#arab-spring

Iraq (MNN) – Iraq's young people have had enough, so they took to the streets to let the government know they're unhappy. The response was brutal.

(Screen capture courtesy of Prayercast)

After repeated clashes with security forces since October 1, the toll is now at 15,000 injured and over 300 dead. Samuel* is a spokesman for Redemptive Stories, a Christian ministry reaching several countries in the Middle East, including Iraq. He says there was initially a lot of hope after the fall of Saddam Hussein and the restructuring of the government. After all, "In terms of natural resources, you have one of the most wealthy countries in the world." Yet its people struggled. In 2011, the Arab Spring uprising began, and many felt empowered to speak up about their situation. Yet the fulfillment of promises never quite happened in Iraq. "I think that tension that they feel of being deprived of what their country has to offer has been building for many years. Now we see the result of that."

Hope deferred

Today, the frustration comes from the hijacked futures of young people who did what they thought they were supposed to do for success. Study hard, go to college, get a degree, get a job. For these adults, aged 20 to 35, unemployment is almost at 50-percent. "Many of them are like, 'I'm trying to get married; I want to have a family; I want to move on to the next steps of my life, but I can't, because I can't get a job.'" For them, there is no future. Jobs are scarce, Samuel says. "Teachers, for instance: they have, in some provinces, a waiting list of 500 people in one little town, just even get hired on as a teacher." All of that adds to the tension, he explains. Then, "Throw in with that a lovely mix of severe corruption-- payments, bribes—how you can make anything happen with a little extra money in your pocket, and how that system preys on the impoverished—and people are rising and speaking into the unjustness of their situation." Protestors initially called for more jobs and better infrastructure. Those demands soon grew to include new electoral laws and accounting from government leaders, starting with 'cleaning the house.' Not satisfied with anti-corruption demands, the calls for ouster soon included the Prime Minister, as well as a complete overhaul of the political system. But will the protests make any difference? Getting a do-over when it comes to a government is a pretty tall order. Samuel agrees. "That which are they're asking for it so large and so seemingly far-fetched from where they are right now, that I don't know what simple steps the government could put in place that would enact real change that they would be happy with."

Where is the Church?

(Screencapture courtesy of Prayercast)

He notes that "Iraq, the brokenness is at such a high level that I don't know where they go, honestly. I mean, if you look at it, there seems very hopeless." Where is the Church amid the chaos? The Islamic State chased many Christians out of Iraq during the occupation, but some made their way back home. Today, they're standing with their community against injustice, Samuel says. "What I think the Church is doing well right now is that they're standing for justice. That reality is helping them in terms of the message of the Gospel that is going forth in Iraq." Plus, they're finding other ways to be part of the solution by influencing government leaders. "We're seeing things happen in relationships that we have in-country where God is working through that, that's giving people favor in the community, particularly certain pastors that we know. It is giving them a platform to speak into the truth of the Gospel and how that can truly change hearts and then begin to change that which is broken in Iraq." Samuel will also be part of several meetings next week in Iraq. "Part of our intent while we're going there is to sit down with some of the Christian leaders and other pastors that are there and then also sit with some of the governmental leaders that we have influence on and say, 'What can we do to help you and to help change that which is broken in your country?'"

Find your place in the story

(Screen grab courtesy of Prayercast)

That's not to say the outcome of the meeting will net instant results. After all, it is spiritual warfare, as well as a factional civil war, that created the mess Iraq faces now, Samuel says. "To look at it and say 'We've just got to fix these five things'-- there's too many things to fix, so it needs to be an intervention of God." It's a unique time for the followers of Christ in Iraq. While the riots sound terrible, it's an opportunity unlike any before. Given what's at stake in Iraq, Samuel says, "I was reminded today just of the need to pray into these things. When Christ says, 'May Your kingdom come, and Your will be done' in His prayer as he taught us to pray, I think that's what we need to be praying right now for Iraq. The situation is so huge, and the brokenness is so big, and years and years of destruction and ruin of people's lives and governmental systems and so much negativity."     Headline image courtesy Marco Verch/TrendingTopics2019/Flickr/CC

January 2011 was an eventful month that portrayed to people all over the world how demonstrating one’s intent for democracy can be a valuable and successful cause. President Mohamed Hosny Mubarak was taken out of his 30 year dictator-like rule of Egypt, in hopes for a fresh and progressive government that would listen to the voices of the youth that screamed its democracy filled hopes all over the Internet via Twitter and Facebook, creating an uproar in the uprise.

After such a spectacular, anxious, and change evoking movement, Egypt went on to have its first true democratic election where all the citizens, if younger an older generations, had the opportunity to vote for the first time in history. Little did the people and country itself know what it was really rushing into.

I’d like to say that as a United States citizen, living under a pure democracy has been an incredible blessing. Not only do I have the freedom of speech to express my opinions at this moment, but I also have a certain knowledge of how the system works, something the Egyptian authorities could use a few lessons on. The problem is that the candidates that were on the ballot for the Egyptian election, not the actual voting. The people has a right-wing Muslim Brotherhood member and the old prime minister to the de-throned “president” Mubarak. Neither if them being a good choice, yet the people chose Morsy not because he possessed any fine skills, it was because he was the less corrupt of the two.

As seen on international news and according to my beloved CNN, President Mohamed Morsy has been instituting decrees that are giving him “pharoh like powers.” These decrees are supposedly irreversible, granting him powers that could potentially reverse what the Egyptian people struggled to achieve last January when they took Mubarak out of power: an actual democracy.

Being from the outside and looking in, the realm of politics in my point of view is much different from those trapped inside Tahrir Square amongst the chaos and cries of the citizens. It’s visible that although idealistic, Egypt’s government will never properly function unless they get in deep to solving the source of the problems they are recently facing.

First, a checks and balances system needs to be implemented, even if from an outside ally aiding them to find a solution. What I mean is that honest and reliable administrators and politicians need to meet frequently and check the books, the rules, the people sitting at the big desks in the Presidential Palace in Egypt and tell them exactly how they are doing, critique them, and enforce changes on anything that could be potentially detrimental later on, causing a strain or threat to the newly adopted political system. Second, the president needs to have members of his cabinet examined to see if they are truly qualified for the positions they hold. As I recall, Morsy chose an agricultural advisor based imthe fact that he was a young man educated with a higher degree from the United States. Although admirable being a proud American, one could say that a young show off should be replaced with a modest, wise, and highly experienced individual for any of the political positions there, mainly because the country depends on experience in order to correctly and smoothly function. Not criticizing Morsy’s choice for an advisor as much as I am pointing out that perhaps their ideas are bright but misguided. If someone from the U.S. government with expertise could go there and help guide the newly voted cabinet, Morsy would understand that a democracy is reliant upon that face that there is no “i” in “team.” Basically, a democracy runs by the voice and needs of the crowd not the pockets and selfishness of those standing at the podium.

Ranna Abedal Raheem.

Young Moroccans Keep Arab-Spring Spirit Alive

via Womens eNews By Juhie Bhatia

The youth-led Feb. 20 Movement in Morocco has simmered down to a core group that includes many female activists. They're keeping an eye on constitutional reforms enacted last year that some say didn't go far enough. "We want real, radical change," says one.

"My grandma, every time I meet her, she says don't protest, you will go to jail, they will beat you," said Raouyane, an intern at the Moroccan Association of Human Rights. "But I'm not afraid. I really believe in it. If I don't do this, no one will do this for me."