Arab uprisings face a long road

By Mitchell Levin

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On May 14 (on the Gregorian calendar), we marked the 63rd anniversary of the creation of the state of Israel. On May 15, some Arabs commemorated the Nakba - the disaster or catastrophe.

Ironically, 63 years ago it looked like the Jews were the ones who were about to suffer a disaster.

The nascent nation was facing armed forces from eight nations and three paramilitary organizations. Egyptian planes were bombing Tel Aviv while their forces were advancing through the Negev and up the coast, destroying Jewish settlements as they went.

The Arab Legion (the Jordanian Army with British-trained officers) was besieging Jerusalem, having cut off the city of David from the rest of the Yishuv. Finally, Syrian and Iraqi infantry supported by tanks, artillery and warplanes were attacking the Jewish farming communities with the aim of destroying them as they swept through the Galilee.

The Israelis had no modern unified military command and little or nothing of what makes up a modern military.

It looked like 600,000 Jews living on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea were going to join their 6 million recently murdered coreligionists. But somehow this ragtag force of teenagers, farmers and anybody else who could carry a gun held out. Like the soldiers at Valley Forge, they bought time, sometimes with their lives, so that the government could muster a force capable of mounting a proper defense.

And when the Arabs agreed to a cease fire (but not a peace that recognized the existence of Israel), the survivors went back to building what has become a modern, technologically savvy, western democracy, which, with all of its imperfections, is the only one of its kind in its region.

There were refugees as a result of this victory. There was a form of ethnic cleansing. Almost a million Jews living in lands stretching from Morocco to Afghanistan would be forced to flee from their ancestral homes by rapacious rulers who coveted their property and murderous mobs who were encouraged to vent their frustration on unarmed Jews. Most of these people found refuge among their brethren in Israel even though the state was really too poor to absorb yet another round of immigrants.

Funny, there was room for almost a million extra people in a country smaller than the State of New Jersey, while the Arabs cannot find room for their brethren despite holding territory that stretches from the coast of the

Atlantic Ocean to the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

Sadly for us all, the Arabs are facing a very real Nakba right this minute. The much-vaunted Arab Spring is turning into an Arab Winter that will be a catastrophe for all of us who care about freedom, opportunity and human rights.

We were told that the crowds in Cairo's Tahrir Square were calling for western-style democracy, economic opportunity and an end to the tyranny that had governed them since the days of Nasser. Unfortunately, an oligarchy that includes much of the old order is in control and real democracy seems like a distant dream. Coptic Christians live in fear as Muslim mobs attack them. The new regime is busy strengthening relations with Iran (the would-be nuclear power committed to the destruction of Israel), Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Redistribution of wealth is taking place. Unfortunately, it is the kind that comes at the end of the barrel of a gun.

Next year, on May 14, on the Gregorian calendar, we will mark the 64th anniversary of the state of Israel. Hopefully, on May 15 we will not be celebrating another Nakba, another disaster. Hopefully we be celebrating an Arab world where the dreams of the Arab Spring - freedom of expression, open government, economic opportunity for all - are in full flower.

Mitchell Levin of Cedar Rapids is a contributing editor for Segula, a history magazine, and Janglo. Comments: melech3@mchsi.com.