By Elizabeth Kendal

When hundreds of international Sunni jihadists infiltrated and seized the
Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on 20 November 1979, they attracted
little interest. The eyes of the world were fixed on Iran where, on 4
November 1979, Shi’ite fundamentalists had seized the American Embassy,
taking 66 American citizens hostage. Whilst the Iranian Revolution and the
siege in Mecca were totally unrelated, both had the same goal: the removal
of a brutally repressive and corrupt, US-allied regime.

In Iran, the revolutionaries were successful primarily because their
demands were political — liberty, human rights, improved living standards
and more — and because the US administration of President Carter chose to
support them. It took 12 months of protests and strikes (from January 1978
to January 1979) to force the Shah into exile. The Islamists merely rode
the wave and then filled the vacuum. It soon became clear to many Iranians
that their revolution would not bring them their hoped for liberty,
prosperity and dignity.

In Saudi Arabia, the revolutionaries failed because they seized the Grand
Mosque instead of the Royal Palace, opening the way for the Saudi regime
to denounce them on religious grounds. Furthermore, because their overtly
religious demands included the demand to end alliances with ‘infidels’,
Saudi Arabia’s Western backers rushed to the aid of the House of al Saud,
rightly perceiving their oil supply was endangered. The Saudi regime only
survived by a hair’s breadth, and only through the involvement of French
special forces.

Whilst the siege in Mecca was reported as a ‘domestic incident’, it most
certainly was not. Not only were the jihadists an international force, the
incident sent shockwaves through the Sunni Muslim world. A massive,
violent, Islamic and anti-US uprising erupted in Pakistan and two
Americans were killed as the US Embassy was besieged and torched. This in
turn inspired protests against US Embassies and consuls in Turkey,
Bangladesh, India, Kuwait, Philippines and Libya. Though the rioters were
Sunnis, they praised the Iranian Shi’ite revolutionaries for defeating
‘American imperialism’ which they said supported tyranny.

The House of al Saud subsequently brokered a deal with the kingdom’s
Islamic clerics. The regime would support the religious establishment as
it advanced Islamic fundamentalist ideology and global jihad (holy war).
In return the religious establishment would support the House of al Saud.
Fortunately for the House of al Saud, the Soviets — perceiving US
weakness — invaded Afghanistan in December 1979, giving the Saudi regime
a jihad it could support far from home, and subsequently jihads in Bosnia,
Kashmir, Kosovo, North Caucasus and Somalia. So while the Sunni
revolutionaries failed to achieve their goals, Sunni fundamentalism reaped
huge rewards. Meanwhile, the emerging Arab middle class grew increasingly
angry and disillusioned because secularism was being maintained by tyranny
rather than by reason.

Sunni Islamists have doubtless learned from this history that there is an
art to revolution. In Egypt today the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) is lying low
and attending to the protesters’ needs for food, water and medical
assistance, just as Hezballah has done in Lebanon and Hamas has done in
the Palestinian Territories. The Islamists know they need an acceptable
facade and in a strategic master-stroke, the MB is lining up behind Nobel
Peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei. ElBaradei doesn’t mind, for he does not
regard the MB (the mother of Hamas) as in any way extremist.

Today a smug Iran and a nervous Saudi Arabia both note that the present
Middle East unrest is targeting America’s allies. Hezballah has displaced
Saad Harari in Lebanon and Abbas is virtually besieged in Ramallah. In
Tunisia the regime of Ben Ali has collapsed. Riots persist against the
secular, US-allied regimes in Egypt, Yemen and Jordan. In Jordan, the
Islamic Action Front, the political arm of the Jordanian Muslim
Brotherhood, is now in dialogue with the regime of King Abdullah II.
Western hopes that ‘transition’ will lead to something better (as was once
predicted for Iran) or that an Islamic leadership will be moderate (as was
also predicted for Iran) are likely to be dashed, for the ‘Arab Street’
has been thoroughly Islamised and radicalised. While the US faces losing
all its geo-strategic gains in the Middle East, Israel may once again face
existential threat as Egypt would need only to reverse its policy on Gaza
and open the Rafah Crossing — for humanitarian reasons of course!

Lost amidst the noise and chaos are the region’s Christian minorities.
Already viewed as ‘infidels’ and allies of the enemy (i.e. America and
Israel), the Church is now more vulnerable than ever. As US influence
diminishes in the Middle East, so too does the protection of the Christian
minorities. Furthermore, militant Muslims may well decide to exploit the
chaos to do some under-the-radar removal of Christians. For instance, on
Sunday 30 January eleven Coptic Christians were massacred inside their
homes in Sharona, Al Minya Province. Christians cannot hope in the US and
the UN — our hope must rest in the one who is eternally supreme and
always sufficient: Yahweh Sabaoth (lit. the Lord of Hosts; the commander
of heaven’s forces).

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY FOR GOD TO:

* draw the region’s Christians into dependent prayer and then answer
their prayers, protecting them, providing all their needs, and making
his presence known.

[God] has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can
confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do
to me?’ (Hebrews 13:5b-6 ESV)

* awaken Arabs across the Middle East to the fact that Islam — because
it is repressive rather than liberating, and legalistic rather than
transformative — can never be the solution for those yearning for
freedom and dignity. Pray for an Arab Awakening! (Ephesians 3:20,21)

~~~~

SUMMARY TO USE IN BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
———————————————————–

CHRISTIANS VULNERABLE AS CHAOS GRIPS EGYPT

For decades now the West has supported corrupt, repressive Arab
dictatorships as a means of preventing religious, Sunni Islamic
fundamentalist revolutions that would threaten oil supplies. However,
because secularism has been maintained by tyranny rather than by reason,
the emerging Arab middle class has grown disillusioned and angry.
Meanwhile there has been effectively a revival of Islamic fundamentalism,
sponsored primarily by Saudi petro-dollars. Today the ‘Arab Street’ is in
revolt against its dictators. Unfortunately it is probable that Islamists
will quietly ride the wave and fill the vacuum. Christians are more
vulnerable now than ever. On 30 January militant Muslims exploited the
chaos to slaughter eleven Coptic Christians in al Minya Province. Please
pray for the Church in the Arab world.

——————–

We suggest that churches and fellowships using the above Summary might
also provide a copy of the listed prayer points to be used in their
worship by people who are leading in prayer.

For more information, updates and helpful links see Elizabeth Kendal’s
blog ‘Religious Liberty Monitoring’ <http://elizabethkendal.blogspot.com>.

This RLPB was written for the Australian Evangelical Alliance Religious
Liberty Commission (AEA RLC) by Elizabeth Kendal, an international
religious liberty analyst and advocate, and a member of the AEA RLC team.
Previous bulletins may be viewed at <http://www.ea.org.au/ea–
family/Religious-Liberty/Prayer-Postings.aspx>.

If this bulletin was forwarded to you, you may receive future weekly
issues direct by sending a blank email to <[email protected]>.

****

And this:

The Middle East’s freedom train has just left the station
By Rami G. Khouri

Commentary by
Wednesday, February 02, 2011

What a supreme irony it was for me to be in London and Paris between Saturday and Tuesday this week, as the popular revolt against the Egyptian regime of President Hosni Mubarak reached its peak in Cairo, Alexandria and other cities.

To appreciate what is taking place in the Arab world today you have to grasp the historical significance of the events that have started changing rulers and regimes in Tunisia and Egypt, with others sure to follow. What we are witnessing is the unraveling of the post-colonial order that the British and French created in the Arab world in the 1920s and 1930s and then sustained  ƒ ¢ ¢â€š ¬ ¢â‚¬Å“ with American and Soviet assistance  ƒ ¢ ¢â€š ¬ ¢â‚¬Å“ for most of the last half-century.

It is fascinating, if insular, to focus attention, as much Western media are doing, on whether Facebook drove these revolts; or to ask what will happen if the Muslim Brotherhood plays a role in any new Egyptian government. The Arabs are like a bride emerging on her wedding day to face people commenting on whether her shoes match her gloves, when the real issue is how beautiful and happy she is.

The events unfolding before our eyes in Egypt, after Tunisia, are the third most important historical development in the Arab region in the past century, and to miss that point is to perpetuate a tradition of Western Orientalist romanticism and racism that have been a large cause of our pain for all these years. This is the most important of the three major historical markers because it is the first one that marks a process of genuine self-determination by Arab citizens who can speak and act for themselves for the first time in their modern history.

The two other pivotal historical markers were: first, the creation of the modern Arab state system after World War I, at the hands of retreating European colonial powers, some of whom were intoxicated with both imperial power and, on occasion, with cognac, and who created most of the Arab countries that have limped into the 21st century as wrecks of statehood.

And second, the period around 1970-1980 when the European-manufactured modern Arab state system transformed itself into a collection of security and police states that treated their citizens as serfs without human rights, and that came to rely on massive levels of foreign support to maintain the rickety Arab order for decades more.

Now, we are witnessing the third and most significant Arab historical development, which is the spontaneous drive by millions of ordinary Arabs to finally assert their humanity, demand their rights, and take command of their own national condition and destiny.

Never before have we had entire Arab populations stand up and insist on naming their rulers, shaping their governance system, and defining the values that drive their domestic and foreign policies. Never before have we had free Arab citizenries in pursuit of self-determination. Never before have we seen grassroots political, social and religious movements compel leaders to change their Cabinets and re-order the role of the armed forces and police. This is a revolt against specific Arab leaders and governing elites who have implemented policies that have seen the majority of Arabs dehumanized, pauperized, victimized and marginalized by their own power structure. But it is also a revolt against the tradition of major Western powers that created the modern Arab states and then fortified and maintained them as security states.

The process at hand now in Tunisia and Egypt will continue to ripple throughout the entire Arab world, as ordinary citizens realize that they must seize and protect their birthrights of freedom and dignity. It is a monumental task to transform oneself from a condition of autocracy and serfdom to one of democracy and human rights. The Europeans needed 500 years to make the transition from the Magna Carta to the French Revolution. The Americans needed 300 years to transition from slavery to civil rights and women’s rights.

Self-determination is a slow process that needs time. The Arab world is only now starting to engage in this exhilarating process, a full century after the false and rickety statehood that drunken retreating European colonialists left behind as they fled back to their imperial heartlands.

It takes time and energy to re-legitimize an entire national governance system and power structure that have been criminalized, privatized, monopolized and militarized by small groups of petty autocrats and thieving families. Tunisia and Egypt are the first to embark on this historic journey, and other Arabs will soon follow, because most Arab countries suffer the same deficiencies that have been exposed for all to see in Egypt.

Make no mistake about it, we are witnessing an epic, historic moment of the birth of concepts that have long been denied to ordinary Arabs: the right to define ourselves and our governments, to assert our national values, to shape our governance systems, and to engage with each other and the rest of the world as free human beings, with rights that cannot be denied forever.

In January 2011, a full century after some Arabs started agitating for their freedoms from Ottoman and European colonial rule, and after many false starts in recent decades, we finally have a breakthrough to our full humanity.

Rami G. Khouri is published twice weekly by THE DAILY STAR.