Table Of ContentThe Next Founders
The
Next
Founders
Voices of Democracy
in the Middle East
Joshua Muravchik
EncounterBooks
NewYork · London
Copyright©2009byJoshuaMuravchik
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FIRSTAMERICANEDITION
LIBRARYOFCONGRESSCATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATIONDATA
Muravchik,Joshua.
Thenextfounders:voicesofdemocracyintheMiddleEast/by
JoshuaMuravchik.—1sted.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferences.
ISBN-13:978-1-59403-232-5(hardcover:alk.paper)
ISBN-10:1-59403-232-7(hardcover:alk.paper)
1. Politicians—MiddleEast—Biography. 2. Politicalactivists—
MiddleEast—Biography. 3. Socialreformers—MiddleEast—
Biography. 4. MiddleEast—Politicsandgovernment—1979–
5. Democracy—MiddleEast. 6. Socialchange—MiddleEast.
7. MiddleEast—Biography. I. Title.
DS63.12.M872009
956.05'40922—dc22
2008053655
Contents
Introduction:
SeedlingsintheDesert 1
TheProtester:
WajehaAl-HuwaiderofSaudiArabia 9
ThePolitician:
Mithalal-AlusiofIraq 45
TheRevolutionist:
MohsenSazegaraofIran 93
ThePublisher:
HishamKassemofEgypt 153
TheActivist:
BassemEidofPalestine 201
TheFeminist:
RolaDashtiofKuwait 249
TheDissident:
AmmarAbdulhamidofSyria 285
Conclusion:
ModelsforaRisingGeneration 333
Endnotes 345
Index 361
v
Introduction
Seedlings in the Desert
W
hen I would tell people that I
was writing a book about
Middle Eastern democrats,
the reaction was invariably the same: “That will be a short
book.” This jibe expressed the common knowledge that the
region remains stubbornly autocratic. Roughly half of the
countries are still ruled by hereditary royalty. More amaz-
ingly, those monarchies tend to be more liberal than the
region’s“republics”whereghastlytyrannyiscommon,associ-
ated with names like Saddam Hussein, Hafez al-Assad,
Muammar Qaddafi, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Yassir Arafat and
AyatollahRuhollahKhomeini.
The fact that there is precious little democracy in the
Middle East does not mean, however, that there are no
democrats. In fact, surveys show that the vast majority say
they want democracy, although it is uncertain what that term
connotes to them. Perhaps more important, there are also
individuals whose lives revolve around making their coun-
tries more free and democratic, and who have proven they
understand well the meaning of those ideas. We know little
about them because their work is peaceful and incremental,
and therefore it is overshadowed by the shocking deeds and
pronouncementsoftyrants,terrorists,andreligiousfanatics.
I am about to introduce you to seven of them, six Arabs
and an Iranian. Five are men; two, women. Four are Sunnis,
two are Shiites, and one is mixed. Their goals are similar, but
theirmétiersarediverse.Onehasreestablishedafreepressin
Egypt. Another has won women the right to vote and run for
office in Kuwait. A third has broken Iraq’s fiercest taboo. A
fourthmayyetunseatIran’sayatollahswhomhedidmuchto
bringtopower.
Each of these individuals was raised under a highly
authoritarian regime in a society hidebound in its customs.
Introduction · 3
Each belonged to a religious tradition that prized memoriza-
tion over debate; each attended schools that stressed obedi-
ence and rote learning. They grew up learning that personal
feelings and desires may have little effect on one’s choices in
life;thatfamilyconnectionsmaydeterminehowmuchjustice
canbeexpectedfromcourts;thatdisloyaltytothoseinpower
canconsistofaslittleasacomplaintandbepunishablebyas
much as death; and that power is seized or retained through
brutality. In such societies, obedience is the easiest way to
livealonglife.
Howdidtheyfreetheirmindsandbecomedifferentfrom
most around them? For some the answer lay in exposure to
the West, especially in study abroad. For others, to borrow a
phrase from the sixties, the personal became political. Each
of the women saw her mother’s life blighted by polygamy.
Some of the group experienced persecution or watched their
parents persecuted for being of the wrong class or religious
sect. One was a free spirit who might have been content to
livethelifeofapoetiftheauthoritieshadonlymaderoomfor
that. Several of the men gagged on the raw regime brutality
thattheywitnessedupclose.
And for each of these seven, to invert the slogan, the
political is also highly personal. They have paid dear for their
struggles. Four have been to prison, and four have had their
livesthreatened.Threehavehadtheirlovedonesmenacedor
penalized. Two have recently been forced into exile, although
both hope to return. One has dodged assassins and seen his
children murdered. All have subordinated their material well-
beingtothecauseforwhichtheyfight.
They share an uncommon courage. For most, that has
meant the courage to face prison or even death. For all of
them, it has meant the moral courage to march to their own
drummer in societies that prize loyalty to family, clan and
tribe—anddonotholdindividualismasavalue.Severalhave
had to resist pressure from family members to cease rocking
4 · TheNextFounders
the boat. Sometimes these interventions have been moti-
vated by love and concern; other times by the selfish fear
thatthefamilywillbepenalizedforthenonconformityofone
among them. On the other hand, a few of these heroic trou-
blemakers were quietly abetted by a parent—invariably the
mother.
Theirstrugglesareadmirableinthemselvesandforwhat
theyaretryingtodofortheirsocieties.Buttheyalsotookona
special meaning for Americans after 9/11. For many years,
U.S. policy toward the region was governed only by “strate-
gic” considerations. America had promoted democracy in
Eastern Europe, Latin America, and parts of East Asia. But
our attitude toward Middle Eastern autocrats was, to borrow
aphrase,thatitwasallrightiftheywerebastards,ifonlythey
wouldbeourbastards.
However, the massive terrorist attack on America
prompted a reconsideration. Perhaps the internal affairs of
Middle Eastern states was a strategic consideration for us.
Terrorism had become a common tactic of Middle Eastern
groups, sponsored, tolerated and condoned by the region’s
various governments. Public opinion polls showed that sub-
stantialminorities,ifnotmajorities,ofthecitizenrysupported
orexcusedsuchactions.Inshort,terrorismfoundrootsinthe
political culture of the Middle East. There, violence or the
threat of violence had been the main currency of governance.
The power to rule was gained and held by force. Politics was
viewed as a zero-sum game, and the discourse surrounding it
waschiliasticandapocalyptic,richinextremismandconspir-
acy theories. It is this environment that bred so many young
people willing to throw away their lives in some heroic act of
massmurder.
Therefore if we wanted to see an end to Middle Eastern
terrorism, it would not be sufficient to send our troops and
drones and Special Forces to hunt and kill al Qaeda or arrest
