The scenes coming from Egypt are heartbreaking, especially because they are from Egypt, the country entrusted with a pioneering role in the Arab world. Egypt is also the country whose history, position, and size nominate it to be infectious in terms of its successes, but also its setbacks. It is a radiant country with its choices, writers, novels and films. The [Arab] nation cannot claim to be well if Egypt is ill. Egypt is an experiment, and a laboratory. It is a test, in coexistence, and in transition to democracy. It is a test in the possibility of building the civil state, and firmly establishing the concept of citizenship. It is a test of equality of all citizens in duties and rights; equality before the police, before courts, and before the right to participate in shaping both the present and the future. It was no surprise to see many problems emerge, and for the transitional period to be difficult. It was no surprise either, that the dreamers, the oppressed and those with demands are feeling that their patience has run out, and for them to thus rush to make maximal demands, sometimes even over sensitive and controversial affairs. Making things even more complicated, is the fact that those who are supposed to have decision-making powers in their hands lack a clear vision, and the ability to quickly take and protect credible decisions. Then lax security only exacerbated concerns, giving one the impression that this is no innocent matter. It is a dangerous sight that a march by the Copts has deteriorated to a bloody clash with the security services. And it has only made matters worse that Muslim youths volunteered to participate in the oppression of Coptic protests. The smell of sedition is rife. The early signs of civil war have shown their ugly face. After those painful scenes, we heard words that we, the Iraqis, Lebanese and others, have heard before. Words to the effect that it is foreign hands that are behind what is going on. Hands that are attempting to sow discord and stoke its fires. Words that claimed the incident is a clear conspiracy against Egypt, its wealth, and its chances to transition towards democracy. Experience shows that invoking a foreign plot is the easiest solution, which exempts any authority from the need to face the truth. Many regimes have thrived on playing this game, using it to justify oppression and tyranny, and to render any demand by any citizen for dignity or his rights the equivalent of involvement in the foreign conspiracy, to justify eradication, exclusion and the abolition of freedoms and suspension of the constitution. In addition, invoking conspiracies is a natural product of denial. Denial of the reality of the illnesses that our societies suffer from, illnesses that have grown worse owing to the policies of denial, fear of tolerance, and awareness of the benefits of playing on the division among the people and exploiting it to perpetuate corruption and tyranny. This of course does not eliminate the possibility that there are foreign or domestic plots. However, conspiracies cannot be possibly successful if problems are not already present and growing, if nerves are not tense, and sectarianism not rife. Furthermore, denial is not restricted to the authorities. The political parties, too, are evading the price of admitting painful truths. We have a deep desire to escape from having to face facts. For too long, the Lebanese have denied that there were problems among them, and blamed all their miseries on foreign conspiracies, even if the latter were indeed not absent. And after the ouster of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqis denied how deep divisions ran amongst themselves, and blamed it all on U.S. occupation, even if the latter was indeed not innocent. But the facts tell us that some Lebanese killed their neighbors. That some Iraqis, too, killed their neighbors. Facts tell us that denying sectarian and religious disputes, does not help resolve them. It is escaping from admitting that our societies pathologically suffer from sectarianism, factionalism and many other types of divisions. It is the inability to accept others in our societies, dealing instead with differences as though they were betrayals or threats. It is the desire to deny others the right to be different, which sometimes reaches such an extent among the zealots in both majorities and minorities, that they dream of eradicating and excluding others, and abolishing their features or retreating to the borders of a canton that are drawn in blood. What applies to the countries where such tragedies have been seen, applies to other countries as well. We want beautiful and perfect homelands, unscathed by any wounds or questions. For this reason, we bury our real feelings and our intentions. For this reason, the ruler suppresses questions, and as a result, concerns are made worse, along with feelings of hatred and desires for vengeance at the first opportunity. There is no shame in admitting that our homelands are sick. That our countries are indeed made up of a group of islands or hidden cantons, each built upon the homogeneity of the one color and a claim to possessing absolute truth. There is no shame either in admitting that our states, in the absence of institutions that bring people together and the concept of citizenship, are just flimsy facades that quickly collapse in major crises. There are no miraculous or quick solutions to problems that have been accumulating and growing in complexity. The only solution is the state built upon citizenship, equality, institutions, acceptance of others and partnership, all under the constitution and the law. The solution begins with the admission that our homelands are ill and that their constituents need to be reunified on the basis of the right to disagreement. We have lied to ourselves and to our peoples for too long, and it is time to admit it.
