In Arab Unity … a different approach!

The Arabs appreciated the love of slogans and the attraction to its current; It is therefore not surprising, and in view of the tragedies, setbacks and catastrophes in the Arab world, enthusiastic voices calling for unity from a nationalist point of view are being heard without taking into account the intellectual, cultural and political transformations that have happened and are taking place in our world. To speak of unity among the Arabs is supposed to be in its depth a rational and pragmatic proposition if it is to see the light of day. In other words, it is an agreement between the parties that they have a valid interest. Today in the Arab world, it is not important that political unity is under one slogan, one flag or one direction in order to obtain the benefit, as much as the objective is in the results that make the connection in the name of genuine interest away from slogans. The approach here is different to correct concepts that we are used to. The Arabs may have objective conditions for such a unitary grouping, but under any concept it can be translated on the ground, although there are those who see that unique interests are factors which flow from the nation and no the nation is born from it.
When talking about Arab nationalism, the Arab race comes to mind, although in some Arab countries we have people who hold the nationality of their Arab countries, even if they are not Arab, Berber, Kurdish tribes, Turkmen and African. There are those who accuse nationalism of being a fanatical intellectual movement that calls for the glorification of the Arabs and the establishment of a unified state for them, based on the bond of blood, language and history. , and replacing it with the link of religion. , which is a regression of nationalist thought that Europe had known before.
The national bond can be forged through the interaction of a particular human system with a unique natural environment which results in differentiation and contrast between them and another human system that lives and interacts with a different geographic environment, with the evidence that there are those who see, and rightly so, that the environment of the inhabitants of the Nile Valley, for example, is different from the environment of the Nile Valley. The inhabitants of the Arabian Gulf or the environment of the inhabitants of the Levant, which means that there is not a single association for the peoples of the Arab world.
The question that needs to be asked in this context: is it possible to revive slogans and ideologies that have disappeared over time, such as Pharaohism, Ottomanism and Arab nationalism? What nationality are we talking about then? Nasiriyah or Baathist or a certain nationalism, like that of the Levant?
History says, through the accumulation of experiences that the Arab peoples have had for seventy years, that they are no longer enthusiastic about any unity despite its attraction, and perhaps only the experiences that the Arab peoples have lived in seven decades make them renounce all ideological ties, whether new or old. The truth that anyone who has lived through any of these ideologies, from nationalism to communism or the Muslim Brotherhood, knows is that they were erected into slogans in an attempt to reach the seat of power and s ‘seize power.
Abdel Nasser had shortened nationalism in his person as proof of the project of historic unity with Syria. Then the Baath came up with their deceptive slogan “the immortal nation” to witness crimes and bloody acts in Syria and Iraq which could not pass to anyone’s mind to reveal their image later, as it was no was nothing but the embodiment of dictatorship with distinction. As for Arab communism, we witnessed its suicide in South Yemen at the time, when Marxists and Leninists were fighting for power, and the price to be paid was the deaths of thousands of Yemenis. The era of the “Brotherhood” was also no different from the practices of the Nationalists, Baathists and Communists.
Arabs’ assessment of history is often selective, heavily ego-infused, and far from objectivity and realism; Which inevitably leads to frustration and loss of confidence when it comes up against the reality and the facts of things.
The repercussions of the Arab revolutions at the time, and the chaos that resulted from them, the attacks on freedoms, gains and profits of one party at the expense of the parties, revealed to us that we, as Arabs, live always in a cycle of conflicts on questions of modernity and the problem of civil and religious status, in addition to the position on heritage and our relationship to “the other”. the intellectual space was filled with contradictory ideologies and multiple currents, turning into conflict and conflict.
Arab unity is not a requirement today, and anyone who insists on it lives outside of history and dreams of a world of nostalgia. It is not a shame for Arabs to learn from their mistakes and to be sure that the call for Arab political unity is a hackneyed and hackneyed slogan, testifying to the scale of the differences and conflicts between Arab countries, as well as the collapse of unity projects, not to mention the pranks of leaders of previous Arab military regimes such as Saddam Hussein, Assad and Gaddafi and the merger ideas they advocated. It ended up fading.
Logic says that the Arabs can activate a number of elements of convergence and rapprochement in a utilitarian cooperative system based on the consciousness and interests of the peoples and organizing it in the form of mutual interests. We are more concerned than ever with forming a practical web that connects and benefits us, freed from the vocabulary of emotional unity and resonant slogans; Therefore, communication and cooperation between Arab governments is necessary and urgent at the present time, provided that it pushes for the formulation of new ideas and mechanisms and through direct and permanent dialogue meetings and continuous initiatives. , while the people do not care because their link is always emotional.
The password is to employ all the factors, capacities and common denominators among Arab countries in a more productive and interactive direction than the concept of political unity. The mutual utilitarian economic tendency will achieve the goal we want if we want the truth.

* Quoted from “Asharq Al-Awsat”