So far, most of the protests have been secular in nature. The crowds that are still up against the military have been largely good-natured, nationalistic and hopeful. That’s not surprising really, Liberation is primarily in their minds rather than levelling any hatred against other states or people. On my last night in Tunis, the kasbah rocked to the news that another Arab regime was falling when we heard that Gaddafi was on the run. People shouted: “Three down, more to go.”
We should not forget these have been secular dictatorships committing many of the political and human rights abuses which Arabs have risen against, long before they aligned themselves with the “war on terror”. At an emotional rally of Liberte Equite in Tunis, many of the families who have had relatives disappear over the years were still grieving for them. One of the worst cases of abuse we came across was a blind man called Fathi Messaoudi who had been chased out of the country and his family harassed. There is clear evidence that the British authorities did not help when he came to the United Kingdom.
Yet while the dictators have fallen, the dictatorships are still largely intact. In Egypt, it is the military council that has taken over. The new president, Omar Sulieman, has a dubious past.
The situation in Tunisia is better, with an amnesty for political prisoners, freedom to assemble and form political groupings, and other constitutional changes are being considered. Many of the political parties are still bewildered at the pace of change and have yet to put their stalls out to the electorate, though this has not stopped more then 35 political parties setting up.
A meeting of the Arab League now would look bare now without three of its autocratic leaders in their long-held seats and with the distinct possibility of more departures.
So far we have only had Arab republics fall but not yet any Arab monarchies.
People in the Kasbah should sing: “Over to you now in Bahrain”, as Tunisia proudly led the way after starting it all across the Arab world .
