Goodbye Mubarak - farewell Israel?

Even dictators can have their finer points and a good illustration is Hosni Mubarak who is fending off advances of 'democracy' in order to keep control of Egypt and, in so doing, also has the best interests of Israel at heart.
The democratic forces in Egypt, are, in nature, quite a long way from any democratic process that the West would recognise.
The Muslim Brotherhood (The Society of Muslim Brothers) is its actual name originated in Egypt in 1928 and, since then has spread its power across the Islamic world. Its stated aim is the spread of the Koranic teachings and Sunnah (the establishment of the sayings and customs of the Prophet); it also takes an alleged non-violent stance to the West and  has a reciprocal hostile relationship with Al Qaeda, although, in Islamic affairs it is always dangerous to be overly prescriptive in forecasts. A recent survey shows that 22% of the population would prefer a non democratic government and 59% are in favour of segregation of the sexes in the workplace.

What happens if he goes?

 Worrying signs of advancing fundamentalism. Add to this the demand for the death penalty for apostates from Islam, adulterers to be stoned and the hands of thieves to be lopped off and you can see the drift towards extremism is getting stronger.
Fr Luciano Verdoscia, an Italian missionary would disagree with this forecast. He believes that we are witnessing a joyous revolution of the youth of the country. I acknowledge that he is an eye witness and as such must be taken seriously but I believe him to be wrong. Maybe an optimist but wrong nevertheless.
What is certain is the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood will have its extremist elements and these may well fight their way to the top with the aid of Al Qaeda support. If Mubarak goes as seems likely, there will be a mother of all power struggles to gain control of the country that has the tenth largest army in the world, well equipped and ready to go. But where?

For over 60 years, Egypt has been a buffer for Israel; an uneasy alliance but one that has insured Israel from the worst excesses of many Arab countries.
Now, if the extremists gain power, this alliance disappears out of the window and Israel loses its only 'ally' in the Middle East.

The unrest that began in Tunisia and then moved to Egypt has already spread to the Yemen, Lebanon and Jordan. It is not inconceivable that Saudi Arabia, bastion of Wahabi Islam, is next. It already faces a massive problem (in common with many other Arab countries) of an unbalanced population with some 50% being under the age of 21.
Added to this is the Saudi culture of non or minimal work for males and the tip of the social iceberg begins to emerge. Young Saudi males, frustrated by an religiously oppressed society, get their kicks, if they are poor, from drinking cologne (sold in large containers as it has  legitimate volume usage in such a hot climate). The effect of this is blindness or, even, madness. The more well heeled young Saudi males jump into their 4x4s on a Thursday night and head for the Bahrain causeway and the fleshpots and bright lights of Bahrain itself. A long weekend of alcohol and sex and then back to a week of public continence.

The Israeli Defence Ministry must be working overtime in assessing scenarios and devising strategies and for Egyptian Christians, Copts and Catholics, the outlook is bleak. For the past ten years or so, a more radical form of Islam has been emerging in Cairo and other major cities. Women who once never thought of wearing a yashmak or abeya now fear to go out in public without being so dressed and the veil or niqab is rapidly increasing in use also.
The spate of recent attacks on Christians has abated but only, I suspect, because of the Mubarak issue. And the backing of the USA for Egypt must make for an uneasy situation in Washington, Cairo and Riyadh where, if I am not mistaken the Saudi influence will have been at work, not fomenting, unrest but pouring oil on the troubled waters.

Why does the West ignore Arab slavery?

This may or may not come as a surprise but slavery, in various pernicious forms, is alive and well in many Middle Eastern countries. The reasons behind its popularity are not hard to find. Firstly, the use of slaves is almost a part of Arab culture, dating back several centuries; the Arabs, of course, were the main traders in African slaves to the West Indies and the USA.

Shackles these days are economic based rather than iron

Secondly, there is unparalleled wealth in most of the Middle East and this, coupled with yet another cultural attitude of not working oneself if you can pay someone else to do it makes for a perfect backcloth to the trafficking of slaves.
Where do they come from? Well, it varies somewhat from country to country. Saudi tends to prefer Phillipino 'workers' for its hotel and tourist industry while the  manual jobs go to Bangladeshis and Indians from the poorer states such as Goa and Kerala as well as Pakistanis. Most taxi drivers and menial task workers come from these countries.
In the United Arab Emirates there are less Phillipinos and more Indians, Pakistanis and Afghanis.
But, you will not see a sign of a shackle or bullwhip; it is a little more subtle than that.
The Arab nationals who 'employ' these unfortunates do so on a bond basis. That is, slaves workers are recruited in their home country by agents and their air fares are paid. They pass immediately to an employer in, say, Kuwait, where they surrender their passport. There lies the rub. They are now hostages to fortune. In the main they are married men who will now live in communes often 14 or 15 to a bedroom. Their meagre salaries are just enough for them to live on with a little left over to enable them to send subsistence cash back home. At the end of their 3 or 5 year bondage they may return home but all too often they are not able to afford to do so or their employer reneges on the deal and refuses to release their passport. Another ploy is for the employer to release them but to retain a cash amount (owed wages) which is only payable when they return.
I have met men who have not seen their families for 10 years or more and who have no potential for being able to afford retirement back home.
Even more sinister is the trade in young teenage girls from deprived parts of India and the Phillipines (these only come, I believe, from non Muslim regions). I have seen them, flown in by the hundred and lined up at Riyadh airport awaiting collection.Their fate is to work as domestic servants, Heaven help them! The term domestic servant may cover a multitude of sins, literally.
Of course, Kerala, Goa and the Phillipines are intensely Catholic parts of the world but there is no freedom of religion in Saudi Arabia and very limited access to churches in Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE, Bahrain and other parts.
The long term fate of these girls is, I suspect, largely unknown, and working conditions terrible. I  admit that I have no hard evidence regarding their treatment as domestics other than supposition based on Arab behaviour in other social areas that I have witnessed and hearsay from expats living in the Middle East.
It is a sad fact that Britain and the US subscribe so unquestioningly to the economies of these countries, due almost entirely to the dependence on trade of which, arms and weaponry is no small part.
The Phillipino contingent tend to me better organised and often have cooperatives (of a sort) that help to monitor conditions and, ostensibly, speak out against injustices.
They meet in small groups in hotel rooms on Sundays in Saudi where they go through the Mass, redolent of recusant times when a 'dry' Mass was all that was all too often available. If caught they risk deportation or worse, a public flogging.
I know of no Western organisation other than the Anti-Slavery Society http://www.anti-slaverysociety.addr.com/  that acts on behalf of these people, spare a prayer for them during Advent and for their employer/owners that they may become enlightened and give to these slaves the civil and religious liberties that they are entitled to.