+++THE DAILY STAR (Lebanon) 17 May '06:
"Expect Arab change from a profusion of baby steps", Rhami G. Khouri

QUOTES FROM TEXT:
"elusive Arab quest for modernity, sustainable development and ...
normalcy in political and national life"

"stability without basic rights, liberties and personal human dignity
quickly transforms into a ...force for stagnation, decay and degenertion"
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EXCERPTS
One day soon, in the coming two decades at most, the contemporary Arab world will finally free itself from the grip of narrow military and security leaderships ... the critical lynchpin of the elusive Arab quest for
modernity, sustainable development, and just plain old normalcy in political and national life.. . ..

Our collective submission to the priority of ensuring security and stability
over all other personal and national values has shattered prospects for the
growth of liberalism, freedom, dignity, creativity, productivity,
self-reliance and a brand of urban cosmopolitan tolerance that once defined this region. ...The modern Arab security state has bred mass complacency, severe dependency, political apathy, high emigration rates, tendencies among youth to embrace violent movements, rampant corruption, gangsterism and lawlessness, economic inefficiencies and waste, local and global terrorism, the proliferation of private militias, wide gaps between leaders and the led, profound legitimacy problems among many ruling elites, active revolts and occasional civil wars in many countries, opportunities for foreign political manipulation, and a general frailty of statehood, in sharp contrast to strong, durable personal and communal identities defining most citizens.

...Stability is a legitimate and worthy national goal - but stability
without basic rights, liberties, and personal human dignity quickly
transforms into a stultifying force for stagnation, decay and degeneration.
...end our condition of collective captivity to military orders...Bringing
Arab military and security establishments under the oversight and control of
civilian institutions is critical to this goal. ...
Change will come... by the actions of courageous, committed Arabs working
with like-minded colleagues from other countries. The 20 Arab
parliamentarians who gathered in Beirut - hosted by the United Nations
Development Program's Program on Governance in the Arab Region and the
Geneva-based Center for Democratic Control of Armed Forces - were joined by
another 40 experts, scholars and ex-military officials. The parliamentarians
came only from those few countries where there is a possibility of
breakthroughs on this critical issue: Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Kuwait,
Palestine and Algeria.
.... already visible in some Arab countries: courageous, patriotic
individuals... now openly, peacefully, democratically challenge ... rulers'
unchecked power. Our own elected sons and daughters demand implementation of
the concept of the consent of the governed, and brandish the weapons of
constitutionality, accountability, transparency and citizenship rights.
Such small signs of big change ahead ... are accelerating. Judges are
openly challenging a militarily supported regime in Egypt to hold free and
fair elections. On Monday, Kuwaiti members of Parliament demanded that
electoral districts be revised in order to more equitably allow people to be
represented. Lebanon arrested and is indicting four top former security
officials for complicity in the murder of former Prime Minister Rafik
Hariri.
Arab parliamentarians meeting and working to push for the civilian control
of security sectors are a significant step ... . When the history of the
modern Arab political rebirth is written, this past weekend (meeting of
courageous parliamentarians) in Beirut may be remembered fondly as one of
several moments when history was nudged ahead by decent Arab nationals and
like-minded Western friends who took citizenship rights seriously, and
worked according to realistic agendas and timetables.

Sue Lerner - Associate IMRA

Reproduced by permission of IMRA, Independent Media Review and Analysis, Israel.

http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=29324