Some western media have been asking about Arab reactions to the post-election turmoil in Iran. If we're talking about Arab leaders, well, as Mona Eltahawy wrote on the Washington Post, what do you expect from dictators who have clamped down on their own people on many occasions and would be as heavy-handed as Iranian authorities if their iron-fist rule were to be challenged in the same way? The silence of Arab leaders is no surprise, but I find the silence of Arab streets quite intriguing. If Arabs believe Ahmadinejad is different from Arab dictators simply because he stands up to Israel and its 'mighty ally', the United States, well they need to think again. The message that Arab streets are sending to the world right now is a pernicious one: Ahmadinejad has a carte blanche as long as he can keep threatening Israel even if that means killing his own people. It's quite disappointing that Arab streets overflow with demonstrators only in reaction to Israel. It's true that Arab leaders tolerate anti-Israeli demonstrations more than protests against domestic issues, but still no mass protests were reported anywhere in the Arab world, except some marginal ones in places like Dubai where a number of Iranian expatriates live. Where is the talk of our Muslim brothers and sisters around the globe, as Hamid Dabashi claims on Al-Ahram? Is it because this time, the Iranians in the streets are not stooges of the United States or Israel?

In Iran, millions of people came out peacefully to protest against a 63% win for Ahmadinejad with a stunning 85% voter turnout. I don't recall anybody marching peacefully in Cairo when Husni Mubarak won his fifth term with 88% in a sham of an election with a miserable 23% voter turnout. No more comment!