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THE TABLET


THE INTERNATIONAL CATHOLIC WEEKLY Founded in 1840


ARAB WORLD NEEDS A FREE EGYPT T


he fate of mass demonstrations in Tehran last year and Tiananmen Square in 1989, both violently smothered by government forces, may have encour- aged President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt to think that some small political concessions and a dose of repression might bring life in his strife-torn country back to normal. But what happened in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union 20 years ago points the other way: repressive regimes besieged by the people collapsed like dominoes. Even totalitarian governments, unless they are prepared to turn themselves into brutal dic- tatorships, require to some degree the consent of the governed. In Tunisia, in Egypt and to an extent in Yemen and Jordan, that minimal consent appears to have been with- drawn. The infection may spread further, not least because of the ubiquity of social media and the internet in the Arab world. One key factor is undoubtedly the frustration of young peo- ple at their lack of economic progress contrasted with the rampant corruption and vast wealth of the privileged few. It is notice- able that the demand on the Arab street, most conspicuously in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, has not been for the Islamification of society, but for more Western values such as democracy, freedom of speech and respect for the rights of minorities. Mr Mubarak’s manner in addressing the Egyptian people on TV on Tuesday conveyed incomprehension. But even many who think Mr Mubarak has not done enough are looking for a return to normality. After days of peaceful protests, fight- ing between rival demonstrators and attacks on journalists indicate that a collapse of law and order is one of the great- est dangers for Egypt. Totalitarian regimes which do not allow political life to flourish can be faced with a sudden vacuum


when they disintegrate. In Egypt’s case, the demonstrations appear to be spontaneous, and to have no agreed leadership. That leaves them wide open for criminal troublemakers or radical and highly motivated forces to move in to occupy the vacant political space. This happened most notably after the collapse of the Shah’s regime in Iran, when a largely secular revolt was swept aside by the regime, no less repressive than the Shah’s, of Ayatollah Khomeini. So there has been much Western anxiety directed to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, which is an organised political as well as religious movement and which has been supporting the anti-Mubarak protests. The Muslim Brotherhood is not friendly to the West nor to Israel, and its rise would frighten Egypt’s Coptic minority. But Egyptians are not fanatical by nature. The country’s earning capacity lies not in oil deposits but in its extra - ordinary inheritance of archaeological treasures, which makes tourism the major industry. And most tourists are Western. Mubarak’s own pro-American, pro-Western and pro- Israeli stance has hardly been raised as an issue in this crisis so far. As a result the Western powers, the United States in particular, have not seemed too eager to see the back of him. Whether Mubarak has a role in them or not, the political reforms demanded by the crowds are entirely justified, and the West has a strong interest in seeing them succeed. A repressed Egypt as a client state of the United States is a lot less useful as an ally than an Egypt that is free and demo- cratic. The entire Arab world needs Egypt as a beacon of progressive secular government, to prove that oppressive regimes run by ayatollahs, imams or major generals are not the only options. But it may take time, and it may be messy.


DEFEND ENDANGERED CHARITIES


funding for them. Challenged, councillors talk optimistically about unpaid volunteers taking over, which is another way of suggesting that the same people do the same job for nothing. Here, it seems, is David Cameron’s Big Society in action. What this example proves is that it is not possible to discuss the idea in the abstract; it stands or falls by its implementation. Those attracted to the idea, including religious organisations like the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, which has just held a seminar in Liverpool on the Church’s engage- ment with society, neglect that factor at their peril. The evidence is growing. Sir Stuart Etherington, chief exec- utive of the National Council of Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), has warned that pressure on local authorities to save money “can leave us vulnerable to hasty and disproportion- ate decisions by politicians and civil servants”. Phillip Blond, the academic and author of Red Tory, who is credited with inspiring the concept of the Big Society, said: “The drive for cuts and deficit reduction is perhaps running too fast to give people the chance to take over the state and create conditions for a civic economy.” Sir Stephen Bubb, chief executive of the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (Acevo), warned that cuts to local government


L 2 | THE TABLET | 5 February 2011


ollipop ladies and lollipop men are fast disappearing all over Britain. These part-time shepherds of school- children across busy roads are a familiar feature of neigh- bourhoods, but cash-strapped councils are withdrawing


grants this year could force thousands of charities to close. And Dame Suzi Leather, chairwoman of the Charity Commission, has predicted that the charity sector as a whole faces a £5 billion drop in income over the next few years. A recent survey reported that 43 per cent of people are likely to reduce donations to charities because of the Government’s squeeze on household incomes. Even the Centre for Social Justice, the think tank begun by Iain Duncan Smith, one of MrCameron’s key ministers, has reported that government policy is being undermined by the manner in which it is being applied. The fact the Government appears to have overlooked is that the voluntary sector and the public sector are joined at the hip. Many charities have in effect become sub-contractors of local government. As council funding for them is cut, Catholic charities are naturally among those now facing closure (as we report on page 30). What characterises such charities is their work for the poorest, the elderly and the most vulnerable. Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster, addressing the Liverpool seminar, said the issue before it was not “a short- term response to particularly difficult economic circumstances” but about the long term. “In the coming months there are great opportunities to engage in the public debate about the future of civil society,” he said. But if the Government ignores what is happening in the short term, there might not be a long term worth talking about. Shouldn’t that be the Catholic Church’s prophetic message, as the cuts begin to bite?


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