When youths rewrite their
philosophies and cultures…
The Arab spring or Arab awakening was
an uprooting phenomenon of many typical frameworks. The Jasmine revolution
defeated the Euro-American centred assumptions of Africa and the Arab-Muslim
world. This was a fragrant rebellion against political and academic verdicts
that Africa is a dark continent and the Arab Muslims are uncivilized societies.
It is quite natural that the liberal discourses become anxious and restless
when it is said that Islam which is considered as the weak religion, is the
backbone and strength of this revolution. The youths of the MENA region
questioned the arguments of Fukuyama’s book (The End of History) which created
a battle of America as the owner and the world as a slave. George W. Bush had
declared that “either with America or with the terrorism”. The Jasmine
revolution spread the possibilities beyond the two. The youths of the Middle
East presented mind-boggling changes to the world famous historians and the
elderly who always accused the youth as ‘good for nothing’. The Arab spring
witnessed the biggest public participation ever in the history of the world.
The French revolution which is considered as one of the biggest revolutions,
only witnessed 2.5% of the public. But in Tahrir Square alone 27% of the public
took part. Among them 80% were less than 30 years of age. The generation
brought up by Hosni Mubarak, Gaddafi and Bin Ali engaged in protests on the
streets and flounced away the tyrants.
The Green Book (Al-Kitab al Akhdar)
was the book that was taught in all the schools and colleges of Libya by
Colonel Muammar Ghaddafi. The youths who learned this book from their schools which
contained the developmental concepts of Ghaddafi, they themselves became his
slayers in the end. The same ruler who declared that he will hunt down the
Islamists like hunting the mouse was himself captured like a rat by the
students and youths of Libya and killed.
The cause of Jasmine revolution was due
to a youth called Muhammed Boo Aseesi. The suicide of this youth who was a
graduate flared up the Arab Spring. Even the white youths of America, Britain,
France etc. had to imitate courage and bravery of the ‘uncivilized’ youths of
Africa and Arabia for making their lives possible. The Wall Street protests
gained strength in America and its allies where poverty and unemployment are on
the increase daily through the pollination of the Arab Spring. We can also see
the contradiction of the strengthening of democratic protests in the inner
scaffolds of the Western nations who themselves are the exporters of the
democratic lessons to the Middle East.
The Arab Spring is shaking the world
in a circulatory nature. These historical turn of events didn’t happen all of a
sudden when some youths took to the streets. Instead, the creative changes in
the skirmish between the philosophies is what has taken place here. The world
order which had only accepted the timeworn changes from Communism to Capitalism
and from Capitalism to Marxism, the Arab Spring tested the Islamic ideology
which gave salvation from this material chemistry. The Tahrir square, Taghyeer
square, Jasmine Revolution and Move Azadi square was a warning to those who
only analysed the entry of religion in public with fear and anxiety and to
those who made the religion small by labelling it as ‘Terrorism’. Islam was
able to set the trend of the retaliating youth through the interferences of the
Islamic movements.
Arab Spring has turned out to be what
has been the re-writing of the philosophy and culture of the youth. The huge
presence of the youths is not only the factor that makes this revolution
extraordinary. The culture of the youths too participated happily in the
spring. All the symbols of the youth culture like the social networks
(facebook, twitter etc.), communication devices like mobile, e-mail etc. songs,
music, jokes, dances etc. played their roles. The social network group called
April 6 movement of the youths initiated the Tahrir square. It was led by
WaelGhonaim, a youth of 25 years. After the formation of a virtual square in
facebook and twitter lakhs of people gathered in the Cairo city. Hosni Mubarak
had blocked the satellite broadcasting of the channels in the beginning. He
also jailed the journalists and reporters in order to stop the outside world
from knowing of Egypt’s echo for change. At this time the news and photos of
the revolution spread to the outside world through the mobiles. The youths made
their 3G mobiles one of the biggest means of transferring information. They
handed over the images of Tahrir square standing in queues for kilometres near
the Al-Jazeera office. The media and the mobile which were criticized as the
examples of the freak generation of the youth, were the weapons that brought
down the three decade tyrant. They were using the technology knowingly. The
promo-videos which clearly exposed the cruelties of Bin Ali and Mubarak were
used the spread of the message.
The biggest weapon in the Arab Spring
was the music and songs. It was a musical revolution where the violin and
guitar took over the centre stage instead of bombs and bullets that happened in
Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen. In the past guerrilla warfare was used for freedom
fighting and the West used atom bombs for their wars. But they were open
struggles that happened in Middle East and North Africa. The Arab youth showed
the guts to use the magical essence of music to re-write history in between the
quarrels of the religious scholars who were discussing about the prohibition
and permission of music in the Islamic world. The Arab youth used the poems of
HashimRifa’ee and Mahmoud Darwesh, the Islamic rock songs of Sami Yusuf and
Maher Zain and the rebel songs that gained popularity in Africa and Latin
America as weapons for the liberation of their countries. The rocks and posts
of Zain Bek, Ahmed Bukhari, Hamza Robertson etc. spread excitement into the
revolution filled field. MuhammedMunir, who is known as the King of Jazz music
was a lively presence in the Tahrir square. The people danced and sang instant
poems and self-made songs against the rulers and tyrants.
The famous French writer Olive Roy
has stated that the biggest democratic youth in the world is present in the
Arab world. Though they were furious they didn’t take shelter in arms and
weapons. Another aspect of this revolution was the spread of jokes against the
rulers and autocrats. As youths usually get together to babble unnecessarily
here the youths turned their chatters and babbles to a means of protest against
the rulers. The intelligence agencies of Hosni Mubarak gave the report to him
saying that two persons namely ‘Facebook’ and ‘Twitter’ are behind Tahrir
square. At once Mubarak issued the warrant to arrest these two persons. This is
only one among the many jokes spread in Tahrir square. In this way the
revolutions that succeeded in these nations were the spring of the colourful
new juvenility.
Only two or three persons above the
age of thirty were present in the committees controlling the Tahrir square and
Tagyeer square. In the beginning Islamic movements including the Muslim
Brotherhood were observers of the revolution. But the youth movement of the
Brotherhood prepared to join the protest at the Tahrir square. Muslim
Brotherhood joined the protests later on only after its youth movement became
part of the revolution. The entry of Muslim Brotherhood into the protests made
the routes more clear. All the youths of all political parties and religious
organizations reached first at the Tahrir square. The youths of the Coptic
assembly joined much before their elders came to the protests. Only after that
the pastors of the Copts and their mother organizations came out with support
for the revolution.
The Tahrir Square in Egypt and the
Tagyir Square in Yemen witnessed in the beginning the huge presence and
participation of young men and women and their organizations. The young men and
women were the ones who brought FJP and Al-Nahda to power. When the voting
percentage was analysed the youths who had received the voting rights recently
were more compared to the adults. When efforts were made to hijack the free and
fair elections the youths again came to the scene to declare protests and
revolution. The increased presence of women was much noticed. In the Tagyeer
Square in Yemen the protest was led by a 33 year old woman called Tawakkul
Kerman. This participation was questioning the concepts of Muslim women and the
hijab (head covering). The western liberalists
were bewildered when they came to know that the Islamist bloc had the most
number of women candidates who got elected to the parliament. The Arab youth
not only changed the rotten power structure of their own nations but also
brought changes in the world order. Arab Spring surged ahead in defeating the
domination of America and Israel. The new world orders ‘either with us or with
the terrorists’ was totally changed by the Arab Spring.
A third place was sewed by the youth
in North Africa and the Middle East. By defeating the Euro-American centric
knowledge and political domination, the Arab Spring has made possible of a more
capable and strong world order instead of the anti-democratic content of the
new world order. The stand of the Arab nations towards Palestine changed. The
Qatar ruler himself came to Gaza. The Palestinian border of Egypt was wide
open. The threat of America that it will veto the U.N membership of Palestine
didn’t have much support like the old times. The Jewish nation envisioned by
Israel centred in Egypt and the Arabian Gulf had only the lifespan of a dream.
Among the changes in all other countries the regime change in Egypt is the
strategically more important. Egypt is a nation which influences greatly in the
literature, culture and politics in the African region. Therefore Tahrir square
has a special significance from the other revolutionary squares. Egypt will
continue exerting its influence in removing the blackened power structures in
the Middle East and North Africa.
The youth who haven’t lost their
responsive attitude have ignited the spark for the biggest mass revolution in
the world. The Arab youth who were made to stand with Arab Nationalism, Ba’th
Socialism, progress and reform are now in the changing lane. Those who were
melting their lives in Cafes and night clubs are now quarrelling against the
injustice. In fact they registered their protest not only against the puppet
regimes but also against America and Europe who installed them. It is
impossible for the Kings of the world who are conducting research to kill the
most number of people using the smallest weapon to carry out a fragrant
spreading revolution. What was impossible for the West and their philosophies
have been made possible in the world by the ‘uncivilized’ people in the most
civilized manner through the new technology. The democratic content that they
hugged into their arms after that, is a ‘barbarian’ philosophy in the tone of
West! The Arab youth declared that socialism and capitalism haven’t been able
to bring development and eradicate unemployment and poverty to their nation and
now it will be made possible by the Islamic movements. That is why they
welcomed the Islamic movements with both hands; T-shirts and bags with the
photos of Mursi and Ghanooshi were the most selling items among the youth; the
new-born babies were called by the names of Facebook and twitter. Yes, the Arab
youth haven’t still left the streets and squares. They are celebrating the
event by sprinkling colour everywhere. They are not only celebrating the
comeback of Rashid al-Ghanooshi and Yusuf al-Qardhawi, but the comeback of
their own age and commitment.
