"Thank
you Twitter for those abbreviated messages that act as 'punches' to the chests
of governments that had all but eliminated the role of the young, and which
forced the rulers to adopt reform. … Arab countries have failed to achieve
development, democracy and justice, which has sparked Arab electronic anger.
This spread until it broke the deadlock and conveyed the will of the people via
new media."
Thank you Facebook! Thank you
Twitter! Thank you YouTube! Thank you to all the new media tools, the contents they
contain and their users, which have enabled Arab young people, who have endured
oppression and injustice, to express the suffering of their elders and put
forward their plans without fear from the fists of security officials and
partisan or ideological controls.
Thanks to the new media, that
has allowed the people to topple governments and regimes which have dominated
them for endless decades. Thanks to new media, that has terrified governments
which never cared about the people and have refused to adopt reform. Thanks to
independent media, with its high-pitch and fast-pace that has documented the images
of hope and sparked the people to shake the dust of governments and regimes accustomed
to lashing their citizens and expanding bureaucracy, selfishness and nepotism.
Thank you Twitter for those
abbreviated messages that act as “punches” to the chests of governments that had
all but eliminated the role of the young, and which forced the rulers to adopt
reform and change their rhetoric.
Thank you Facebook, for
forcing those who dismiss new media to take it seriously, and for allowing us
to open [Facebook] accounts to connect with friends and write on your pages.
Thank you to media that
exposed the unyielding regimes which have refused to interact with the people
to address their causes and demands, thus allowing the young to join forces, pursue
“national” revolutions and adopt a new way of expressing ourselves that is far
different from the traditional dialogue of “reverence” shown to such
governments.
Thanks to the new media that
has enabled Arab youth to develop tools and voice their problems via social
networks, thus breaking the siege imposed on their energies and capabilities
and inaugurating a world of change.
Thank you Mohammed
Bouazizi [photo, left]. Thank you Khaled Saeed. May God have
mercy on the souls of the martyrs, because you have triggered a true revolution
in the minds of the youth, restored the people’s revolution and our capacity to
fight injustice. Thank you for giving hope to millions of young people, sparking
in them the desire to contribute to building a future for themselves and their
nations and restoring their rights.
Only by turning to social
networking after years of frustration and hopelessness have the young of the Arab
world escaped poverty, unemployment and marginalization. This has given them
the courage to think, coordinate and express their hopes and aspirations, and
then embrace change, lead revolutions and topple governments.
In eighteen days, new media
changed a 30 year reality in Egypt. Before that in Tunisia, it overturned a
ruling regime that lasted 23 years in 22 days. Now the oldest Arab ruler, Muammar al-Qaddafi,
is confronted with revolution in Benghazi, Tripoli and Al-Bayda, despite the
policy of repression he is applying. Meanwhile, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh also
faces a people's revolution with pledges that he will not run for another term
in office. President Abdelaziz
Bouteflika, in his turn, is witnessing daily tension on the Algerian street;
and in Bahrain, half the population has taken to the streets, whether in
support of the government or to demand its resignation.
While some leaders were quick
to make changes and adopt reform to extinguish the tension and meet the demands
of the people, as we saw in Jordan, where in the wake of mass
demonstrations demanding political and economic change, King Abdullah II sacked
the government. The Kuwaiti government, for its part, provided a package of
direct economic support to the people, while some leaders announced that they
had given up on the idea of hereditary rule.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
Poverty, unemployment,
frustration, the absence of any principles of social justice and an unfair
allocation of wealth are the central threats to Arab governments. If they fail
to address living conditions and the future of the young, if they fail to draw
up strategies to employ the capacities of their nations, provide job
opportunities, a decent living, and freedom and independence, they will
continue to be besieged and toppled by popular revolutions.
Arab countries have failed to
achieve development, democracy and justice, which has sparked Arab electronic
anger. This spread until it broke the deadlock and conveyed the will of the
people via new media. The people have done so with photographs, blogging and
comments. The apparatus of oppression and censorship were unable to tamper with
their contents and broadcasts, and the way they enter homes and communities.
But the vigilance, electronic
communication and irrepressible wish of Arab youth to achieve their dreams in
their homelands; the change in the rhetoric of governments; and pledges to pursue
reform and reject hereditary rule are not enough, unless implementation of
these promises on the ground are seen by the people, and unless governments begin
to expand popular participation. If not, the people will “reset the clock,” and
the crowds will again take to the streets and squares while chanting the slogan,
“The people want regime change!”
