by Eldad Beck
Arab regimes are today demonstrating more flexibility on normalization with Israel, in particular in the Gulf region, says Abd Al-Hamid Al-Ansari, one of the most outspoken liberal voices in the Arab world.
“We in the
[Persian] Gulf states enjoy innovation thanks to our vast funds. You are
inventive. We have not yet succeeded in sowing the seeds of innovation,
which are democracy, liberalism and freedom, here,” Abd Al-Hamid
Al-Ansari, one of the most outspoken liberal voices in the Arab world,
says in an interview with Israel Hayom in Doha, Qatar.
In the past, Al-Ansari served as the dean
of Islamic Law at Qatar University, where he had no qualms about sharply
criticizing the use of terrorism and violence in the name of Islam.
Today, Al-Ansari writes opinion pieces and books about the state of the
Arab world and the Middle East.
Israel Hayom meets Al-Ansari in the heart
of Doha, the Qatari capital, which is bustling with preparations ahead
of the 2022 FIFA World Cup soccer tournament the city is set to host, in
what will be a first for an Arab state. The decision to allow Qatar to
host the World Cup sparked controversy when it was announced. Human
rights groups protested the honor being given to Qatar at the same time
when hundreds of thousands of foreign workers in the country are being
taken advantage of and treated like modern-day slaves.
For the past year and a half, Saudi Arabia
and its allies have imposed a land, sea and air blockade on Qatar over
its ties with Iran and open support for opposition forces in various
Arab countries and terrorist organizations. Nevertheless, construction
on eight stadiums in preparation of the games is almost complete.
Sparks of protest
Q: Has the Arab world learned the lessons of the dramatic results of the Arab Spring?
“This was a popular protest movement, the
reasons of which were many. The disappointment of the masses was the
principal reason for the Arab Spring. The leaders of the officers’
revolution in Egypt promised the masses freedom, unity, the liberation
of Palestine, a just society. None of these things has been realized
over 50 years. But the most important reason was the issue of human
dignity. The revolutionaries who came to power wiped out the opposition;
their opponents were tortured in prisons. Arab human dignity has been
violated in all the important Arab countries. That is the spark that lit
the fuse of prowwww [sic].
“The Muslim Brotherhood tried to attain
power in Egypt and other countries. As a successful opposition movement,
they succeeded in enlisting the masses. But they didn’t have a
political-national plan for construction and growth. The Brotherhood
wanted to fight secularism and impose themselves on the state and on
society. This led to failure, and the failure of the Arab Spring. The
situation is now becoming more difficult than it was before the [Arab]
spring, as we see in Syria, Libya, Iraq and Yemen. Who today would dare
to think of a rebellion against the existing regimes, after having seen
these tragic results? Only the smallest minority.”
According to Al-Ansari, “The police, for
their part, learned a lesson to a certain extent. In Saudi Arabia, large
and significant political, social and religious changes have taken
place. In the Gulf states, there are the beginnings of political, social
and economic openness. One can see much more temperance as far as
concerns freedom of speech. In Qatar, freedom of speech is made possible
through open social media networks.
“People in the Gulf region feel freer to
express their opinions and criticize corruption,” he says. “We do not
hear about torture in prisons. People demonstrate, as we see today in
Sudan and Algeria. In the past, they would have responded to such
protests forcefully. Today the regimes are cautious. The international
arena has a greater influence on what goes on in Arab states. The
regimes are under internal and external scrutiny.”
In support of the US alliance
In Al-Ansari’s opinion, there is one more
important matter to note, and that is that throughout this difficult
period, in a majority of Sunni Arab countries, there were no expressions
of hostility toward the Jews outside of the most radical streams – the
Salafists or the Houthis in Yemen.
“Also regarding Israel,” he emphasizes, “as
a state and as a policy, the Arab regimes are today demonstrating more
flexibility [on] normalization and political and economic cooperation
with it, in particular in the Gulf region. We see this also in the
media. On the public level, the situation is different. And yet, I see
that Arab nations today tend toward reconciliation with Israel – if
Israel commits to respecting the rights of the Palestinians, meaning the
establishment of a state with all that entails.”
Q: Meaning a state with a military?
“There will be a need to define the
character of the Palestinian state. In the past, contact with Israel was
considered treason, and today there is no mass opposition to it. And
the Arabs have been convinced that Israel exists, that it cannot be
destroyed by force and that it is preferable to negotiate with it. For
70 years, the Arabs tried every means of violence against Israel and saw
that it only grows more powerful as they grow weaker.”
“One more thing,” Al-Ansari adds, “Arab
states spend vast sums of money on arms, at the expense of the
advancement of their societies. Had they invested these billions of
dollars on development, the state of the Arab societies would be better.
Beyond this, the Arabs discovered that the Palestinians themselves are
divided and conflicted between the [Palestinian] Authority and Hamas. If
the owners of the problem themselves are fighting one another, others
have no problem looking for justification for reconciliation with
Israel.”
Of course, Al-Ansari notes that “Iran also
plays a part in this development: The Arabs realized that Iran, as a
result of its actions in the Arab world, constitutes a threat. Iran now
controls four Arab capitals – Baghdad, Damascus, Beirut and Sana’a.
Today the Arabs understand the slogan of resistance to Israel was used
by the Iranians to act against them [the Arabs].
“All those who raise these slogans today –
Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas and the masses shouting ‘Death to Israel and the
U.S. – do this for their own personal needs. All of the anti-Israel
slogans were a political tool for attaining power.”
Q: What do you think about U.S foreign policy under President Donald Trump?
“I am one of those who support a strong
alliance with the U.S., regardless of the identity of the American
president. Qatar is a small country that needs an alliance with a power
like the U.S. The decision to withdraw from Syria is an American matter.
Trump’s policy stems from a desire to fulfill his promise to voters to
bring the American soldiers home. Trump represents another policy.
Today, Trump is not willing to pay with American casualties or money in
order to solve others’ problems.”
Al-Ansari says that “in the Middle East,
Arabs from all political strains attacked the U.S. for its involvement
in the overthrow of regimes. That was one of the reasons for the hatred
of the U.S., which culminated in the Sept. 11 attacks. These are Arab
problems that the Arabs must solve themselves.”
Q: And what do you think will happen with Trump’s so-called “deal of the century” and Iran?
“There are conflicting reports about what
it [the Trump Middle East peace plan] entails. I am convinced that the
Arab regimes will not agree to a solution that does not please the
Palestinian Authority. Nevertheless, the current American approach is:
We help only those who help themselves.”
Al-Ansari believes that despite U.S.
sanctions on Tehran, “the Iranian regime is not in danger. I don’t think
there will be a revolution, but there may be changes to the regime.
Iran will be obliged to change its foreign policy and stop the transfer
of funds to agents in other countries. They will also have less money
[to invest] in the arms race and the nuclear programs if they want to
remain in power.
He says that the continuation of current
U.S. policy on Iran would convince the ayatollah regime there that
“economic growth is more important than exporting the revolution and
spending money overseas.” But that he notes “will require more time.”
Source: https://www.israelhayom.com/2019/03/29/the-arabs-have-realized-israel-cannot-be-destroyed/
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