By: Hassan Al-Haifi
COMMON SENSE
Judging from the attention that Arab Satellite Channels are directing towards the American Presidential race, it would seem to many an observer that the Arab Satellite Channels are trying to tell the Arab constituencies from Mauritania to the Persian Gulf that what we are seeing is really what we should also be enjoying. It is not clear to the observer if that is what most people perceived, but, as far as our Arab leaders are concerned, they are always the last to perceive anything, let alone something that is in advancement of their people's welfare and political progress.
For sure, the American people are having the roughest time in determining who their next President will be because for them the choice was not easily decisive. Both candidates did not seem to really present anything substantial, as far as outdoing the situation that Mr. Clinton will leave behind - the best all around domestic situation that has ever been enjoyed by the American people. Thus, it was hard to see which of the candidates could really present a platform that can in fact improve on an already wonderful situation.
Mr. Clinton is perhaps the one who really should be proud of himself from the election results, for the results categorically reflect that not one of the candidates presented that magic appeal brought on by the Clinton Presidency - despite its scandalous sidetracking, and despite the difficulties of getting Israel to understand that the United States wants a real end to the Palestinian issue to climax the legacy of the Clinton Presidency by bringing to a finale the most difficult problem in American foreign relations.
Yet amidst all this who won the election tic-for-tat in the United States, we must try to understand what is the situation in the Arab World in terms of the political progress that has been achieved by the Arab states, despite so many coups and revolts, and what are the prospects for advancement of the political process in the Arab countries?
We first must look at exactly where do we really stand politically? Actually, most Arab countries have yet to develop peaceful transitionary politics, where the will of the people is the first and foremost determinant of the political courses their countries should take. On the other hand, most Arab constituencies would rather do away with all these different Arab states altogether and have them take on some form of federalized regional amalgamation. When speaking to any Arab, one will easily find that he/she does not agree that there should be 22 independent sovereign state with all the components of a sovereign state. One would almost believe that the Arab nation has all the necessary elements for unified sovereign status, in which the positive aspects of one state can make up for the negative aspects of the other and the rich can help counteract the difficulties faced by the poor.
However, these are ideals that are readily found in the Arab "Street", but realistically are remote in the minds of those Arab leaders who insist that Arab political will is only what these leaders dictate it to be.
Perhaps the only thing that Arab leaders can find in common with what is going on in the United States, is that former President has his son competing for the office of the Presidency of the country. In the Arab world, however the same thing is happening but we must remember that it is not being borne out of competition for the popular or electoral votes - It is a fact of life.
Our Arab leaders in all their different formats - kings, presidents, dictators, emirs, sheiks, etc. - all know quite well that the Arab World has a long way to go politically, before ever coming anywhere near the United States, Britain, France or even Iran, in terms of placing the determinant of the political future of their countries with their people, as it should be accordingly. In fact they are the least interested in ever reaching such level of democracy or for that matter any level of democratic rule! In fact, most Arab leaders care very little about insuring that the people should have the last say in determining any course in the country, let alone the political course. For this reason, one will always find that the "Arab Street" speaks one language and the leaderships are speaking in another, with respect to all the issues faced by the Arab nation whether domestically or regionally.
On the other hand, there is a lot of talk about how much of a mandate the next President of the United States will have when considering the relatively narrow margin of victory, if it can be called that, which the next President will enjoy, especially when considering the almost equal division of both Chambers of Congress between the two leading political parties in the United States. Yet most of the Arab leaders have yet to even seek, let alone obtain, a mandate from their relative constituencies and there is certainly little worry about any divisions of the Parliaments - where they exist - since the Arab "parliaments" are seated by handpicked members "elected" by the leaders themselves. So, how can we expect that there will be agreement between the aspirations of the Arab constituencies and their leaders, when the latter care the least bit about what their constituencies aspire for and who should be responsible for the realization of these aspirations?
What is really frustrating is that despite the knowledge of both the Arab leaders and the Arab constituencies about how modern governments are evolving and responding more and more to their people's wishes and desires, there is still very little progress to be seen in the political processes for transition in most of the Arab states. There is also very little progress in the awareness of most of the Arab populations as to the proper relationships between the government and the governed. A number of excuses are given for this, going from "cultural" to "religious" to social, but all of these excuses are false if they rely on believing that the cultural or religious or even social justifications for dictatorship or absolute monarchy or totalitarian rule go hand in hand with these authoritarian regimes. In fact, we fully understand Islam to be a fully democratic religion and, in fact came to this world to end all forms of tyranny. We also understand Arab social orders to encourage communal decision-making and participatory government, even in its medieval tribal format. So it is clear that these justifications are merely an exploitation of the ignorance of the general mass population, which these leaders often work hard to maintain, just so the people will never ever opt for greater empowerment and civil liberties.
In looking at the Arab World, its vast resources and long engrained cultural heritage, one would think that the Arab leaders would see sufficient logic in letting their people have a say in how to channel the resources of the land to work towards advancing their people's welfare. On the contrary, Arab leaders continue to insist that only they who know what is best for their people and any claims to participatory or access rights endanger the stability and welfare of their constituencies.
Moreover, when looking at the different forms of authoritarian rule in the Middle East, particularly in the Arab World, it is amazing to find that the so called advanced states - republics, etc. have not at all shown that they are really responding to their constituent's will or aspirations. In fact, the monarchies or traditional states seemed to show greater concern for their people's welfare than those that claim to take on more advanced forms of government.
On the other hand, those states that claim to have adopted parliamentary or pluralistic orders have yet to display any proof that they are indeed based on popular will or detriment. Most states, as such, tend to use such cliches as mere decorative designs to look glamorous on the international arena, whereas a look inside such countries will show that there is a long way to go before these governments are efficient, free of corruption and truly responsive to the people's aspirations. On the other hand the resources of these countries still lie under the control of the leaders, thus preventing any hope for their constituencies to achieve economic and social progress on their own efforts, because access to such resources is completely forbidden, except to the elements that stand by the regime, as long as the regime continues to breast-feed them out of their people's resources.
So where are they and where are we? Only our Arab Satellite Channels know for sure.

Hamoud Munsar

The blast incident of USS Cole destroyer at Aden seaport has raised many questions about the operation itself and future of the Yemeni-US relations that are witnessing remarkable development. Aden entertains a strategic location for international navigation and trade. Its position represents a meeting point of three strategic areas full of US vital interests, namely, Asia, Africa and the Arab region, the strategic oil reservoir.
Most of the questions are awaiting results of the under way investigations into complications of the incident. Future of Yemeni-US relations will inevitably depend upon the nature of the results produced by investigations. However, At all events Yemen is the first place the targeted side. It is, as president Ali Abdullah Saleh has confirmed, aimed at harming the Yemeni-US relations and Yemen’s economy, especially that Aden is a promising Free Zone representing a future foreign investment attraction area.
No doubt Yemen is well aware of this damage, therefore it is clear and justifiable that the Yemeni side is very cooperative and helpful in these investigations out of its keenness on fighting terrorism, defending its security and sovereignty and protecting its vital interests, including the relations with the US, which are an essential factor for Yemen’s openness policy to the world. US relations with Yemen have in the recent years been given much interest out of the strategic location of Yemen, its population weight in the Arab peninsula, and for its remarkable political and economic change.
The strategic location of Yemen provides multi-dimensional logistic support for the American strategy based on decreasing elements of danger on the US presence and movement in the region. Besides, there is the importance of getting supply facilities provided in Aden port which saves the US big expenses. Therefore, it is certain that whatever the results of investigations are, the two sides will try to enhance and strengthen relations, specially in economy, military and security. As a great old port, free zone and the nearest meeting point to international navigation routes, Aden is the focus of Yemeni-US future cooperation.
However, both sides should understand that Aden today is different from Aden in 1839 when the British colonizers claimed that the people plundered their ship and then took that an excuse to launched a military invasion of Aden.. Aden today is the economic and commercial capital of 18 million people. Moreover, the national, regional and international reality, makes Aden the outstanding symbol of national sovereignty and independence. Aden is the gate of Yemen to the outside world in the third millennium. It hosts and welcomes all guests. There is no harm if it becomes the interest of investors and foreigners. It is no harm for Aden to be a station for exchanging interests. However, the point that should be emphasized is that it is the heart of Yemen and its window on the outside world.

Mohammed Khidhr
Yemen Times
The Organization of Islamic Conference OIC on Sunday inaugurated its 9th 3-day summit conference in Doha, Qatar's capital. The summit is attended by Islamic heads of state and government and their representatives.
The conference is convened amidst extremely tense and explosive atmospheres in occupied Palestine, going on since the provocative step taken by the well-known terrorist Sharon when he purposefully entered Al Aqsa mosque area almost two months ago. That outrageous violation of Islamic holy places in occupied Jerusalem had triggered massive Palestinian protests that developed into daily clashes between Palestinian stone-throwers and Israeli soldiers who have been using live ammunition, rockets, tank canons shelling and helicopter gunships against these Palestinian stone-throwers.
The Palestinians are facing an increasing war of annihilation at the hands of Israeli occupation forces merely because they are defending the Islamic holy landmarks, especially Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem They are fighting with bare breasts on behalf of the entire Moslem nation, armed only with stones. The Zionist crimes perpetrated against the Palestinian Intifada have exceeded the most brutal crimes in human history, even those committed by the Nazists.
These unprecedented savage crimes committed with using the Zionist war machine against the defenseless Palestinians, and the serious violations and acts of desecrating Islamic sanctities in occupied Palestine, place the Islamic nation leaders versus a historic and great responsibility. The entire Moslem nation attaches hopes that their leaders summit in Doha comes out with resolutions and practical steps rectifying the abnormal situation and putting a deterrent end to the Zionists' daily massacres against the Palestinian people. Leaders of the Islamic nation are required to translate their summit meeting into Islamic confrontation on the ground with Zionism to stop its crimes against the entire Moslem nation, not only the Palestinian people who are now taking the brunt of them. The Islamic summit is demanded to come out with effective resolutions guarantee offering active political, material and moral support for Al Aqsa intifada, protection of Islamic sanctities and support for the Palestinian people's legitimate holy war to restore their legitimate rights.
The Islamic summit should be keen to meet the Moslem masses demand, hopes and aspirations. Arab Moslem masses have got disappointed and frustrated with results of the latest Cairo Arab summit that came short of their least aspirations. The Arab summit results have encouraged Israel to further step up its repressive acts and aggression on the Palestinians, using all its military power to abort the intifata, in a flagrant challenge to both Arab and Islamic nations and international law and norms.All Moslems eyes are cast upon you, waiting for how you are going to face this historic challenge. To fail in meeting the nation's hopes would mean the loss of confidence in her leaderships.
The Doha summit has to fulfill its commitment to rescue Al Quds, restore the spirit of joint Islamic action and activate role of the Organization of Islamic Conference. The summit must send a message affirming strength of the nation and her competence in defending Islamic sanctities, issues and interests, particularly against threats of the Zionist entity.

Walid Abdulaziz Al Saqqaf
California, USA
"Now I understand that my vote counts" is a phrase that was heard again and again on several US and international TV channels after the college vote count was announced in the state of Florida. I dedicate this article to this magnificent historical event, which we should learn from as we witness this unprecedented US presidency race. The points I would like to point at can be summarized as follows:

First :
Even though most Americans wanted Bill Clinton to serve for a third term (based on a survey), yet the US constitution was strictly followed. This means that even if there were no other candidates fit for the presidency except Clinton, he could not run for office because this violates the US constitution. The idea of not enabling any president to serve more than two terms was first introduced by the first American president George Washington to prevent the monopolizing of power. I hope that Arab leaders (forming a democratic system in their countries) understand how important this is for true democracy.

Second:
Presidential nominees should not be favored by any means and in any way by the state. Interestingly, this falls in total contrast with the conditions in Arab countries, in which the government supports its candidates financially and morally, directly and indirectly.
What happened in the USA was astonishing, not for Americans, but for the rest of the world, especially the third world countries. Actually, George W. Bush seemed to have had an upper hand in the advertisement campaign, despite the fact that the opponent was the vice president.

Third:
A close race is actually a good indication of a democratic system. Unlike what some people think, a premature democracy is usually the one that widens the gaps between qualified candidates. In contrast to that, a close race indicates that people are free in their choice and that there was no pressure whatsoever on any of them neither by the state, nor by powerful institutions.

Fourth:
Proof that in any election every vote counts. This fact has been quite clear in the last few days as the closeness of the race caused all people involved to understand that each single vote can indeed make a difference. This was enough to make millions of young Americans to be more attracted to politics.

Some people may say that I am talking as if I am a USA ally, or leaning towards the US. But this is what we see on the ground, and if it would have happened anywhere else in the world, I would have done the same thing. It is wise to admit that a system with such strong democracy should be hailed, and taken as an example. This election should particularly be of interest for an emerging democracy like Yemen. It is true that the USA didn't reach this level of democracy overnight, but after hundreds of year of evolution. But this still doesn't prevent us from learning from it, and trying to understand its positive and negative sides.
A change to a truly democratic system can never be achieved by lip service only. It needs a commitment and sometimes a painful sacrifice by the leader of the country. In our case, I am proud to state that our president has indeed announced his will to sacrifice in not running for a third term in office. This not only adds to his credit as the democratic transformer of the country, but also as the humble president who wishes to demonstrate how serious he is about forming a truly democratic system based on the peaceful transfer of power. I believe that he is a man who could prove to be different from other Arab leaders, and who could let Yemen be a model country in the region. In my heart I do believe that there is hope for Yemen to be even more democratic than the US if the leadership and the people wanted to. It only requires commitment and effort by our leadership and people. The first we do have, but the latter (effort) is still to be made. Will we make it? Let's wait and see.

Ali Yousef Sharif
Sana'a - Rep. Of Yemen
The Intifada is still on high gear inspite of the Sharm Al-Sheikh meeting, which proved a bubble in the air inspite of the pivotal role played by President of Egypt, United States of America and United Nations Secretary General in an attempt to contain a heart breaking crisis in the Palestinian territories.
The leader's truce reached could not stop the Israelis from brutal killing of Palestine children. The Egyptian government's influence in Israel which is bound with Camp David agreement could not change the trend of the bloody critical situation. No doubt a lot of time and efforts were put to seek partial solution, apparently focusing on Intifada which is scaring the Israelis.
All words of sympathy and concern echoed in the meeting hall of the peace brokers over and again, fed ears with hopes of peace, which is crying for the moon. Indeed nothing on the ground has changed so far. In another event Arab leaders expressed their grave concern over the crisis in the Emergency Arab League Meeting which was held recently in Cairo. However, it seems that the understanding or agreement reached could not stop the mass killings of the innocent Palestinians children. However, some progress was made in the areas of humanitarian assistance. But unfortunately what could not be stopped immediately is the continuous barbaric crime committed by both the Israeli security units and the armed settlers who are acting in a cowardly manner under the nose of merciless cohorts of Prime Minister Ehud Barak which indeed increasing at an alarming level. The meeting did not change the situation. I must not emphasize the position of Israel to halt inhuman crime nor that the occupier never honored the truce reached in Sharm al Sheikh. The Israeli leaders maintain macho man attitude in any political settlement approach. I wonder how a state of Israel can qualify to be a state while its government is an evil doer. As a matter of fact, use of weapon concept against the people whose land is being forcefully occupied and sieged is totally unacceptable by any existing international convention. Consequently, the Intifada has legitimate rights to expel all monkeys on their 'shamba' in there given most horrifying and unbearable situation. The magnitude and excessive use of prohibited deadly advanced weapons on demonstrators is a clear evidence of gross violation of human rights.
The Israelites authorities have the tendency of ignoring or neglecting the Security Council Resolutions passed on various issues including the one pertaining to legal rights of the Palestinians. Painfully the Palestinians had earlier suffered in the hands of the British colonial power while the Palestinian resistance movement could not achieve their patriotic objective to free their mother land as the British presence on the ground was remarkably superior to anything anyone could imagine. The British later conspired and had the Zionist movement take over in an orderly manner, initially as a part of the Palestinian territory under apretext, I believe, best known by the British masters. Likewise the British had shown its wisdom by giving white minority an independence while the majority the black indigenous citizens were ignored and that led to the emergence of a national resistance movement.
Eventually, through bloody struggle the black indigenous citizens took the power and had their honor restored in their country. Today, Zimbabwe is an independent country. However, it should be stated that at the time the state of Israel was forcibly created on the soil of Palestinian the Israelites were not satisfied with what they had grabbed, snatched, seized, raped, kidnapped, killed, forged, perpetrated acts of explosion and so on. The Israeli strategy and long term objectives were set on both programs land expansion and explosion campaign to further marginalize Palestinian populace. Nevertheless, we observed the shift of the British role to a certain extent in support of the State of Israel while, interestingly, the United States of America godfathered the newly born state. It should be said that the Palestinian resistance to the occupying force could have never succeeded due to lack of substantial military and financial support to enable it challenge the aggressors. Since then, the so-called state of Israel remained firm on the soil of Palestine while maintaining a xenophobia platform, a big temptation for more Arab land in the region which cannot rule out an economic exploitation for more Arab land in the region and an economic exploitation of Arab countries in the near future which is being master minded by the agents of Israel. I am really disturbed, simply cannot conceive of nor comprehend how other Arab leaders can stomach Israeli relation today, despite the threat it poses to the security of the Arab region. Leaders! Don't the pictures of murdered children disturb your conscience enough to cut diplomatic ties or whatsoever links maintained with Israel? How many more funerals the leaders of the world wish to seeing their naked eyes to act rightfully??