It really saddens this observer to see how many Arabs expect to have a turn of events in the region with every presidential election in the United States. While there is no harm in wishing for a change of heart (at least to being fair and objective) by any new President* especially if the President should come after the likes of George W. Bush. It goes without saying that any wishful thinking that Barack Obama will bring Jerusalem back to the Palestinians is exactly just that ? wishful thinking. There is a major problem in this region in that the Arabs are really still far behind in so many ways that it is becoming almost difficult now for most of the people in the region to relate to most of the developments of the world* let alone keep up with them. The Arabs are so backward politically that there seems to be a strong incongruity between most of the Arab leaders and their constituencies. The latter have been lied to* cheated and dehumanized by their leaders to the point where the Arab World* or the feelings and aspirations of the Arab citizens have no weight in the determination of the foreign policy of most of the Western powers (except with the respect to the petty foreign aid or bread crumbs that are given disguised as humanitarian assistance). Whatever the case* when it comes down to the truth* we really do not need anybody's leftovers* if the Arabs really had the right notion of how their resources should be allocated and managed. But with the lot of "leaders" that are the worst batch of leaders this nation has known in a long time* far surpassing the former "autocrats" and kings that prevailed in the last century* in oppression* miserliness and a total lack of culture and civility. There should be no great expectations from any new Administration in Washington* even if the President's parents were born in Mecca* because there is no leverage that the Arabs have in the determination of American foreign policy and how the interests of the United States should be directed. Furthermore* the Americans know full well that the determination of Arab decisions does not come from the masses in "the street" and thus they are not concerned with how these Arab masses feel as long as they cannot get their own leaders to sense their feelings! The Arabs are indeed in a precarious situation* where they can't even hope that their leaders would ever bring them back into the community of rapidly developing nations. Most Arabs who had witnessed the last half of the last century will be quick to point out that states like Egypt (under King Farouk)* Iraq (under the Hashemites and Nuri Elsaeed)* and Saudi Arabia (under the reign of King Faisal) were projected to vie with Japan and many of the Asian Tigers (Korea* Singapore and Malaysia). What happened? Thanks to the great revolutions of Egypt and Iraq* the wheel of progress was rendered permanently flat. There was some progress on the surface* but culture and intellect was laid to rest. Even Mohammed Al-Baradiee (General Manager of the International Atomic Energy Agency of the United Nations)* in an Egyptian television interview a couple of months ago* recalled sadly how much the Arabs have lost in terms of culture and education* not to mention the political dehydration most of the Arab citizens have been subjected to. The Arabs are politically numb now and their leaders have no desire to jolt some life into the masses* because they enjoy being unchallenged by anyone of the likes of Obama who could stir the masses to demand "change" and access to the resources of the land to harness them for the progress of the nation and for strengthening our position in the world* lest this nation remain the ridicule of all the other rapidly developing nations. Even Vietnam* which has gone through half a century of warfare* is now enjoying rapid development. The observer is inclined to conclude that most Arab leaders have no stomach for any freedom for their people* so one should not expect them to hand down progress and freedom of expression on a silver spoon to the Arab masses. Of course* it is not easy for an Obama to rise from the midst of the Arab masses* because in the Arab World* some countries insure that mosques are closed immediately after prayer times* so that people do not mingle and assemble for any political discourse or even to discuss what was on the Late Show! We are also busy with such incomprehensible fiascos like Darfur* Somalia and even the tense political situation in Lebanon (which was once an "example" worth admiring)* because of the ugly political games that our leaders enjoy playing* especially as they are not subject to any accountability by their people for misusing the resources of the countries they rule. Once all this stops and our leaders become accountable to their people rather than their bosses in Washington or elsewhere* then the Arab people will guide our leaders as to how Washington can see things the way the Arab in the street sees them. Stuff like that can only come from the bottom up and not from the top down. So for the near future* regrettably speaking* there is no hope for the Arab case in Palestine or anywhere else for that matter.Hassan Al-Haifi has been a Yemeni political economist and journalist for more than 20 years....

المزيد...