Ebola and the Arabs

Ebola and the Arabs
Wealthy Arab states have failed to support the global fight against ebola.
4 min read
29 Oct, 2014
The Cuban medical team in Sierra Leone [AFP/Getty]

The war being waged on the Islamic State group (IS, formerly known as ISIS) is as important as the global campaign against ebola; both are serious threats to humanity as we know it. Arabs are playing a major role in the first fight, but are completely absent from the global campaign against ebola.

This can only be justified by arguing they are preoccupied with their wars against IS and its allies, and the Houthis and their affiliates. It cannot be defended on the grounds that ebola's victims are in the jungles of Africa far away from Arab lands, because this fatal disease has now moved to the US and Europe.

The way Arabs have dealt with this disease has been just plain racist.

Saudi Arabia has stopped all Muslims coming from the ebola-affected countries of Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone for the holy pilgrimage to Mecca, ostensibly to help stop the disease spreading. Morocco has postponed the African Cup scheduled to be held there early next year, fearing its citizens would be exposed to the disease by players or fans coming from other African countries.

     Morocco has postponed the African Cup scheduled to be held there early next year.

Both measures embody prejudice against a transcontinental and cross-border pandemic. They also reveal a duality of diplomatic discourse by two Arab monarchies that often talk about friendship, and the historic and religious connections between their countries and the people of Africa.

Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia and Morocco, are entitled to take all necessary precautionary measures to protect their peoples from a pandemic. But closing the borders to their sister countries without exception is a great injustice for the citizens of those countries. It is depriving them of their right to freedom of movement as enshrined by international charters, and stigmatising them as carriers of the fatal disease simply because they come from a specific geographical area.

Besides Saudi Arabia and Morocco's shameful decisions, Arab leaders have shown their hypocrisy by being absent from the global campaign against ebola. No Arab country, charity or medical institution, official or civilian, is believed to have joined the global alliance to fight the disease.

This disgrace reveals two things. First, that the Arabs view everyone else (especially non-Muslims) with great condescension. Secondly, it reveals the hypocrisy of wealthy Arab regimes that have been quick to offer aid to affluent countries, as with the US after Hurricane Katrina, but that are reluctant to reach out to poor countries struggling with this fatal disease.

This official Arab hypocrisy is matched by the hypocrisy of Western countries that have only treated and provided medical assistance to their own citizens, and left the task of saving the affected areas to international organisations.

There is only one poor country that has been an example of global humanitarian solidarity against this pandemic. It was communist Cuba that sent a medical team of 165 doctors and medical workers to Sierra Leone, and that will send 196 more to Liberia and Guinea. This makes the Cuban medical team the largest international team combating ebola, a disease that has already killed more than 4,500 victims.

This is not the first time Cuba has sent medical and humanitarian convoys beyond its borders. According to the Paris-based Le Monde, there have been at least 136,000 medical workers sent by Cuba on humanitarian convoys since the 1960s. Today, more than 50,000 Cuban doctors and nurses serve in humanitarian missions in more than 70 countries - despite the economic hardship the country has faced ever since the US imposed its blockade of the island in the 1960s.

The Cuban model of humanitarian

     There have been at least 136,000 medical workers sent by Cuba on humanitarian convoys since the 1960s.

solidarity is an example to the world that has been commended by the United Nations. It is an example to wealthy countries preach about solidarity and cooperation, but withdraw when put to the test.

As for the majority of Arabs - whose religion calls for solidarity and compassion with others - their war with IS has distracted them from events in the rest of the world.

However, would it not have been more helpful for the Arabs to have fought against the image of Islam presented by IS - beheadings of journalists and the stoning of women in public - by joining the fight against ebola?

In doing so they would have presented a more humanitarian image of Islam by showing it as a religion that promotes international solidarity and universal humanitarian values.

This article is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.

Opinions expressed in this article remain those of the original author, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of al-Araby al-Jadeed, its editorial board or staff.