The jigsaw

I remember the first gift my mother ever bought for me, 55 years ago. It was a jigsaw cube set, before jigsaw puzzles were readily available in Egypt. It had an image from a fairytale- with a king and queen, a knight in shining armour on a white horse, a dragon and a princess.

This memory came to me, as I was thinking our focus for society in the MENA region is like that of a child observing a jigsaw cube. Instead of looking at the overall picture on 8/16/32 cubes, we are looking at the bracelet the princess is wearing, or the horse’s hooves or the prince’s hairstyle. That is only a part of the cube, but not the whole image.

In my opinion, “WE” need to sit down and put all the cubes needed by the society together before we get to the stage of looking at the details on each cube. It is not too late to think collectively, focus collectively and deliver collectively as a nation.

Recipe for disaster Part 2

Thinking about civil society in the Middle East and North Africa, I had an idea this morning and discussed it with my wife. I told her I wanted to host a big lunch and invite 50 of our friends and acquaintances. The twist was, we’d tell them they would bring whatever ingredients they would see fit, without any guidance from us, and we would cook whatever they would get.

Under these circumstances, we might find some buy rice and no meat, some may buy aubergines and no bread, some may bring us fish and no vegetables etc. Or they could all come with the same item, who knows?! It’s possible. After all, they have no idea if we originally wanted to cook lasagne, chicken curry, fish and chips, kebab etc. as we didn’t communicate with them.

My wife was bewildered. She asked: “If we don’t know what the people will bring, then how do we know what to cook?”

I answered: “I don’t know. It will create a mess and chaos in the kitchen.”

In my view, uncoordinated efforts are a recipe for disaster, whether in the kitchen, or in a nation’s “internal kitchen”. I believe we have to decide first what we want to eat, as a nation, and what we want our future to be. The chef responsible for the kitchen must cook what the nation wants, sticking to the recipe for success and avoiding the non-coordination recipe for disaster.

Food for thought Part 1

I was thinking about the new society products in the MENA region, specifically what future we are going to draw for this area. The changes we have been witnessing made me think about the answers to some pertinent questions, such as: How? Why? When? How long? Another vital question is: Are we ready or not? If we are ready, where is the change taking us?

The easiest thing in life is to say “NO”, forbid people to do things and criticise others. The most difficult thing is to say “YES”, allow, encourage and lead. The NO philosophy will keep everyone at a standstill, with no way forward. The Yes philosophy will inspire people to act individually and collectively. When that happens, another set of questions arises:

a.    How do we manage the masses?
b.    Where are we taking them?
c.    What are they doing when they get there?
d.    Do we have the overall picture of what will be delivered in 5 or 10 years time?

We have been witnessing only the first phase of social change, taking the lid of the pot. The second phase is the most difficult- what do we do with the boiling water? Boiling water can help make good noodle soup, if you add the right ingredients. If you’re not careful, boiling water can also do lots of damage.

It is up to us to work together and make the best noodle soup for our society.

The vacuum cleaner

At first people are enthusiastic when they buy a new “toy”, such as a vacuum cleaner. They use it all the time, keep their homes clean and the vacuum full. What happens after a while, is that the novelty wears off, and the vacuum stays empty.

I believe it happens the same when a country goes through a popular revolution. People are enthusiastic at first about removing the regime, but then they realise there is a vacuum, which cannot be filled immediately. Problems amount and the house gets dirty.

In my view, the steps to be taken to fill the vacuum and keep the home clean are:

•    Focus on the huge gaps, not the ones between the furniture- the ones in civil society.
•    Look holistically at the needs of the country, without a personal political, religious, philosophical or economic agenda.
•    See us as a dot in the digital image of our nation, whether we are an individual or organisation.
•    Enable ourselves to think constructively and channel our creative energies into building a new nation, higher than a skyscraper

Let us keep the nation, our home, tidy and the vacuum full!

Bridge over troubled water...

The whole world is watching the birth of new society spirit in the Middle East-North Africa region. The spirit is flying high at the speed of light; however we must prepare its foundation and secure its landing to make sure it doesn’t break its neck.

I have been recently to some major towns in Libya: Benghazi, Shahad, Albayda and Derna. I went there to facilitate a series of workshops and give some speeches for the local non-governmental organisations. What pleased me the most was the participation of women (40-45%) and youth (20-25%). There was even one organisation for people with special needs.

I saw the potential of the Libyan society within the hundreds of people that attended the workshops and the speeches. I believe the society spirit can fly high. People have asked me how. My answer is quite simple, really: we must start building the civil society in Libya and create bonds between organisations, citizens and state. This will help create a better future for the society as a whole.

We are creating a bridge for society to cross to safety. Join us!

TV on/ TV off

A while back, I was visiting an Arab country. I turned the TV on to have a quick look at the news. As I was switching between channels, I realised there were only 4 channels in the local language, out of a total of 18 TV channels. There wasn’t even a movie channel in the local language!

When I checked into a hotel, I realised things weren’t right there either, as in this Arab country, there were rent-girls everywhere. It seems to be a new “normal culture” in a certain growing city, located in a very conservative area.

My amazement continued to be fuelled on the streets, as there were hardly any locals in the shops or in company offices. In my view, countries should cherish their human resources, their citizens, as much as they cherish their natural resources.

The price to pay for losing our values, heritage and identity is far higher than the all the money in the world. Let us rethink our identity as individuals, communities, nations and heads of nations.

The great country of extremes

While I was at the UNFPA conference in New York, I met an old friend who was security checked for such a long time, he missed his flight. Read the full story here. To cut a long story short, in the end, he managed to get on another flight and beat the “Computer says NO” virus. This is one extreme.

Today I want to talk to you about the other extreme, a very pleasant surprise for me. I was invited by the Imam of a mosque in New Jersey to attend a debate on Islam. Naturally, I agreed, and was picked up from Manhattan and dropped off in a run-down area of New Jersey.

I was stunned to see 20 young American military officers in the mosque, four of which were women. I was pleasantly surprised with the length of the discussion (2 hours) and the fact that the military officers asked questions on human rights, democracy, radicalism, the hijab, jihad, polygamy in Islam. They watched the sunset prayer and the late evening prayer.

After the debate, we talked privately, swapped business cards and promised Facebook adds. Then, the most amazing thing happened! The imam told me they were stopping overnight at the mosque, to learn more. They were also present at the 5am morning prayer.

I couldn’t believe it and I kept on comparing with what happened to my friend, who was checked until he missed his flight. It seems that military officers are taken from Thursday to Sunday to various churches, synagogues, mosques to understand different cultures and religions.

In my view, this initiative is welcome. However, I believe it takes time to heal a scar and even more time to heal a fracture. The US is healing the 9/11 bone fracture. We need to help America heal it and not let them be afraid of another fracture. We should be wound healers, not inflamers. Our role is to stitch back the wound and soothe the burning inflammation.

Turning the tables

The whole world has been glued to TV sets, watching the simmering feelings of the people in the MENA region turning into boiling anger. It was like a pressure cooker, bound to explode sooner rather than later. The people who took to the streets expected change, no more. No one thought about who the change-makers should be.

The most difficult stumbling block is/was: do we have a plan for change? Do we have a structure or ideas for projects for our country? Do we have a collaborative vision of the future of our nation? These questions can be debated or some will even answer a straight “No”.

Everybody was happy to see change happening, whereas now people will stop and think seriously about where change is taking them. We have to be optimistic, but also realistic. I, for one, believe that we can go forward and turn the tables for the development of the society.

Niqab?

In my opinion, niqab or non-niqab is not the issue. The issues are:

• How we can understand each other’s feelings, culture, faith, history and moral values.
• How we can become more inclusive, while implementing our lows into civil society. 
• How we can build inter- and intra-community discussions. 
• How we can manage our inter- and intra-generational dialogue. 
• How we can become a rights based society for all.

I believe the body cover or the lack of it aren’t the issue. It should be seen as a reaction of the people who feel they’re not being listened to, their faith is not respected and they are denied the rights of citizenship.

If we can address the above issues, we can see the niqabs or minarets aren’t the issue. The issue is the human feeling of the individual citizen (male or female) that they are not respected enough to have a role to play in building the society.

Such news headlines cause extremes to gain more ground, while the moderate, modern, liberal thinkers are left behind.

In the long-term, nobody wins in the race of politics, while culture, faith and shared values live forever with nations.

Let us end our term in office on a good note, making people wish we stayed longer or even want us back.

Computer says “NO”

Security has the right to protect the safety of everybody living in society and security people have the right to be respected. They are civil servants, helping us live in peace and prosperity.

Security people would also give their life for us, to defend ourselves and the well-being of our country. Their work is vital, a point which I am not calling into question.

However, what I am calling into question is the criteria for the random checking of individuals. The right of being stopped is right. The right of knowing what you were stopped for is also right. Nobody knows why, except the computer.

On one of my recent trips, I met an old friend whom I hadn’t seen for some time. After exchanging pleasantries, he told me he had missed his flight. I asked him: “Why? What happened? Did you not get to the airport in time?” He replied: “My friend, I was there in plenty of time. I was stopped and security checked.” The surprise was plain to see on my face. Smiling, he said: “My friend, the computer said NO”.

His story made me think that we need to treat our security computers with the TREE (trust, respect, engage, empower) software. Otherwise, the “NO” virus will cost us trillions of dollars and will not prevent the radical extremists from winning more ground.

Cleaning = Caring

Cleaning doesn’t just require detergent, brushes, shampoo, shower gel or bleach. Cleaning and being clean is a learned behaviour. It reflects the quality of the belief, translated into a community product.

We must stop pollution, clean the roads, drain the swamps and clean our walls. Before coming and teaching about God’s mercy, we need to ensure that our houses and the environment lack rubbish.

It is not good to go to a worshipping place and be deterred by foul smells or general uncleanliness and disrepair. It is not good to go to a community where people do best for themselves at home and forget about everything surrounding the house.

I believe that God’s goodness should bring out my goodness to be good to society, my community and the climate. Cleanliness is not just part of a humanitarian programme; it is a way of life, etiquette and also a ritual to get closer to God.

Prophets agree that cleanliness is a part of faith, and according to Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), cleanliness is half of faith.  The reformers, prophets, messengers or thinkers who believe in their mission should advocate cleanliness.

Lack of cleanliness will bring with itself bacteria, germs and viruses, which can lead to illnesses, even plague and death.  In the end, this will cause community fragmentation and destruction, with the potential to eradicate the humanity.

In my view, if we want to save the universe, we have to be clean, internally and externally.

The Benghazi Diaries Part 2 – Onwards...

We attended the launch of a new organisation at the medical school in Benghazi. I was happy to see that in the lecture theatre there were around 100 female students, thereby cementing the role Libyan women have got at the moment and will have in the future in rebuilding Libyan society.

Our vision for Libya is RIGHT; delivering aid needs to go hand in hand with training. We cannot ignore the way organisations connect, network, manage the same way we cannot ignore people in need of food and water. The two actions don’t have to be mutually exclusive. With one hand we can feed the starving, while with the other hand we can strengthen the system and build local and regional infrastructures.

More time and resources need to be spent to ensure civil society in Libya has the training it requires.

To be continued...