The Real Enemy Of The People

Some Arab regimes still insist on sacrificing their citizens and their nations for their benefit

By Khalifa Rashid Al Sha'ali

 It appears that Arab regimes are professionals when it comes to creating fake enemies. People have found out that this enemy was not a real enemy but a friend of the regime.

There are agreements and differences between the Arab people and their ruling regimes. Some of these points are clearly visible, while some others have been hidden under the ashes since the establishment of these regimes, which have focused on tightening their grip over the people.

Most Arab regimes derive their legitimacy from bombastic nationalist slogans to convince the Arab masses about the ability of the political elite and leadership to fulfil their dreams. This, after decades of tyranny, suppression and injustice at the hands of colonial powers.

There is no doubt that both sides — rulers and the ruled — had an accord, especially as the liberation movements emerged as the new rulers, inspired by the revolutionary ideology and the literature of revolutions in the West and the East.

By recalling memories of the relationship between the Arab masses and the ruling authorities, we find that the loser has always been the homeland, which was sacrificing its people to protect the rulers under the pretext of establishing order and stability to allow the regime to confront the enemy.

Slogans such as "No voice is louder than the battle cry" have misled Arab masses, who were driven by their leaders who succeeded in convincing them of their legitimacy and exclusive ‘right' to rule. It is clear that some Arab regimes are still insisting on sacrificing all the people to satisfy their leaders, under such bombastic slogans.

Today, it is certain that the ‘battle' for which the masses were mobilised and state treasuries emptied, never existed. Even more, the presumed enemy which was portrayed in different forms and studied in school curriculums was nothing but a mere lie.

It appears that the Arab regimes are professionals when it comes to creating fake enemies. Surprisingly, the people today have found out that this enemy was not a real enemy but a friend of the regime whose troops, aircraft and weapons were saved for the decisive battle.

Strangely, there are some who still believe in these regimes, and even work hard to serve them. They parrot the regime slogans, serving as their mouthpieces and curse the people who revolt against them. Even worse, these people still claim that the popular uprisings are just a foreign conspiracy and that those who take part in the anti-government protests are working for foreign powers. And thus, what is happening is nothing but a plan hatched abroad and being implemented inside.

The pro-government faction claims that such events will facilitate the enemy's penetration into the nation and violate its security, sovereignty and integrity.

These fabrications are made while the people see with their own eyes the bloody crimes committed by the autocratic regime itself, not the presumed or the alleged enemy.

Misusing the media

The victims who fall during these protests include the common people and members of the opposition, security forces and the army, while those in power are the only ones who enjoy and benefit from the nation's resources.

This is much the same way they enjoy the scenes of killing and raping, just because people demand freedom, dignity and social justice.

Creating an enemy is like creating a crisis, which has always been done perfectly by intelligence services for a long time. It seems that some Arab regimes learnt how to create an enemy but were not skilful in the means of mass communication.

The dominance and utilisation of media in improving the image of the ruling regime is no longer effective due to the rise of the independent media and the flow of information through social networking sites and the ability of a person to send pictures via his mobile phone to expose the actions of the regimes.

So, footage and films developed by the regime's intelligence service and aired by state television channels are no longer effective given the rise of Facebook and Twitter. Using these tools, a protester with a mobile phone can send out words, pictures and videos that are more credible than those shown on state satellite TV channels.

It has become evident that those in power are more hostile to the nation, themselves and their people than the presumed enemy.

Certainly, the Arab people know their real enemy and are now fully aware that the nation's security is fragile and penetrated from inside and outside.

Regrettably, those who facilitated this state of affairs are the leaders who do not mind selling their nation in order to remain in power for a longer time.

However, all the elites, ruling regimes and the people have to play a larger role in understanding the nature of the conspiracy, given that both the people and their rulers are in the same boat — and if this boat sinks, everyone will drown.

-This commentary was published in The GULF NEWS on 09/09/2011
-Dr Khalifa Rashid Al Sha'ali is an Emirati writer who specialises in legal affairs