Whether in Egypt or in Gaza the USA does not understand that jobs are the issue and jobs are a universal, nonideological concern. This lack of American understanding stinks of racism. The Arabs are more feared than communicated with

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The Revolt in Egypt and Neighbors is about Jobs, Poverty, Despotism, Dictatorship, Oppression, and lack of Accountability.

Truth Out Organization
US Must Shift Paradigm Away From Its Current View of Arab World
by Laith Saud
February 3, 2011

US Must Shift Paradigm Away From Its Current View of Arab World


Some excerpts :

Although these movements are directed against pro-Western regimes, they are not about the West. They are about the accountability of Arab governments; they are about jobs and, ultimately, the democratic will of the Arab peoples.

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Over the last decade, the American understanding of the Arab world has severely deteriorated. The American narrative has been dominated by concerns over the so-called rise of "extremists" and "Islamists," while our policies have become increasingly imprudent regarding Israel and oil. As is well-known, in the name of securing Israel and oil, the West has preferred stability over democracy. We could legitimately ask why securing Israel or oil means contravening democracy in the Arab world, but, for the moment, let us indulge in a more pragmatic analysis. For example, even if the United States continues to insist on its unqualified support for Israel, does American support for dictatorial regimes assist in that effort? My answer is, unequivocally, no, for such support is based on an extremely vacuous conceptual understanding of the region. We have, for the worse, adopted Israel's understanding of the region, wherein the Arabs are constantly seen as "Islamists in waiting" and of course, by extension, as "terrorists."

Well, for the average Arab, who is around 30 years old, university educated and unemployed, this approach to the region is completely meaningless. But the United States operates according to this false understanding: resources are distributed, alliances are made and authoritarian regimes are supported. Quite simply, we support police states and do not even exhibit a concern for the development of Arab civil society. This approach is literally ensuring the inevitable downfall of pro-Western regimes. While the Arab world must create 40 million jobs in the next 20 years, the US continues to sign multi-billion dollar arms deals that contribute to the militarization of the region, not the development of civil society and civic unity. The discord between Arab needs and Western approaches could not be brought into sharper relief.

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Half of the population of Egypt is 30 years old or younger, yet 90 percent of the unemployed are from that demographic. The future of Egypt has no future. Yet, the West has simply dismissed the realities, concerns and well-being of those young men and women. The average Egyptian is concerned with jobs and with providing for his or her family. Yet the Western narrative of the region treats the average Arab has an unindicted "potential menace"; therefore, we offer unbridled support to police states at the expense of creating jobs. Pro-Western Arab states have literally become little more than large-scale jails to accommodate Western fears of "the Arab street," but the "street" in Egypt could not be louder or clearer about what its concerns are - they are for its own well-being, not for Israel's or America's.

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It is apparently impossible for US advisers to understand that jobs are the issue - whether in Egypt or in Gaza - and jobs are a universal, nonideological concern. The lack of American understanding, quite frankly, stinks of racism. The Arabs are more feared than communicated with.

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