This past Friday we had the pleasure of  listening to Sebastian Zachariah speak on some matters going on today in the Middle East.  Before I get started on the information he provided us with I will give you some information about our speaker.  Sebastian is a former U.N. Ambassador.  He has traveled all around speaking about whats going on in our world and what we should all be concerned about.  Sebastian was born and raised in Colonial India, which is the southern region of India.  Sebastian has a Masters in Economics and graduated from Oxford University. Sebastian is currently a professor at Woodbury University and is teaching about Global Affairs.

A few points that Sebastian had touched on in his speech was how in 2009-2011 Political Power of social media was recognized. He showed us an example by showing us the cover of Time Magazine and on the cover for 2010 was a computer monitor and in the middle on the screen it said “ You “ . Shortly after in 2011 Time Magazine had a statement on the cover named “ The Protester” and below that in smaller writing it said “ From the Arab Spring to Athens from Occupy Wall Street to Moscow” . Social Media was everywhere and still is today.

One of the most important topics that Sebastian had talked about was the “ Arab Spring”. You could just tell by his body language and how serious he took this matter that he really wanted to explain it well, and to make sure that we understood what is really going on over in the Middle East.

 

Sebastian filled us in that an awakening of a New Beginning has begun in the Middle East. History has proven to the World that when people are oppressed or a tyrant belittles its own citizens, the people will unite and speak out with immense courage to stand up against those who deny them of simple life giving liberties. December 18, 2010; this date will have a chapter in our history books but more importantly this date brings the foundation of new beginnings and a new way of life for the Middle East. The “ Arab Spring” also known as the “ Arab Awakening” has taken a domino effect in the Middle East. Countries after countries have fallen to the protesters who demand change in their government. Tunisia is located in North Africa between Algeria and Libya, this country was the first nation where its people demanded that President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali be thrown out of power due to food inflation, high unemployment, freedom of speech, poor living conditions and other forms of political freedom. On January 14th 2010 the Tunisian people succeeded in overthrowing their leader. When people from other countries such as: Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Syria, Bahrain, Algeria, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman and Saudi Arabia, witness such a powerful win for the working people, they soon carried out their own fundamental ideas and protested against their own oppressed governments. These uprisings let to the ouster or deaths of some leaders of these countries. The people of Egypt Succeeded in overthrowing President Hosni Mubarak who had reigned over Egypt since 1981. Soon after Libya began its civil war and eventually their leader Muannar Ghaddafi resigned on February 11th 2011. even though the media does not cover this story as much in today’s news papers or on television, the “ Arab Spring” is still a fight and a struggle for many people in the Middle East who will triumph in their beliefs.

 

Thank you so much Sebastian for coming and speaking to our Rotary Club about such important matters that are going on in our world today that we should know about but not always get the chance to really hear about the truth. Like Sebastian had said we have learned a lot from the Arab Resolution and we must press on and look into the future.

{Nikki Adams}