Reflection for the Week of 11 November 2012

Last night, between the evening news and today's morning news, it was reported Israel used a drone strike to assassinate the military leader of Hamas in Gaza.  I find a lot of the Israeli-Palestinean conflict to be very over-my-head, but these events made their way onto my facebook news feed.  Many of my Jewish friends from back home were posting and sharing this status:

When you hear the news later today about Israel attacking gaza and killing the head terrorist today please keep in mind that 12,000 rockets were launched at civilian towns from gaza since Israel withdrew from Gaza Strip a few years ago, about 1000 this year, and over 130 in the last 3 days. You will not see that on TV... Please share
עם ישראל חי

I was pretty annoyed to see so many of my friends posting about this.  It completely disregards the Palestinian perspective, making Israel the victim.  When I read this, I felt it gave off the tone, "Israel is the real victim here.  Stop worrying about the Palestinians, because they are the enemy and the aggressor. "  I think this an extremely ignorant perspective.  Both sides have been attacking each other for YEARS.  And if any group of people are victimized, it's the Palestinians.  Israel cuts off much of the resources the peoples in Gaza and the West Bank need to survive (e.g. water).  And with Israel becoming a state, the Palestinians have been kicked off of the land where they lived for thousands of years and treated brutally throughout the Israeli occupancy of Palestinian territories.  

This said, I don't label myself in accordance to the conflict.  I would say I am "pro-peace" more than anything else.  Neither side is completely in the right or the wrong.  But if we keep pointing fingers and blaming the other, there is no way the conflict will ever be resolved.  

Weekly Reflection 11/15

There's news from around the globe this week.  Following our reelection of Obama, China has named Xi Jinping as its new leader, replacing Hu Jintao.  Mr. Hu has played an incredibly defining role in China's growth in the last decade and more.  The increase in economic activity and strength can be largely attributed to his policy.  And with this increased economic activity has come closer bonds with the US.  Interestingly, Xi Jinping was not the pick of Mr. Hu to be his replacement.  It will be interesting to see how their political difference will change China's relationship with the US.  This story can be tied into the politics of the MENA region as well, with a large focus of Mr. Xi's speech regarding corruption within the ruling communist party.  Xi himself was born into a party family and has worked in the system all his life.  This patrimonialization reminds me of both what we have spoken about for Syria, and my groups' study of Algeria.

Structured Response 11/15

                I once read an article stating that the internet was the greatest modern invention, citing its unparalleled ability to connect people from around the world and allow for the sharing of ideas.  Never before have we so easily been able to build off of the ideas of others, especially those who are not famous or accredited in any way, as one would be if they publish a book or scholarly article.  The basis of an idea can truly come from the masses.  This is what is so important about social media’s role in the Arab Spring revolutions.  There was an immediate connection from civilian to civilian.  People weren’t hearing about revolutions in other areas from news sources either public or private, they heard about it from the status updates and tweets of the protesters themselves.

                This topic reminds me of learning about the Enlightenment and its role in the French Revolution.  The disillusioned public, yearning to rid the country of the king, met at Salons to discuss actions and theories regarding the creation of a government for the people.  In these cases, people knew where to go for the latest information about the revolution, the latest thoughts of the protesters, and support each other’s ideas.  One knew of specific locations where the thoughts of the masses could be shared.  Isn’t social media much the same way?  The protesters in the MENA region knew where to look to find support in their dissent.  And looking to a web address instead of a real one only made it easier.

Structured Response

Obviously, social media such as Facebook and Twitter are becoming more and more central to people's lives all over the world. Most teenagers, it seems like, go online at least once every few hours  (either by phone or computer) to check social networks. However, I do not believe that these networks are necessarily as successful when used as vehicles to create social change.
Facebook is particularly memorable in regard to the Egyptian Revolution, an aspect that we saw in the documentary. I do believe that Facebook was important in spreading the idea, but I do not think it can be solely credited. All it takes is a desire for change, shared by millions, and a powerful movement can be ignited. Word of mouth is an important tool that should be remembered here, as is the concentration of people in Cairo who help to spread the idea. Facebook is important to those who have access to the internet and who have the time to check it--but not everyone had this at the time, and still not everyone does today.
Another movement associated with Facebook and other social networks is Kony 2012. In April 2012, the Kony video went viral on Facebook, and within a few days, most people had heard of it in the United States (or so it was at my high school). However, Kony 2012 was not exactly successful in its Facebook outreaching in April-the "Cover the Night" movement, promoted on Facebook, failed.
Again, I believe that social networking is valuable--it is becoming more and more important as access to internet is spreading--but I also believe that the old-fashioned way of spreading ideas, through personal interactions, can be more successful.

Structured Response 11-14-12

Social media, in my opinion, is the defining factor of the Arab Spring revolts. Never before in history could humans so instantaneously communicate their ideas, thoughts, feelings, and plans to millions of others around the world. What used to take the effort of inviting people one-by-one, either by letter, phone, SMS, or face-to-face can now be done with a few clicks of a button. Putting together such a large social movement is a Herculean effort to begin with, but social media is really what made it possible so quickly. Need a pound of bread to feed protesters? Just send a quick tweet with the correct hashtag, or a Facebook post, and chances are someone in the protest who is monitoring social media will see it and get it to you. You heard that the police are planning to shoot any protesters? Same deal, let the world know via social media. Without social media, the protests would have been severely handicapped in relation to how the protests were handled with social media.

However, as powerful of a tool social media was to the revolts, they would have happened regardless. The people were tired of being oppressed across the Arab World, and the powder keg was ready to explode at any point. Had social media not existed, it may have been longer for them to occur, or have taken longer to have any effect, but they would have happened.

Structured Response 11 Nov 2012

I think it's hard to disprove the effect of social media in the Arab Spring revolts.  In many countries where freedom of speech was limited and mobilization efforts were really only safe underground, Twitter and Facebook provided a way for activists to get in contact with the public and the world in a quick and efficient manner.  Also, things like tweets and facebook posts can be up for anyone to see, making communication efficient and widespread.  For example, the protests in Tahrir Square were incredibly well-planned: there were men and women doing security checks on all of the protesters in the square to ensure everyone's safety.  If social media were not present during the uprisings in the MENA region, I doubt there would have been people doing security checks on all of the protesters.  The people would have to rely more on a he-said she-said method of communication.  Although this form of communication can work, details will be lost as the message spreads, leading to confusion and disorganization.  

While I think social media was helpful in the proliferation and ultimate success of many of the Arab Spring uprisings, I don't think it was at all necessary in their success.  I think any social movement can be successful if there are cracks within the ranks of the government because widespread popular protest can break them open.  Look at any social movement in the past, like the Civil Rights Movement or even the French Revolution.  Certainly, neither of those movements used social media as a tool of protest, yet they both are renowned in history.  People don't need to have cell phones or internet to make a difference, they just need to get mad, and then get even with their governments.  

Reflection 11/13/12

After all that we studied in this class this year it was really fitting to end the readings with a selection on social media and its influence on social movements. As the tail end of the millennial generation we have been privileged enough to see the evolving impact of technology and social media in our own domestic politics and politics around the globe. The future of liberal, humane social movements, ones that truly wish to correct wrongs in their own countries and provide a better future for their children. It may sound like idealistic ranting, or it may be the side effect of a semester's worth of chronic under-sleeping or maybe its the Led Zeppelin playing on Pandora, but this idea really gives me hope for the future and its a nice and appropriate note to end the readings on.