CRC College Hosts Speaker on 'Arab Spring'

[Chris Meehan <cmeehan@crcna.org>]

>Freedom’s Fire Engulfs Middle East

January 20, 2011 -- When Muhammad Al Bouazizi lit himself on fire in Sidi
Bouzid, Tunisia,  in December 2010, the young street vendor also sparked a
fire of political upheaval that continues to burn across North Africa and
the Middle East, said writer and religion scholar Reza Aslan.

“The fire didn’t stay in Sidi Bouzid. It spread to other cities in Tuni sia,
where it brought down the 23-year dictator (Ben Ali) and then spread across
the border to Egypt and beyond,” said Aslan.

Aslan spoke in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Thursday about the topic “The Futu re
of the New Middle East” as part of Calvin College’s annual January Seri es.

Bouazizi was a young man who, like millions of young people in that region
of the world, had little hope for a good job and decent future under a
repressive, violent government, said Aslan.

Bouazizi set himself on fire outside of a municipal building to protest the
actions of authorities who confiscated the fruit he was selling and the
scale he used to weigh it on. He eventually died from his burns.

“A wholly new Middle East is arising out of Muhammad Bouazizi’s ashes, ”
said Aslan, the founder of AslanMedia.com, an online journal for news about
the Middle East.

Fueled by use of the Internet and social media, millions of Egyptians took
to the streets in what some refer to as the “Arab Awaklening” and forced
their long-time dictator, Hosni Mubarak, to leave office.

In Libya, protests led to a bloody uprising that ousted dictator Mummar
Gaddafi.

Some countries like Syria have tried to stop the call for change through
military means and still others, like Saudi Arabia, have poured billions of
dollars into the economy to try to keep people from protesting.

In Morocco, the government instituted some changes, hoping to stave off
this awakening. But news outlets reported on Friday that five men in
Morocco set themselves on fire to protest unemployment and hopeless living
conditions.

“All of this arises from the simple human desire to have a voice. It is
about the fundamental desire to be heard,” said Aslan.

“Certainly, people want fair wages, good infrastructure, and accessible
education. But this is really about the ability to speak your mind without
disappearing forever.”

Grievances such as the ones being expressed on the streets of the Middle
East and North Africa would have been ignored or suppressed by authorities
in the past, said Aslan.

But the advent of social media, the ability of millions of individuals to
connect, communicate, discern the truth and make plans, has changed the
equation.

“Without Facebook or Twitter, there would have been no revolution,” he
said. “Social media has broken the monopoly autocratic governments have h ad
on controlling people through communication.”

>--Chris Meehan, CRC Communications

>--
>Chris Meehan
>News & Media Manager
>Christian Reformed Church in North America
>1-616-224-0849