ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS: SOCIETY OF THE MIDDLE EAST
Volume 4
ARAB VOICES
ARAB VOICES
The human rights debate in the Middle East
KEVIN DWYER
First published in 1991 by Routledge
This edition first published in 2016
by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
1991 Kevin Dwyer
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ISBN: 978-1-138-19040-5 (Set)
ISBN: 978-1-315-62817-2 (Set) (ebk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-19070-2 (Volume 4) (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-63006-9 (Volume 4) (ebk)
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Arab Voices
The human rights debate in the Middle East
Kevin Dwyer
First published 1991
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
1991 Kevin Dwyer
Typeset from authors disks by
NWL Editorial Services, Langport, Somerset, England
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Richard Clay Ltd, Bungay, Suffolk
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Dwyer, Kevin
Arab voices: the human rights debate in the Middle East.
1. Middle East. Civil rights
I. Title
323.0956
ISBN 0-415-04459-6
0-415-04460-X (pbk)
Contents
Many individuals generously gave me their time and I would like to thank them here. The list below would be even longer but some people expressed a wish not to be named. For those whose words found their way into this book, I hope they find their thoughts reasonably faithfully set down.
In Tunisia: Rachid Bellaluna, Abdelmajid Bettaieb, Khemais Chamari, Muhammad Charfi, Khadija Cherif, Frej Fennich, cazza Ghanmi, Rachid Ghannouchi, Hayat Griba, Jalila Hafsiya, Nadia Hakimi, Bouchera al-Hajj Hmida, Sala h ed-Din Jorshi, Sahnoun Jouhri, Hediya Jrad, Hedi Khelil, Abdelaziz Krichen, Ziyad Krichen, Tahar Labib, Amal ben caba, H mida Naifer, Gilbert Nakkache, Emna bel-Hajj Yahya, Khalil Zamiti, Abdelqadr Zghal.
In Morocco: Jacques Alessandra, Muhammad Guessous, Abderrahim Jamai, Jocelyne Laabi, Abdellatif Laabi, Ahmed Khamlishi, Fatima Mernissi, Muhammad Mekki Naciri, Fathallah Oualalou, Ali Oumlil, Muhammad al-Qebab, Moulay Rachid, Jamil Salmi, Jamal Zyadi.
In Egypt: Muhammad camara, Muhammad Sid Ahmed, cadel Amin, Galal Amin, Elizabeth Taylor Awni, Judy Barsalou, Nadia Ramses Farah, Nur Farhat, Cherif Hetata, Enid Hill, Barbara Ibrahim, Saad ed-Din Ibrahim, Nabil al-Hilali, Fahmi Howaidy, cadel Hussein, Walid Kazziha, Hind Khattab, Ann Lesch, Hoda Lutfi, Kamal Abu al-Magd, Hassan Nafaca, Mona Makram Obeid, Alain Roussillon, Nawal Saadawi, Muhammad Sayed Sacid, Hania Sholkami, Mona Abu Sinna, Mourad Wahba, Sayed Yassin, Latifa Zayyat.
In London: Ramsey Jamil, Phi-van Lam, Kathy Leclerc, Hanny Megally, Ewa Turlo.
My special thanks go to the Ford Foundation for its financial support to enable me to carry out this work, and to the European Human Rights foundation for additional financial aid.
In transcribing Arabic into the Latin alphabet I have kept in mind the general reader rather than the specialist.
Accordingly:
Most common Arabic names are written here in their usual Anglicized manner, for example Muhammad, Oman, Hussein; where individuals are widely known by names taking another form I have adopted that form.
The Arabic definite article, used in many names, is transcribed here as al- (some transcriptions elsewhere use el-). In certain cases, the articles 1 changes, doubling its following consonant, but I have consistently retained the articles 1 for simplicitys sake (except in some well-known names where I have sometimes also been obliged to use el-, for example Saad el-Din).
The following transcriptions have been used for various Arabic letters:
I have not distinguished between other non-emphatic and emphatic consonants or between long and short vowels.
In a world where human communities in their great variety believe many different things and where people, when they do not actually try to dominate one another, still often show little tolerance for ways of behaving other than their own, there are many people who struggle against this and who seek a solid bedrock of values upon which to build a vision of a common humanity, a set of values around which all people, whatever their origins and beliefs, might come together and work in concert.
Human rights, les droits de lhomme, h uquq al-insan the very existence of these and comparable terms in many world languages may point to where such a bedrock might lie, and may indicate that the vision is already being put together. However, while it is arguable that in the contemporary world these terms have an undeniable power to connote something good and desirable, it is also undeniable that beneath the superficial similarity of the terms there is much disagreement over their meaning and often a suspicion and mistrust of them.
To those who argue that attaining full human rights is a universal human aspiration, others may respond that the notion of human rights is simply a product of one particular civilizations history. To those who say it is above politics, others answer that it bears the implicit (or even explicit) imprint of one political ideology. Is human rights a clearly defined and well-understood concept (perhaps as enshrined in international agreements), or is it subject to many varied and sometimes contradictory interpretations? Is it an authentic reflection of moral conscience, or a tool manipulated by opportunistic local, national, and international political forces? Is it a need deeply felt by masses of people, or the plaything of an intellectual elite? Is it a sign of human progress towards a life of greater dignity and quality, or does it betray a parochial view that disregards lifes deeper needs (such as environmental protection, peace, disarmament, assured food supplies)?
