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Stirrings of Freedom Among the Arab Youth?
Feb. 16 -- Americans are bombarded with alarming reports from the Arab Middle East about intensifying anti-U.S. sentiments and escalating threats to their security.
In the eyes of many Americans, the Muslim Middle East has become simply a caldron of anti-Americanism and out-of-control violence. But the headlines from the region have missed an important trend percolating among the younger generation in various Arab countries.
From universities in Cairo, Amman, Beirut, Tunis, Algiers that have become de facto safe havens of civic protest across the Middle East, to soccer arenas, and anti-Iraq war demonstrations, the subtext of this generation's public expression is a deep yearning to be free and enfranchised.
The most breathtaking example of the phenomenon for me was a teen panel at a conference organized by the Arab Thought Foundation in Beirut last month. Eight men and women in their late teensfrom across the Arab world sat on a panel before 1,000 academics, politicians, diplomats, and activists. One after another, the teens stunned their elders into embarrassed silence with vehement scolding of their countries' leaders, not the U.S. or even Israel.
"You have failed us," shouted a Saudi teen. "It is about time women are put in charge to undo the wrongs done."
Panelists talked from direct personal experience, directing their anger not just against harsh political and economic realities at home but also at their parents' fatalism and defeatist passivity. Colleagues in the audience said they were "shocked" and "moved" by the teenagers' passion, bluntness and freshness.
"It was heartening," one said. "There was no finger-pointing at Zionism or imperialism."
The Freedom Generation
In the past few years, after interviewing and circulating among young people in the region and witnessing the new, powerful trends and stirrings, I call the phenomenon "the freedom generation."
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