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Arab Spring Turns Sour

(Ha'aretz) Aluf Benn - Hosni Mubarak and his sons were taken this week from the place where they were under house arrest in Sharm el-Sheikh to full detention. What happened to Mubarak explains the determination of the other tyrants in the Arab world to fight for their rule. Governments in the West want to be seen as supporting freedom and democracy, while at the same time preserving their strategic outposts and avoiding military entanglements. The result is fighting against Gaddafi in Libya, but only from afar and with a small force so as not to dirty one's hands and prevent losses that will look bad at home. Speaking in favor of freedom and against repression but shaking with fear lest the regime in Saudi Arabia collapse, and with it the oil economy on which the Western way of life depends. Presenting the revolution as a popular uprising and understanding that the real battle is for hegemony over the Middle East. And just as the revolution has returned to familiar patterns, so too the attitude toward Israel. The euphoria of the early days, when the demonstrators concentrated on calls for democracy, ended last Friday with a demonstration by 2,000 people outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo. The candidates to replace Mubarak have become more extreme in their expressions against Israel, and the temporary regime is growing closer to Iran and wants to amend the natural gas contract with the Israel Electric Corporation.
2011-04-18 00:00:00
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