The problem of 'moderation'

The "Arab Moderation" theory is making a resurgence. This time it is moderating against Arab and non-Arab Islamist "extremism". Previously it was moderating against the "extremism" of forces resisting Israel.

We are moderates, which is why we imprison anyone opposing our moderation. We are moderates, which is why we kill anyone protesting against us, and whomever responds with violence is an extremist.

We are moderates; we have the right to loot and corrupt state institutions. We have the right to appoint the head of the religious establishment, subdue it, and employ it to serve our interests, and whomever opposes us is an extremist.

We are moderates; we have the right to use sectarian rhetoric in our political battles and to polarise society. However, whomever repeats this rhetoric is an extremist, not to mention whomever translates this rhetoric into action.

We are moderates, so we have a right to categorise popular movements - this one is a revolution but that one is a sectarian hate group.

We raise our voices in solidarity with the Syrian people and then leave their refugees to die in poor weather conditions.

We are moderates who raise the banner of liberalism in the face of religious rhetoric, however, if someone commits a mistake his family and friends are held accountable. We discuss how to combat extremism with the West and we want to change the school curricula, but shame on anyone who wants a civil wedding.

You have no idea who we are. We knock a popular movement in Syria and then leave the Free Syrian Army as the weakest group. We raise our voices in solidarity with the Syrian people and then leave their refugees to die in poor weather conditions.

We Arab moderates have announced we will fight extremism everywhere. We send our poor soldiers to kill our poor populations. We prepare jail cells for anyone who dares oppose us. In jail we create a whole new generation of extremists, who we will then fight. You do not believe us? Ask the Islamist prisoners in Algeria, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Libya and Sudan.

Ask our dear citizens in these countries. Ask the child who froze to death while escaping from Syria to Lebanon, or the Yazidis and the Arab Sunnis who were killed by the Islamic State group and then started killing each other. You can ask Shimaa el-Sabbagh, the Egyptian political activist shot dead by police in Cairo on 25 January 2015, or Sundus Reda, killed in the Egyptian city of Alexandria at a Muslim Brotherhood protest two days earlier. Perhaps they will answer you.

This article is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.