Thursday, February 27, 2014

Let us not repeat the great disasters of the Arab revolutions

Dr Faisal Al-Qassim 

(The original Arabic version was posted earlier)
Faisal al-Qassim
I say once again that I'm not saying this to question the Arab revolutions, as they are needed and overdue. What I'm afraid of is for this spring to be exploited and changed to dirty international projects in which we are the biggest losers. As God is my witness, I informed people of my concerns
No one can doubt the legitimacy of Arab revolutions. They have been overdue for the purpose of ridding the Arab world of the tyranny, injustice, oppression and suppression they face. But day after day, facts from all the countries that took part in the Arab Spring show that our area is still being exposed to remote sabotaging colonial attempts in order to stop any development projects that may transfer the people of this area from the stage of dependence and underdevelopment towards real independence and freedom.

Perhaps the biggest evidence is that almost all revolutions were, and still are, subject to sabotage and distortion operations, which no one can miss. These try to cause them to fail and return the people back to the stage of obedience with means everyone knows well.
Even if the actions of the colonising powers are not clear in our countries, the old colonial powers are not happy with any real transformations in this strategic part of the world.
We have noticed how everyone is meddling with the Tunisian, Egyptian, Yemeni, Libyan and Syrian revolutions. The goal, which is to change the path of the Arab revolutions from liberating projects to international projects which bring us back to square one, if not back to a colonial level zero, has become clear to all of us.
Many powers, in cooperation with the collaborators in the region, have been trying to divert the revolutions away from their paths, drown them in blood and extremism. Through turning the lives of those who rebelled into a living hell they force people to hate the start of the revolutions.
Through these sabotaging policies, these powers can achieve two goals at one time: the first is to frustrate people and take them back to obedience for decades to come. The second is the restructuring of the area's map, dividing power among emerging world powers.
Perhaps the biggest evidence to this is the raging international conflict in Syria which is not only working to transform the Syrian revolution into a living hell for Syrians but is also trying to divide Syria, dividing what's already been divided.
Dividing Syria has become a widely discussed topic in the media and political circles, while everyone knows that the last thing Syrians want is to lose their nation, after they have lost hundreds of thousands of victims, not to mention the displacement of more than half of the population.
In light of international involvement in the Arab revolutions, it's become a must that we warn against the possibility of repeating what happened to the Arabs after the Great Arab Revolution, when old colonial powers such as France, Britain and Russia deceived us and instead of fulfilling their sweet promises of freedom and liberty, they tore the region apart into small weak entities as per the infamous Sykes-Picot Agreement.
Do these powers, who weep for the victims of the revolutions and call for the achievement of their goals, really want freedom for us, or are they doing the same thing their predecessors did in 1916? Then, Englishmen were inciting Arabs to rebel, while in reality they were working on dividing the region among different colonial powers.
Between 1914-1918, Sir Henry McMahon encouraged Hussein bin Ali, Sharif and Emir of Mecca, to lead a revolution against the Ottomans promising the Arabs freedom, dignity and liberty, with the condition that they help the Allies bring down the Ottoman Caliphate.
We all remember the infamous Lawrence of Arabia who became a personal friend of Sharif Hussein and his children, especially Faisal. Lawrence of Arabia convinced the Arabs that he supports their revolution and that he really wants them to become free from the Ottomans. All the while knowing that those who sent him to Sharif Hussein were working behind the scenes to tear the region apart and swallow it.
At the time the English were pushing Arabs towards revolution and promising them freedom, Sykes and Picot, the Englishman and the Frenchman, along with Russia, were dividing the inheritance of the Ottoman Empire amongst themselves.
Sykes and Picot had not visited the area and knew nothing of its nature, or the nature of its people or its demography, however they cooperated with Russia to divide the area in an unacceptable manner.
The Sykes-Picot Agreement was not all that happened, Britain, also from behind the scene, was negotiating with the Zionists for a homeland for them in Palestine.
We hope that history will not repeat itself this time and become a terrible tragedy.
Today, the situation is not different, where America pretends to be standing to the side of Arab revolutions, while behind the scene Russian Foeign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry are preparing secret deals and only God knows what they hide.
Perhaps the most dangerous of these deals is what is called the Kerry-Lavrov Agreement, which concerns Syria and the region in general, especially because some believe it is worse than the old Sykes-Picot Agreement.
I say once again that I'm not saying this to question the Arab revolutions, as they are needed and overdue. What I'm afraid of is for this spring to be exploited and changed to dirty international projects in which we are the biggest losers. As God is my witness, I informed people of my concerns.
The author is a British-Syrian Al-Jazeera presenter. This article is a translation of the Arabic text published by Al Quds Al Arabi on 21 February 2014

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