Madina Newspaper When a Palestinian journalist and I visited one of the largest coffee farms in south India, the owner asked his daughter to show us around. While she was showing us around, she asked us where we came from. My friend told her that he was from Palestine. She gaped, wondering where Palestine was. We drew a map on the sand and we said, “This is Palestine.” But she answered: “I think you mean Israel.” I asked her how come she knew about Israel. She said she had read “Exodus” by Jewish-American writer Leon Uris. Millions of copies of the book were sold in India when Israel did not have an embassy there at the time. But there was an office for the Palestinian Liberation Organization whose staff spent most of the time at the swimming pool of the Oberoi Hotel in New Delhi, watching Eastern European women swimming. The novel “Exodus” did for Israel what all Arab embassies and the offices of the Arab League as well as the Palestinian Liberation Organization have not been able to do for the Arabs. The book made me think about the crisis we were living in and the hefty price we have paid. When I read it, I discovered that we must have our own “Arab Exodus”. At the time, I didn't think that I would live to see the Arab Spring. I didn't think that a small protest at Sidi Buzaid in Tunisia, followed by another small one in Cairo could lead to the ouster of Ben Ali, Hosni Mubarak, Muammar Gaddafi and Ali Abdullah Saleh. Now, the Syrians are taking to the streets in Damascus, calling for the ouster of Bashar Al-Assad and his family. At last, we have our Arab Exodus as Arab youth have decided to revolt. For the first time in history, we have an opportunity, as an Arab nation, to look to the future from a new perspective. What we need now is a detailed and well-studied plan to walk us through the path of change. Change does not happen because some angry people take to the streets or a regime was ousted for ignoring the needs of the people. Change needs methods and mechanisms as well as a timeframe to implement it. However, what is happening in some Arab countries now does not suggest any form of organization or vision for the future. In Egypt, young men gathered in Tahrir Square and ousted the government of Essam Sharaf. Now, a new government is needed. Protesters mention names of people they want to be appointed in the new government while the Military Council has other people in mind. The desired changes cannot happen this way. It is not a matter of changing people in government. Both sides should focus on structural changes during the transition period to be able to accomplish what the government of Essam Sharaf failed to achieve. Unfortunately, Egyptians are still looking for persons to run the government instead of thinking about the key mission first and then choosing the people they want to run the new government. Egyptians are repeating the common mistake of putting the cart before the horse. They want to have elections before drafting a new constitution. The result? The current chaotic situation in which so much time is wasted and opportunities missed. This mistake should be corrected in the early stage of transition in all countries overrun by the Arab Spring so that the political costs will be less and the aspirations for the future can easily be realized. __
