Diverse Panel Discusses Middle East Revolutions and Protests

From left to right: Omar Shaukat, Roy Hange, Dr. Carolyn Stauffer, Dr. Lisa Schrich and Senior Jess Sarriot. Sarriot presented questions to fuel discussion about the recent events in the Middle East. (Photo: Haley Grubbs)

Jason Sprunger, News editor

Peace Fellowship and the Students for Morally Responsible Investment’s (SMRI) combined event, “Politics and Protest: What’s going on in the Middle East,” attracted an audience of nearly 100 students Wednesday night, for a panel that discussed recent protests, revolutions, and social movements across the Middle East, from Tunisia, to Egypt, Bahrain, and Libya.

The diverse and experienced panel included Dr. Lisa Schirch, professor at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding and founder of the 3D Security Initiative, Roy Hange, co-pastor at Charlottesville Mennonite Church, who spent more than ten years in the Middle East and brings experience from Egypt, Syria and Iran, Omar Shaukat, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Virginia and an adjunct instructor teaching Islamic history at EMU, and Dr. Carolyn Stauffer, who is an assistant professor in the Applied Social Sciences department and spent 17 years in the Middle East.

Schirch opened the discussion on the recent protests. “The best metaphor for this kind of massive social change is an avalanche,” she said. Hange noted that the combined factors of persistent political repression, insufficient freedom of expression, and the widening gap between the government and the public contributed to these movements. Stauffer emphasized how the large number of disaffected youth has helped shape these protests. “We cannot underestimate the power of young people in this equation,” she said.

Shaukat elaborated on the repression in Egypt, noting that there was a recent rise in extrajudicial killings and “disappearances.” He also pointed to the murder of Khaled Sayyid, a 28-year-old Egyptian who was killed by the police, and to the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi in Tunisia as two of the many precipitating events that have led to protests.

According to the panel, the current protests and revolutions are defying easy categorization. “This has no specific political configuration. This has no religious configuration. Why were the people mobilizing? Primarily human rights abuses and secondarily, economic dissatisfaction,” said Shaukat.

Hange explained how a “profound sense of alienation” separates the people from their rulers. Because the government does not provide the social services and networks its citizens require, organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood or other political movements try to fill this gap by providing necessary services.

Though Shaukat recognized that the Muslim Brotherhood has played a role in the revolution, he emphasized that their role was minimal. “The Muslim Brotherhood is not involved,” he said. According to Shaukat, the Muslim Brotherhood publicly diminished their role, saying “It’s not about us,” while contradicting claims that the revolutions were “Islamist.”

“This is a big paradigm shift,” said Shaukat, as he argued that the best way to understand the protests is to “look at an individual level” rather than using an ideological or political lens. “Something like [these protests] befuddles social scientists. It befuddles policy makers and it befuddles journalists. How do you account for this happening when you don’t have big labels? … We do not have a larger framework to analyze these social movements.”

In response to a prompt about nonviolent practices and tactics, Schirch mentioned how many Egyptians have received non-violence training. “Many Egyptians came here to the Summer Peacebuilding Institute, where they took non-violence classes and went back,” she said, “[The Egyptian protestors] have demonstrated nonviolent discipline. They know how to fight without weapons… They know that weapons are what the government will use… This is discipline that a dictators cannot stand up against.”

With regards to U.S. influence, the panelists agreed that American funding and political pressure has had mostly negative effects. “The issue is that the U.S. supported dictators like Mubarak for decades, knowing that these dictators had repressive policies and were torturing their own people,” commented Schirch.

Stauffer pointed to the U.S. presence in Bahrain and elsewhere in the region as one reason why American policy is likely to remain cautious about these revolutions. “U.S. foreign policy will follow very strategic points. Instead of supporting a broad base of democracy in the region… we will be more choosy about it,” she said.

Following general discussion, the panel answered questions about the role of nonviolence as tactic and principle, the effects of social media such as Facebook and Twitter and discussed the various lenses through which the revolutions can be understood. “There were really smart questions from the students,” said Mark Sawin, an EMU history professor.

“I’m really excited and impressed by the turnout, that there were people from the community and not just EMU and that the house was packed. There was chemistry between the panelists; they complemented each other and brought different perspectives, ” said Senior Jess Sarriot, who organized the event and presented discussion questions to the panelists.
Seniors Jess Sarriot and Kaitlin Heatwole, who lead the two student groups that organized the panel agreed, “We’re really glad that Peace Fellowship and SMRI have been working together.” Heatwole continued, “Peace Fellowship is hoping to do more collaborative ventures with other clubs on important issues, in the future.”

Senior Larisa Zehr, who introduced each panelist, expressed her enthusiasm for the event, “This is what happens when people watch the news and try to respond. I’m proud that people are paying attention.” She also noted that the protests are not over, and continue every day. “While we’re talking about this, people are being shot in Libya. I’m trying to keep that in perspective,” she said.

Sawin noted the significance of the events in the Middle East. “This will be roughly equivalent to the fall of the Berlin Wall in that it brings about regional change. Lisa’s avalanche metaphor is absolutely right,” he said.