Never in my life, which has spanned the United States and the Arab world, have I experienced a moment such as the past week when ordinary Americans and ordinary Arabs shared exactly the same sentiments of personal vulnerability, indignity and political anger.

In the US in the past week, I saw a precise mirror image of the Arab world I have experienced my whole life — with one important difference. This should be a really valuable learning moment when Arabs and Americans, who value freedom and the dignity that comes with it, can overwhelm the ugly hatred, ideological venom and lies that assorted special interest groups in both societies impose on the majority of people.

Millions of Americans have been reacting spontaneously to the Trump administration’s executive orders temporarily halting the admission of refugees and specifically refusing entry to individuals from seven Muslim-majority countries.

Individual Americans have taken to the streets, the media, the political system and the courts of law for many different reasons — they found the Trump measures unconstitutional, un-American, unethical, unfair or un-anything else, including being harmful to economic growth and innovation — instinctively felt in their hearts and minds the need to challenge their government through all available legitimate means.

They were outraged that their presidential system could wield power so whimsically and unilaterally, implementing measures that were deeply offensive to many citizens’ sense of decency in America.

They also felt fearful for their and their children’s future.

They saw the danger of how a small group of people, including members of a single family, could destroy social and economic policies that have been painstakingly built up for decades to assist middle class and low-income families, protect the environment, promote justice for all and maintain an open, inclusive and participatory political system,  all the while enriching the wealthy and enhancing the power of a small minority at the peak of the political pyramid.

American citizens experienced in one week what several hundred million Arab men and women have been experiencing for the past half a century or so: power structures that are controlled by a small number of men, revolving around a single family, closely tied to corporate business interests, and taking decisions unilaterally with little interaction with or respect for the elected legislative branch of government, expertise in the scholarly and civil society worlds or the domestic and international rule of law.

It has been fascinating to watch many sectors of American society spontaneously and vigorously stand up and challenge the Trump decisions.

MORE:   http://jordantimes.com/opinion/rami-g-khouri/american-and-arab-uprisings-converge