Where is Arab secularism heading?

Five years after I wrote this post, I come back to it with sadness, disappointment and maybe anger.

The same Western ignorance and arrogance drove Turkey, the only Muslim majority country that is secular into existential crisis and into the hands of Putin. 
Turkey is the model of how Islam can coexist with democracy. 
Turkey is a NATO ally the US relied heavily on all through the Cold War. 
Turkey is the country where I saw a couple kissing in the street aside people coming out of a Mosque during Friday prayers, and nobody looked or has any reaction of refusal.

Today Syria is a tragedy of mythological proportions. Millions of refugees flooded into Europe, preparing the ground for Brexit and threatening the human rights values that held the EU together. The Russian Czar is promoting extreme right presidential candidates in Europe and all over the world after meddling in US elections that brought Trump to reside in the White House.

Today Amnesty international warns that 

''Toxic political rhetoric with echoes of 1930s hate speech is stirring up violence worldwide – including in the UK and US.
Have we forgotten that human rights protections were created after the mass atrocities of the second world war as a way of making sure that ‘never again’ actually meant ‘never again’?”

On the Arab scene, in Egypt Sisi is given free hand to quell dissent with an iron hand because he is supposedly fighting terrorism.
In Lebanon, Hezbollah is given a free hand in his trend of destruction of the only democratic country in the Arab world because according to Obama, they are important in the fight against terrorism.
In Tunisia where the revolution succeeded, the country is struggling under economic dire conditions. And we do not see any efforts from the ''West'' to give assistance. 

They just spend billions on airstrikes to fight terrorism while the roots of terrorism are as again the report of Amnesty International says

“Ultimately, the charge that human rights is a project of the elite rings hollow,” the report said. “People’s instincts for freedom and justice do not simply wither away.”

Will anyone hear when we say that fighting terrorism takes roots in justice and hope; not brute force.
Arab secularism is a movement totally neglected by the ''West''. 
Entrenched racism prevails as if we can hear a murmur saying '' these people are not fit to govern themselves dictators are more safe''

I cannot except say again
It is high time for those who believe in freedom and secularism in the Arab world to start neglecting what the “West” does or wants. It is time they stop looking for hand-outs. They need to assume their responsibilities, organize themselves in political frameworks with a clear strategy that unites them towards a clear goal, and work hard on reaching this goal.

I know that it is difficult because of the never ending sporadic brutal meddling. Didn't Putin say that Assad was about to collapse and this is why they interfered military. We all saw the brutal bombing of rebel-held east Aleppo and nobody raise a finger to halt it.

But there is no other solution, human rights and the value of humanity are failing.

I honestly cannot understand the actions and strategy of the so called “West”. It might be pure stupid arrogance or it might be the fulfillment of the conspiracy theories that abound around the Arab world. Whatever the roots of their actions, they actively contribute to the assassination of Arab secularism.

And yes, there is something called Arab secularism. Most Arab populations are eager for freedom, tolerance, the rule of law, and the pursuit of happiness. The so called “West” frowns on such statements. I often hear the argument “Arab and Islamic cultures cannot sustain democracy. The problem is inherent to their culture of violence”. It is sadly a deep belief of many.

A funny small but very relevant example is that a friend of mine living in the UK received a card on the occasion of Eid Fitr. He is a member of the atheist society. His name is Khalil and in the eyes of one of the UK parties that are trying to show their tolerance he is definitely a practicing Muslim. How can a Middle Easter be something else? Their ignorance makes them also assume that Khalil is a Muslim name as many Pakistanis are called Khalil. They do not know that Khalil is a name more widely used by Arab Christians than Arab Muslims. They assumed he is Muslim and being Muslim he cannot be a non-practitioner as the Arab race has religious fundamentalism etched in their genes.

It is the same cliché strategy and lack of understanding that guides them to support the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt neglecting the 30 million persons who took the streets against the soft coup of Mursi while supporting Assad military dictatorship in Syria that is actively backed by the Iranian Shia Muslim fundamentalist state. They forgot that the Syrian revolution started with thousands of people taking to the streets chanting for freedom and a secular modern state. These same people are today air bombed by the regime while suffering the horrific actions of a minority of Muslim extremists. They are oblivious of equally horrific actions perpetrated by Iranian backed extremists. They are oblivious of the fact that Sunni and Shia extremism are the two sides of the same coin. They do not understand that those who are suffering today are the majority of the people that do not believe in violence but are driven into the clutches of fundamentalists. The logic of it is not clear to me and to many others.

It is high time for those who believe in freedom and secularism in the Arab world to start neglecting what the “West” does or wants. It is time they stop looking for hand-outs. They need to assume their responsibilities, organize themselves in political frameworks with a clear strategy that unites them towards a clear goal, and work hard on reaching this goal.

Sporadic burst of actions and engaging in victimization complaints will lead nowhere.