A psychological moment strikes hazardous chords

By Amira Howeidy

Why did Bin Laden's Al-Jazeera appearance strike a chord – and what does it mean for the world?

When the world's most-wanted, most-evil and powerful terrorist, appeared on the Arab Al-Jazeera satellite news channel -- for the first time in three years -- the Arab nation was glued to the TV screen. Watching with disbelief, they followed every word and gesture, motion and look of the man universally hated by the global media since 11 September. But as he sat there -- this nemesis of civilization – he was calm, composed and serene. Using religious, dawn-of-Islam terminology to express political views, bin Laden spoke for a few moments. America is the enemy, he said, for it has killed hundreds of thousands in Iraq, Palestine and Hiroshima. It applies double standards and is fighting Islam. Every Muslim must rise and defend his faith. And as long as there is no security in Palestine and US forces remain in Saudi Arabia, bin Laden "promised" that the United States will never, never enjoy peace.

The words stuck, as did the image of the weak, thin man in an unknown point in some distant desert or on a mountain far, far away, defying 36 military bases in addition to 25 US-UK war planes. Some argued that he did, after all, speak for the oppressed Iraqi people, suffering from US-imposed sanctions, the plight of the Palestinians beneath the Israeli war machine, backed by the US -- and also of the flagrant US presence in the Gulf, especially in Saudi Arabia. He rejected US hegemony and challenged its military might. He spoke for the weak.

“Bin Laden is a gada'a (loosely, a man who stands up for himself and others),” said Soha Abdallah, a 23-year-old graduate of the American University in Cairo. "America should understand that it can't oppress entire nations, kill tens of thousands of innocent people and not pay for it.” Soha mentioned that she didn't know anything about Bin Laden before watching him on Sunday. “I thought he was an evil terrorist, a stupid fanatic, but he's a brave man, although I don't know who or what he represents.”

“The US created a myth out of him,” explained prominent Al-Ahram columnist Fahmy Howeidy. “Bin Laden now stands for challenge and represents a compensation for hurt dignity. If he is killed now, he will be an idol. I agree with the view that he won 50 per cent of the ongoing media war. The more the strikes, the more popular he will be.”

While Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa refused to comment on bin Laden's speech, saying “we are against terrorism”, he made a point of arguing in the same breath that “there must be an end to double-standards”, and that “we will not accept the status quo in Palestine.”

If anything, the impact of Bin Laden's speech, a virtual call for an Intifada against “the head of infidelity”, exceeded most expectations. The timing of the “psychological moment”, in the words of Howeidy, “played a very important role in sending the message across -- generating the emotional and psychological impact it had on those who identified with it.” Bin Laden addressed us, Howeidy said, while Afghanistan was being bombed, “which doubled or tripled the effect of his speech and clearly confirmed the connection -- from Bin Laden's view -- between why this country is being attacked and what he was telling us.”

Abdel-Wahab El-Messeri, author of an 8-part Encyclopedia on Zionism, said bin Laden's appearance “unified the ranks… and created harmony between Arab Nationalism and Islam.”

But some, like Radwa Ashour, a left-wing university professor and champion of Palestinian rights, argued that this Arab-Islamic discourse resonated both negatively and positively. “It is a negative thing to deliver a message that basically says all those who are not “us” are the enemy. Although this very argument is American and was voiced by President Bush, it remains an oppressive stance.” At the same time, Ashour saw a positive aspect in this. “I believe that this battle and perhaps other experiences in recent years, have helped Arab youth come to the realization that they have depth and support in the Islamic world. Israeli oppression of the Palestinians injures the Indonesian citizen and so on. Awareness of this “Islamic link” is definitely a plus that we as a generation were unaware of, and actually thought, given that I'm a leftist, was backward. Realizing this link, guiding and developing it, is indeed very important.”

Others from Ashour's ideological camp agree that Bin Laden's words had an emotional and psychological effect which can't be overlooked. However, in the words of Nabil Abdel-Fatah, a secular expert on Islamic radical groups at Al-Ahram's Center for Political and Strategic Studies, a prestigious Egyptian think-tank, “the effect was not really born at that moment [following Bin Laden's speech], but is rather the outcome of anti-US sentiments, that have accumulated over the years in Egypt, since the birth of the liberation movement in the 1950's and 60's. These sentiments were fueled by the 1967 defeat, followed by Egypt's open-door policy on both the economic level and openness towards the American way of life.” Add to this the failure to reach a peace settlement between the Palestinians and Israel, the siege imposed on the Iraqi people, the psychological and emotional effect of the sight of dying Iraqi children -- “those who are moved by all this are not only Islamists, but people who are moved by thi

But if Bin Laden struck a chord, and was so effective that some are already describing him as “charismatic” despite the naivety of his discourse and choice of terminology – then what next?

“I sense danger,” cautions Ashour. “Presenting [the conflict] as a clash of civilizations and dividing the world into two camps: faith versus infidelity, or Muslims and non-Muslims and confusing all this with a very specific political issue which is imperialism and American hegemony is a contradiction [in bin Laden's speech] that we should be aware of,” she explained. For one thing, there are non-Muslim communities living in Muslim countries, Ashour argued, “and secondly, not defining this battle as one that is against imperialism, capitalism etc, and referring to it as a battle resulting from [a clash] between several identities is wrong.”

Hussein Abdel-Razek, editor of the left-wing Al-Yassar magazine agrees the speech created an impact, but undermines its importance. “His discourse,” Abdel-Razek said, “is basically an emotional one that capitalized on the sentiments of anger regarding what is happening in Afghanistan. However, his logic can not be accepted by anyone who is rational.” Besides, argued Abdel-Razek, “I don't see why we have to choose between the camp of bin Laden and that of the US. We are against both.”

Whatever momentum it might or might not have won, the words of bin Laden's brief speech remain at the back of our minds. Some have learned it by heart. Others, like those who went out on demonstrations in the Egyptian Delta province of Kafr El-Sheikh and elsewhere, were inspired by it. Such excitement could only be limited to the “popular, less politically aware masses,” Abdel-Razek observed. Ashour believes the impact is wider; that it touched the sentiments of “young people who felt that bin Laden is weak, and hence identified with him because we are all weak.”

Where all this will lead to remains an open question. Will it revive Islamic militancy once more, perhaps from the least expected parties? Will his resolute stance inspire the fourth generation of Arabs to rethink their identity? Answers, say the wise, will come much sooner than many would like to expect. Perhaps as soon as the strikes go beyond the borders of Afghanistan. At that point, it will be very difficult to win the battle against the world's most wanted fugitive.





Browse previous Dardasha columns here.

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