星空传媒

Elizabeth Thompson, former Fellow at the Woodrow 星空传媒 Center and Associate Professor of History at the University of Virginia, discussed her latest book, Justice Interrupted: The Struggle for Constitutional Government in the Middle East, on the evolution of constitutional movements in the Middle East from the Ottoman Empire to the 2011 Arab revolutions. 

On April 23, the Middle East Program at the 星空传媒 Center hosted a book launch, Justice Interrupted: The Struggle for Constitutional Government in the Middle East, with Thompson. Haleh Esfandiari, Director of the Middle East Program at the 星空传媒 Center, moderated the event.

Thompson said her book 鈥渋s an attempt to humanize Middle Eastern history for the broader public鈥� through a chronological account of constitutional movements from Turkey to Egypt, and from Iran to Lebanon. She said one of her purposes in writing the book was to show that the concepts of equality under the law and political representation are engrained in Middle Eastern politics, that 鈥渏ustice weights the same way in Middle Eastern cultures as in the West,鈥� and to refute the assumption that 鈥渢he East is condemned to oriental despotism.鈥� Writing about the individual stories of constitutional movements鈥� leaders, Thompson sought to 鈥渦nderstand the exact ideas these people fought for, what they risked their lives for by challenging monarchs.鈥� Thompson noted that the 19^th century Ottoman Empire citizenship laws, bill of rights, and rule of law were the beginnings of the constitutionalist movement in the Middle East. Although the movement failed, these innovative laws nevertheless advanced people鈥檚 rights in the Ottoman provinces and permeated politics with the concept of justice that is today鈥檚 鈥渃ornerstone of Middle Eastern politics.鈥�

From the political opposition build-up following the Napoleonic invasion of 1798, to the leading role of Colonel Ahmed Orabi (the Egyptian nationalist who led the 1881-1882 revolts against the British monopoly of the Egyptian economy), Thompson evoked Egypt鈥檚 predominance in the struggle for rights, freedom, and justice. Orabi鈥檚 revolt, she added, empowered the historically underrepresented Egyptian peasants for the first time and even led to the formation of a parliament until the British occupied the country. She stressed the 鈥減ivotal moment at the end of World War I鈥� at a time when the British and French were seizing power in former Ottoman territories and the 1919 鈥渋nterrupted revolution in Egypt鈥� of Saad Zaghloul against British colonialism. On Islamist politics, she pointed out that, in spite of his adherence to 蝉丑补谤颈鈥檃, the Muslim Brotherhood鈥檚 founder, Hassan al-Banna, never rejected the Egyptian constitution, and that justice is still advertised today by the Brotherhood as a strong political symbol.

Regarding the 2011 Egyptian revolution, Thompson said that while the people in Tahrir Square had a 鈥渞omantic idea of the Egyptian constitutionalism of the 1930s and 1920s,鈥� they rejected both the heritage of dictatorship and Nasserism. She added that protestors were galvanized by activists like Wael Ghonim who denounced police brutality and noted the Muslim Brotherhood鈥檚 help in organizing the protests. Egypt, and the Middle East in general, Thompson said, have 鈥渕ore than a century of commitment to constitutional ideals,鈥� but these ideals have merged during the 20^th century with 鈥渢he vernacular language of Islam.鈥� She emphasized that political conditions in the region, not culture, defeated past attempts to form constitutional governments.

By Val茅rie Guillamo, Middle East Program