‘Those troublesome few’

Can a few cause much havoc?

Yes, they can. And this is the problem at this point in time in much of the Arab world.

My experience with the many institutions in which I worked since the late 1970s, as well as with the many institutions with which I have had close encounter, taught me that the majority of people is well meaning, reasonably hardworking and noticeably positive in their outlook.

They are also civil in their manners, disciplined in their conduct, respectful of laws and regulations and non-violent in responding to challenges or provocations.

Those who hold the opposite attributes, i.e., the ill meaning, the uncivil, the violent, etc., are few.

There are exceptions here and there, I am sure, but this stands as a general rule for understanding human behaviour in most societal contexts, or in most contexts where groups of humans gather and interact.

Take classes at school or university, and you will find that most students abide by the rules of the game.

Take schoolteachers, university professors, motorists, government employees, journalists, taxi drivers, carpenters, plumbers and you find that this same rule applies.

It is the few who are troublesome.

Having stressed this point, one needs to stress another, interrelated, as well: that even though the troublesome are few, they can cause much headache, havoc and damage if not dealt with effectively.

If school teachers or university professors are unable to co-opt the “naughty” students in ways that enable them to contribute positively in the classroom and synergise with the rest of the group, much learning will be disrupted, much class time will be wasted and much tension and chaos will prevail.

Traffic is a classic example. If one observes traffic flows carefully in any of our streets, one finds that those who deliberately violate are a handful. However, this small percentage of unruly motorists causes much hassle, much road rage and many accidents.

Similarly, the performance of many of our institutions is hindered and their environment is made negative by the acts of few subversive individuals who end up hijacking the scene and exhausting much of the institutions’ energies.

It is this exact same thing that is happening in the Arab Spring countries: Syria, Libya, Yemen, Iraq, Tunisia and others.

The regimes in those countries, which always represented the few, are responsible today for the chaos, bloodshed and tragedies witnessed daily in these countries, because they have had their way for decades.

But the chaos, bloodshed and tragedies are also attributed — and equally so — to the so-called opposition, which is also made up of a few, because they are having their way now.

The stark irony in the said countries is that the regimes and/or their “remnants”, on the one hand, and the “opposition” and/or rebels, on the other, because of this abnormal situation where a few hijacked the scene, are destroying both the country and the people.

How many Syrians, Yemenis, Libyans and Iraqis are displaced or had to flee? Neither the ruling regimes and/or their remnants nor the so-called opposition and/or “revolutionaries” can be seen as representing the majority.

One moral lesson here is that unlike what some would have us believe, the Arab world does not have a problem with pluralism, diversity or difference of opinion. There are no real religious, sectarian, racial, ethnic problems in the Arab world.

I have lived in several communities in Jordan and the Arab world where people of all kinds, and belonging to all types of religious, sectarian, geographic and ethnic backgrounds, lived (and still live) in utter harmony and where pluralism, diversity and difference of opinion are highly respected.

The problem is with those troublesome few who use religious, sectarian, geographic and ethnic differences to create trouble in order to further their selfish, deviant agendas. 

People make a big mistake when they link Daesh, for example, or any ruling, dictatorial, sectarian regime in the Arab world with a religious or ethnic background or root, for Daesh and those said regimes are simply causing this difference to happen to serve their interests.

Another moral lesson is that no institution, society or country should allow the unruly, subversive few to hijack the scene and spoil it for the many.

The unruly few always need to be co-opted, rehabilitated, integrated, disciplined before things get out of hand.

Watch out for those troublesome few!