I have always believed that students need to actively engage the topics they are studying in order to fully understand the immense complexity inherent within the political and cultural landscape of this region. Young Arab activists likewise need to be able to interact with and engage their comrades/adversaries in other countries in order to be truly effective in provoking social change in their own home environment.
As an activist myself and a student of social movements for most of my life, I wanted to provide an opportunity for students and activists from Egypt and abroad to not only witness historical events as they unfold but to also get the chance to speak to the actors on the ground either in government or in civil society who are effecting the political landscapes of their countries, the Middle East, and consequently the world.
The idea for these trips was born in my class on social movements immediately following the January election of Hamas in Palestine . My students were interested to know whether or not Hamas would moderate their views, like other opposition movements, once they experienced first-hand the problems inherent in governing. I told them that I knew many people within the new Hamas government and if they wanted, I could arrange for them to ask the politicians themselves on a trip to Palestine over Spring Break. The students were very excited about this idea and consequently the first trip to Israel/Palestine was carried out in April of last year. It was followed by a longer trip over Winter break that encompassed Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel/Palestine. The third trip was just recently completed and allowed us to return to Israel/Palestine in order to see first hand how Hamas was faring in the current political environment and to judge the potential success of the new unity government.
All of the trips have had three basic elements. There is a political element that allows students to come face to face with prominent political lead ers in the countries we are visiting. Throughout our journeys we have met many important politicians and their staff including: The president of Palestine, Muhammad Abbas; the Deputy Prime Minister of the Hamas government, Nasser El Din El Shar; the Palestinian Speaker, Aziz Dwiek; the Lebanese President Emile Lahoud; the Lebanese Speaker Nabih Berri; the lead er of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah; and a multitude of other parliamentarians and local government lead ers from all parties. The students were allowed to ask whatever questions they wanted about the current events unfolding in their respective countries and many interesting and controversial dialogues ensued.
The second element of the trip had to do with civil society. As a passionate advocate for the growth of civic institutions and networks this part of the trip has been nearest to my heart. I am a firm believer that it is only as transnational civil society networks gain strength will the silent majority in the Arab world ever gain the power necessary to influence their governments or combat extremism. As a consequence, we have been very lucky to meet and spend time with the real forces for change in each country that we have visited. Our groups have been able to learn about the complex social and political problems on the ground from the activists that are working in the grassroots on such complex topics as: democratization, human rights, women’s rights, election monitoring, constitutional and electoral reform…etc.
We were given guided tours from civil society representatives from all ideologies to controversial sites in: Hebron , Jerusalem , Bethlehem , Beirut , and the South of Lebanon. The final element of our trip dealt with humanitarian assistance. The students were active in collecting supplies in Egypt for Palestinian refugee camps and each student carried with them a large suitcase across many borders as a result of these efforts.
Overall we met with militia lead ers, Islamic political parties, governments, and civil society representatives regardless of their ideology or political positions. This might seem like something logical when organizing a study tour, but in the politically charged environment of Middle Eastern politics it is not something easily accomplished. Despite consistent objections to these trips from all sides, whether from AUC administration or the various groups on the ground, we have persevered and I believe these trips have been an overwhelming success.
Saad Eddin Ibrahim |
