Colonialism is returning to the Arab World through the broadest of gates, supported by popular forces, which are said to have no other way to get rid of their tyrannical ruling regimes. They are forces that live in the midst of patriarchal societies ruled by tribal values and primitive elements. Incidentally, those values are what prevented the establishment of the modern state, and were the basis upon which tyranny relied. As for those who had fled to Europe and the US, many of whom have studied and worked in those countries and have practiced democracy, and joined the uprisings as leaders and guides, they were upon their return so enticed by tribalism that they triumphed by it and for it over the tribe of the one leader. They thus began to wage battles to exclude some tribes and ally with others, so that they may dominate as did those who were there before them. The only difference between the two is that the tyranny of the toppled leader had no longer been ensuring the interests of colonizing democracies, and had come to behave condescendingly with their heads of state, while the new ones are humble and unable to prevail save with the help of “allies”, having not yet formed their own power or the instruments of their tyranny. Had not leaders of the Al-Qaeda organization been the graduates of European and American universities? Did they not return to their own countries to practice the most extreme forms of obscurantism? Did they not seek to establish even more tyrannical regimes? As for talk of Western democratic values being brought to the Middle East, it is no more than cover for the return of the colonizers to this region. In the past, Europe had justified its colonialism with the slogan of civilizing barbaric peoples. Today the slogan has turned into that of ridding those peoples of their tyrannical rulers. Thus Obama, Sarkozy, Cameron and Berlusconi have become the spokespersons of oppressed peoples, depriving one ruler of legitimacy and bestowing it on another, fighting one dictator and befriending another. Those who ensure their political and economic interests and normalize relations with Israel are friends, while those who object to this are enemies that must be gotten rid of. Incidentally, Berlusconi was Gaddafi's partner in his sexual and non-sexual scandals, and wished to sleep in the famous tent when the “Leader” would set it up in the middle of Rome. As for Sarkozy, he used to wear high-heeled shoes in order to reach Gaddafi's shoulder and greet him with kisses. And until recently, Tony Blair had been an employee for the “King of Kings of Africa”, promoting him and his Jamahiriya in the West. Today, on the other hand, the leaders of NATO stand tall and issue military and political orders, on the background of their war fleets and of UN resolutions, the only function of which is to provide cover for what they are doing – legitimizing NATO's interference wherever it wishes, and covering its crimes and the crimes of its allies wherever they may be. And the hundreds of thousands of victims of the American war in Iraq, as well as those of ongoing Israeli massacres, provide the best example of this. Now the leaders of NATO, in coordination with the National Transitional Council (NTC), have laid down a roadmap for building Libya after Gaddafi – a roadmap by which the new regime in Tripoli would abide, under the direct supervision of European and American institutions, old ones as well as ones that have yet to be created. As for NATO's battleships and fighter jets, they will remain present, and a military base will perhaps be built for them in the region, replacing the American Wheelus Air Base from which they were driven out by the “Hero of the September Revolution” with the support of Abdel Nasser. Colonialism has returned to Libya. From there it will observe the changes taking place in Egypt and in Tunisia, and will subject Algeria to a new experience, after France left it decades ago and became convinced that it was not part of its territory. In the Levant, on the other hand, military bases are spread everywhere, and the remaining occupation forces in Iraq are carrying out their task perfectly well, this aside from Israel, the task of which is not yet complete, preparing for new alliances with yesterday's enemies. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé made no secret of this, asserting that “the Arab Spring represents a golden opportunity to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict”.
