Arab Nationalists on Trial: The able, Ghassan Bin Jiddu, hosted a special program on his Al-Jazeera's Hiwar Maftuh, to deal with Arab nationalists. His main guests were `Azmi Bisharah, Khalid Sufyan, and the Washington-DC based friend, Kamal Khalaf-Allah At-Tawil. Bin Jiddu, typically asked the tough questions, and he succeeded in putting his guests on the defensive. But I did not feel that the guests really addressed the common criticisms of Arab nationalists and Arab nationalism. They were all good in criticizing the critics of Arab nationalism, but did not refute the criticism leveled against Arab nationalists. They dismissed the criticisms that Arab nationalists need to tackle the ideological, theoretical, and practical problematique of the Ba`th and Nasserism. Arab nationalists can't pretend that they are not concerned with dealing with that bitter and heavy legacy. Bisharah correctly pointed out that Arab liberals seem to only fault dictatorships if they are anti-Arab nationalists, but have no problem with dictatorships that are opposed to Arab nationalism. But the reverse criticisms can be leveled against Arab nationalists, or some of them at least and that includes Bisharah's friendship with the Syrian regime: and the formula of Ma`n Bashshur (that we stand with Arab people against their government, and with "countries" against colonialism). That is a very vague formula that cries out for explanation and elaboration. Arab nationalists have to deal with:
1) the status of minorities, especially the Kurds and their national aspirations (away and aside from the US colonial project);
2) the heavy and bloody legacy of the Ba`th and Nasserism;
3) the reality of sectarian and chauvinist divides versus Arab nationalist goals;
4) the extent to which the qutri projects (Jordan First, Lebanon first, etc) have succeeded, wishful thinking to the contrary notwithstanding;
5) the inability of the main Arab nationalists group (the one meeting in Morocco) to offer a political recipe of governance, even if Arab nationalism, or nationalism in general is not a political formula of government;
6) the need for an economic project that would deal with the consequences of globalization, and with the distribution of wealth in the Arab world, away from the empty slogans of the Ba`th;
7) the romanticization by Arab nationalists of "resistance" in Iraq, without drawing sharp and clear lines between the various constituent elements involved in the insurgency in Iraq, and the perception by some Iraqis that some Arab nationalists are offering praise for groups that engage in killing Iraqis;
8) the reputation that Arab nationalists constitute a club of nostalgic old Arab men;
9) the inability of the idea to capture the imagination of Arab youths;
10) the accusation (mentioned by Bin Jiddi) that the ranks of Arab nationalists have been infiltrated by Ba`thist functionaries and Saddam fans;
11) the need to formulate a vision that would deal with the "new" issues, of gender equality, environment, globalization, international solidarity, mass media, etc;
12) The silence of Arab nationalists regarding the rise of the various trends of Islamic fundamentalism;
13) the retreat of present-day Arab nationalists from secular goals;
14) the need to reconcile the goal of democratic self-determination with the right, or desire, of some minorities in the Arab world to splinter or to separate.
Having said all that, I believe that:
1) Arabs, like other people, should be entitled to self-identification and to self-determination. This in the face of attempt to impose selective anti-Nationalist standards on Arabs alone.
2) the elements of Arab nationalism are not weaker, if not stronger, than elements of other forms of nationalism worldwide;
3) economic integration of the Arabs, and the harmonization of Arab production and distribution should be a matter of political priority;
4) manifestations of Arab nationalist stirrings and sentiments are still evident in Arab political and popular cultures (that is a whole different issue, here);
5) Denigration of Arab nationalism has been part and parcel of US and Israeli foreign policy for decades;
6) Not all Arab nationalists are fans or admirers of Nasser or the Ba`th;
7 )The Ba`th Party has had a devastating impact on Arab politics, and even on Arab nationalist goals.
Nostalgia for Nasser can be blinding. Nasser's contributions were quite modest--to say the least, and he has hindered the goal of liberating Palestine;
8) the eggplants that you find in Lebanon and Syria (don't know about others) are far superior to the eggplants that you buy here in the US.