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The Arab Spring.....A tale of two Countries.....Tunisia and Egypt

1/28/2014

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      January 26, 2014, three years after the revolution, known as the Arab Spring spread across the Arab world, from Tunisia to Egypt to Libya to Syria to Yemen, Tunisia celebrated a new beginning with a new constitution, approved by 200 of the 216 members of the National Assembly. " We have known fear for our country and its institutions, " said President Moncef Marzouki.  " Today, we have the right to be joyful" and he held the document aloft, kissed it and signed it. It was then signed y he  Speaker of Assembly, Mustafa Beb Jafar and the Prime Minister Ali Larayedh.

     It all began with the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi, a young fruit seller ( he, like many youths were unable to find employment, something that still adversely affect the country today and with poor economic conditions, rising prices, debt and demonstrations, pose a possible threat to stability of the country), whose wares were confiscated by a municipal inspector, Dec 17, 2010 (this had happened time and again and was the only means he had to earn money for his family). An hour later he doused himself with gasoline and set himself on fire. His death on Jan,4, 2011, brought together various groups, dissatisfied with the system.....the unemployed, students, labor, trade unionists, educators, lawyers and others. The revolution had its spark. It then spread to Egypt to Libya to Syria to Yemen and elsewhere, where autocrats had trampled on the rights of the people and used repressive measures to terrorize and control them, while they , their families and cronies live in luxury.

     The last constitution was adopted in 1959, three years after Tunisia had won its independence from France. However the country swiftly descended into a dictatorship as Presidents from Habib Bourguiba to Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, used he  various state apparatus, from the police to the military to the courts to stay in power. The military, unlike its counterpart in Egypt had had never experienced combat and did not dominate the domestic economy or had much political clout and so was of little use to Ben Ali when demonstration after demonstration took to the streets and demanded his ouster ( he and his extended family were particularly rapacious and greedy, dominating the economy and business of he nation). He fled the country on Jan. 11, 2011 and a caretaker government took over, organised and held an election which was dominated the Islamist Ennahda Party which won 40% of the seats in the Assembly. It was decided that the Assembly would draft a new constitution.

     A culture war had broken out in the country between the secularists and the Islamists. It was a tense, bloody struggle, that only ended when Ennadha ( perhaps seeing what had happened in Egypt with Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, who were ousted from power by the military coup, arrested, hunted down and declared as illegal)  decided to make concessions and stepped down from power in favour of a caretaker government This willingness to compromise and negotiate ( there had been some killing of prominent secularists, and the Salafists. a hard line Islamist group aligned to Ennadha, was blamed),was in stark contrast with the Brotherhood in Egypt.

     The constitution, which introduces democracy and protection of civil rights will be sorely tested, especially by the Islamists and the very serious economic conditions. It establishes a civil democratic state , with an independent judiciary and the protection of basic individual rights. An entire chapter, some 28n articles, is dedicated to protecting citizen's rights, including protection from torture, the right to due process and freedom of religion. It guarantees equality between men and women before the law and the state commits itself to protecting women's rights. One of the most hotly debated articles , the one on religious freedom, guarantees " freedom of belief and conscience". This would allow atheism and the practice of non-Islamic religions ( something frowned upon in other Islamic countries). It also bans incitement to violence and declaring a Muslim an apostate ....a fallen Muslim....which leaves open to death threats.

      There are many contradictions ----stating that Islam is the Tunisia's religion, but also that it is a civil state; old laws have to reconciled with new laws and must be reformed ( a Constitutional C ourt will be established to interpret and clar settle disputes).

     It is a glorious beginning , a fresh start for Tunisia. Unlike Egypt where the ouster of Mubarak was followed by the holding of the first democratic election, which saw the Muslim Brotherhood in power, with Mohamed Morsi as president, a military coup ousting him and the anointing of Army Chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi as the next president ( only waiting for the formality of an election, which he is expected to win handily with the support of a scared middle class, the business community and the military which dominates the internal economy).     

     Egypt has gone backwards. Tunisia has taken a step forward. The Arab world looks on with interest. Our wishes for success go with Tunisia, always one of the more forward-looking countries in the Arab   

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The Quest for Peace in Palestine/Israel

1/5/2014

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     John Kerry is persistent, but as long as Netanyahu is Prime Minister, there will be no peace. He is more interested in remaining  in power, and thus is held hostage to the demands of the religious right/ colonizers, who continue to seize more and more land, this time in the Jordan Valley. It was a direct slap at Kerry, by this group, led by a senior cabinet minister and a dozen or so legislators, most from Likud.

     The Jordan Valley settlements were created as a buffer against possible Arab attack from the east, though Israel security experts say that long range missiles, are a greater threats than tanks. This however has not stopped the expansion, a clear provocation, which may well jeopardise the peace treaty with Jordan. The event to expand Gitit, a community of 70 families was staged by the Land of Israel, a pro-settler lobby of 39 of the Israeli parliament 120 legislators  

     The Palestinians want to establish their state on the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, lands that Israel seized in 1967 and where more than 600,000 settlers have moved in and carved " osaes", subsidised and protected by the state of Israel at huge costs, which has to a great extent beggared the country, jacked the cost of living and deprived the other Israelis of much needed services.

     In the past, Israel had depended on the politics of the USA and the guilt of Europe to defend its policy of building settlements on security grounds, but gradually this policy has been exposed as nothing more than a land grab and especially to deny the Palestinian people a country of their own in the land that had belonged to them.

     The times are-a -changing and there is less willingness to turn a blind eye to this continued encroachment. Tough talk ( even comparisons to " apartheid" ) are beginning to percolate in Europe and America ( the Harper Govt continues in lockstep with Israel), and by three score and ten years ( after 1948), 2018, hopes will be replaced by reality. The Israeli "tail" wagging the "world" dog, will come to an end and the Palestinian people will have their country and not an open-air prison, to live in.

    As of Jan.9, Lieberman, recently cleared of fraud charges announce his support for the Kerry plan. This will take some pressure from Netanyahu. Also on Jan.11, Ariel Sharon, one of the chief architect of settlements, a man adored by the Israeli as a hero-warrior but reviled by Palestinians as a murderer, the man who blasted people from their homes in Qibya, in which 42 houses were detonated killing 67 men, women and children; who built the security fence; who allowed the slaughter at Sabra and Shatilla and who turned Gaza into an open air prison, died.   

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    fig 2-b My Father and Mother to whom I owe everything

    "Ecce Homo"  ("Behold the Man"), Antonio Ciseri's depiction of Pontius Pilate presenting a scourged Jesus to the people of Jerusalem.

    fig 1-b


    figure 1-a

    F. Goya
    Two men fighting with clubs
    circa 1819-1823

    The Black Paintings Period


    (Fig 2a) The Death of Innocents


    Author

     Ishwar R. Prashad recently retired from over 47 years of teaching.

    He taught Political Science variously at Dawson College, Loyola College, Algoma University College, Sir George Williams University, Concordia University and Vanier College.

    Previously, he taught for nine years in Port Mourant, Guyana.


    He became Principal of Corentyne Comprehensive High School at the tender age of 21. During this time he turned down Scholarship offers to study overseas in England and the U.S.S.R.

    He chose Canada and after graduating from Sir George Williams with a B.A Honours with Distinction, he accepted a Fellowship to complete his graduate work at McMaster University. He completed his first two degrees-Bachelors and Masters- in three years.  

    His last position was as Co-Ordinator of Political Science and Economics at Vanier College and Adjunct Professor of Political Science at Concordia University.

    He is married to the former Juliet Ramcharan (Library Supervisor, McGill University) and together they have three children – Indra R. Prashad, P.Eng. ,McGill (Presently Manager, Ontario Safe Water Drinking Agency), Ishwar R. Prashad Jr., B.A ,McGill (Presently, President, Kismit Gear Inc.) and Rabindra Y. Prashad, (Presently, Artist and Chef).They are the proud Grandparents of eight grandchildren-Miranda, Kamal, Ayesha, Élan, Anĵa , Étienne, Chloé, and Jasmine.

     

     

     





     



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