Ash-sha'ab yurid isqat an-nizam
“The people want the fall of the regime.”
Springs of History
It has been a prosperous time for media organisations and also interested countries’ taxpayers ever since the self-immolation of a young Tunisian graduate market trader on 17 December 2010. Prosperous in that the former were handed major breaking stories on a silver platter all throughout these past months and for the former, taxpayers from the United States to Western Europe, seeing their respective countries’ diplomatic machines swing into action, of course not necessarily with altruistic agendas. Rather, helplessly desperate mitigation exercises.
Even as I write this, my government together with its allies dither and dawdle over the crisis in Syria where hundreds upon hundreds are not only unlawfully detained but outright “offed” for daring to demand their basic human rights. Oh, what to do!! No oil in Syria, yet we still have a voting public who might chuck us out at the next election. Dilemmas, dilemmas. If only the Almighty had bestowed some precious commodity or resource in the Syrian Republic, “anything O Lord, honestly. Oil? Gold? Palladium? Really, even an abundance of some boring nickel will do?!! We don’ mind” Of course, Israel doesn’t mind dropping a bomb or two now and again on Syria, Iran or anywhere else but that’s simply to preemptively knock out some obscure defense system which may not even exist. Heaven forbid it should be in solidarity with an oppressed, downtrodden people.
Of course, politics is saturated with compromise rather than principle. I won’t particularly begrudge my dear Prime Minister or his cabinet from doing what they believe to be in the best interests of our nation. Still, returning to the pan-Arab Spring/Awakening/Uprising itself, this is one of those rare moments in history where you feel proud and ecstatic to be human and to have been alive on this little blue planet to witness this human rage against the machine. An inspiring set of events commenced in Tunisia, the fiery momentum of which we are still witnessing after Egypt in Yemen, Bahrain, Libya and now Syria. Imagine the reactions of the dictatorships throughout the region and what must be going through their collective minds. How is this possible? We thought this racket we were running was airtight. However, if anything it shows that the human appetite for freedom and justice is always extant and is an intrinsic quality of human nature. All it needs is for a spark to be ignited, for people to be shocked into action, this time by the self-immolation of a young man just looking for a dignified means to live.
Think about it. One man decides to proclaim a powerful message and in the wake of this action awakens millions of people across numerous countries and mobilizes a seemingly irreversible movement the likes of which Nasser would be envying from his grave. This also demonstrates that the Arab Street was always cognizant and, dare I say, perhaps complacent in the reign of the ruling dynasties throughout the Arab region if only out of the fear of what may lie beyond a call to “arms”. This, of course, became a sort of non-issue once the world saw the ouster of the now erstwhile President Zine al Abidin Ben Ali. “You mean, if we ask for our rights, take to the streets, protest peacefully then we might actually get somewhere?!!!” The sudden realization across the minds of Arabs across the Middle East must have been tantamount to the thrill one received when his driving examiner proclaimed, “I am pleased to say you have passed your driving test!” These souls bore witness to the triumph of reason, justice and peaceful action over the ravages of intolerance, oppression and police state brutality. Forget rousing concerts, the World Cup and even our own Royal Wedding. What exhilaration one must have felt amongst the crowds of Tunisians when they accomplished the singular objective which they had sacrificed so much for.
This, of course, was duplicated in the Egyptian uprising when we again bore witness to the fall of the brittle regime there after a few painful weeks of waiting, protesting and hurting Egyptians. The former President Mubarak’s reactions when he came onto television time and again, patronizingly telling his people off as if they were school children demanding toffees, was a joke and a proof that the likes of his regime were significantly past their use by date and due for the scrap heap of history. The self-fulfilling prophecy unraveled over the weeks of protest culminating in the whimpering secondhand resignation depressingly read out by his torturer-in-chief.
These are surely seismic events that have transpired throughout the past couple of months in the Middle East and the North African region and are still, lest we forget, rolling right across this segment of humanity; events that have shaken policymakers to their political and diplomatic bones not only in these countries but indeed throughout the world that has for millennia considered the region a critical theatre. The flames of dissent have ignited many countries in this part of the world resulting in varying responses by the resident regimes. Some have resorted to outright violence, others have offered tactical olive branches and yet other places have erupted in civil war.
The critical feature in these recent events draws directly from the opening statement, that of people demanding “the fall of the regime”. In contradistinction to the long-held beliefs by some that the Arab Street is either asleep or complacent in its own oppression, we have seen the explosion of human right-ism and the holding to account of people’s governments. “Enough is enough, and you’re on notice.” Democracy, freedom of assembly, freedom to dissent, freedom of the press, fair elections and accountable government; it’s all up for grabs!! The people here realized that what they dreamed could never take place is actually not only feasible but a simple matter of mobilization and the limits of sacrifice. This realization then led to the ritual chanting of the opening expression with nothing more than a deeply sincere desire for the wishes of the people to prevail over that of the minority clique of elitist, dynastic opportunists.
An important aspect of these events is how people arrive at a point where the regime finally falls or folds which leads to the sacrifices that followed. Hundreds if not thousands of people have died from Tunisia and Egypt to Libya and Syria. The oppression and state brutality seemingly know no ends and is self-justified through propaganda machines as almost a God-given duty to undertake. When we hear of reports that 50 people, or 90, or 200 or 500 have been shot dead it seems so easy to say these statements but they are also numbing at the same instant as somewhere in the back of one’s mind the realization seeps through of the utter and hard reality of this predicament, horror and shame upon the human condition. As a reporter recently remarked in Syria, “How can you shoot people like that? Just watch a crowd march towards you; sit in a firing position, wait ... watch; then fire directly into a crowd of civilians.”
When you are cognizant of the inhuman extent to which your regime will resort to protect their interests, how do you react? The question would have arisen for all of these martyrs of just how much do they sacrifice for their aims, as good and worthy as they unquestionably are? Am I willing, just for saying one thing that makes sense across the world and would be applauded in civilized and freer countries, to allow a bullet to drive itself through my skull and abruptly end my life. What a decision; what a moment of truth. Most of us probably go through life hoping to never have to answer such a question and yet as of now countless individuals have already done so: the answer a resounding crack and an abrupt end. We all will die one day but did even those martyrs ever dream of prematurely being snuffed out in this manner.
This brings to mind a talk given once by the scholar, Habib Ali al-Jifri, where he mused about an essential reality facing people living under despotic regimes. He put to the audience the realization that we will all lose wealth one way or another. Why not spend this wealth in a truly rewarding and inspiring way? We will all lose years to old age, why not spend your years in the pursuit of a just cause. Everyone’s physical abilities will deteriorate as they grow old, why not expend this gift in doing something worthwhile, rather than say sitting in front of a television for much of your life? The crux came with the realization that we will all, each and every one of us, taste death. Why not expend your life, in that case, in the service of a grand and just cause?
Indeed, the other slogan that has been vigorously proclaimed from the hearts and through the voices of Arabs in recent months is: “Death or Freedom.” You have to give it to the Arabs to show to the world what humans are capable of and to remind us all, including those of us here in the West, of our humanity and the unfettered drive of the human spirit. So many have died yet they did not waver, they demonstrated what it was to be willing to die for something worthwhile. They have inspired people all over the world, from politicians to celebrities to the common citizen. Dare I say, for example, as Mubarak fell they made us feel a part of it, a shared human experience, a soaring achievement, a priceless rush of collective natural ecstasy. We then saw the next country and the next and on and on swoon with this fever; the fiery march of human, civil awakening.
The historic and Divine concept that a people are given the leaders based upon their own condition is inherently demonstrated yet again in these historic awakenings. We have heard many historical examples of such a paradigm and we are witnessing this reality with our very own eyes. Before the fiery immolation of a hopeless graduate, people went about their lives, trying not to make trouble and inadvertently perpetuating decades-old repression. A spark was lit, literally and metaphorically, with the people awakening and speaking out as one for the simplest but most powerful of demands. They persisted, they sacrificed, they patiently waited, they were civil and the course of destiny handed them the success they diligently labored for. It is part of the faith that only when people make a genuine and sincere effort and start taking steps does Providence guide them to the desired fruits of their labour. Simply wishing for things to happen without any expenditure rarely delivers.
In the end, if anything, this has demonstrated to us that no matter where we live, in the West or the South, if you do not demand your rights you won’t get them. If you don’t stand up for what’s right and do not demand of your leadership what’s rightly due back to you and the rest of society, you won’t get it. Citizens must always be vigilant, always aware and always hold their government to account. It’s either this or the direction that power takes leaders may one day end up knocking at your door with a gun pointed at your head and tape plastered over your mouth.
Taking for granted is a natural human impulse, requiring emotional and psychological drive to counteract it and this is the challenge every one of us constantly faces. We are so fortunate living in this country where we can vote for who we want to, write about what we want to, speak to who we want to, assemble with whomever we wish, follow whichever religion we are inclined to and move freely around the country in which we live; all without the fear of ending up a corpse in a mass grave. We should never forget this and appreciate every moment of such a life. I, for one, also pray for courage; the courage to do what one believes to be right, here in this country or in a despotic one or anywhere else in the world. The images we see on the screen and the news we read from the recent Middle East is a wake up call and we could do worse than not take notice.