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News and Comment
“It is the Young Generation, that can Renew the Political Elite in the Middle Eastern States”
News:
A few days ago, the spokesman on foreign affairs for the Danish government party, Michael Jensen, commented on the Danish foreign policy and especially what is referred to as “The Arabic Initiative”, and stated: “If we want to create a change in the region, then it is the youth, that should be focused on”, and he continued by saying: “It is the young generation that can renew the political elite in the Middle Eastern states”. The plan was further elaborated when he stated: “None the less, then the large youth cohorts are both the challenge and the rescue. Many youths in large cities as Amman and Cairo are just as online as Danish youths, and they are well aware of what the world looks like outside Jordan and Egypt. Therefore we have to keep making bonds between youth representatives from the civil society and the political youth organizations.”
Comment:
In very short sentences, Michael Jensen both stresses the important fact, that the young generation will create the new political elite of the Middle East and that the battle of ideas, hearts and minds is as crucial as ever, if we want an Islamic change.
The West has influenced ideas and concepts of the intellectual elite and especially the youth of the Middle East for more than a century now, but some things have changed. When the internet and particularly the social media became accessible for the masses, the world of ideas suddenly came closer, but not less significant.
Radical change has always come from the young generation of every society, and just like the Sahabah of the Prophet (saw), this generation form the majority of the societies in the Middle East, and are willing to sacrifice.
The so-called “Arab-Spring” and the current resistance by the youth in Palestine, shows without a doubt, that the young generation is a generation of change. A generation that does not want to be restricted by old colonial arrangements or political status quo. These are very positive characteristics, but it has also shown us, that it is a generation that needs political and Islamic awareness to guide them in the right direction, and this is where the battle is being fought.
This is, without doubt, crucial for the aware and sincere dawah carriers on the streets of Amman and Cairo, but just as much for the ones in Copenhagen, London and Amsterdam. Ideas also travel on the internet, to the extent that the “Arab-Spring” has also been referred to as the “twitter revolutions”.
In this regard, we as dawah carriers living in the West, must not forget, nor belittle our ability to influence and spread ideas. Sometime the words of one born and raised in the west has a tremendous impact on Middle Eastern peers, when it comes to ideas of democracy, freedoms, Islam and governance.
The battle for ideas, hearts and minds is as crucial as it has ever been. The battle can only be won with the help of Allah (swt), and when we realize that it is not fought by someone else, but by me and you, no matter if you live in Copenhagen or in Cairo.
Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Junes Kock
Media Representative of Hizb ut Tahrir in Scandinavia