And across those merciless waves of the Mediterranean, thousands upon thousands of Syrians and Iraqis were in full flight. With their babies and meager belongings, braving barbed wire, fences, and inclement weather. All running from the horrors of misrule, butchery, and hunger in their countries of origin. Mostly Muslim, running into the welcoming arms of Germany and Austria, facilitated by Greece and Italy. Seeking refuge in Christian countries; in total fear of Muslim countries where death is everywhere.
Anomalies, yet realities. Arab refugees, by the thousands, lost faith in their flags, traditions, symbols, and religious incantations. To them, the words of Arab leaders were mere lies. And they were lies. In Damascus, the capital city of death, banners proclaimed that the Arabs were "One Nation, with an eternal message!!" How cynical!! As you raise your head to read that banner, you are greeted by a barrel bomb whistling its way to you from above. With a clear warning: "Are you still here?!!"
Arab flags are mostly of three colors (red, white and black). Representing a famed Arab poem. That is when the Arabs truly believed in the words of their focal points, from rulers to poets. The poet had meant red, for liberational struggle; white, for pure intentions; and black, for victory over an unjust past. But the millions of refugees have come to see in their national flags only doom and gloom. Trust in Arab governments is gone. Trust in the often maligned West is the new creed.
ISIS, Bashar, sectarianism, and jihadism are now all one. Yes, Islam is a faith of tolerance, collective care, and rescue for the downtrodden. This is what the Book (the Quran) says. But is there much generalized faith in the great Quranic instruction which abhors senseless death, extra-judicial executions, car bombs, human suicide, and arcane interpretation of Islam? If there is, show me.
Show me where is verse 32 of Chapter V of the Quran is observed. Read it and judge for yourself. If follows:
"...We prescribed to the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul, unless it be for retaliation or because of spreading corruption on earth, it would be as if he had killed all mankind. And whoever saves a life, it would be as if he had saved the life of all Mankind..."
Where is Bashar from that heavenly standard? Where is Maliki, who as Prime Minister of Iraq, openly practiced sectarianism? Did Qaddafi of Libya, or Saleh of Yemen abide by it? We are not talking about lax observance of basic human rights!! We are here dealing with genocidal acts against citizens!!
Most of the Arab geographic area now looks like a cesspool of brazen untruths, and unbelievable inequities. Splashed over billions of screens of social media. While Europe getting together to host Arab and other refugees, Arab petro-dollars are gearing up to refurbish images of their leaders. Through very costly western public relations firms. Funding for image, not for substance. Including fancy speeches about human rights in the halls of the UN General Assembly later this September. Image, image, image!!
And speaking of "inter-faith!!" The Arabs still regard it as "a dialogue." A conversation. A kind of a composition. A statement in flowery words meant to enhance the standing of those who utter them. Not the importance of the message, which is only honored in the breach.
Action? The main action is in the West. That is where compassion towards Muslim refugees is flowing beyond bounds. Pope Francis has called for opening monasteries and the Vatican itself, to shelter that Muslim stampede. Germany has allocated nearly $5 Billions to care for those arrivals in Munich. Austrians have stood for hours to say to those immigrants: "Welcome to your new home." Even an individual, a young woman lawyer in Florida, Carolina Maluje. Partly Syrian, partly Chilean. Told me recently: "I must do something for those Syrian immigrants."
An Arab foreign minister from a petro-dollar country was asked: "What has your country done for the Syrian refugees?" His answer was an example of obscurity. "Many of my countrymen are married to Syrian women," said he proudly. How impenetrable to sight this can be!! Thanks God, there arose Arab exceptions. Mr. Naguib Sawiris, an Egyptian Copt and a billionaire, rose up to purchase a Greek or an Italian island to house those refugees.
The flood of Arab immigrants has revealed where the rule of the law is observed by only a minority of 22 Arab governments. Arab advocacy of one common history, and one common language has remained only aspirational. Non-supported by a broad culture. A culture illuminating a road map drawn by the intersection of common interests. As a result, the League of Arab States has been frozen in paralysis since the adoption of its Alexandria Charter in 1944.
No way could an Arab Union, similar to the European Union, emerge in the foreseeable future. For loyalty, in the majority of Arab States, remains confined to the tribe, or the region, or the province. That is unless you are in a country like Egypt or Tunisia. Reason: national cohesiveness is a reflection of a historical continuum which began centuries ago. The fate of a divided Sudan, a divided Yemen, a divided Syria may travel to cover other Arab States beyond these unhappy examples.
In spite of these disheartening contradictions, the migration catastrophe has evoked in the Arab homeland a sense of shame. Acted upon individually, by each sovereign State as an act of charity.
Amr Musa, former Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, made a high-ringing statement on September 9 in Austria. The occasion was the annual meeting of the International Peace Institute which was convened to discuss challenges to the present international legal system. As usual, his emphasis was on hope for solidarity in regard to the immigration catastrophe affecting the Syrians and the Iraqis.
You read it, then ask the humorous American advertising question: "Where Is the Beef?" Proposals on top of proposals. Who will implement? Who will pay? Who will evaluate the performance? And who will remove the root causes? Questions dancing over the horizon of hope. Soon to be forgotten. A high-level meeting. But with a low-level energy!!
Nonetheless, Aylan Kurdi's lifeless body has, in its own way, convulsed the Arab State lifeless body to twitch. A short spastic contraction of the fibers of the Arab muscle:
- Jordan is now a host of more than a million Syrians. The only Arab State with historically open borders to all Arabs;
- Same numbers in Lebanon and Iraq;
- Egypt hosts a quarter of a million;
Of course, numbers do change. What does not change may be presented succinctly hereunder:
- Europe had started a coordinated policy. It is based on future quotas of Syrian and Iraqi immigrants. With Germany taking the most. While other members of the 28 Member States of the European Union, like Greece, may take the least;
- The Arab world, where the Syrian killing fields exist, has no coordinated policy in this regard. Each State is on its own. However the Arabs are bound together, through the League of Arab States.
- Those binding ties are focused on the League's image. Ambassador Ahmed Bin Hilli, Under-Secretary-General of the League, on September 8 rose to defend the League against European criticism of weak Arab action. The issue, he fulminated, will be discussed at the forthcoming 144th session of the League at the ambassadorial level. Again the image is in the forefront; the real action, coordinated or not, remains in the realm of eternal hope.
In the meantime, policies, plans, and implementing mechanisms are being set-up elsewhere in Europe and the Americas. Said the lady President of Brazil, "the image of that dead toddler, Aylan Kurdi has shocked us all as a challenge to the whole world." A whale of a difference between Arab paralysis, and non-Arab actions. Primary reason why the Arabs are fleeing from most of their homeland. In droves. They are not heading East. They are heading West in a massive Hijrah!!
Running away from an Arab State system whose nominal faith is the great Islam whose Book advocates: "Cooperate with all in what is good and pious. And do not cooperate in what is sinful and aggressive." (Chapter V, Verse 2).
And since God is One under the principle of Tawheed (God's oneness), the castaways, mostly Muslim, are seeking the certitude of safety provided by Christian governments. For there is action on the belief of "The Peace Prayer" of St. Francis of Assisi. In part it says: "For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned."
All this is happening under the dark shadow of 9/11 where men, covering their box cutters under the cloth of Islam, caused the murder of 3000 innocent victims.
That faith in murder has been passed on to phantom governments like Syria's, and phantom caliphates like ISIS.
The Arab code of old was superior to the Arab code of today. Because the older code regarded the admission of failure as the road to reform. In his instructions to the Arab judiciary, Omar, the second Caliph to succeed the Prophet Muhammad in leading the nascent Muslim State said it all. "Never hesitate to reflect on your judgment of yesterday. For nullifying a bad judgment is better by far than perpetuating an error."
Alas!! That was 1400 years ago. Today's Mr. Hilli, the Under-Secretary-General of the League of the Arab States does not abide by that golden rule. To him, admission of the shortcomings of the League is a sign of weakness. Forgetting that the whole world is witnessing leaks in the plumbing of the Arab system. Leaking millions of horrified millions of Arabs of all denominations. Running away from what used to be a Homeland, but no more.
That broken system needs an army of plumbers. For fixing the leaks in the moral infra-structure of Arab lands can never be done by pretending that it does not exist. Reason why Omar, though a Bedouin, was, by all accounts, the real "Arab Profile in Courage!!" Ignoring his Code shall result in a million Syrians expected to flee their country by the end of 2015.
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