The Person of the Year

Among the traditions adopted by some Western newspapers at the end of each year and the beginning of the new year is the choosing of a “person of the year.”

They make the choice from an array of people and events that leave an undeniable imprint in the life of a group, or in the collective memory of a number of groups. This person is chosen by virtue of the changes he or she has introduced and their ability to break the bonds of commonplace rigidity and monotony. Such a person might be known for helping to remedy difficult situations, reviving hopes, restoring equilibrium, and having great ideas. Or it might be someone who has enchanted people, or made millions of human beings happy around the world.

Some U.S. newspapers have chosen Barack Obama as the “person of the year” for 2008. The choice was made in response to the opinions and desires of a large segment of the population. In their eyes, Obama symbolizes change and hope in the future. When a political figure or a charismatic leader is able to inspire generations of young people around the world, people of all races and ethnicities, reviving in them the hope of changing situations and aspiring to a better future, that person is certainly qualified, without question, to become the “person of the year.”

Obama’s victory has effectively changed the face of the largest global power by removing the mask of hostility and animosity which has hidden the true face of the United States during Bush’s two terms, and has lightened the setbacks of the economic crisis which threatens the prosperity of both the West and the East. Obama is blowing a wind of confidence through the world that has revived the hope of solving complicated international problems.

However, everything can be seen from multiple sides. It is very difficult in our Arab world, almost impossible, to speak of a “person of the year,” especially when our leaders are incapable of making dreams reality, bringing hope, or of introducing changes.

The event that united most of the Arab people in 2008 was Bush’s famous misadventure when a young Iraqi threw a pair of shoes at him. In this way the Iraqi people said their goodbyes to Bush in a humiliating manner, putting a strange end to the long years of suffering lived by the Iraqi people and the Arab people as a whole. This incident could be considered the “event of the year” because it expressed the Arab rejection of the long years of occupation that have completely destroyed the morale of an entire people and have demolished the ties that united them. With this event Bush was forced to recognize the falseness of the alleged existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, as well as the presence of the al-Qaeda organization that served as a pretext to lead what Bush called the “War on Terror.”

We can consider the shoe incident and its symbolism a blow dealt to Bush’s policies in the Middle East, whether in regards to the founding of a Palestinian state, the spread of democracy, the resolution of the Lebanese crisis or even the fight against nuclear proliferation. The only concrete success it achieved was that of the Turkish businessman who increased his turnover in the shoe-exporting business.

However, did this incident inspire the Arab people and did it revive them?