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Neglect Only Generates Anger
Published in AL HAYAT on 31 - 01 - 2011

The Arab problems are numerous and there may even be additional upcoming crises. I do not think that their number will decrease within the next few years, unless the governments adopt rapid and bold projects of reform that express the will of the people and render the citizens partners in the decision-making process, rather than a parasite.
I hope that the “peaceful” revolutions that are far from “hooliganism” continue, in order to force the governments to change their policies and their “loose” practices that ignore the suffering of their people and deter their ambitions and expectations, as they look at them from their “gold” windows and “diamond” towers while believing that their thrones can never be affected.
The world is changing thanks to the revolutions of the youth, despite everyone's wills and wishes. Regardless of how stringent the protection is and how pretentious the security measures may be, they will not extinguish the rise of the new generation. This can only be achieved by real reforms that convey this generation's demands and rights and provide it with a safe and decent living.
The Arab youth in Tunisia, Algeria, Cairo, Sana'a and Amman did not revolt for no reason. They are the victims of decades of tyranny, oppression, frustration and the absence of any social security. They rose due to “chronic” problems whose resolution was ignored by the governments despite their clarity, and due to the absence of a will to look into them and find solutions. These problems include poverty, unemployment, the rise of the prices and the impossibility of building houses. The youth thus resorted to the streets after they found themselves amid clashing oceans of unemployment, starvation and homelessness and after their livelihood as citizens and the future of their countries were taken over by influential people, greedy traders, money grabbers and regimes that do not care about their problems and sufferings.
There are Arab countries going through multiple crises caused by bureaucracy, tyranny, the absence of social justice and the numerous faces put on by the regimes when dealing with the people, far from the principles of clarity and transparency. However, the governments are not the only ones to blame, considering that the people are partners in this deterioration and this failure.
The people are allowed to demonstrate, protest and express their opinions, as this reveals the extent of the societies' well-being and the accomplishment of the desired democratic goals and the freedom of expression. However, this should not be exploited by the hooligans, the thieves, the saboteurs and those with narrow goals, in order to lead these countries toward anarchy, destruction, theft, the damaging of properties and the waste of national acquisitions as it was seen in Egypt. Indeed, in case security mayhem and “uncreative” chaos were to continue, who will benefit from the situation?
Today, the youth are witnessing a media revolution at home, in their cars and on their phones, and are following everything through the technology of electronic broadcast from lunar and solar galaxies. The Arab youth are communicating with the world and making “global” friends while sitting in their living rooms or bedrooms. They are exchanging ideas, debating and learning new information while sitting in a coffee shop filled with different faces or standing on the corner of a narrow street in an Arab capital that does not recognize the wealth of the youth and their revolution when they are angry.
The Arab governments should realize that the policies of blocking and cutting off communications, and the justification of the failures and the procrastination in granting people their rights, will not do any good in light of technological progress, the spread of the electronic “giant” and the presence of proxies that can break through the thickest locked doors. In this context, any “slow” observer can notice how Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and BlackBerry were able to open wide spaces of social communication between the members of a new generation that master the use of technological means, and are able to use them to serve their goals in a quick way and deliver their voices to the entire world. The examples in this regard are present, starting with the revolution of the Tunisians and not ending with the anger of the Pharaohs.


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