Monday, July 14, 2014

Malala Day #strongerthan violence

     There are some who fight against injustice, some who fight for social equality, some for their freedom, and most of all, all battles are aimed at getting the basic human rights an individual cannot live without. We are encountering a fight for living in dignity in Gaza, where innocent blood has been shed for many decades now.
     But on July 14th, which is this specific day, I was proudly invited to blog for a cause very dear to my heart, Malala Day, a day that calls for the fight for education. Malala was the topic of my first blog post; she inspired and still continues to inspire me until this very moment. This young girl, who was shot by Taliban because she wanted to go to school and learn, symbolizes the hope of millions of oppressed girls who are fighting for education. She symbolizes strength and patience, and proves to the world that the most dangerous weapons a human being can use are books and pens, going to school and striving to learn more. Malala wants to use Malala Day this year to ask everyone to raise their voices to say: we are #strongerthan those who use fear, intimidation and violence to stand in the way of every girl and boy's basic right to an education.

     Why do you think Taliban shot her when she had no weapons on her whatsoever? She had something they feared, a thing beyond all their arms and bombs and kamikazes. A weapon that could help the upcoming generation overthrow them few years from now, a thing they would literally 'kill' to strangle and eliminate; the will to learn. International as well as "local terrorists" that are well known as 'some political and religious leaders' use the tactic of ignorance to control the masses. When a person is not aware of their own rights, the impact they could make to stop these people from inflicting consequences of their satanic and wrong decisions, they will stay silent and oppressed, thinking that those who have arms are the ones that get to rule the country and manipulate people's lives. Ignorance makes you vulnerable and gullible. And this is not only happening in Afghanistan,  it is occuring close to us, in Syria, Egypt, even in Lebanon. People are being brain-washed with religious myths and empty promises, to kill and terrorise innocent souls, to oppress and control others the way they are controlled. It is a vicious never ending cycle and all of it is taking place for the simple reason that a lot are not getting the proper education to let their mind flourish, to let them be aware of the change and impact they could make, on the way they could stop the massacre and killing of thousands of individuals around the world.

     On this day I would like to proudly state that we are not yet #strongerthan those who want to silence the masses, but we could be if we start thinking critically about what is happening around us and how we could stop the fundamenalists from taking over our countries and spreading hatred between sects, specially in Lebanon. We could be #strongerthan the ones who would want to keep our communities in the dark, who would want to give a bad image about Arabs and Islam in particular. We could be, the only thing we have to do is provide proper and basic education for everyone, to invite the younger generation to pursue the fight for their right, the one that will embrace their inner strength and let them grow, so they could be the transparent and tolerant leaders we would want to see in the near future.

     Last but not least, Happiest Birthday Malala, to many more years of accomplishments.