measures of their security forces, and on the other hand the Arab regimes have no interest in changing the situation, replacing the education system", or cultivating public opinion and of course democracy, it is impossible to expect that the Argentine response will be adopted in the Arab countries .

Arab intellectuals are wary of calling on the citizens of Arab countries to go against the authorities and demand the quality of life they deserve. But for a long time there was no criticism so compressed in such a short time about the internal policies of the rulers. Because the dilemma of Arab affiliation, and especially the Islamic-Arab one, is now being put to a severe test. "Maybe thanks to the war on terror, we, the citizens, will also get something good," says an Egyptian intellectual. "It makes no sense for us to join the West's war on terrorism of Arab or Islamic origin and not take from the West the good things it can give us. Because being a member of the anti-terrorist club means being a member of the Western club anyway. And so, instead of going against the accusations of the West, it is better for us to rob our systems. Take a little western democracy, a little more freedom of speech, a little more human rights, and re-examine the claims of the leaders, who are drumming in our ears that more democracy inevitably means the transfer of power to the Islamist forces. After all, it has been proven that without democracy, the Islamist forces, and especially the terrorists, are the ones who ultimately determine our strategy."
https://www.hayadan.org.il/BuildaGate4/general2/data_card.php?Cat=~~~315715095~~~34&SiteName=hayadan