North Africa and the Middle East: Calls for Change

by Jeanne Torrence Finley

Protests in the Arab World

Connecting
Faith and Life
volume 16, number 47 march 20, 2011

Session at a Glance
In recent weeks, demonstrations in North Africa and the Middle East have raised questions about the human longing for freedom and dignity and about governmental responsibility. How does Gods vision for the world help us connect with the people in these nations and offer hope as we grapple with the emerging issues?
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The ongoing saga of upheaval in North Africa and the Middle East raises questions for us about how God works in the world and how our actions can matter. We have seen transformation fueled by people who are tired of living in poverty, fed up with corrupt authoritarian regimes, and insistent on their human dignity. The prospects of change in North Africa and the Middle East are greater than they have been in recent memory. Washington Post columnist Eboo Patel writes that accounts of the Egyptian pro-democracy demonstration in 2005 pale in comparison to the events of January 2011. He says, however, that there would have been no January 25, 2011 if there was not an April 27, 2005 [when a few hundred Egyptian protesters were outnumbered by police]. There would not have been a few hundred thousand friends and supporters of the We Are All Khaled Said Facebook page (widely credited with gathering and channeling the discontent in Egypt) had there not been earlier democracy blogs and Facebook pages that were trafficked by a few hundred.

At this writing, unrest spans the Arab world (countries in which Arabic is the primary language) from the western Atlantic coast of North Africa to the Persian Gulf. The following review of events includes some, but not all, of the countries where there have been demonstrationsmostly by young people and fueled by social networkingcalling for governmental reform. In January, mass demonstrations in Tunisia forced President Zineel-Abdine Ben Ali to resign; and on February 27, Tunisian prime minister Mohammed Ghannoushi announced his resignation as head of the transitional government. The Tunisian protests inspired revolts in Egypt and Libya and protests in Bahrain, Yemen, Jordan, Algeria, and Iraq. In Egypt, where protestors ousted President Hosni Mubarak on February 11 after weeks of mostly peaceful demonstrations against his 30-year autocratic regime, the military will run the country for six months or until elections can be held. Much of the unrest is about corruption (including personal enrichment among the political elite), unemployment (especially among young people), poverty, rising prices, and social exclusion. In Libya, leader Colonel Moammar Gaddafis violent attempts to quell protests in Tripoli and other cities has resulted in international outrage, while protesters are gaining control over much of eastern 1

A Review of Events

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The Old Testament passage for the second Sunday of Advent this year describes the call of Abram and Sarai (later called Abraham and Sarah) to leave their family and homeland (Genesis 12:1-9). God promised that they would be ancestors of a great nation and a blessing to all the people on earth. In this call we see Gods intention to bless humanity. Abram and Sarai had to leave behind the familiar and set out on a journey with many unknowns. Their only guarantee was Gods promise. This journey would take them to new places and relationships and would require them to rethink what it meant to be faithful to God. More than a thousand years later, Paul referred to this story in his letter to the Romans (Romans 4:1-5, 13-17). Like Abraham and Sarah, Paul had had to leave the familiar behind and answer Gods call to become a Christian missionary. The Gospel reading for the second Sunday of Lent is John 3:1-17, in which Jesus invited Nicodemus into a new relationship with God. Many readers of this story stop at the often-quoted verse 16 and do not proceed to verse 17, which speaks of Gods vision for the whole world.

Core Bible Passages

Libya, where plans are underway for an interim government. In Bahrain, protesters have called for constitutional reform. Sunni ruler King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa is slowly responding to the demands of the movement. On February 24, Algeria lifted a state of emergency ordered 19 years ago that had banned protest marches. Protestors there have been calling for a peaceful transition to democracy. In Yemen, widespread anti-government demonstrations have called for the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Activists in Saudi Arabia have called for political reformincluding a constitutional monarchyof this highly restrictive nation. Aging King Abdullahs promises of reform have stalled as his relatives squabble over who will be his successor. In Oman, protestors want jobs, higher wages, and political reforms. In Morocco, there have been mostly peaceful demonstrations calling for political reforms, a new constitution, and more limited power for King Mohammed VI. Following violent protests on February 27, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of Iraq called for his cabinet to enact government reforms. In Lebanon, protestors are demanding changes in governance. As protests grow through the Arab countries in North Africa and the Middle East, similar grievances are voiced: unemployment, poverty, dictatorial rule, inadequate public services, governmental reform, corruption, free speech, and a free press. Many of the issues are directly connected with human-rights violations. For Christians, human rights are to be afforded to all human beings because all are made in the image of God. We cannot say that some people are made in the image of God and others are not. As creatures in the image of God, all persons deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. Bishop Kenneth Carder writes in his book Living Our Beliefs: The United Methodist Way, How we treat ourselves and othersand how we form communities and nationsis determined by the image we have of human beings. The reality of human sin and evil distorts but does not remove the image of God in humankind. Gods intention is the restoration of the divine image. The prophets expressed it in terms of Gods vision of shalom: peace and harmony in all creation. In this age of the Internet, social networking, cell phones, and constant news availability, we cannot live in isolation from other human beings who suffer around the world. Our commitment to live out the commandments to love God and neighbor means that we are to care for neighbors globally. One way of doing that is by supporting human rights. That God loves humanity and wants us to love humanity supports our concern about human rights. The Old Testament and the New Testament teach us to love God and neighbor and to stand with the poor, the weak, and the oppressed. When we act out of love for neighbors near and far, we are working for Gods vision for the world: justice, peace, wholeness, and harmony. 2

Christians and Human Rights

Copyright 2011 by Cokesbury. Permission given to copy this page for use in class.

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For clarity, this FAITHLINK is entitled North Africa and the Middle East: Calls for Change because there is no single, agreed-upon definition of the Middle East. The online Encylopedia Brittannica defines Middle East as the lands around the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from Morocco to the Arabian Peninsula and Iran and sometimes beyond. The central part of this general area was formerly called the Near East. About 30 percent of the population in the Middle East is between the ages of 15 and 29. Only 20 percent of the US population is in that age group. Levels of education have increased in recent years, but the number of jobs has not. In the past, educational degrees led to government jobs; but an increase in market-oriented economies has reduced the number of such jobs. Professor Ragui Assaad at the University of Minnesota explains the link between economic and political issues in the region. He says that formerly, governments had a kind of implicit bargain with the people saying they would give them jobs, subsidized housing, and commodities in exchange for their unquestioning allegiance to authoritarian rule. Now, Assaad says, a number of countries have been unable to do that and have had to abrogate the bargain, so to speak, on their side. And so young people are saying if were not getting the goods, we might as well have a voice and democratic choice [in] what the governments do.
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Middle East: Definition and Demographics

The whole drama of history, observed theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, is enacted in a frame of meaning too large for human comprehension or management. The daily television news we get does not provide even a small frame of meaning. When we stop at the factual and do not reflect on the larger context, we take a superficial look at what is happening. The larger context is peace and justice for all of creation. The larger context is the kingdom of God, the rule and reign of God that is breaking into our world even now. Our Christian faith and hope call us to pay attention to those places and events in which God is transforming the world toward peace and justice. Writing on his blog about the current uprisings in the Middle East, Larry Hollon, chief executive of United Methodist Communications, makes the case that people of faith are called to work at being globally aware. . . . Viewing religion (or politics, for that matter) simplistically is tantamount to ignoring the transformative spirit of God in the ongoing creation. What can people of faith and hope do? First, we can learn more about North Africa and the Middle East. What countries are involved in prodemocratic movements? What is the location of each country? Why are people demonstrating there? This learning could be individual or in study groups in our communities and congregations. Second, we can seek to relate the ethical issues to our faith. Do we consider people in the region to be our collective neighbors with the same longings and yearnings that we have? Do we believe God intends for them to flourishthat is, to have basic human rights? Can we be advocates for justice and freedom for these people? In a recent essay on Egypt, Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, former president of Chicago Theological Seminary, spoke of the arch of the moral universe being long and bending toward justice. Observing that the arc of the moral universe recently caught up with former President Mubarak, Thistlethwaite is quick to point out that this image does not mean oppressed people should sit around and wait for God to act. She says the story of Tahrir Square illustrates the truth that Providence needs partners in history for justice and peace to reign. President Barack Obama alluded to the same image when he said, For . . . Egypt, it was the moral force of non-violencenot terrorism, not mindless killingbut nonviolence, moral force that bent the arch of history toward justice once more. When we see the upheavals in the Arab world, it might be easy for us to believe we are helpless to do anything. How can we be partners in the work of peace and justice in North Africa and the Middle East? Can we see God at work in the uprisings in the Arab world? These are questions that can engage us more deeply with the plight of the people as well as with our own Christian faith. 3

Connecting Gods Vision With the Protest Movements

Partners With Providence

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A major difference between revolutions in the past and recent events in North Africa and the Middle East is the addition of social media that has sped up the capability to organize opposition movements. As protests across North Africa and the Middle East have called for an end to dictatorial regimes, grassroots opposition groups are using some of the same nonviolent resistance methods used by the US civil rights movement. Building coalitions with like-minded groups, some of these opposition movements teach nonviolence to their members. However, the protest movements have also used Internet-based new mediablogging, Facebook, and Twitterto foster communication among like-minded groups, to grow the movement, and to encourage freedom of thought and speech among people whose voices have been stifled. United Methodist Communications chief executive Larry Hollon writes on his blog about this use of social media to topple regimes in Tunisia and Egypt. The ability to tell your own story is empowering, even more so if youve never had access to the means to tell it, or if youve been silenced by repression. Hollon says that among the indignities these people face is the sense that if youre poor, you dont matter. When people whove been treated like this find their voice, they find a means to experience affirmation and liberation. Its a chance to discover dignity and self-worth.
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Empowerment Through Social Media

Taking Liberties: On the Stifling of Dissent, Resolution 5001 in The Book of Resolutions of The United Methodist Church, 2008 reminds United Methodists of our affirmation of the prophetic tradition of dissent and calls us to publicly speak out for the protection of all human rights for allincluding the right to dissent through peaceable assembly, freedom of the press, freedom of speech and other nonviolent means. This resolution is grounded in the affirmation made in our Social Principles (164A): We hold governments responsible for the protection of the rights of the people to free and fair elections and to the freedoms of speech, religion, assembly, communications media, and petition for redress of grievances without fear of reprisal; to the right to privacy; and to the guarantee of the rights to adequate food, clothing, shelter, education, and health care. The form and the leaders of all governments should be determined by exercise of the right to vote guaranteed to all adult citizens. The biblical teaching that grounds our stance on human rights is that every human being is made in the image of God. Our tradition teaches that human dignity is the image of God in each human being and the foundation of all human rights (The Book of Resolutions of The United Methodist Church, 2008; page 739).

Freedom and Other Human Rights

o Map Game on the Middle East is presented on the website Rethinking Schools, produced by a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, nonprofit organization. Play it at http://www.rethinkingschools.org/ just_fun/games/mapgame.html. o Amnesty International works for human rights issues around the world, and now there are a number of essays about issues in the Middle East. Learn more at http://www.amnesty.org/. Jeanne Torrence Finley is director of Collegial Communications and an elder in the Virginia Conference.
FAITHLINK: Connecting Faith and Life is a weekly, topical study and an official resource for The United Methodist Church approved by the General Board of Discipleship and published weekly by Cokesbury, The United Methodist Publishing House; 201 Eighth Avenue, South; P.O. Box 801; Nashville, Tennessee 372020801. Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyrighted 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America, and are used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations indicated as CEB are from the Common English Bible, copyrighted 2010 Common English Bible, and are used by permission. Permission is granted to photocopy pages 14 of this resource for use in FAITHLINK study groups. All Web addresses were correct and operational at the time of publication. Fax comments to FAITHLINK, 615-749-6512, or send e-mail to Pamela Dilmore, Lead Editor, pdilmore@umpublishing.org. For fax problems, fax FREE to 800-445-8189. For e-mail problems, send e-mail to Cokes_Serv@umpublishing.org. To order, call 800-672-1789, or visit our website at www. cokesbury.com/faithlink.

Helpful Links

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OPEN the Session

O God of change, as we study the current uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East, help us to connect with the yearnings and longings of these people who so long have lived under authoritarian rule. Help us to think deeply about the challenges they face, the circumstances that have led to pro-democratic movements, and how you may be working in the midst of these movements. We pray in the name of Christ, who invites us to be new creatures. Amen.

Pray Together

Name the Countries of North Africa and the Middle East

North Africa and the Middle East: Calls for Change

How does Gods vision for the world help us connect with the people in North Africa and the Middle East and offer hope as we grapple with the emerging issues?

Since the uprisings began, a map game offered by a Wisconsin teachers organization called Rethinking Schools has become quite popular on the Internet. If you have Internet and projection capability in your building, invite the whole group to play the game, which involves naming all the countries of North Africa and the Middle East. Find the map game at http://www.rethinkingschools.org/just_fun/games/ mapgame.html. To do this activity with Internet connection but without projection, set up two computers and form two teams. Each team will need a member to count the number of tries the team makes to complete the game. The team with fewer tries wins. To do this activity without an Internet connection, find a map of North Africa and the Middle East, remove the names of the countries, and give copies to the two teams. The team who has the most correct answers is the winner. At the end of this activity, ask volunteers to comment on their experience of the game. Ask: If you have been following the events in the Middle East, what stories do you remember and what observations have you made?

CREATE Your Teaching Plan

Keeping in mind your group members and your group time, choose from among the OPEN, EXPLORE, and CLOSE activities or from Teaching Alternatives to plan the session.
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EXPLORE the Topic

Review the major points in Protests in the Arab World and A Review of Events (pages 12). Ask: What has happened since the time this issue of FAITHLINK was written? How do you explain the uprisings in so many nations in this area of the world? What do these uprisings say to you about human longings? about human rights? about authoritarian styles of government? about communication in our world?

Review Current Events in the Middle East

Explore Demographics of the Middle East

Review the main points in The Middle East: Definition and Demographics (page 3). Ask: What surprises you or makes you want to know more about these demographics? How do you respond to Professor Ragui Assaads remark about the attitudes of young people in these nations? 5

Have a Bible Study

Read Core Bible Passages (page 2), and form three teams. Assign each team one of the following passages, and ask them to discuss the questions linked to that passage and report their insights to the whole group. Genesis 12:1-9: What misgivings would you have if you were in Abram and Sarais place? What do you think gave Abram and Sarai the courage to set out on their journey to Canaan? What similarities and contrasts do you see between the story of Abram and Sarai and the current story of the demonstrators in North Africa and the Middle East? Romans 4:1-5, 13-17: What parallels might Paul have seen between his experience and that of Abram and Sarai? John 3:1-17: If Nicodemus embarked on a new life after this conversation with Jesus, what challenges might he have faced? Name the challenges faced by people after they experience new life in Christ. What connections, if any, do you see between the Christian teachings about new life and the desire for reform in other nations?

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Invite the group to review Christians and Human Rights (page 2) and Freedom and Other Human Rights (page 4). Discuss: How does your faith engage you in the events in the Middle East? Why should Christians care about the human rights of persons in another part of the world? What gives you hope about the prospects for peace and justice in the Middle East?

Discuss Human Rights

Make a Presentation on Amnesty International In the week prior to the session, ask a volunteer to research the work of Amnesty International and to make a presentation about its human rights concerns in North Africa and the Middle East. The presentation might include a sampling of Amnesty Internationals concerns around the world, a summary of one or two of the essays on the Middle East, and a report of the actions called for by this organization. Plan a Congregational Study of the Middle East Ask a team of volunteers to plan a study of the events in Northern Africa and the Middle East. This team might use some of the activities in this issue and provide ongoing research of current events.

Teaching Alternatives

Review the main points in Empowerment Through Social Media (page 4). Discuss: How did social media enable the organization of the protest movements in North Africa and the Middle East?

Explore the Role of Social Media

Consider Ways to Promote Peace and Justice

Read aloud the first paragraph in Partners With Providence (page 3). Ask: What inspires or challenges you concerning the questions and suggestions in this section? What other questions emerge for you? What other ways might you partner with God in the work for peace and justice? List responses on a markerboard. Read aloud the closing paragraph of this section. Ask: How do you see God at work in situations of civil unrest and protest?

Next Week in FAITHLINK Computers, Humans, and God

CLOSE the Session

Transforming God, help us pay attention to situations in the world where efforts are made toward peace and justice. Sustain our hope when we are overwhelmed by news events, especially now by the events in North Africa and the Middle East. Increase our vision and hope so that our vision may be aligned with your vision for all of creation; in Christs name. Amen.

Pray Together

The Jeopardy competition between well-known human winners on the program and Watson the Computer raises questions about the nature of machines and human beings. How do advances in computer technology enrich or challenge our views of human nature and God? How do they inform the way we practice our faith?
Copyright 2011 by Cokesbury.