The revolutions in the Arab and Muslim worlds and their potential impact on Israel were assessed by Paul Liptz, a leader of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, who has taught about Jewish history, Israeli society and the Middle East for 25 years at the Jerusalem campus of the Hebrew Union College.

Liptz, a native of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), who made aliyah to Israel – arriving the day before the outbreak of the 1967 Six-Day War – spoke to about 100 people last Tuesday at Central Reform Congregation at an event co-sponsored by CRC and Congregation Shaare Emeth.

Liptz noted the saturation coverage by American media of the largely youthful protests in Egypt and Tunisia and more recently Bahrain, Jordan and Libya. “Much of American media covers events as they are unfolding without putting them into any kind of historical context,” he said.

As an example of hasty reporting, Liptz noted that many media outlets described a recent speech by Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi as his “last speech.”

“Americans, including your media are used to things moving very fast,” he said. “But in the Middle East, things move at a much slower pace than in much of the rest of the world.”

Liptz stressed that for much of the Muslim world, “current lives and events are conceived as being related to the life and events of the Prophet Muhammed. The legacy of Muhammed, who lived from 570 to 632 is not only religious, but political,” Liptz said.

He added, “The Islamic system of thought is unlike the Western political system. The most significant question going forward is whether Islamic thought will remain the same or change.”

Liptz noted that among the world’s 1.4 billion Muslims (374 million of whom live in the wider Middle East (including North Africa, the Arab states plus Turkey and Iran), several areas of tension exist, beyond divisions between Sunni and Shia Muslims – divisions between religious and secular Muslims and between those who are pro-Western and those who are anti-Western. Liptz said approximately 10 percent of Muslims are fundamentalist-about 140 million.

Looking towards the unrest in the region, Liptz said Egypt’s revolution was triggered by economic frustration, especially among younger educated Egyptians who saw no real future in the autocratic nation. “There are 83 million people living in Egypt, of whom 19 million live in Cairo. Under (Egyptian President Hosni) Mubarak there was no opportunity for real democratic institutions to be formed. There was much nepotism and corruption and no tradition of building democratic structures. That will be the challenge in the months and years ahead.”

Turning to Libya, Liptz said, “Libya and Egypt are right next door to each other, but like France and Germany in Europe, they are totally different from one another. The model in Libya is loyalty to tribes. People were surprised two weeks ago and thought that Qaddafi was weak and near defeat. When the autocratic male leaders of the tribes thought that Qaddafi was losing, they leaned away from him. If they think he has a chance of winning they will lean to his side to gain the benefit of his support or to avoid his punishment if they join the opposition.”

Liptz also assessed the unrest in Bahrain, where a 200-year-old Sunni monarchy rules over a population that is 70 percent Shia; Jordan, which is also ruled by a monarchy that protects King Abdullah, but which faces opposition from a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood; and Saudi Arabia, whose ruling families are fearful that the violent revolutions around them will spread to their nation. “The Saudi ruling families have kept stability by financially supporting the Wahabis so as to prevent them from undermining the regime. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is determined to protect his monarchy and the stability of his nation,” he said.

Members of the audience responded positively to Liptz’s talk, his breadth of knowledge and his enthusiastic delivery. Sheldon Enger, who teachers for Lifelong Learning at Washington University, said, ” He covered a lot of ground, describing the events in the Arab world country-by-country.  It was refreshing to hear a talk that imparted so much information and there  was not a hint of bias.”

In the question-and-answer period that followed, Liptz said that in Lebanon, the multi-religious divisions of its government have served to force the various religious communities to form changing coalitions from one election period to the next. He said it was too early to tell if the new prime minister designate, supported by Hezbollah, will influence him to tip Lebanon towards a more radical Islamist stance. “By and large, the system in Lebanon has worked in favor of stability and not against in recent years,” Liptz said.