When Does the World Respect Us?

In this article to DW Arabia Alaa Al-Aswani asks: When does the world respect us?

In the 1980s, I was studying at the University of Illinois in the United States to get a master's degree in dentistry. In one of the articles there was no written examination, but the professor asked us to read several researches and then discuss them and the performance of each student. Was with us an Egyptian student named Shaker does not read the required research and cover his lack of discussion Professor in topics away from the lesson and when repeated, the professor said to him:

"Shaker You do not read the required research and talk in other topics waste time on your colleagues. Please read what is required of you before you speak."
After the lesson Shaker told me angrily:
"Shafat Maafaleh the racist professor. He hates Muslims"

~~~~~

Alaa al-Aswani is a tireless advocate for 

democracy in Egypt. He speaks to all 

who seek more democratic alternatives 

to authoritarian systems.

Alaa Al-Aswani: Why did our ethics change?

Alaa Al-Aswany's latest column...
Date June 12, 2018

(Via Deutsche Welle, browser translation.)

I told him that the professor had barked for your shortness, and not because of your religion as I am also Muslim and the professor did not reproach me. Shaker had two choices: either to admit his shortcoming or to accuse the professor of racism and thus remain in his own eyes diligent and oppressed. This way of repudiating responsibility and denying the truth and blaming others for our mistakes is so pervasive in our Arab world that you rarely find someone who admits his mistakes and does not justify them. The reason is that the ruling class in any society is the model of behavior in it and we Arabs live in tyrannical societies. Of the Arab rulers who led his foolishness to ignite several wars that led to the killing of thousands of innocent people, some of whom caused the division of his country and some of them wasted billions of dollars on failed projects, but none of these rulers never admit his mistake because the ruler in our Arab culture is not a public servant The leader of the nation and the symbol of the homeland and the father of the people and therefore remain above accounting no matter what crimes.

Almost every month a report is issued by an international organization or a Western newspaper condemning the gross violations of human rights in Egypt, but the Sisi regime never recognizes the repression it is waging against its citizens and is accused of insulting all those who defend Egyptian human rights. The New York Times, the Washington Post and international media organizations such as Deutsche Welle and the BBC have all considered them instruments of conspiracy to overthrow the Egyptian state. This rationalist mentality, which denies the truth and places responsibility on others, not only prevents us from seeing and correcting our mistakes, but also isolates us from the world.

For decades, corrupt Arab rulers have tried to convince us that all the nations of the world are carrying out a great cosmic conspiracy against us. The truth is that the world is not filling us with a little or a lot because we pose no danger to anyone and unfortunately live on world civilization. We consume their products and produce nothing useful for humanity. The distinguished Arabs of the world migrated to the West, and the democratic climate helped them to excel, and they could not have been creative in our societies that eliminate any talent.

The Arab dictatorship has created a closed mental world in which we deceive ourselves with false superiority. The rate of distribution of books in the Arab world is a bit shameful compared to the smallest European country. The Arab citizen often does not read books but relies on collecting information on television, soap operas and mosque preachers. Egyptian universities have often become outside the international rankings of universities or in a backward rank that is not suitable for Egypt's status or history. Egyptian cinema rarely accepts its films at international festivals because they are less than international cinematic standards. TV series that cost millions and rely on advertising money do not often rise to the level of global drama because of their writing, directing and acting.

The justifiable rationalism, which does not admit error and is based on conspiracy theory, is not limited to the Arab dictator, but also extends to the Islamic opposition. A Muslim, like any religious person, is inspired by his religion and human values ​​to do good and avoid evil, while the Islamic is embracing a political theory that divides the world into the camp of Islam and the camp of infidelity and believes in fighting the infidels until the Islamic caliphate reigns. All of this is a group of illusions. The Islamic caliphate did not exist in history until we recapture it. Western governments are not mobilized by Islam, religion or whatever interests their economic interests, which often led them to support radical Islamic movements and governments, starting with the Zia ul-Haq regime in Pakistan and even the Saudi regime.

The Islamic mind ignores the facts to keep the sacred hostility of the infidels because it is one of the pillars of its theory. When Tariq Ramadan is tried for raping women, the Islamists accuse the French authorities of fabricating his accusation because he is an Islamic preacher and the grandson of Hassan al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood. When our great writer Naguib Mahfouz wins the Nobel Prize, Islam (though the Islamists do not taste literature and consider it merely talk of immorality and immorality). When Chancellor Merkel receives thousands of Syrian refugees in Germany, Islamists do not consider that they do so for humanitarian reasons, but because they need Cheap labor or because its purpose is to evangelize Muslim Syrians. Thus, the Arab mind is being squeezed between the ruling dictatorship and religious fascism, so that it can not see the truth.

The world is not a paradise. Western governments are not charities but only the interests of their citizens, but the plots against our dignity and freedom are carried out by our rulers and no one else. When we get rid of dictatorship and religious fascism, our minds will be liberated and we will learn how to recognize our mistakes and learn from them. Only then will we achieve the Renaissance and the world will respect us.

Democracy is the solution