Feb. 16
— Americans are bombarded with alarming reports from the Arab Middle
East about intensifying anti-U.S. sentiments and escalating threats to
their security.
In the eyes of many Americans, the Muslim Middle East
has become simply a caldron of anti-Americanism and out-of-control
violence. But the headlines from the region have missed an important
trend percolating among the younger generation in various Arab
countries.
From universities in Cairo, Amman, Beirut, Tunis, Algiers that have
become de facto safe havens of civic protest across the Middle East,
to soccer arenas, and anti-Iraq war demonstrations, the subtext of
this generation's public expression is a deep yearning to be free and
enfranchised.
The most breathtaking example of the phenomenon for me was a teen
panel at a conference organized by the Arab Thought Foundation in
Beirut last month. Eight men and women in their late teens
from across the Arab world sat on a panel before 1,000 academics,
politicians, diplomats, and activists. One after another, the teens
stunned their elders into embarrassed silence with vehement scolding
of their countries' leaders, not the U.S. or even Israel.
"You have failed us," shouted a Saudi teen. "It is about time women
are put in charge to undo the wrongs done."
Panelists talked from direct personal experience, directing their
anger not just against harsh political and economic realities at home
but also at their parents' fatalism and defeatist passivity.
Colleagues in the audience said they were "shocked" and "moved" by the
teenagers' passion, bluntness and freshness.
"It was heartening," one
said. "There was no finger-pointing at Zionism or imperialism."
The Freedom Generation
In the past few years, after interviewing and circulating among young
people in the region and witnessing the new, powerful trends and
stirrings, I call the phenomenon "the freedom generation."
Young men
and women from all walks of life are challenging the autocratic status
quo and demanding an active political role in shaping their countries'
future. Young people under 30 — almost 60 percent of the region's
population — are unsettled about the economic deprivation, political
oppression and the conflation of their religion with terrorism.
But unlike their elders, they are not blinded by official propaganda
into placing the blame on outsiders for their predicament. They
recognize that the root causes of the profound crisis facing the Arab
world lie within traditional Arab structures, namely authoritarianism
and unreformed patriarchy. They see the shortest route to a better
life in reforming their societies and affecting change in their own
leadership.
Take a sociology graduate from the Lebanese University whom I met at
a demonstration against the U.S. invasion of Iraq in Beirut. Yes, her
sign said "No to American imperialism," but the longer I talked to
her, the more I realized her anger was directed closer at home, at the
dismal failings of her government. She and her generation feel
disenfranchised and let down by Arab rulers.
In Egypt, Yemen, and Jordan, I witnessed the new social protest
phenomenon that is spreading across the region: Politically repressed
people gathered together in anonymous masses at a soccer match or a
demonstration against Israeli and U.S. policies often turn into
antigovernment rallies with waves of young people rooting for regime
change from within.
At a recent soccer match involving Saadi Gadhafi, Libyan leader Col.
Moammar Gadhafi's soccer-playing son, fans from the opposite team
reportedly
chanted "Saadi, Saadi, son of the ruler, your fate will be the fate of
Uday." The phrase — it rhymes in Arabic — refers to one of the sons of
Saddam Hussein who was killed in an American raid.
In this sense, Iran appears to have provided a model for the Arab
youth. Its rebellious young men and women led the freedom march in the
Muslim world.
Opportunity for United States?
Conventional wisdom has it that Arabs and Muslims do not take
personal responsibility for their problems of political oppression,
economic deprivation, and terrorist fervor and, instead, blame Western
imperialism. But that's just not what a startling number of youth
believe now. Although young men and women find many faults with the
Western powers, they lay the blame for their plight squarely at the
feet of their own oppressive regimes.
No, this is not wishful thinking but the beginning of a genuine
emergence of a social movement. Of all political groups, the young
hold the key — by their demographic weight, activism and
freedom-loving spirit — to the transformation of closed Arab
societies.
It's a hopeful note for the United States, if its leaders play it
correctly.
If the United States is genuine about promoting democracy
in the world of Islam, it must not be afraid to take risks on peoples'
choices. It must push its autocratic allies to open up the political
space and dramatically expand political participation and
representation. It must also invest in Arab civil society by
conducting exchange programs, granting scholarships to women, and
investing in health and education programs. Too much of American money
is dedicated to propping up the government and military sectors in
these societies.
This freedom generation, if enfranchised, will not be as pliant as
Arab autocratic rulers. But it could bring a new democratic dynamism
to the region, and in the long run, defuse the crisis in Arab-American
relations. By being in charge of their own destiny, young Muslim men
will reject Osama bin Laden's nihilism and begin the difficult process
of institution- and nation-building. There would be no need then for
the U.S. Army to get bogged down, as it is now, in nation-building in
that part of the world.
Fawaz A. Gerges is a professor in Middle East and international
affairs at Sarah Lawrence College, and is an analyst for ABCNEWS.
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