So stupid Egypt did not advance to the World Cup and was beat out by Algeria, ha!

This playoff match first needs some background, which I previously wrote:

One may expect that given the level of racism often directed towards Arabs and the malaise that inflicts the region, that the Arab people would be more united in a spirit of brotherhood for the betterment of their world. Alas, pan-Arab slogans are. . . just that. Arabs do have collective moments of solidarity: support for the Palestinians, opposition to the Iraq war, and a few other issues. But very often pan-Arabism is feel-good talking points with no substance. The region is divided between leaders and many Arabs often express racism toward their neighbors.

Lebanese think they are better than Syrians, Jordanians and Palestinians. Tunisians (the other Phoenician people; kidding!) often lock down upon their neighbors Algerians and Libyans and uncouth, uneducated and uncultured. And many Egyptians regal in chauvinistic Egyptian nationalism.

It is ironic that the parts of the world were Arabs are most united are in non-Arabs countries: America, France, Brazil, ect.... These nations promote intermixing instead of chants of vulgar nationalism.

It is unfortunate that in the age of Star Academy many Arabs often resort to petty competition with fellow Arabs. Arabs should not be envious toward one another and should always wish each other good tidings.

Egyptians and Algerians need a lesson in this. The national soccer (football) teams of both nations recently met in Cairo for a game that will give the winner an opportunity to qualify for the 2010 South African World Cup in the next round. Upon arrival, the Algerian football team was bitterly attacked with rocks thrown at their bus. Several players were injured.

To make matters worse and more offending, the Egyptian media and security police poo-pooed the injuries caused by Egyptian hooligans and thugs. This dismissal was nothing short of Egyptian chauvinist nationalism.

Egypt went onto the win the game a few days later, and many thought that the Egyptians would now calm down since they are the winner. And so they did, but the Algerians didn’t and fights broke out between Egyptians and visiting Algerians.

Algerians also need a lesson in common decency. Upon losing a game once in Tunisia, hundreds of Algerians thugs rioted in Soussa, broke cars and shops and stole things and even entered a women’s bath house.

Idiots and thugs, the both of ya’s!!!*

*(Just the Egyptians and Algerians who do such things [which are not beyond other Arabs or people, just take a look at British football fans], not the people in general, of course)

The Egyptian’s victory secured them only a playoff opportunity which they lost to Algeria 1-0. So Algeria goes to the first World Cup since 1986 while Egypt stays home which it has been doing since 1990. No word is Egyptian hooliganism has broken out.

Algerian fans are in a celebatory mood, naturally. And I salute them for two reason 1) Egyptian soccer fans behaved like thugs with their extremist nationalism and deserved to be disappointed. 2) Egyptians were happy to see Tunisia lose its qualifier (due to Egyptian jealously and resentment of the more economically successful and progressive Tunis).

So for the Egyptians who rooted for Tunisia’s failure: Enjoy your moment.

The ugly intra-Arab fighting that was exhibited needs more elaboration:

The hooliganism and violence that have accompanied the football matches between Egypt and Algeria as they each seek to qualify for the 2010 World Cup have brought something new to Arab sports and political cultures.

The vehemence, fanaticism, and recriminations that were blatantly expressed in the media and on the streets of Algeria, Egypt, and Sudan [the host country where the deciding final game is to be played] all point to a trend. This is the logical outcome of the narrow nationalism that has prevailed in Arab politics since the death of Gamal Abdel Nasser, the former Egyptian president.

There are two forms of nationalism in the Arab world. The first is the larger Arab nationalism (often called pan-Arabism in the West) that seeks to unite all Arabs in one all-encompassing Arab state.

This was Nasser’s agenda; he mobilised the Egyptians and Arabs behind the slogans of Arab unity and Arab brotherhood/sisterhood. His plan, however, posed a threat to all Arab regimes; even the Arab nationalist Baath Party was nervous about Nasser’s plan because it meant they would lose power in Syria and in Iraq.

The party was more interested in preserving power in narrowly based regimes in Syria and in Iraq than in serving the goals of their own ideology.

Nationalist rhetoric

The Arab nationalist rhetoric struck a chord: Nasser became the sole and undisputed leader of the Arab people, preaching over the heads of most Arab leaders. But his was not the only plan in the region; Saudi Arabia and its allies presented an alternative in which Arabs lived and settled within the confines of their own small (or large) states.

This brand is referred to as narrow nationalism (known as qutri nationalism in Arabic). It was, of course, more appealing to the regimes because it meant that they preserved the borders of the states over which they ruled.

Nasser’s death created a golden opportunity for supporters of qutri nationalism. The Baath party, which was not serious about Arab unity, splintered into branches in Syria and Iraq, and the ensuing feud between the two factions became one of the most bitter and violent in contemporary Arab politics.

Nasser’s successor, Anwar Sadat, wanted to steer Egypt away from all-Arab concerns and wanted to reach a peace agreement with Israel. It was an agreement that would align his country with the US, and would insulate Egypt from the Arab responsibilities of the conflict with Israel.

He reverted to a narrow and chauvinist form of nationalism based on Pharaonic identity. Such ideas had existed in Egypt before the 1952 Revolution, and when he came to power, he breathed new life into them.

These fit into his peace plans with Israel; ideas of Egyptian superiority vis-à-vis all Arabs were quite useful for him to explain away the isolation that Egypt suffered in the wake of his trip to Israel.

To make a clear break with the past, Sadat attacked Libya without warning and had to be pressured by the US to halt the attack before it escalated into a regional war.

Reversion to ancient history

But it would be unfair to pin this narrow nationalism on Sadat alone - all Arab governments followed suit and reverted to their ancient history to instill a sense of superiority among their populations.

In Lebanon, the Phalanges Party was resoundingly defeated in the Civil War, but its nationalist ideas spread to several sects in Lebanon. Meanwhile, the Arab nationalist Saddam Hussein was invoking images, symbols, and events from the ancient pre-Islamic history of Iraq.

The more recent explosion of Arab satellite stations has not been used to unite Arabs, but to divide them increasingly further apart. Differences have been reinforced and Arab commonalities constantly denied, especially in the Saudi-controlled Arab media (the bulk of Arab media are controlled directly or indirectly by the Saudi royal family and its business affiliates).

Sports shows and the plethora of music talent contests were intended to highlight differences among the Arabs and to urge the public to rally behind the flag of their countries. Saudi media still engages in battle with Nasser; the humiliation that the Saudi royal family suffered as a result of his policies has been neither forgotten or forgiven.

A document that was leaked in US media showed that the Pentagon planned to launch an Iraqi version of the popular television programme American Idol in order to help instill a sense of Iraqi nationalism. It is clear that these sports and arts competitions and rivalries are not as spontaneous as some would believe.

Instead, they come from decades of state-sponsored mobilisation and agitation behind the flag of individual Arab countries. That it has expressed itself in violence is actually an indication that qutri nationalism has worked, up to a point.

The cult of sports in Arab media is another factor in this phenomenon. Sports are a safe distraction for the public; regimes would rather that their people watch sports than follow the daily scenes of oppression and carnage in Palestine, for example.

Reduced political attention

The culture of arts and sports was created to reduce the political attention of the public. Arab media devote an enormous amount of time and resources to sports coverage, especially to the achievements of state teams.

This narrow chauvinism and the association of national pride with the victory of state teams has become a staple of regime policies.

The battle on Facebook between Egyptian and Algerian football fans reveals the extent to which Arab youth are tuned in to the nationalist paradigm. The performance of the teams reflect on the reputation of the regimes themselves.

This helps explains why senior princes run the football teams in some Arab countries. Saddam put his own son in charge of the Iraqi Olympic committee. And Jibril Rajjub, one of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s former security chiefs, now runs the Palestinian football committee.

All sports are political in the Arab world, and that makes sports dangerous, and potentially violent.

One Egyptian-Algerian rapper has produced a rap on Arab brotherhood that should be listened to by all sides. It begins: “The first crime on earth was between two brothers; Cain and Abel. How I wished we would learn from the past. The Arab world is your home and mine. We are brothers. Wake Up!”

Games should be all in good fun. Arabs have too many problems and too many enemies to be fighting amongst one another. Brotherhood above all.