Libya's Glorious Dawn

Four decades of darkness is finally surrendering to a glorious dawn in Libya. A ragtag band of rebels transformed itself into a fighting force in a mere six months and overran Moammar Gadhafi's last stronghold around Tripoli. Although pockets of resistance remain and snipers loyal to Gadhafi still abound, the swiftness with which the rebels captured most of the capital, coming as it did in the holy month of Ramadan, will surely become the stuff of legend one day. For now, however, freedom lovers everywhere can rejoice that a tyrant has fallen. A song of Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens) sums up what captive Libyans must be feeling: "Morning has broken, like the first morning. Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird."

Moammar Gadhafi's fall is more momentous than that of Hosni Mubarak. The Egyptian army saw the handwriting on the wall when Tahrir Square erupted with the unflinching resolve of ordinary Egyptians and so wisely acceded to most of their demands. The Nile revolution was peaceful. Not so the Libyan revolution. Gadhafi and his goons made sure of that. The dictator vowed to fight to the last drop of his blood to defend his throne. Of course it was the blood of his loyalists that he was willing to shed, not his or his sons'.

But as the rebels organized themselves and reclaimed their land inch by inch, aided by NATO bombing, naval blockade and American aerial surveillance, the tide began to turn. Gadhafi's initial roar dissolved into a pathetic whimper. When caught, he will most likely face justice at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Such will increasingly be the fate of despots. Such will be the inevitable fate of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad.

The transformation of Muslim Middle East, though still incomplete, is perhaps the most significant event of the twenty-first century. Its effect will define the course of history in ways that are beyond the comprehension of even the most astute observers. But few signposts can be discerned:

1. Dictatorship in all its forms and manifestations, even the ones under the guise of democracy, is doomed. People who cowered in fear have discovered freedom from fear, a discovery that has gone viral around the world. Today’s invincible autocrat is tomorrow’s cowering prisoner. "A man can be destroyed,” wrote Hemingway, “but not defeated." The architects of the Arab revolution have proven this with their blood.

2. People in power can no longer use religion for political ends, at least not with the ease they were able to in the past. It is a fact that the overwhelming majority of Muslims killed since the Second World War have died at the hands of other Muslims. Invoking bogus threats to torture dissidents and perpetuate dynastic power will no longer work. A significant corollary of this is that more and more Muslims, particularly in the Middle East, will demand the separation of mosque and state.

3. Israel will be forced to confront reality and coexist with Palestinians in a two-state solution. The Muslim Middle East will go through yet more convulsions - tribal and sectarian conflicts will probably raise their ugly heads - before the democratic rule of law, transparency, accountability and enlightened governance take hold. When that happens, and it surely will, Israel will have to recognize that it is a part of the Middle East and not an outpost of "Western Civilization" transplanted in the middle of an alien and backward region. Likewise, extremist organizations from both sides will be marginalized as the benefits of good governance and the moral high ground become evident. In September, Palestinians will seek statehood at the United Nations. The United States will dutifully cast its veto. Such myopic policies will be much harder to justify in the transformed political landscape of the Middle East. In the coming months, the United States will recognize, as it has never recognized before, that “business as usual” in the Middle East will be too detrimental to its interests to be sustainable.

It is not just in the Middle East where the wind of change is blowing. People are rising up everywhere against corruption, injustice and state-sponsored violence. Consider how Anna Hazare, a little-known 74-year-old ascetic and Gandhi-disciple has catalyzed Indians to launch massive protests against corruption in the "world's largest democracy." We are witnessing such scenes everyday, aided by social media, and feel empowered to take our own stand against injustice and oppression.

The world’s epicenter of courage and commitment is now at the Green Square of Tripoli, newly and appropriately renamed Martyrs’ Square. Libyans are determined to rebuild their shattered nation on their own terms. They have made possible what was unthinkable only six months ago. Even though their dawn is tinged with the red of blood, there is no doubt that their land will soon be bathed in the bright sunshine of freedom.

Justice for Syrians

Self-restraint and God-consciousness are the essence of fasting for Muslims in Ramadan, a month in which thirst and hunger can become a source of salvation for the believer. As one of the five pillars of Islam, fasting is mandatory for the rich and the poor, the young and the old, the ruler and the ruled.

Given this, Muslims and indeed, people of conscience everywhere, are trying to fathom the brutality and the bloodshed occurring in Syria now, in which a regime is waging an all-out war against its own people.

On the eve of Ramadan this year, tanks and troops of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad besieged the city of Hama, killing more than 200 people. The son seems determined to repeat what the father – Hafez al-Assad – did in 1982 when his military killed at least 10,000 people in that city in crushing a revolt.

The anti-government uprising began on March 18 when Syrians, emboldened by the Arab Spring, took to the streets to denounce the four decades of autocratic rule by the Assad dynasty. The Damascus regime first tried to blame foreign conspirators. When that didn’t work, it began fanning the flames of religious and ethnic conflicts. The sectarian plot fizzled as well when it became clear that members of all religious, ethnic groups and clans – Sunnis, Alawites, Kurds, Shias – were united in ousting Assad and his cronies. Protesters calling for national unity held up banners that read, “We are all Syrians and together we demand the ousting of the regime.”

Zagloul, a Syrian-American and a Silicon Valley executive, has just returned from a two-month trip to Damascus. I asked him about the mix of protesters in Syria. “I saw no sectarian divide,” he confirmed. “People from all walks of life and every ethnic background are participating.” He is hopeful that by the end of Ramadan, some dramatic changes for the better will occur in Syria. But he also knows that the situation is dire and the future uncertain.

Dictators resorting to “business as usual” have been helpless against the onrushing tsunami of Internet activism. Live videos and descriptions of the violence in Syria can be found on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other social media outlets.

Yet the truth is that the forces of Bashar Assad, led primarily by his two ruthless brothers, Maher and Rifaat, are killing with impunity Syrians in Hama, Homs, Deir al-Zour, Damascus and other cities. They are apparently convinced that international outrage against their atrocities will be no more than lip service. Protesters in the flashpoint city of Hama carried poignant banners that read “Your silence is killing us!”

But activity is beginning to replace passivity. Gulf Arab States – Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates – have called for stronger sanctions against the Assad regime. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain have recalled their ambassadors from Syria. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has demanded that Bashar Assad “stop the killing machine and end the bloodshed.”

One can argue that the Gulf States are not paragons of freedom themselves and so their call for reform in Syria smacks of hypocrisy. But that would be the wrong stand to take at this juncture when Syrians are dying by the thousands. We must not give in to political or ideological considerations and support any step to stop Assad’s killing machine.

Feras is a marketing consultant in Silicon Valley. He is following the ominous developments in the country of his birth with mounting anxiety. “I have an 85-year-old aunt in Hama,” he told me. “She has never stepped out of her home in the last ten years. But she was forced to flee with her two daughters to a border town when troops began their indiscriminate shelling. On hundred and forty-five of them were packed into a single bus.”

Although Feras has known of Assad’s campaign of terror, the “Ramadan Massacre” has shocked him. “All he cares about is power and his preference for bullets over basic rights.” But Feras is convinced that Syrians have reached a point of no return. “They have nothing to lose. They will win their freedom or they will die. Let’s pray it is the former.”

Feras fervently hopes that the United States, Europe and Middle-Eastern countries will freeze Syria’s assets, just as they did Libya’s. “But the situation is much more complicated in Syria, so NATO-led bombing, as in Libya, is not an option at this time. What will work is international pressure and isolation of the Assad regime.” He is in contact with sources inside Syria. “Every Friday after the Jumah prayers, and after the nightly Ramadan prayers, people gather to plan and organize protests. It is spreading all over, to Damascus, Aleppo, Homs and other cities.”

“Is there a unified opposition party?”

“Syrians have not known freedom for several decades. In Egypt, in spite of the authoritarian regimes, people had well-formed opposition groups with a history of organized protests. Not so in Syria, and so the logistics and the coordination will take some time. But it will happen.”

Human rights groups calculate that over 2,000 Syrians have been killed so far since the pro-democracy demonstrations began in March, not including those who have been tortured but somehow managed to survive. The United Nations Security Council has issued a toothless statement condemning the use of force against civilians but without any threat of sanctions. It also urges “all sides to act with restraint,” as if the protesters are equally to blame for the deaths.

The Council must impose tough sanctions against Syria and lay the groundwork for a war crimes investigation on Assad and his goons for the International Criminal Court in Hague. Likewise, the United States, the European Union, Turkey and the countries that consume Syrian oil – Germany, Italy, France and the Netherlands – must step up pressure on Assad. He has lost all legitimacy and he must go. As Feras put it, “Nothing less will be acceptable to Syrians, particularly after the Ramadan Massacre.”