“Jasmine Revolution”
Symbol of peace: Flowers placed on the barrel of a tank
in very much calmer protests than in recent days in Tunisia

'The Protester' - Time Person of the Year 2011

'The Protester' - Time Person of the Year 2011
Mannoubia Bouazizi, the mother of Tunisian street vendor Mohammed Bouazizi. "Mohammed suffered a lot. He worked hard. but when he set fire to himself, it wasn’t about his scales being confiscated. It was about his dignity." (Peter Hapak for TIME)

1 - TUNISIA Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)


How eyepatches became a symbol of Egypt's revolution - Graffiti depicting a high ranking army officer with an eye patch Photograph: Nasser Nasser/ASSOCIATED PRESS

2 - EGYPT Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)


''17 February Revolution"

3 - LIBYA Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)

5 - SYRIA Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)

"25 January Youth Revolution"
Muslim and Christian shoulder-to-shoulder in Tahrir Square
"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) -
(Subjects: Egypt Uprising, Iran/Persia Uprising, Peace in Middle East without Israel actively involved, Muhammad, "Conceptual" Youth Revolution, "Conceptual" (without a manager hierarchy) managed Businesses, Internet, Social Media, News Media, Google, Bankers, Global Unity,..... etc.)
"The End of History" – Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll)
(Subjects:Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Muhammad, Jesus, God, Jews, Arabs, EU, US, Israel, Iran, Russia, Africa, South America, Global Unity,..... etc.) (Text version)

"If an Arab and a Jew can look at one another and see the Akashic lineage and see the one family, there is hope. If they can see that their differences no longer require that they kill one another, then there is a beginning of a change in history. And that's what is happening now. All of humanity, no matter what the spiritual belief, has been guilty of falling into the historic trap of separating instead of unifying. Now it's starting to change. There's a shift happening."


“ … Here is another one. A change in what Human nature will allow for government. "Careful, Kryon, don't talk about politics. You'll get in trouble." I won't get in trouble. I'm going to tell you to watch for leadership that cares about you. "You mean politics is going to change?" It already has. It's beginning. Watch for it. You're going to see a total phase-out of old energy dictatorships eventually. The potential is that you're going to see that before 2013.

They're going to fall over, you know, because the energy of the population will not sustain an old energy leader ..."



African Union (AU)

African Union (AU)
African Heads of State pose for a group photo ahead of the start of the 28th African Union summit in Addis Ababa on January 30, 2017 (AFP Photo/ Zacharias ABUBEKER)

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela
Few words can describe Nelson Mandela, so we let him speak for himself. Happy birthday, Madiba.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Syrians have broken the fear barrier

February's 'day of anger' fizzled out, but protests in Deraa show Syria's revolutionary spirit is now gathering pace

guardian.co.uk, Ammar Abdulhamid, Tuesday 22 March 2011


People gather outside the courthouse in Deraa, Syria, which was
set on fire by demonstrators demanding freedom. Photograph:
Khaled Al-Hariri/Reuters

What a difference six weeks make. Back in early February I was asked whether Syria would be next on the growing list of countries to witness a popular revolution. My answer, which came in the form of an article published on Comment is free, was, in essence, "not yet".

The "day of anger" that exiled opposition figures called for on 5 February fizzled out largely because the networks that were being built on the grounds at the time were not ready to take up such a call. Activists needed time to ensure that they had networks of supporters all over the country and that clear communication strategies and methods were agreed, both within these networks and between them and their supporters in the country and across the world.

Formulating the right messages meant to address the concerns of certain segments within Syrian society, as well as those of the international community, especially with regards to the potential role Islamists would play in a future democratic Syria, was also something that required more time.

These points were being debated online through emails and on various Facebook groups; the main thrust of the debate was not whether a revolution could take place but when. Myself and others were on the side of waiting until mid-summer at least, to give in-country activists more time to organise their networks, while others worked on messaging.

Others were less patient, with some fearing a Gaddafi victory in Libya could make it more difficult to plead our case for revolution to the Syrian people; they pushed for a quicker move. Obviously, seeing that Syria has been caught in the midst of a revolutionary upheaval since the Ides of March, it was this latter side that won the debate.

But who were these debaters? And who are the revolutionaries?

This was not one particular group, organisation or a political party. These were not some opposition figures living in exile, or in country. These were, for the most part, young people, teens and twentysomethings, living inside Syria.

These young revolutionaries had already decided it was time to act before going online to network and look for mentors and advisers from the ranks of successful revolutionaries in Tunisia and Egypt, as well as those of established opposition figures and democracy activists in Syria and abroad. Each group of activists gravitated towards those for whom they felt greater sense of respect and affiliation on the basis of their own established worldviews and priorities. Then they communicated with each other and agreed on priorities. They were the leaders on the ground – after all, this is their revolution.

Some might still see the current situation in Syria as too localised and/or contained to amount to a full-scale revolution. However, considering the kind of regime we're dealing with – and Bashar al-Assad's smug attitude when he declared to the Wall Street Journal shortly before this development that his regime is popular, connected to the grassroots and, hence, immune to the kind of revolutionary upheavals sweeping across the region – it is not an exaggeration to call the current situation a revolution, albeit in its early phases.

How the situation will continue to unfold is anyone's guess. But something has become patently clear: once people break the barrier of fear and take to the street in a police state like Syria, violent crackdowns will only strengthen their resolve. As one caller from Deraa told an Arab news anchor recently: "We have one demand: freedom. We will continue to pursue it until we achieve it or die trying."

And what does freedom mean to the people of Deraa? Considering that the statue of the late dictator Hafez al-Assad in downtown Deraa has been demolished, that all pictures of Assad on city walls have been defaced and often replaced with "Down With Assad", that the governor's office has been burned, that the offices of the telecommunications companies owned by Rami Makhlouf, a cousin of Assad, have also been burned, your guess is as wild as mine.

The protesters at the small town of Madaya near Damascus must have made the same guess when they chanted in their own little demonstration on 20 March: "The people want to bring down the regime."

Should Assad continue to dither and be blind to the writing on the wall, more and more people will be adopting the above refrain. The situation may or may not unfold as quickly as it did in Tunisia and Egypt, but that's not too relevant. Now the barrier of fear has been broken, more and more people will be willing to shout that the emperor has no clothes and, more importantly, that the age of emperors, clothed or not, has come to an end in our part of the world and in our country. And not a moment too soon.


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