Middle East Focus: The New (More) Islamic Republics of Arabia………

Arabia Deserta

The New (More) Islamic Republics of Arabia………

Rattlesnake Ridge

BFF

“For 55 years, Tunisia celebrated Women's Day every August 13, representing the push for gender equality that has been one of the hallmarks of the North African nation's post-colonial era. Women were active players in the uprising that ended the rule of Zine Abidine Ben Ali, and many hope that event will translate into a more visible role in the country’s soon-to-be democratic political life. Yet some are worried that the rights women have enjoyed for the past five decades might soon be swept away by the tide of social conservatism that has emerged in the wake of the uprising. "We know that the former regime took advantage of women's rights," says Faiza Skandrani, who founded an organisation called Equality and Parity shortly after the uprising. Despite the legal rights, women suffered from the same climate of fear and oppression as men, she says. Now that the old regime is out, activists are hoping that this will mean women will become politically empowered and active members of the new democracy. Not everyone shares the same vision of what the new Tunisia should look like, and Skandrani says that women's rights activists are facing a conservative backlash…………”

This is the story across the Arab states that have had regime change in the past few years. From Iraq to Tunisia to Egypt to Libya to Syria, we should expect women’s rights to suffer. This is not in praise of the regimes: it is a fact. Tunisia, a (very) socially open society, will become, is becoming, more conservative, more Islamist. The Egyptian right-wing Islamists (Muslim Brothers and Salafis) are poised to share in power. Libya is almost certain to go more Islamic, but only slightly more, given that the Qaddafi regime was quasi-Islamist in some respect (call it Islamist-military). Then there is Syria, where the Islamist groups are poised to put an end to the last socially-liberal Arab state outside Lebanon (and Morocco). This is not in defense of the Ba’ath Party or the al-Assad dynasty. In the end, the despotic regimes were, are, responsible for this new trend, by stifling political freedom and pushing people to the only outlet allowed, the mosque.
Iranian leaders are doing some wishful thinking when they claim that Arab uprisings are Islamist and were inspired by the “aging” Iranian Revolution. Arab uprisings, at least in Tunisia and Egypt started as secular movements. Most Arabs, whether Sunni or Shi’a, have no wish to live under an Iranian model of theocratic government, or any other theocratic regime (although Saudi Arabia is generally a quasi-theocracy, but it is the most theocratic in terms of women rights). Yet the Islamists were quick to jump on the revolutionary bandwagon, some of them like the Salafis, are quite openly opportunistic about it. Nevertheless, the Arab states that are undergoing revolution are also going more Islamist.
Cheers
mhg

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com