E-Courage !

Most of what I see these days on facebook is posts related to the so called "Arab Spring". Those of my friends who know me well, know that I detest "undisciplined enthusiasm" in any field of life. I prefer planning (even planning not to plan is fine with me). Yes, I do believe that most political systems in Arab countries are rotten and need to be changed. Yes, I know that people suffer from poverty and discrimination and FEAR. I am not an enemy of the people. In fact, I want the people to be free and to enjoy equal rights to education, healthcare, voting, etc.. And I also support their right to read more and have faster internet access so they can educate themselves on ethics too.

But what I hate about this Arab Spring is that in its aftermath in each country, people are starting to hate each other. For the first time, people have the right to say their opinions out loud. A free opinion after long long years of oppression. So what would we expect? Most of the time it is a non-civilized hate speech fuelled by propaganda and political interests.

In Lebanon, the conflict in Syria adds to the internal tension between right and left. Most of the people -not all- in Sunni and Shiite sects follow their leaders points of view for obvious reasons: It is the interest of your sect or your party/militia/political group. If their interest is the survival of the regime in Syria, you adopt the side of the regime in Syria. A set of propagandistic explanations is ready for everything that's happening. If the sect/political interest is against the regime in Syria, you state your blunt hatred towards the regime in Syria and you have a set of propagandistic explanations ready for everything that's happening.

Another sad thing is that the political interest for those WITH the regime in Bahrain is with those AGAINST the regime in Syria. And people say flat out that they support one of these "revolutions" but not the other, when it is clear that both revolutions are very similar.

The struggle in both countries is multi-faceted and very dirty. Interests of loads of countries intertwine in these conflicts. Those who believe that no foreign interference happened in Bahrain and no foreign interference happened in Syria are plain idiots. Those who deny that people in both countries are suffering under their current leadership and that they could be offered better lives are also idiots.

I am an artist. I have nothing to do with political interests or sectarian interests. But I despise double standards. Particularly when they have to deal with human life.

The title of this post is inspired by posts on facebook and twitter. Most of the "revolutionaries" with and against the Syrian Regime on my facebook friend list and twitter feed, do not live in Syria. But they are very devout pro and anti regime, with dirty non civilized words and all. And I want to salute their E-courage. They have no brothers to die on the streets in Syria (afaik) and they have never lived in Syria long eough and probably never will, to decide if the Syrian people want their political system or not.

Last but not least, I am very sad that things in Syria now seem to have gone out of control and nobody wants to talk to anybody anymore. I wish the least number of mothers lose sons in these sad events. And I hope the conflict ends with more freedom for the Syrian people, regardless of their religions and sects or lack thereof.