The Arab Spring: A Mythological Journey or a Myth?

The celebration of Ramadan in the Arab World in 2011 has been unlike any other Ramadan in recent memory. For the proceeding five years every night during this holy month of fasting the Arab street was glued to their TV’s watching a drama series called Bab El Hara, which loosely translates to ‘The Neighborhood Gate.’ The show is about local heroes in Damascus defending their ancestral homes against the tyranny of French colonialists. This Ramadan, the highest rated TV viewership is the trial of a tyrant who’s not a colonialist but is one of their own, Hosni Mubarak. It seems that in less than a year the entire Arab world has been turned upside down. The long awaited change by the people has begun and has inspired every freedom loving person from all corners of the world to support the Arab youth in their birthright pursuit of self-determination. Peoples’ long-awaited dreams of the coming change from Morocco to Bahrain are on the verge of being realized, but is this the change the Arab world needs? Will these revolutions end in democratic regimes that will enable the Arab world to join the world community of Nations without terrorism and with respect for human rights?

This article was originally published in the Fall | Winter 2011 issue of Kosmos Journal. To download the article as a PDF, please click here.