Arabs surf the TV channels, without dreaming of any joyful news. The days have taught them, and the experiences have marked them. They have reduced their ambitions and demands. They do not ask for change, as they have abandoned the idea of such a crime. They do not demand democracy, as they were healed from that disease. They do not insist on combating corruption, and they are not interested in human rights. They do not demand participation [in state affairs], the release of the prisoners of thought, the modernization of curricula, or equality before the law. The days have taught Arabs, and the experiences have marked them. They do not want anything from what they used to secretly or publically desire. They do not want a brilliant future for their nation or their children in their homeland. They do not ask the night visitors for an official arrest order, or the release of the newspaper headlines. Neither do they remove the official attire imposed on minds, imaginations, and books. Arabs are miserable; they are orphans. They do not want joyful news, just reassuring or quasi-reassuring news. They feel that worry is consuming their days, their countries, their daily bread, and their children. It is as if they only resided on an island of worry. All their feelings have died, and there is nothing left but fear. Fear is their ensign; it is what awaits them; it is their pillow. They used to be sad because their nation's limbs were ripped. Today, they fear for the limbs of their country, city, and village. Arabs surf TV channels and collapse under their remains. They do not want to resurrect the past glories of the nation, or guarantee its position under the sun. They are not obsessed with the status of the Arab district in the global village like the other human beings. TV channels have taught Arabs lethal lessons and terrifying terms. Lebanon is not the country of diversity and the open window on the Mediterranean; it is where Lebanonization is born. The latter is a fast-spreading border-crossing disease. TV channels have taught Arabs that Iraq is not the country of palm trees, many civilizations, and the promise of better days; it is where Iraqization is born. The latter is centrifugal among the components. A great deal of tension is infiltrating the veins of the region. It is a poisoned fire with radiations that are impossible to control – not to mention Somalization and Afghanization. Arabs laugh in front of their TV. The party of fear is the greatest of the Arab parties. It is the party of wasted lifetimes, eroded countries, and fragmented institutions. They smile. Arabs were afraid from the new Middle East; from that American lie which did not last for long. They rejoiced at escaping the great Middle East, and fall instead into a terrible Middle East. Blocked horizons; failed states and others to follow; sectarian and regional conflicts; the old fears have reawakened and spread. Countries move to the rhythm of terrorists and suicide bombers; to the rhythm of failure and despair, and the feasts of disintegration and hasty collapses. They move to the rhythm of rejecting the different other and refusing to coexist with him. This is frightening. When a dictator is eliminated, his country is eliminated with him. Its politicians move about, begging for a division formula. When occupation leaves, the country's citizens get ready to kill each other. Sudan is getting ready for a divorce and the announcement of the failure of the coexistence experience. A velvety divorce does not enter within our tradition. Yemen is slipping towards a dreadful turmoil. Arabs would be living under an illusion if they consider it to be far and that they are safe, and that the fire will not get through to them. They would be living under an illusion if they consider themselves unconcerned with the slipping of Beirut or the suicide of Baghdad. Arabs are sailing on a pierced ship. They fight and forget the lethal puncture in the ship. They treat the cancer with balms and wishes. There is but one mission, which consists of closing the puncture in the ship, regardless of the concessions and sacrifices. Arabs do not have the luxury of gloating, or the illusion of safety or salvation by themselves. The ring of fire threatens to broaden and add new weak links to the list of the countries that are open to meddling both internally and externally. It is not true that to wait is always best. The Arabs in the pierced ship must move now so that we do not write in the future about it being too late.
