Iyad Al-Dulaimi, a columnist for the Qatari daily Al-'Arab and correspondent in Iraq for the news agency Quds Press, wrote an article on the eve of the new year in which he called on the Arabs to take stock and review the state of their society. He argues that the Arab nation is deteriorating, since it is preoccupied with internal and external wars and continues to lag behind the West, and that its only contribution to the world is the oil it exports. He contrasts the Arab countries with Turkey and Iran, which he says have become significant regional powers and have made impressive achievements.
The following are excerpts from the article:[1]
"Every Year the Satellite Channels... Present What has Come to be Known as 'The Year's Harvest' – [But It Is] the Harvest of Others, Not Our Own"
"I do not know why some people insist on reminding us that another year has passed and a new one is beginning, as though we [Arabs], as a nation, have any presence on the map of this world... I do not know why [people] insist on reminding us, year in and year out, of all our disappointments. Every year the satellite channels and the other media outlets present what has come to be known as "the year's harvest" – the harvest of others, not our own. But in spite of this, some insist on counting us among Allah's nations in the world, as though we have any presence on the map, except in the geographic and demographic sense, [an area] where we do offer the others some competition.
"I am no pessimist, nor am I encouraging pessimism. I am [only] a realist... In order to become [productive] creatures like other people, we must flog ourselves mercilessly, expose what is hidden without hesitation, reveal the disgrace of our flaws, and look in the mirror to face our hideousness and defeat. We must not keep silent. We must expose the sins, deal with them, and propose solutions, laying aside the false tales of heroism that bring us nothing but trouble and disasters..."
"We No Longer Have Anything of Value Except Our Oil"
"A quick glance at what is happening around us is enough to tell us that we Arabs are a nation that has lost its grip, and that we no longer have anything of value except our oil, which we sell to others in return for their dollars and their products, [such as] cars, foodstuffs, planes and a long list of other things. I do not know what we will do with our oil tomorrow if these nations achieve their goal of developing alternative energy [sources]. [Let me stress] once more: I am not a pessimist, but every day I writhe in pain to see the gap between ourselves and the West, [and between ourselves] and the civilized world, growing wider and wider, and to see us apparently accepting this situation... We do not [seem to be] worried that the West surpasses us, while we [trail behind] at the end of the line. We have become addicted to this backwardness, to moral deterioration, tyranny, oppression, laxity, corruption, and slow death...
"Iran [on the other hand]... has built rockets, enriched uranium, held elections (and let us ignore the struggles that followed them), put its hand on Iraqi oil wells, and continued to extend [its influence], so that many Arab countries now have elements that are under its control – and that is not the full list [of its achievements]...
"And then there is Turkey. [Prime Minister Recep Tayyip] Erdogan, President 'Abdallah Gul and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will sit on the eve of the new year and take inventory: what [they] have [already] achieved and what [they] can achieve [in the future]. The reputation of the [Turkish] government under [Erdogan's] Justice and Development Party extends [all the way] to the Arab Maghreb, and the Turkish flag is waving in our Arab skies. The Ottomans have once again convinced us that they are the most worthy of leading the Arab nation in the name of Islam, and there are some who do not hesitate to call for the return of the Ottoman caliphate."
"Nobody Will Sit [to Count Our Achievements], because the Only Thing We Left Behind Is in 2009 Is Blood"
"As for us [Arabs], I do not think there is anyone – among the leaders or the led – who will take inventory of his achievements at the end of the year, because there simply were no achievements. On the contrary, we have become more backward, poverty among our peoples has grown, and many among the Arab nation have begun to loathe themselves and feel angry with themselves just for being Arab.
"Nobody will sit [to count our achievements], because the only thing we left behind us in 2009 is blood – our own blood, spilled either by fellow [Arabs] or by our enemies, which has become the hallmark of every passing year. And what is worse, the coming year is also likely to be tainted by the same blood...
"We are living in an era of slackness, disappointment, and defeat, and even the 'victories' that some Arab publicists [try to] sell us turn out after a while to be defeats and disappointments, which join the ever-lengthening list [of our failures].
"We do not want to [celebrate] the end of one year and the beginning of another, as Allah's other nations do, because in practice we have not contributed a thing to humanity, [but have only] become a burden on it... We must be honest with ourselves and reveal [our own] faults, otherwise we will not just remain at the end of the line... we will be thrown off the line altogether.
"Those who insist on marking the end of one year and the beginning of another [do us] one favor: they remind us of the procession of life, [when] many in our Arab nation want [life] to end as quickly as possible, because they are experiencing a slow death under [the rule of] corrupt governments."
[1] Al-'Arab (Qatar), December 31, 2009.
