By Rami G. Khouri
The Daily Star, Beirut, Lebanon.

What is it that drives ordinary Arab men and women to do extraordinary things, such as demonstrate against their government for 12 months non-stop, at the risk of being killed every day? I have heard many explanations for the ongoing Arab uprisings, but one of the best and most succinct I heard was at a seminar on Arab youth unemployment this week in Beirut, co-sponsored by the International Labor Organization regional office and Germany’s Friedrich Ebert Foundation. ILO regional director Nada al-Nashef captured one of the most complex but important dynamics underpinning the uprisings when she said that to learn the lessons of the past 16 months of populist citizen revolts across the region, we must better understand “the nexus between unemployment, poverty and inequality” defining the lives and attitudes of so many young men and women in the Middle East. That may sound like obvious and slightly clichéd, but it strikes me as profoundly important for touching the heart of the malaise that had driven millions of Arabs to revolt.

Nashef touched the critical emotional center of gravity of the Arab uprisings. This is more striking in Syria, Bahrain and Yemen today than even the overthrow of the Tunisian, Egyptian and Libyan regimes last year, because of the sheer magnitude, danger and longevity of the continuing protests. What kind of mindset is it that drives men and women of all ages – not just unemployed youth – to go out into the streets of Syria, Bahrain and Yemen to peacefully protest because their government is treating them with disdain, inequality and injustice? And this when the demonstrators know very well that their chances of being killed or tortured are relatively high, compared to other nonviolent protests around the world.

What is this indomitable force that sends Arab men and women into the streets for 10, 11 or 12 months in a row, braving death, defying arrest and degradation, in order to shatter their own humiliation and transgress their vulnerabilities? How do we explain this willingness – no, more than willingness, this determination – to risk one’s physical life in order to bring about a better quality of total life in the political, social, economic and psychological realms?

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Columnist/2012/Mar-14/166561-an-indomitable-arab-force-is-defying-even-death.ashx#ixzz1pAnPrPJW
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)