In an article in the London-based Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, Saudi academic and writer Amal 'Abd Al-'Aziz Al-Hazzani called on the Arab rulers to learn from Israel's handling of the social protests there, contrasting the swift measures taken by the Israeli government and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad's use of military force against his own people.
Criticizing those who claimed that Israel's strikes in response to the attacks in Eilat had been meant to distract attention from the protests in the Israeli street, Ms. Al-Hazzani aked how Palestinians and Arabs could condemn this expected response while keeping silent over the Syrian army's shelling of the Al-Ramal Palestinian refugee camp in Latakia. She added that in contrast to the Israeli government, which clearly defined and took action against its enemies but maintained respect for its own citizens, the Syrian regime defined Syrian citizens who threatened the regime's legitimacy as the enemy, but had relinquished its legitimate borders in the Golan Heights
Following are excerpts from Ms. Al-Hazzani's article:
"We rejoiced when the contagion of the Arab revolutions reached Israel. We said that this was an unintentional direct hit, that the Israeli street would revolt and demand to topple the regime – which would lead Netanyahu, who [at the time] was traveling abroad, to rush back to Tel Aviv and mobilize the Israeli army in full force to suppress the protestors. [We said that] he would fire live ammunition at them, and humiliate them by beating them with shoes, throwing them in prison, and sending them the mutilated corpses of their children. Then, [we said,] the Hebrew state would crumble, weaken, and collapse, and would ask America for help; disputes would arise among [Israel's] leaders; [Israel] would go from being strong to feeble; and the long story of Israeli tyranny would end, without a single Arab batting an eyelash.
"But this joy did not materialize. Unfortunately, Netanyahu disappointed us. While he did, in fact, wake up and return [to Israel], it was not in order to massacre his citizens, but to contain the crisis and propose swift solutions to what the street was demanding. He felt concern over the [public] anger toward him. It is said that he and his ministers did not sleep for a week, staying up nights in order to study tactical and strategic plans to meet the protestors' demands. And, fearing that the people would not think that he was in earnest, he established a committee of academics at Haifa and Tel Aviv Universities and at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem to serve as his mouthpiece vis-à-vis the public, and he committed to accepting whatever [this committee] proposed.
"It was the protestors who set the demands, accusing Netanyahu's government of failing to [ensure] social justice, and of failing to notice that the youth among the Israeli people had grown in number over time – and that these same youth would marry and need higher wages, more reasonably priced housing, advanced healthcare, and lower taxes.
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