The scene was uncanny, as if a primordial force beyond our comprehension had been amassed in many strands and unleashed with a vengeance. In one Muslim capital after another, a sea of wrath broke all political boundaries, sending angry men into the streets to shout almost identical slogans and wave their fists against everything American or Western. A motley rabble of Islamist Salafis, jihadists, and Al-Qaeda sympathisers surrounded Western embassies, trying to torch them, to storm them, to raise black flags on their walls. The main targets were the US and British missions, but the German and French equivalents were not spared. In Benghazi, the US ambassador was killed. And in other capitals, violence was such that police shot live ammunition at demonstrators, killing a few and wounding many. This was the last thing the Americans expected, not after the warm welcome they gave to the movements of the Arab Spring, not after the hand of friendship they extended to moderate Islamist movements that ended up in power. Having offered the Islamists all kinds of help, the Americans must have thought that they were in for a smooth ride. But this wasn't to happen. As the moderate strands of political Islam, America's presumed friends, failed to protect Western diplomatic missions from angry mobs, the sense of shock was palpable in Europe and across the Atlantic. Hillary Clinton railed at the Libyans, reminding them of the help the West gave them when Gaddafi's brigades were out to get them. All it took was three days of protests to spoil everybody's mood. First, the Americans were put off. Then the moderate Islamist groups now in power in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, and other Arab countries, began to feel the heat. When the crisis began, the Muslim Brotherhood thought they could best control it by riding the wave of protests. So they called for a one million man march in Tahrir Square to denounce the film that sparked the protests. But the Salafis were waiting in the wings and they stole the show. Gathering in front the US embassy in Cairo, the Salafis went out of their way, hoping to embarrass the Muslim Brotherhood. Eventually, the Brotherhood was left with no choice but to play it safe. The one million man march could have gotten out of hand, and the Brotherhood didn't wish for a full scale confrontation with the Salafis. As it turned out, the Friday of Anger, as the protests were named, revealed more about the Brotherhood-Salafist power struggle than Muslim-Western relations. Outside Egypt, the scene was repeated with a few variations. In Libya, the Salafis struck with vengeance, killing the ambassador and driving the government of Mustafa Abu Shaqur into a corner. Now the government has no choice but to take them into account, even if this means more schisms in the ruling coalition. In Tunisia, Al-Nahda was taken off guard by the frenzy the Salafis managed to whip up. Al-Nahda, which had been worried about its liberal and leftist critics, has now come to the realisation that the Salafis are much more of an immediate threat. In Yemen, the US had to send the Marines to protect its diplomatic mission, following bloody clashes in the embassy's vicinity. Again, the moderate government of General Abdo Rabu Mansour Hadi was placed in the awkward position of having to confront the Salafis while trying to appease the Americans, keep Al-Qaeda operatives from running amok, and placating secessionists in Aden. In Sudan, the government is being upstaged and harassed in all directions. Because of the assaults on the US, German and UK embassies, the government is too distracted to handle negotiations with South Sudan with any degree of statesmanship. With secessionists still hard at work in Darfur and other areas of Sudan, the government of Omar Al-Bashir seems to be running out of options. In the US, the reaction to the offending film is likely to have an impact on the course of the presidential elections. Mitt Romney is already casting Obama as a leader who cannot protect America from presumed Islamic violence. Romney is toeing the line of Binyamin Netanyahu and the Israeli lobby. This may not augur well for Obama, unless Americans conclude that his reconciliatory policies are better than the belligerent ones of his challenger. According to a recent poll, Romney has 60 per cent of the votes of white men and 40 per cent of the votes of white women. This makes him a powerful contender for the presidency. If he ever gets into office, a major shift may take place in US policies in this region. For now, Obama may be doing some rethinking. He may decide to change his position on the moderate Islamists now in power in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya. He may also change tack on Syria, another country in revolution, knowing that the post-Bashar Al-Assad government may turn out to be Islamist. If America and Europe decide to reverse their policy of supporting the Syrian opposition, there is a chance that they throw their weight behind the mediation efforts of Lakhdar Brahimi. The events of the Friday of Anger may have been localised and emotional, but their outcome is going to be far-reaching and sobering.
