From
devastating earthquakes and tsunamis to draughts, hurricanes and floods; from dreadful
mass starvations to ruinous and destructive wars; from continued massive human
rights abuses to world-wide mass movements; from economic downturns and
world-wide recession to financial crises and ensuing economic meltdown; from
new scientific and outer space discoveries to incredible triumphs over long
reigning dictators, etc,. 2011 has been an eventfully memorable year and one
for the history books.
However,
more than the earthquake that triggered destructive Tsunamis and the subsequent
nuclear meltdown in Japan and devastating earthquakes in Turkey and elsewhere or
the deadliest of Tornados in the US, more than the world-wide recession that
left millions in economic hardships or the massive starvation in East Africa,
more than the dramatic end of Al Qaeda’s inspirational leader Bin Laden or the
stunning discovery of a new earth-like planet (Kepler 22-b, that is said to be
twice the size of our earth at some 600 light years away), more than the
founding of The Republic of South Sudan as the 54th African state or the last
NASA Shuttle mission to space by Atlantis and the launching of Mars Rover, more
than the first artificial organ transplant in humans or the death of Kim
Jong-il or the end of the Iraq war ( rather the end of direct combat
involvement of US forces in Iraq), etc, etc., the popular uprisings of people
in the Middle-East and North Africa, dubbed ‘The Arab Spring’, is by far the
most memorable and enduring phenomenon of the year 2011.
This
momentous uprising was triggered by the self-immolation on December 17, 2010 of
a young man (who died on January 4, 2011) by the name of Mohammed Bouazizi of
Tunisia. Acts of brutality, loss of human dignity and loss of innocent lives
would not be considered something out of the ordinary and are not uncommon for
people under dictatorships. Therefore, Tunisians were not immune from or were
not new to acts of brutality and corrupt practices under Ben Ali’s decades-long
dictatorial rule. However, unlike any other act of brutality of the Ben Ali
regime where dehumanization of citizens and loss of innocent lives might not be
considered something out of the ordinary, this young man’s tragic death was not
to go unnoticed or allowed to be forgotten as one among many heartrending incidents.
Nor was it to be hushed by the ruling crooks as an isolated incident of some “insane”
and “unstable” person “dissatisfied with his own life”. Much
to the chagrin of the ruling elite, people of Tunisia were, and justifiably, highly
incensed by Bouazizi’s death and wanted the regime to account for it. It was
indeed very detrimental.
Millions
felt Mr. Bouazizi’s outrage, identified with him and were indignant about their
treatment at the hands of their tormentors, had enough and were ready to do
away with them. They were determined to remove the veil of fear that gripped
them for decades and were ready to free themselves from the shackles of
dehumanization and oppression.In
the face of a determined populace, those dictators who ruled by instilling fear
were no more able to use the usual old tactics of intimidation, that is often followed
by harsh repressive measures. Even attempts of introducing cosmetic reforms
here and there proved to be futile; no half measures short of removal of those
decadent dictators were acceptable to people who are determined to reclaim
their dignity. No amount of intimidation and use of brute force silenced the
dogged determination and indomitable spirit of the people of Tunisia. The
harsher the reprisal by the regime, the fiercer and more resolute the people
became, and that with ever increasing numbers.
What
is remarkable is that, this movement is led by the youth. Traditional groups,
like political parties and known organized groups stayed in the background, and
did not play, at least initially, direct and more visible roles. This very fact
may have contributed greatly to the success of the uprisings as dictators were
unable to pinpoint and blame certain groups.
Like
the 1848 European Revolution that started in France where political upheavals
spread to the rest of Europe that resulted in the collapse of traditional
authority and the introduction of substantial and meaningful reforms, including
the abolition of serfdom at least in Austria and Hungary, and like 1989-90
people of the Soviet block countries that rose up against the
“communist” system, the effect of the ‘Arab Spring’ had similar instantaneous
effects as it spread like wildfire among people of the greater region.
Thus,
the year 2011 saw the disgraceful removal from power of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
of Tunisia (after 23 years in power), Muhammad Sayyid Hosni Mubarak (after 30
years) and “Brother” Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi (after 42
years). Each tried to cling to power by ordering the merciless killing of their
people. But to no avail. Brute for and all tested machinations could not save
their hold on to power that they so greedily kept for far too long.
And
no dictator was untouched by this historic phenomenon. Archaic monarchies and
dictatorships of the region were shaken to their very foundations by this
‘people power’ movement of the masses.
Ali
Abdullah Saleh of Yemen (33 years in power), Bashar al-Assad of Syria (11 years
in power after he succeeded his father who was in power for almost 30 years, until
his death in 2000) faced the wrath of their populations and are engaged in
bloody suppression in a futile attempt to regain control and cling to power.
From Morocco to Saudi Arabia, from Kuwait to Jordan, from Bahrain to Algeria,
people rose up against dictators and dictatorships and demanded that their
rights and their dignity as human beings be respected. In an effort aimed at
nipping the popular movement in the bud and to avert their removal from power,
those who managed to stay in power, for now, have already introduced some
reforms that were unthinkable even a year ago. Saudi women are
“allowed” to vote in upcoming elections, monarchs in Jordan, Kuwait,
Bahrain and Morocco are forced to issue proclamations and to pass laws to effect some reforms, including elections.
People
subjugated and denied of their basic freedoms for decades on are no more
willing to be intimidated. Millions around the globe were inspired to say no to
the status quo. From ‘Occupy Wall Street’ in the US, to Israel, India, to Russia
to even China, etc., people defied authority, and openly and en masse expressed
their displeasure with and rejection of the status quo. They protested against
the appalling disparity between the very few at the top that gets ever richer and
the vast majority that continues to get poorer. They voiced their outrage at the
political and economic injustices, and the ever increasing hardships they were
forced to endure. They called for serious political reforms and social and
economic justice, and were determined to achieve their overall objectives. And
change did come in some, and in others, like in Syria; people continue to fight
to be free and are paying huge sacrifices.
As
far as I am concerned, the best and long-lasting achievement of this ‘People Power’
phenomenon is, more than anything else, the fact that it enabled women to shake
off cultural barriers and taboos that relegated women to a different status
and, for far too long, denied them open participation in society, particularly
in the Arab world. No amount of legislative power or any other measure could
ever have as powerful and instantaneous an effect as this people power movement
for political reforms and social and economic justice did to assure the
rightful place of women in society.
Obviously,
it was costly and did not come easily. Women paid tremendous sacrifices
including beatings and sexual assaults, dehumanizing, humiliating, barbaric and
stone-age practices including what Egyptian torturers call “virginity
test”. If not for anything else, the rightful place women earned through
their brave and extraordinary struggle at an unimaginable cost that
necessitated tremendous personal sacrifices should never be allowed to be
reversed. Not only women, but societies as a whole will benefit greatly from
this hard-won victory. But, it should be clear to all that this new-found
freedom is still fragile and not yet irreversible. Therefore, safeguarding what
women earned through their extraordinary courage and building on it through
legislation would be very important. The women of “The Arab Spring”
will need all the moral and any other support they need to make sure that their
gains do not get reversed. The empowerment of women is critically important for
any meaningful political change and societal progress, and for any democratic
system to take root.
Although
the primary instinctive reaction of dictators who face popular uprisings is the
use of brute force, some learn from the fate of others and try to take
preemptive measures aimed at not really addressing the legitimate concerns of
their people, but to buy time in order to recalibrate their moves to assure
their grip on power. Some, like “Brother” Gaddafi, opted to embark on
the use of brute force and took all kinds of sinister measures and caused great
mayhem; all that just to prolong their stay on power and delay their inevitable
downfall by few weeks or months only. Some, like Meles Zenawi, depend on the
effective use of the age-old divide-and-rule tactics that include fomenting
religion and ethnic based strife, coupled with subtly managing to control the
agenda of the day by introducing new projects and further enfeebling the
opposition. And all that is in addition to the use of brute force and intensified
measures aimed at suppressing dissent in all its forms.
It
is safe to say that for Ethiopians the year 2011 was not simply another year of
continued misery, but one that they were forced to endure unprecedented
political repression and economic hardship. The degree of human rights abuses
and economic and political injustices in Ethiopia is so unbearable that a young
teacher by the name of Yenesew Gebre did exactly what Boazizi of Tunisia had
done to protest against a regime responsible for the dehumanization, political
repression and economic deprivation in his country. Yenesew’s tragic death was
testimony to the level of desperation of tens of millions of Ethiopians that
continue to suffer at the hands of TPLF/EPRDF rulers.
2011
is a year Ethiopian farmers, albeit in the name of investment, were
dispossessed and displaced from their ancestral lands, and millions of acres of
the country’s fertile farmlands were given away to foreigners at dirt cheap
prices. A generation that made “land to the
tiller” its motto of its struggle for justice and equality, is shamelessly,
but incomprehensively and very casually, imposing serfdom on its own people.
2011
is also a year where billions of dollars were reported to have been stolen from
the people of Ethiopia by the ruling clique. It is also a year where, much to
the consternation of the Ethiopian people, serious differences among opposition
forces remain unsolved, viable unity remained illusive, but political fault-lines
were clearly defined.
Very
much concerned and too worried about the prospect of mass uprisings against his
twenty-year old brutal dictatorship, Mr. Meles Zenawi, in a nervous and
precipitous move to somehow cling to power, is engaged in arresting
journalists, political activists, political and civic society leaders, etc
accusing them of “terrorism”. In a childish and laughable trumped up
charges, innocent citizens are being brutalized. What the leaders of TPLF/EPRDF
seem to forget is the fact that the more brutal and irrational they become, the
more alienated and more hated they become. Their egregious act of suppression
is neither sustainable nor would it guarantee their stay in power. If they
continue on this dangerous course, they are only giving all good reasons for
people of Ethiopia to be angrier, more resolute in their aspirations to be free
and would undoubtedly lead to a much fiercer opposition. That would only make
any prospect of solving the country’s problems in a relatively peaceful manner
more difficult, and their ouster very unpleasant, to say the least.
There
are good lessons we Ethiopians as a people under ethnocentric dictatorship and
yearning for freedom could and should learn from the Arab Spring.
The
first one is that no matter the level of brutality of any regime, no amount of force
can suppress the will of a united and determined people. But, that collective
determination could yield results acceptable to and commensurate with the
sacrifice people pay, if and only if it is expressed in a spirit of oneness as
a people. Fractured and disunited efforts may force a regime to collapse, but
that does not necessarily guarantee success and bring freedom to benefit all.
In fact, it could result in more misery and mayhem. Such a scenario is quite
possible in a country like ours where the people are systematically forced to
grow apart for two decades. And TPLF/EPRDF leaders have so devilishly and
deliberately planted seeds of division to assure fissure and foment perpetual
division among different population/language groups. What makes this prospect
more poignant is the fact that there is no real and credible national
alternative that could guarantee the collective safety of the people and the unity
of the country.
The
second lesson is to be consistent and to never let up or give a breathing space
to the dictators. Any laxity, negligence or undue lack of discipline that gives
a respite to dictators would be a gross mistake and prove to be fatal as
measures of reprisal would be brutally vengeful and absolutely merciless.
Therefore, vigilance and disciple are critically important for any popular
uprising to succeed.
The
third lesson is that, unless unified struggle is national in scope and is led
by well organized group or groups firmly grounded among the population, and
have well defined goals and attainable objectives, the struggle will not yield
the desired result, and the sacrifices would be in vain. Under such
circumstances, dictators have a better chance of reversing their misfortune and
all the gains of the opposition could unravel; and that with unfathomable
consequences. In such an environment, there uncertainty will replace hope and
any organized groups, regardless of their undesirable overall programs or
agendas, could have a better chance to impose their will on the people. That is
the prospect and potential danger Tunisians, Egyptians and Libyans are
facing.
Therefore,
unity of purpose that is national in scope, organization, good plans, and continued
vigilance, consistency, firmness and having full and thorough readiness to face
and overcome adversities both expected and unexpected are essential ingredients
for success.
In
view of all the great things we witnessed in 2011, 2012 could be a year of many
expectations and continued popular uprisings against injustices with successful
conclusions. Some may have unexpected results; both desirable and unpleasant. The
successful transition to a pluralist democratic order in Egypt is pivotal. Any setback
and reversal of the Revolution will negatively affect similar movements
elsewhere.
In
2012, we may see new discoveries in the field of science. We may also witness
the end of many dictators.
But,
by-in-large, 2012 could also be a year of great uncertainty and real dangers. From
a fragile transition in North Korea that could lead to precipitous
confrontation with South Korea to the possibility of an unfortunate bloody
sectarian violence in Iraq, from internal strife in Pakistan to the danger of
possible shooting confrontation between the West and Iran over the latter’s
nuclear program, from realignment of forces in the Pacific region to outbreak
of serious conflicts in Africa; both internal and between neighbors, from
environmental disasters to continued economic problems etc., 2012 could be a
defining year in many respects.
Nonetheless,
nothing will stop people from fighting for their freedoms and a better future.
And, despite many hurdles, Ethiopians will continue to do just that.
2011
was indeed a phenomenal year!
I
wish the people of Ethiopia 2012 to be a year of peace and unity.
