Arabs largely silent on Iran election and unrest

updated 7:37 p.m. ET June 17, 2009

CAIRO - Key Arab nations have kept silent about Iran's political upheaval, possibly reluctant to antagonize the powerful nation that sponsors such militant groups as Hezbollah and Hamas.

But there are signs the young and reform-minded have been inspired by the mass protests that followed the disputed election.

"It makes me feel so jealous," said Abdelmonem Ibrahim, a young pro-reform Brotherhood activist in Egypt.

The scenes of hundreds of thousands in the streets of Tehran provide a stark contrast to Arab countries such as U.S. ally Egypt, where widespread allegations of election fraud to ensure victory by ruling parties are greeted with complaints but little action.

Small protests in Egypt by democracy advocates after parliament and presidential elections in 2005 were quickly silenced by security forces and never caught on with the broader populace. The Egyptian reform movement — which combines secular activists with the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood — has largely been silent since.

"We are amazed at the organization and the speed with which the (Iranian) movement has been functioning. In Egypt, you can count the number of activists on your hand," Ibrahim told the Associated Press.

'Will the Arab world follow?'
One Egyptian blogger, who writes anonymously under the user name "Louza," posted a picture of a demonstration in Tehran, adding, "Sigh, will the Arab world follow?"

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Iran elections are controlled by the country's ruling clerics, who can throw out candidates they don't approve of. Still, the voting has historically been among the most free in the Middle East, where authoritarian regimes prevail. U.S.-ally Saudi Arabia holds no elections at all, while some like Syria hold tightly controlled votes in which the outcome is never in doubt. Lebanon and Kuwait — which both held parliament elections that saw unexpected results recently — are among the few exceptions.

"Even though they are run by an authoritarian regime, (Iran) still allows for a good amount of liberalism and freedom," said Gamal Fahmy, a prominent Egyptian secular reform activist.

In contrast, he said, activism in Egypt has been "put in a freezer" because "the regime doesn't allow for the space to express any sort of opposition."

"I think the new generation of activists will definitely be inspired by what they see on the Iranian street. What's happening in Iran isn't happening on Mars," he told AP. "So Egyptian activists will feel they can replicate it in their own country."

Still, there has not been as much wall-to-wall coverage of the Iranian uproar in Arab media or Arab activists' blogs as there has been in the West — for a number of reasons.

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