

Adel al-Tarifi wrote an opinion piece in Al-Sharq al-Awsat on May 9, 2012 entitled “Revisionists in ‘The Arab Fall.’” His main point is that as Islamists rise to power, overtaking and displacing the more secular goals of the original revolutionaries such as “civil society” and “human rights,” hope is giving way to apprehension and even fear.
Excerpts:
الآن بات بإمكانك رصد تصريحات وكتابات متشككة في نتائج «الربيع العربي» على مستقبل الحريات والحقوق في تلك البلدان. أي أن دعاة «المجتمع المدني» والحقوقيين باتوا يدركون أن المبادئ والأحلام التي تعلقوا بها، قد تحولت إلى كابوس مرعب بسبب صعود الإسلاميين المتشددين إلى سدة الحكم.
“We are at the point now where you can observe statements and writings that are skeptical about the results of the ‘Arab spring’ and skeptical about the future of freedoms and rights in those countries. This is to say that advocates of ‘civil society’ and rights have begun to realize that the principles and dreams that had become attached to them, have turned into nightmares because of the rise of radical Islamists to the gates of power…
لا شيء، الإنسان هو من يعطي القوانين أو الأنظمة قيمتها وليس العكس. قد تتمكن من عزل الرئيس ورجاله وتسمي ذلك ثورة، وقد تتمكن من تغيير الدستور والأنظمة، ولكنك لن تنجح في تغيير حياة الناس إلى الأفضل، إذا كان ذلك على حساب أمنهم ومعاشهم.
Obviously, it is mankind who bestows value or legitimacy upon laws or regulations, not the reverse. You may be able to depose a president and his men and call it a revolution, and you may be able to change the constitution and change regulations, but you will not succeed in changing people’s lives for the better if it comes at the expense of their security and their livelihoods.”
(My translation)