Ahmed Al-Jarallah Gets It

Ahmed Al-Jarallah is the Editor-in-Chief of the Arab Times. This was published on March 20^th. The Arab Summit in Algeria did indeed convene on the 22^nd.

I have no idea what they are publishing in the Arab language edition but this, at least, is pretty good. No 'summit,' no nonsense;

PEACE initiatives of the United States are the only things we see on the political horizon of the region. Arabs, well-known for their penchant for hysterical reactions, are digging into their dictionaries looking for new words to denounce these initiatives and coining new slogans to chant while they run around burning effigies and flags. This what the Arab Summit will see in Algeria Tuesday - a repetition of a similar scene which led to the failure of the Tunis Summit when Arab leaders preferred to go home.

The current crisis in the Arab world reflects the position of its leaders and not the people. We know citizens of the Arab world are far more advanced than their leaders. It is a proven fact Arab leaders neither communicate with their people nor have an idea of their true ambitions. Some Arab leaders even tried to create a people of their own, wanting them to be silly, low in self-esteem and easily led. These leaders, who trained their people with the help of intelligence agencies to participate in demonstrations praising them, don't even care for the suffering of their people.

The Syrian regime, which lacks wisdom and refuses to understand the ground realities, was surprised by the uprising of the people of Lebanon, which it has been occupying for 30 years. The stunned regime didn't bother to study the reasons for this revolution and hasn't cared to analyse this phenomenon, which has been going on for over two months. The Syrian regime is not the only Arab regime which is incapable of staying in touch with its own people. The Palestinian regime was doing the same until the death of Yasser Arafat. Now the Palestinian Authority is able to sense the needs of its people and has succeeded in pacifying armed groups. It has made various Palestinian groups agree to an armistice as a prelude to reconciliation.

I hope that he's right about the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinians, but I have little faith in them.

It would be nice if a few more people over there would stop the idiocy and work toward the end of tyranny, the Syrians need to wake up and smell the coffee.