As we watch the uprisings by the Youth in Libya and Yemen, there seems to be a few common denominators among them: the murdering of the youth demonstrators being the most visual, but not the deciding point that will bring about regime change. However, the martyrdom of 50 youth demonstrators in Yemen on Friday and countless in Libya over the past few weeks, will only unify them as well as strengthen their will to bring regime change more expeditiously . Let me address each denominator one-by-one because they all are productive to each other in regime change, with the last being the most significant that will deliver the final blow-even if minor nuances do exist as well.
First, the youth are not only sick and tired of being sick and tired, but also regime fatigued; which has definetely sparked this tipping point. Everywhere they go, they are overwhelmed with pictures of praise worshiping the dictators that are denying their universal right for a future of prosperity-every school, stoplight, wall and sometimes in their own house. To add insult to injury, many have had to participate in grandiose rallies (while churning inside their hearts) chanting how much they love the regime, and that they would sacrifice their lives for these dictators. I feel as many reached maturity, they asked the first question we were taught to ask in college:why? Moreover, why listen to the norm and those who dictate what norm is?
Second, Yemen, like Libya, has had a history of tribal allegiance. While I can't speak much about the intricacies of the tribal allegiance of Libya, I'm sure the parallels are negligible. However, I can about the intricacies of tribal allegiance in Yemen.
As I read many articles from educators and analyst about the importance of tribal allegiance determining the future of regime change, I can't express in words how discerning it is, as it has the potential to thwart the spirit of the uprisings & worse, wrong. These articles speak about these tribes as if they are so monolithic, but fail to mention the differences of the tribal allegiances of Generation Z or the Net generation, to the Baby Boomers(which Gaddafi and Saleh are) nor do they mention the differences in the trajectory that may make tribal allegiance nearly insignificant, which leads me to my final point.
The Google executive who started the Facebook page to organize the youth in Egypt, Wael Ghonim, whom I think is part of my generation, the MTV generation, has proven the world and especially countries are no more than a microcosm. Watching the youth in Egypt with Facebook written on their foreheads led me to congitate about its effects not only in the Arab world, but the future effect it may have around the world. Hence, the birth of the beautiful Egyptian girl named "Facebook" after the Egyptian revolution. And, as I tweet in Realtime with youth in the both the rural and metropolitan areas of Libya, Yemen, Egypt, Japan and others around the world on my Ipad, I realize the next revolution is a tweet or Facebook page away.
Thank you, Wael Ghonim.
Ali A Ezzani is a consumer, union and autism advocate based in California as well as an author working on his second book entailing the past and present of the Yemeni tribal allegiances. He is also a modern day Middle Eastern activist specializing on the youth revolutionary movements, especially in Yemen. After being a former "Who's Who" college activist, he moved to Yemen for three years in 1999 and wrote for the Yemen Times. While there, he excelled in tribal gatherings among prominent tribal leaders and was called on more than one occassion to help mediate conflicts. His other passion is the positive effect technology has in social justice as well as medicine. He is one semester away from finishing graduate work in Human Resources and will soon be pursuing a Master's degree in Autism. For media contact and interviews only, he can be reached via info@ezzani.com. You can find/follow him on twitter under the name AliEzzani.
First, the youth are not only sick and tired of being sick and tired, but also regime fatigued; which has definetely sparked this tipping point. Everywhere they go, they are overwhelmed with pictures of praise worshiping the dictators that are denying their universal right for a future of prosperity-every school, stoplight, wall and sometimes in their own house. To add insult to injury, many have had to participate in grandiose rallies (while churning inside their hearts) chanting how much they love the regime, and that they would sacrifice their lives for these dictators. I feel as many reached maturity, they asked the first question we were taught to ask in college:why? Moreover, why listen to the norm and those who dictate what norm is?
Second, Yemen, like Libya, has had a history of tribal allegiance. While I can't speak much about the intricacies of the tribal allegiance of Libya, I'm sure the parallels are negligible. However, I can about the intricacies of tribal allegiance in Yemen.
As I read many articles from educators and analyst about the importance of tribal allegiance determining the future of regime change, I can't express in words how discerning it is, as it has the potential to thwart the spirit of the uprisings & worse, wrong. These articles speak about these tribes as if they are so monolithic, but fail to mention the differences of the tribal allegiances of Generation Z or the Net generation, to the Baby Boomers(which Gaddafi and Saleh are) nor do they mention the differences in the trajectory that may make tribal allegiance nearly insignificant, which leads me to my final point.
The Google executive who started the Facebook page to organize the youth in Egypt, Wael Ghonim, whom I think is part of my generation, the MTV generation, has proven the world and especially countries are no more than a microcosm. Watching the youth in Egypt with Facebook written on their foreheads led me to congitate about its effects not only in the Arab world, but the future effect it may have around the world. Hence, the birth of the beautiful Egyptian girl named "Facebook" after the Egyptian revolution. And, as I tweet in Realtime with youth in the both the rural and metropolitan areas of Libya, Yemen, Egypt, Japan and others around the world on my Ipad, I realize the next revolution is a tweet or Facebook page away.
Thank you, Wael Ghonim.
Ali A Ezzani is a consumer, union and autism advocate based in California as well as an author working on his second book entailing the past and present of the Yemeni tribal allegiances. He is also a modern day Middle Eastern activist specializing on the youth revolutionary movements, especially in Yemen. After being a former "Who's Who" college activist, he moved to Yemen for three years in 1999 and wrote for the Yemen Times. While there, he excelled in tribal gatherings among prominent tribal leaders and was called on more than one occassion to help mediate conflicts. His other passion is the positive effect technology has in social justice as well as medicine. He is one semester away from finishing graduate work in Human Resources and will soon be pursuing a Master's degree in Autism. For media contact and interviews only, he can be reached via info@ezzani.com. You can find/follow him on twitter under the name AliEzzani.
No comments:
Post a Comment