People of the Middle East including the people of the European countries that have coasts on the Mediterranean Sea; Italy, Greece, Spain, France in general, and Arab and Muslim people in particular, are famous in describing themselves as people of pride. And they have through out history engaged in military battles mainly because ordinary people or leaders feel that their pride has been injured by their offenders.
Pride played a major role in the Middle East when foreign occupied forces invaded the region. Their political plans were to play on the Pride issues to split people and gain some alliances from them, which in the end proved to be false sympathies of individuals or groups that hailed the occupants to seek revenge against their own opponents, basically because of hurt feelings.
Arabs specifically are people with long history of feuds caused by hurt feelings and pride. They are proud of their pride, and famous historic wars were made between their tribes because of this pride.
Pride is a very nice human feature, however if it is stubbornly practiced it can become an ugly beast that can eat its owner.
It plays between high sensitivity and ego, and can be the direct antonym of humility or guilt. The excess of pride as a vice leads to vanity. And vanity can manifest very fast to tyranny. Tyranny is certainly a killer.
When pride involves a nation it becomes National Pride and this can turn easily to Ethnic Pride.
When pride is a rebel on slavery it becomes a victory of morals and liberates the person or group from remaining subservient.
The slogan "Black Pride" helped black people in America to take their liberty and be identified as a respected heritage with equal rights in the country.
Whereas the slogan "White Pride" was used in the USA not only to identify the White Race but also to indicate the White Supremacy.
In religion when pride becomes a vanity, it directs immediately to the story of creation and the rebel of Lucifer against God. Later all world dictators were and still are hit by this disease.
The German National Pride for example is a term that is usually associated with the Nazi regime. Here the term is just the opposite of Patriotism.
The famous Chinese/Japanese conflicts and wars through out history were based on national pride that the people of both countries shared against each other. In this case Honor was touched, and National Pride definitions can vary in each country.
Honor is touched in a different way when Europe colonized most of the Middle East. People considered themselves really hurt in their Pride and Honor. They were treated with real humiliation, and were forced to accept every singly oppression practiced against them.
Several revolutions erupted for liberty. People got their freedom, however their pride was not released after their new rulers kept a strong grip over them.
Some dictators, social groups and political parties developed narcissism and they become in love and obsessed with their own images. So they put their slogans, photos and images everywhere where they can see them and they make sure that all public can see them.
In recent history, hereditary dictatorship remained a common phenomenon. In Muslim and Arab countries of the Middle East, such dictatorship are seen in republican regimes, where rulers practice and absolute monarchy, and power is transmitted between members of the same family due to the overwhelming authority of the leader.
Most of the hereditary regimes in the Middle East are under totalitarian rules, where the state is under power of a single political person, faction or political party. In such regimes, ordinary citizens do not have even a minimal share in the state decision making. Such regimes are usually bound schemes of ideological beliefs that direct all aspects of public and private life.
Ironic enough, such dictators and for different reasons, always have some kind of supports from Western countries, consequently they use those supports as an advantage in helping them remain in power, and attempt to transmit this power to other individuals in their families.
When normal people rebel against their leaders, they do so because their tolerance against oppression has reached its limits, and suddenly their pride become more important than their lives.
Igniting such rebels is a different story.
The pride of rulers is also emerged by their refusal to respond positively to people’s demands, and their resistance to leave the authority. They find in such rebels a deep insult to their honor. Their resistance in this case becomes brutal against their people because it is vital for their existence.
After decades of ruling, rulers find it difficult to believe that their people do not like them, and absolutely impossible to leave the authority.
They relate any kind of rebellion to an outside conspiracy against them and the country, and they believe without doubts that rebelled groups in the streets are not from people but rather foreign groups that penetrate the streets and influenced innocent people.
They try to inject some rapid reforms to absorb the anger.
In the end they leave or forced to leave.
Recent history gave many examples; Hitler, Marcos, Mussolini, Idi Amin, Milosevic, Chowchesko, Saddam Husein, Husni Mubarak, Zain Eddine Bin Ali etc...
Today the struggle in the Middle East is a struggle of existence.
It is a struggle to control.
It is a struggle of challenges.
Above all, it is a struggle of pride and prejudice.
May be Pride in the Middle East has become a virtue and a curse at the same time.
Sami Cherkaoui
www.samicherkaouiarabicblog.blogspot.com
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