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Most of the Arab peoples aspire to establish democratic regimes and just governments based on respect for human rights and the peaceful transfer of power, but the political experiences since the outbreak of the Arab Spring revolutions, with the exception of Tunisia, show how difficult this objective is to achieve. .
In our view, the most important challenges facing aspirants for liberal democratic regimes in the Arab Spring countries may lie in the fact that many of the basic tenets of liberal democracies are either completely foreign to our societies or are contrast, sometimes blatantly, with Islamic religion and culture, in addition to the lack of roots for the concept of political liberalism in particular. The Arab-Islamic language and culture, which is an obvious reason to borrow the word as it is from its Western origins.
Despite the existence of vigorous intellectual efforts for political, religious and social reform, liberal political concepts which are expressed through respect for the human rights system are still vague in Arab thought in general.
Take, for example, one of the most important pillars of liberal democracy, which is individual sovereignty, which is the most important characteristic of liberal democracy in its various political systems, and it is also the cornerstone of any democracy.
This sovereignty dictates that every member of society has sacred freedoms which cannot be violated, but rather that the task of the first state institutions is to protect that sovereignty. These freedoms include: freedom of thought, belief, expression, choice of life partner, profession and all that concerns the individual. This sovereignty belongs to all individuals, regardless of their race, status, education or gender.
The concept of individual sovereignty is met with a sense of horror in our societies at the mere idea that half of society (for women in particular) should have such freedoms. Indeed, many men in our Islamic societies prefer to kill their loved ones rather than having the freedom to choose a life partner, for example, or the freedom to oppose family members on matters related to their family. to come up.
The sovereignty of the individual is generally a strange concept in cultures which place more importance on family, tribe, religion or even society at the expense of the individual. However, it is important to remember that this concept, like other liberal concepts, developed through historical processes and deep and sometimes bitter experiences, after which it reached its consolidation and grounding in the Western experience. .
The sovereignty of the individual also includes the freedom to choose his religion, which is incompatible with Islam and, until recently, other monotheistic religions. Individuals are not allowed to change their religion from Islam to Buddhism, for example. On the contrary, religious thought publicly urges to kill those who doubt religion or those who change their religion from Islam to other religions.
In Europe, after wars of religion that claimed the lives of millions of civilians, thinkers have concluded that each individual is solely responsible for his choices and decisions, and that no person or institution has the right to compel him to adopt a religion or a sect or to become religious at all, under the pretext of saving his soul from the fire. This is why religion and the state have been separated in countries which apply the principles of liberalism, where state neutrality makes it possible not to impose a specific religious ideology and also allows religious and cultural pluralism.
Among the rights guaranteed under individual sovereignty are also the right to political participation and the right to choose political representation. Most Arab countries have never experienced fair elections guaranteeing freedom of political participation and freedom of choice of representatives, while Arab regimes miss no opportunity to deprive their citizens of these freedoms, and their education systems and their media institutions are based on demonizing these freedoms day and night.
Its first task is to establish people without will, who know only the concept of obedience and submission. Faced with the absence of an Arab conscience which sanctifies this right and works for its establishment, violence and threats remain the only means of maintaining power.
Equality among all individuals regardless of religion, race or sex is also one of the rights guaranteed by law, including equality between a Muslim and an infidel, for example, or between a man and a woman. wife.
In many Arab countries which still operate under Sharia law, women are still deprived of their will and need a so-called “guardian”, regardless of their age or education. The concept of pluralism is also linked to equality despite the differences on its spectrum. However, it comes up against the belief in the distinction of Islam from other religions, which the Muslim considers to be false.
Pluralism deprives all religions of their supremacy and makes them equal before the law. Individuals have the right to choose between them or not to choose any, and this is their right guaranteed by law. As for the economy, it is also an important pillar for the countries which apply liberal democracy, where the economic prosperity of the citizens is one of the duties of the State. The right to participate in the economy is also linked to political participation, so these rights are ultimately integrated to create a system that protects human rights and provides an environment that enables economic prosperity.
If we deepen these principles, we realize the importance of rooting them in consciousness as a first requirement for building liberal democracies, such as those in which our young people risk their lives to live.
However, Arab countries camouflage themselves when dealing with these principles by appointing women to important positions or sending women and members of Christian or Jewish religious minorities as ambassadors abroad to give the impression that they are countries that respect human rights and practice equality while some of these people cannot in their country, including women for example Sign their marriage contract without a guardian, regardless of their age and their level of education, or pass nationality on to their children, as is the case for male citizens. While some of these countries participate in this democratic camouflage, citizenship is taken away from a thousand of their citizens because their political desires conflict with the policies of the regimes in place.
These principles, although implemented, still require vigorous efforts, even in countries that respect and work for them, as they are the highest product of human thought in terms of justice, equity and respect for rights. of individuals regardless of the differences between them.
Even the Islamists themselves, who dream of establishing traditional Islamic states such as Bin Laden and Khomeini, have chosen countries that respect freedom of speech and opinion to unleash their opinions and desires to destroy the West. unfaithful and establish Islamic states.
Osama bin Laden sent faxes from London to declare war on the West, while Khomeini chose Paris to exercise his political disagreement. This contradiction does not only apply to extremists, but most of those who aspire to immigrate to Western countries that apply these principles do not allow them in their country, as they see them as contrary to their culture and religion.
The Muslim Brotherhood party could not declare that it would allow the guardianship of a woman or a non-Muslim in Egypt despite the presence of ten million Christians in Egypt, even if all the people elected a woman or a not -Muslim or both. This is because the Islamic political system considers its men to be superior to others.
Explaining and understanding these principles in Arab consciousness can be the cornerstone for changing the future of the region. Although these principles have no roots in Arab culture, we must be aware that these principles themselves are modern even in countries that put them in the minority in the United States. Another reason for hope is the intense cultural debates that take place among young people on social media sites, such as Clubhouse.
At the same time, Tunisia’s ability to adopt a constitution based on universal human rights principles and guaranteeing individual freedoms, including, for example, the freedom of women to choose their life partner regardless of their religion, is a historical precedent and a proof of the capacity of the Arab world to achieve what seems impossible.
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