The social media technology is taking full credit for the rapid events in Tunisia and Egypt (probably Yemen too by the time this column goes into print), and how it aided the uprising in those two countries. But no tool would have been effective if the people had not had the will. The internet just gave them momentum to gather the rising human storm at a faster pace.
When life changing moments take place in real life, you often realise much after the fact that you were in the midst of a storm for quite some time. Real life does not unfold in Close Encounters of the Third Kind movie mode and no force comes in from outer space to clear the mist and save us from ourselves. Life in real time unfolds gradually and battles ensue when the people realise that they have to liberate themselves. It's a gamble they decide to take - if they win, they get to make a new world order, if not they go back to their struggles. The force of the people in these current uprisings does not portend any sign of defeat.
From the Canadian perspective, things have been somewhat comical. The Canadian government usually finds itself stuck between a rock and a hard place in such situations when major upheavals occur in runaway countries like these. When the Tamil separatist leader was killed in 2009 and matters came to a head between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers, the Canadians - particularly government and media - were at a loss of what stance to take, as supporters of both these factions comprise constituents in Canada and both sides were holding active demonstrations all over the country.
Same is the case right now. The Tunisians are asking Stephen Harper to extradite Belhassen Trabelsi, the billionaire brother-in-law of former Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who is a Canadian resident and who arrived in Montreal shortly after the coup, taking refuge in his Canadian residency along with his wife and four children. While his residency status has been revoked, Trabelsi may be in Canada for quite a while as he can appeal the decision to revoke his residency status and apply for a refugee status.
Besides being hampered by their immigration laws the other reason the Canadian government often finds itself in a quandary is when their own laws and their need to support their valuable migrant community puts them at odds with their influential American cousins. Prime Minister Stephen Harper (the loyalist substitute for the erstwhile Tony Blair), has a tough time deciding whether to please his constituent or fall in line with America's policies.
It took Canada the longest of time to come out with an official statement on the US ally's government in Egypt last weekend and the foreign minister finally issued a very guarded statement saying, "Canada regrets the loss of life of both protestors and police officers during political demonstrations in Egypt. We urge all parties to refrain from violence, and, in particular, we urge the Egyptian authorities to respond to these protests peacefully." It ended with, "Egypt remains an important partner for Canada, and we urge the Egyptian government to ensure full freedom of political expression for its citizens." The Canadian Egyptians were not too happy at this ambiguous statement.
My husband's 'conspiracy theories' of a changing world order now seem to be turning from far-fetched predictions into very real eventualities. His theory - backed by years of scholarly pursuit in history - has always been based on the premise that the world will go back to its 'natural' boundaries of land. And now with the currently charged situation in the Middle East, he maintains that the day is not far when the ruling elite elsewhere in the Arab world will face the same challenge and experience what the power of the common man can do when suppressed for so long.
It is of course a fact that no citadel is impenetrable, especially if the people are kept in suppression and shunned.
The breeding discontent can get extremely dangerous when you have different sets of laws for the rulers and the ruled. When endurance ends, the masses rise as they have in Egypt and Tunisia and then no gilded castle remains strong enough to withstand a revolution.