US Secretary of State Colin Powell has just been on a whirlwind tour of Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria, which all enjoy close relations with the US. That was underlined when Powell praised each of them for their cooperation with Washington in the US-led war on terrorism. In Algiers, both he and Foreign Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem agreed that political relations have never been so good.
But there was another purpose behind Powell’s trip. According to US officials, it was to promote democracy. So in Algeria he publicly called for improvements on human rights and for a “free and transparent” presidential election next year. In Tunisia, he said that while there had been political change, “Tunisians want” further reforms and more openness in their society.
The calls fit into the wider pattern of trying to change the Arab world, heard loud and clear four weeks ago when President George W. Bush called on Arab countries to democratize and allow greater freedom for their citizens. Washington’s hopes of introducing Western-style, multi-party democracy to Iraq is its most prominent effort in this direction; but there are others. In Sudan, for example, the blueprint it has devised to bring peace to the warring north and south is likewise firmly linked to the introduction of multi-party democracy.
But what is it that entitles the US to decide the course of political development in the Arab world? What it is that made Colin Powell imagine that he could speak for Tunisians this week? They certainly do not think that he does. On the contrary, local human rights groups and opposition parties objected to him being in the country at all.
No one would be so foolish as to pretend that there are not enormous political and social problems in a country like Algeria; last week’s tragic murder there of Prince Talal Al-Rasheed while on a hunting trip is evidence of severe political dysfunction. Neither Algerians nor Tunisians think their countries perfect. But whatever their views about the need for political and social reform, they will not take lessons in democracy and human rights from the US. That goes for the entire Arab world too.
Arabs will continue to regard Washington’s calls for democracy and human right as rank hypocrisy while it continues slavish support for Israel’s reign of oppression in the occupied territories. What about the Palestinians’ human rights? Where is their democracy? Both the US and Israel refuse to talk to the man whom they elected as their president. The status the Palestinians want as an independent, sovereign, democratic state is denied them by Washington’s own policies.
While Palestinians remain oppressed and Washington continues to support their oppressor, the broad mass of Arabs — from Morocco to the Gulf — will continue to regard Washington’s views on anything, even if they make sense, with bitterness and hostility.
