MIDDLE EAST: Where's our Nelson Mandela?

Hop in a cab in just about any Arab capital, and within minutes you are likely to pass a picture or a poster of a president, king or emir. They tower and flutter, hard-eyed patriarchs at the intersection of art, politics and iconography. But for all their many poses and costumes, they seldom inspire, says Aijaz Zaka Syed.

He's looking for a Nelson Mandela. In an essay in Egypt's Al Ahram Weekly, the journalist yearns for an Islamic leader who transcends his billboard-sized portrait. He is not likely to find one soon, at least in the Middle East, where critics say corrupt and authoritarian leaders are more concerned with amassing power than sharing it.

“The Islamic world has produced no Mandelas despite the daunting challenges it faces,” writes Syed, the opinion editor of the Khaleej Times in the United Arab Emirates. “Ours is a world of short-sighted pygmies. And we need visionaries who can look far and ahead, beyond their noses, to lead us to a new dawn of hope.”

He continues: “The Muslim world may not be fighting apartheid and colonial repression like South Africans once did, but it has other far more dangerous demons to fight. From ignorance to illiteracy to poverty to violent extremism, we perhaps face even greater challenges than the people of South Africa ever did. Despite its rich natural and human resources, ours remains one of the world's most backward and dispossessed regions.”

-- Jeffrey Fleishman in Cairo

 Photo: Nelson Mandela. Credit: Associated Press 

Comments

[Jay]

Mr. Fleishman,
You should try doing a little research instead of relying on the writings of a co-opted regime apologist.
The Middle East has produced countless "Mandelas," they just tend to be accused of being terrorists, just as Mandela once was by Britain, Israel and the US, and "taken care of." Just to name two who might meet the bill:
Mehdi Ben Barka, the Moroccan political activist "disappeared" in 1965 by French and Moroccan intelligence agents (with the possible involvement of the CIA and Mossad)
Mohammed Mosaddegh, the elected Iranian Prime Minister overthrown in a US-orchestrated coup
Jay

[Arabguy]

His name is Marwan Barghouti. He is also referred as the "Palestine's Mandela". He has been illegally captured and imprisoned by the state of Israel based on false acusations since 2002. Israel's Haaretz newspaper wrote that Barghouti "is seen by some as the man who could galvanize a drifting and divided national movement if only he were set free by Israel."

[ordony]

@nick
the muslim brotherhood is not the arabs Mandela never been never will be.

[Nick]

The arab worlds Nelson Medela has always been the muslim brotherhood.