The Arab Spring 1 Year On: Hope, Courage and Struggle from FDL
By: nolesfan2011 Sunday January 15, 2012 12:04 pm
Hello everyone in a special post today I am going to talk a bit about the Arab Spring which as of yesterday is one year old.
The Arab Spring is one of the greatest movements of our lifetime. It is one of those life changing, world shaking movements that only come around once in a blue moon. What began as small localized protests in Tunisia spread first to the entire nation, then to neighboring countries, the entire region and finally the world. While much can be said about the geopolitical implications of the Arab Spring in this column I would prefer to focus on the psychological side of the Arab Spring the hope, courage and the struggle that represents all of us.
The Arab Spring is no longer just a movement in the Arab World now it is a worldwide movement because it was at least partially responsible for spawning the Occupy movement and has also given people in Europe suffering under austerity the courage to rise up and make their voices heard as well. The Arab Spring is the movement of our generation in the same way that anti-Vietnam war protests were the movement of the 1960s and 70s. It is also one of the greatest and most successful movements of the modern era that will be remembered forever. This is truly living history for the Arab World, Human Rights, Democracy, Freedom and the World in general.
All this success has come at great cost though and we must never forgot the thousands of martyrs who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their freedom laying down their lives for their nation and their fellow brothers and sisters that they may be free and have basic Human Rights. Tens of thousands have given their lives including many personal friends of mine who are now gone forever but their memory and spirit lives on. Its not just death though many others have sacrificed greatly both physically and mentally. Many have been arrested and tortured, injured and maimed, missing limbs, their eye sight, some are suffering from mental problems such as PTSD and they all need our support.
http://my.firedoglake.com/nolesfan2011/2012/01/15/the-arab-spring-1-year-on-hope-courage-and-struggle/