New York - 'Indignados davanti alla sede di Wall Street ( Photo by http://statik.nanopress.it)   Many analysts are convinced that there is a long thread that unites the ‘Arab spring’, the ‘indignados’ and the American movements which have besieged Wall Street. Others maintain that if, on the surface, there seem to be similarities between the phenomena, in reality, they concern, above all, aspects which can be defined as “external”: the utilization of the same communication instruments. Other aspects would not be directly comparable. But there is an ideological cement and it is to be found in the anti-Americanism and anti-capitalism connected to the deteriorated political and social conditions A dangerous welding, capable of fusing different drives towards objectives which could become common goals

An awareness which requires correct analysis and subsequent choices.
The Nobel Prize winner, Joseph Stiglitz is convinced that there is.
In a recent article, he speaks of “globalization of the protest” and states that “the movement of protest which started in Tunisia in January 2011, and spread to Egypt, then to Spain has by now become global, with the protest that surrounds Wall Street and other American cities.
The globalization and the modern technology enable social movements to fly beyond the boundaries as rapidly as ideas. The social protest has found fertile ground everywhere: the sensation that the “system” has failed and the conviction that even in a democracy the electoral process cannot “put things right – or, at least, will not, unless there is strong pressure from below” (1) .
In another article – in which he maintains that the Middle East revolutions and the demonstrations in the West are the consequence of the dissatisfaction of 99% of the population against the 1% which hold political and economic power – Stiglitz reiterates that the protests of millions of people against the Egyptian and Tunisian totalitarian regimes are the bitter fruit of “societies where a minute fraction of the population – less than 1% - have the lion’s share of the control of the wealth; where the wealth is the principal factor that determines the power; where rooted corruption is a way of life and where the richest often impede the policies which would improve the life of the majority of the people” (2) . The social disparity, the affluence and power in the hands of a few would seem, therefore, the common state of affairs at the root of the protest movements that stretch from North Africa to the United States.
Ehab Zahriyeh, free-lance journalist, who worked on the ‘revolution of the Lotus’ is, on the contrary, of a different opinion. Although similarities exist, direct comparisons cannot be made because, in this way, “the tremendous Arab fights and sacrifices would be discredited and the ‘Occupy Wall Street’ movement would be put into a setting where it does not fit” (3) . Although Zuccotti Park – just as Tahrir Square – was surrounded by police barricades, and although the New York demonstrators, like those of Cairo, wanted to achieve their objective, above all, through the use of the social media, the situation is different.
This opinion is perfectly in line with the words of Asmaa Mahfouz, the young Egyptian of the ‘Movement of the Young’ of the 6th April, in the video-call to rebellion against Hosni Mubarak, aired on YouTube last 18th January: “Four Egyptians set themselves on fire to protest against the poverty, the humiliations, and their lives of misery, after the 30 years of power. They did this to provoke a revolution in Egypt like the one in Tunisia […]. I want to give you a simple message: we want to go into Tahrir Square on the 25th January […] we will be there to ask for our rights, our fundamental human rights… I will not even talk about political rights. We want only our rights as human beings and nothing more. This government is corrupt – a corrupt President and a corrupt security system. These people who burned themselves alive did not fear death, but they feared the security forces” (4) . Asmaa Mahfouz began with these words. It is the call, seen on line countless times which, together with those by other young Egyptian revolutionaries – like Wael Ghonim, Ahmed Maher, Wael Abbas – contributed in a definitive way to give birth to the uprising of the 25th January, spark of the popular revolt which led to the fall of the Rais on the 11th February. “That day, when I recorded my appeal for mobilization, I never imagined that Mubarak would fall so quickly, but I knew that Egyptians were ready to die to transform the Country, as the Tunisians were doing”, the young activist of just 26 years old recounts.
The Mahfouz video recalls, therefore, that one of the profound causes of the Egyptian revolution is to be found in the sensation of total insecurity felt by the people and particularly, by the Egyptian youth. In another interview, released to the Egyptian al-Mihwar TV channel on the 31st January 2011, Mahfouz recalls that the idea of the first big demonstration in Egypt originated from the massacre of Copts in Alessandria on New Year’s. The choice of the 25th January, the Feast day of the Police is no coincidence. The young activist stated that “at the beginning there were only two requests: the first concerned the resignation of the Minister of the Interior and the acceptance of the responsibility of the failure of the Security Forces, the second was for the dissolution of Parliament” (5) .
Only later, following the 14th January when the Tunisian President, Ben Ali left the Country, the third request was made: a life of freedom and dignity. One can, therefore, deduce that in the Tahrir Square protests – at least, initially – the economic aspect was only secondary, but even if the contrary were accepted, we would be facing a completely different situation from that of the West. In Egypt almost 40% of the population live on less than two dollars a day, more than 20% live below the poverty line ’ (6) ,therefore, the number of people who have nothing to lose is decidedly higher than that of the United States.
At this point it is necessary to ask whether, rather than a globalization of protests, of a global “spring”, it would not be more appropriate to speak of a globalization of ideologies. It is true, young Egyptians like Mos’ab Elshamy, a medical student and Twitter activist, have tried to transfer their experience in Egypt to the demonstrators of New York. Recently, Elshamy has supplied a kind of manual to the demonstrators of the ‘Occupy Wall Street’ Movement (7) . His advice shows the similarities, but also the substantial differences between the two realities. In the first instance, the fact is underlined that in neither case a leader exists, but in Egypt, the programme was clearly and manifestly characterized, i.e. by the overthrow of the Mubarak government. Furthermore, a list of the requests was emblazoned in Tahrir Square, a thing that never happened at Zuccotti Park. Although several posters exist, together with a declaration announcing the problems, it is difficult, according to Elshamy, to understand “what result would represent the victory of the demonstrators”. In Egypt, the goals were shared by elements of the population which, in other moments, would never have been in agreement. For example, the Left and the Moslem Brotherhood; in the United States all this would be more difficult to achieve. However, both movements share the need to demonstrate that their fight is not limited and is not anchored to the middle-class. Always according to Elshamy, a further basic difference lies in the relationship with the Police Forces. As already mentioned, the Egyptian protests began with a rebellion against the Forces in charge of security. Notwithstanding the fact the tension between the demonstrators and the police is physiological, the Egyptian student advises the avoidance of direct clashes, which inevitably, he believes, would have negative media consequences which would go towards exacerbating the already scarce mediatic coverage of the movement. Also in Egypt – Elshamy says – the mass media, at the beginning, belittled the actions of the demonstrators, defining them as trouble-makers or foreign agents paid to obtain other objectives “so much so that there was a period in which the demonstrators began to protect themselves by throwing the journalists out of the Square, especially unwelcome TV channels”. The final advice from the activist of Tahrir Square is to calibrate both psychological and physical energies. “You must celebrate every victory you achieve, whether big or small”.
If youngsters like Elshamy have tried to transmit “the technique of protest”, the sharing shown by the so-called “Comrades from Cairo” in a message sent on the 25th October to the “Occupy Wall Street” demonstrators is different, and from the young Mahfouz who, on the same day, gave a speech at Zuccotti Park. It is an ideological, anti-American and anti-capitalist sharing. The letter published by the British Daily, the Guardian, and signed by the “Comrades from Cairo” highlighted the ideological proximity: “To all those in the world who are staging demonstrations in parks, squares or other spaces, your comrades of Cairo are watching you with a spirit of solidarity […]. We are, in a certain way, involved in the same battle. What most students call the “Arab spring” has its roots in demonstrations, revolts and sit-ins all over the world. Its foundations are to be found in year-long battles on the part of individuals and popular movements. The moment we are experiencing is not new, because we, in Egypt, and others elsewhere, have fought the systems of repression, the lack of freedom and the uncontrolled damage of global capitalism (yes, we said, capitalism): a system which has made the world dangerous and cruel for its inhabitants […]. An entire generation around the globe has grown up realizing, rationally and emotionally, that we have no future in the present order of things. We live prey to structural adjustment policies and the supposed expertise of international organizations like the World Bank and the World Monetary Fund […] The profits and benefits of those liberalized markets finished up elsewhere, while Egypt and other Nations of the south have become always more impoverished and are – as if it were not enough – always more repressed and tortured by the police. The present crisis in America and in Western Europe has begun to bring this reality to your own doorsteps […]. So we are with you, not only in the attempt to smash the old, but to experiment the new […]. The demonstrations must continue because there is no longer anyone to turn to for reform […] be ready to defend what you have gained, what you have built, because after all that has been taken from us, these things are very precious” (8) ".
If, in this message anti-capitalism is shown, the opposition to world monetary organizations, the words of Asmaa Mahfouz, spoken on the same day, touch the other key issue, the other ideological bonding agent, that is, anti-Americanism: “They gave money to support the Mubarak regime, but our people, the Egyptian people have prevailed over all this – over the power of the United States. The power has thus gone to the people, not because of the American bullets, nor for their bombs or for their money. Power to the people. Therefore, it is in the spirit of solidarity and support of the ‘Occupy Wall Street’ demonstrators that I say ‘power goes to the people’, who must hold on and, in the end, they will succeed”.
An ironic attack on President Obama was not spared: “You promised your people that you would be the change with the motto ‘Yes, we can’, yet, here we are with the ‘Occupy Wall Street’ and we repeat the same words: ‘Yes, we can’. We can build our freedom, we can wrest our freedom also from you” (9) ".
Perhaps Asmaa has forgotten the words of Obama spoken in Cairo on the 4th June 2009 when, discussing the subject of the democratization of the Islamic world, he said: “The fourth subject I would like to discuss is democracy. I know that in recent years there has been much controversy on how democracy should be encouraged and much of it has to be related to the war in Iraq. I will be clear: no system of government can, and never must, be imposed on one nation by another. Clearly this does not mean that my commitment towards the governments that reflect the will of their peoples is less. Each nation gives life to this principle in their own way, on the basis of the traditions of their people. America does not claim to know what is best for each nation, just as it would never condition the results of regular and peaceful elections. I am, however, convinced that all peoples aspire to the same things: the possibility to speak and express themselves freely, to decide how they want to be governed; to have confidence in the law and in equal administration of justice; to have a transparent government that does not take advantage of the people; the freedom to live as one wishes. These are not exclusively American ideals, but human rights, and it is for this that we will support them everywhere” (10) ".
Perhaps Asmaa has forgotten that on the 27th of January 2009, only eight days after his installation in the White House, Obama gave a long interview to the Arab satellite network at Arabiya, during which he began with a mea culpa: “Too often the United States has dictated the conditions: it is now the time to listen” (11) ".
Therefore, it was no coincidence that the Cairo address was preceded on May 22nd, by an open letter to Obama from Radwan Masmoudi, Director of the Center for Study of Islam and Democracy, with Headquarters in Washington – a text signed by over 1,300 representatives of the Arab Islamic worldarabo-islamico (12) .
Neither was it a coincidence that the letter was addressed to Barack “Hussein” Obama, to underline the natural tie of the President of the United States with Islam. The text, an appeal for the promotion of democracy in the Middle East, appears more than shared, so much as to be signed by both Western scholars and Moslem intellectuals of every school of thought. The first paragraph makes explicit reference to the Arabiya interview: “Your Presidency represents an historic opportunity to initiate a new phase in the ‘tormented relations’ between the United States and the Moslem world. We are comforted by your promise to listen and understand the hopes and aspirations of the Arabs and Moslems”. It praises also the intent of wanting to reach the people, but poses, at the same time, a kind of ultimatum: “This is a step that must be followed by concrete political changes […]. It is crucial that the United States definitively take up positions on the side of the human, civil and political rights of the populations of the Middle East. There is no doubt that these last want more freedom and democracy”. It then criticizes the hesitant attitude of the United States: “For too long the American policy in the Middle East has been paralyzed by the fear of an eventual rise to power of Islamic parties. Some of these fears are justified and understandable; many Islamists promote policies which are anything but liberal […]. Nevertheless, the majority of the principal Islamic groups in the region are not violent and they respect the democratic process”.
And this is the point that young people like Asmaa Mahfouz do not take into account: if the United States and the European Union supported Mubarak, now they will naively support the Islamic “democracy” of the Moslem Brothers, which will bring no good to Egypt and, above all, they certainly will not bring the much longed for freedom.
Perhaps the activists of Tahrir Square have not yet realized all of this because they share the ideological aspect with the Brotherhood. Recently the American researcher, Eric Trager, wrote that all the members of the movement founded by Hasan al-Banna are in total agreement with the words of the former Supreme Guide Mahdi Akef: “We believe that Zionism, the United States and England are bands who kill children and destroy homes and lands”. (13) ".
There is no doubt that these ideas are fully shared by the man on the street in the Arab world.
It is no coincidence that on the 21st October the Islamic association nearest to the Moslem Brotherhood called a Friday prayer day at Zuccotti Park, in support of ‘Occupy Wall Street’ (14) . In the sermon given by the imam Aiyub Abdul Baki of the Islamic Leadership Council, he refers to the social justice related in the last speech of Mohammed. In a subtle reference to Wall Street, the imam recalled the Islamic prohibition of usury. It is natural to remember that, following the crisis of the international financial system, a growth in the use of Islamic finance is being recorded, also by non-Moslems (15) .
Therefore, an eventual collapse of Wall Street could be an advantage for Islamic finance, which is supported by movements like the Moslem Brotherhood. However, apart from the strictly economic issue, which must be treated separately, as it requires more detail, it is evident that the thread that joins Tahrir Square, the “indignados” and Zuccotti Park is ideological, anti-American and anti-capitalism, to which can be added social and political conditions.
And, perhaps, Obama’s address in Cairo was prophetic when he said:”It is certainly a difficult responsibility to take on: human history has often been a succession of wars between nations and tribes who dominated for their own gain. But in this new era, a similar attitude would prove to be self-destructive. Considering how we depend on each other, an eventual world order that would raise one nation or group above all the others would be fatally doomed to failure. Apart from what we think of the past, we cannot be prisoners: our problems must be faced through collaborating, becoming partners, sharing together the same progress. This does not mean that we have to ignore the causes and tensions, but rather, exactly the contrary: we must face the tensions without further delay. It is with this spirit, therefore, that I would like to continue by speaking to you, as clearly as possible, about particular issues that I believe we must face together”.

And, perhaps, both his sworn enemies of the past and his “false” friends of the present have listened to him and are now putting into practice his advice.