As the protesters in Syria, Jordan, Bahrain and Yemen protest against their respective authoritarian regimes, there has been a serious push back against them.
In Syria the regime of Bashar Al Assad has started crackdowns that have resulted in tens of thousands of people dead and many more injured.
In Bahrain, troops from neighboring Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates came to the support of the King Al Khalifa as the protesters demanded democratic reforms.
In Yemen, the government of Abdullah Saleh seemed to make some concessions but recently backpedaled, as they have now killed protesters and are reneging on their supposed promises.
All of this is coming on the heels of the success of the Jasmine Revolution in Egypt and Tunisia where dictators were toppled with almost dizzying speed. Organic movements that were youth led and helped by Facebook, peacefully protested and with the power of words – not violence – brought down men who ruled their countries for multiple decades.
These uprisings have provided blue prints for new movements that are spreading across the Middle East and North Africa, causing many dictators to fear the same fate.
The exception to the peaceful model is Libya, where a full scale rebellion supported by European and American forces has occurred in the eastern part of the country.
These protests are not just trying to change a regime or get a few more rights here and there; they are looking for a fundamental change in life as they know it. As youths, the protesters live in countries where they do not enjoy things that people in western societies have taken for granted. They are fighting for their rights and facing resistance from their governments.
The pushbacks, though brutal, are the costs that these youths are willing to take in order to secure freedom.
In Egypt, they are getting elections and not a takeover from the hated group, the Islamic Brotherhood. In Tunisia matters are being sorted out and life is a little better than it was under a dictator.
The pushbacks by these governments is serious and very much the signs of men trying to hold on to power, they only have because they bypassed over democratic processes.
In these actions they as dictators are simply doing what an abductor tries to do when the abductee tries to flee from their grip. They are scratching and clawing to protect a system that benefits them and not their people. The pushback from these Arab leaders should not surprise anyone and neither should the horrors from any of these events.
The killings of people and families in cold blood in the streets and on the roads in Libya, or the shooting into crowds in Syria or Bahrain should be a reminder of the stubbornness that many of these leaders possess. The eyes of the world are upon them and they know it, but they are also scared of the future. They have seen the things that Hosni Mubarak as well as Abidine Ben Ali did and did not do and they are acting on it.
These leaders are being brutal because they see Al Gadhafi doing it in Libya and they are trying to copy. However they cannot stop the wave of young people who are disillusioned and angry with the status quo and want change and democracy.
