Doorway into Light

Doorway into Light

Writing a new page in history. Everything suddenly becomes possible in the Arab world and the Middle East. We are witnessing the dawn of a new era to which all democrats aspire.

We have reached a turning point; it is clear now that dictators can be peacefully overthrown. To do so it only needs courage, a mass movement, determination, hope and above all faith in God and faith in the future. Crushed by repression, the people have stood up to claim full human dignity and their irrepressible right to be free. I still remember the morning of Jan 25th when-for the first time in my life- I joined a protest with hundreds of peoples, inspired by the Tunisians chanting "People demand removal of the regime". I still smell the tear gas in my nose and feel it in my eyes. I still remember that Christian guy who took the bullets while protecting his Muslim brothers who were praying.  And I will always remember the faces of those few brave who died donating their blood for Egypt giving their country a new chance to live.

Our aim was to stand in the face corruption and tyranny that delayed our progress for decades using the same two weapons that were used by our righteous predecessors before and dominated the world with, along with their small number, limited supplies and great effort. These two weapons are Justice and Belief.

Many people used to say that this is merely imagination or illusion; they were wondering how those who have nothing but these two weapons can resist these powers with their various weapons? How can they obtain their rights while being completely grasped by these mighty hands? However we believed in the nobility of our cause to the extent that we were wishing to pay our blood for it. Unsurprisingly, we have heard the voices of the hypocrites who used to blame the youth for their uprising now praising “the people’s courage” and their “extraordinary movement” maneuvering in the shadows, hoping to prolong the public face-off in the search for alternatives. And sadly some religious representatives have come down on the wrong side of history by condemning the protestors because Institutional religion, the one that serves the State cannot (or lacks the courage to) oppose the government that employs it, it would have been better to remain silent.

Now in Libya, Yemen and Syria women, men and young people of all backgrounds are heading to the streets to express their anger and frustration, their intense desire to see their respective regimes fall. Sparks are flashing everywhere. How deeply we desire to see similar broad-based, determined, non-violent popular movements arise in all the Arab countries—wherever dictators rule—and that their example opens the path to a brighter future.

We have witnessed a historical moment. A psychological and political barrier has been breached. The majority of Egyptians and Tunisians have gained hope for a brighter future. It is necessary to emphasize that what has systematically been devastated over decades will not be reformed overnight. The process of change will take considerable time, and it requires extreme patience, diligence, and persistence. But we believe that the dreams of today can be the realities of tomorrow just like for some nations, the realities of today were the dreams of yesterday, this viewpoint is supported by reality and validated with proof and evidence, and it is at the core of human advancement and progress. Civilization resemble living beings, it runs through all the phases which organic life is bound to pass; they are born, experience youth, ripe age, and finally decay comes, like plants that wither and fall to dust, culture die at the end of their time and give space for other newly born ones.

Each one of us must now work to keep alive the movement towards dignity and freedom. There will be a price to pay: inclusive, non-violent movements will mourn their dead. But in the long run the future and with it the lives of women, men and the younger generation will be safeguarded. The future is our business no matter where we are.

Hatem A. Hussein

hatemaly@hotmail.com