Today, the state of Iowa will be the scene of the first caucuses for the selection of the Republican candidate who will go on to run in the presidential elections against Barack Obama. Public opinion polls show that Ron Paul, a physician and Texas Congressman, is ahead of the other candidates. Only a few weeks ago, Newt Gingrich was in the lead, and before that, it was the now resurgent Mitt Romney, and a few months earlier, it was Rick Perry in the lead.

The Jewish people are an amazing mix. They have some of the best people, who defend the rights of Palestinians better than the Palestinians themselves. And they have some of the most fascist, racist people, who incite people to murder, or do it themselves, from the Israeli lobby and the pro-Likud types in every country to the extremist government of Israel, which is engaged in neo-Nazism.

The year 2011 would not have it otherwise; it thus registered surprises, activated revolutions, and acted in favor of the oppressed and the wronged. It is a year during which the Arab populations rebelled against the governments of the tyrants and murderers.

When I served as Political-Economic Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Tunisia in the late 1990s, noisy and crowded diplomatic events — dinners, receptions, national day parties — were the best place to meet with Tunisians who assumed that President Ben Ali’s mukhabarat had bugged all offices. They believed the safety of the noise and crowds at diplomatic events protected candid conversations.

I envy the Lebanese officials for many things, as I am an envious citizen who, in vain, seeks to dissociate himself. But I always fail. For something mysterious always manages to draw me back into those abysmal dramas. They are entertaining, yet sad, humiliating, infuriating and repugnant. Despite this, I keep going back. I will not accuse myself of excessive patriotism, so perhaps it is just curiosity, driven by my line of work, or the desire to torture myself and ruin London’s beautiful evenings with the news of the land of my forefathers.

Arabs have become used to seeing the years pass without any significant change. Monotony follows monotony, and people surrender to the status quo they experience, in terms of repression, backwardness and a loss of dignity. The Arab order’s inability to halt the continuing decline in the confrontation with Israel, the desire of the Jewish state to eliminate the Palestinian identity, and its denial of the existence of a regional peace partner has only exacerbated this situation.

This year, now drawing to a close, has been amazing, yet it surprisingly was not all rosy or indeed promising. The new regional order is still being shaped, and mystery still surrounds both the identity and the agenda of local and international players. Frankly, most of us find themselves at once thrilled by the Arab awakening of 2011, and terrified by the outcome of the so-called Arab Spring.

It is still too early to assess the performance of the Arab observers’ committee in Syria, along with the outcome of its work. The protocol signed between the Arab League and the authorities in Damascus does not grant its members wide prerogatives, while its mission is new to “joint Arab action”, which has been sitting in the corners of oblivion and neglect.

It is a place far, far away, an enormous palace the likes of which no one has seen before. The walls are rows upon rows of mirrors and antiquated wood: Vast halls, royal suites, and fine restaurants. There are old libraries, swimming pools, and movie theaters. And there are conference halls, microphones standing by, and Turkish baths, complete with steam and massage, and water flowing inside. It is reminiscent of the Tigris or the Great River. Outside, there are shooting ranges, forests for hunting and garden pathways for evening strolls.

Killing at its beginning and killing at its end…

The year of the Arab Spring’s peaceful revolutions reaped dictatorial rulers who turned legitimate authorities into tyrannical republics. Heads were toppled but the yield of freedom still requires the flow of blood on the squares, from Cairo to Sana’a, Tripoli and even Baghdad which has distanced itself from the spring with the outbreak of sectarian winds and the settlement of scores.