2011: A Review

     Well, it's not likely to be a year anyone will forget. All around the world events, whether natural or man-made have affected the lives of millions. In fact, billions is probably more accurate as in 2011 the world population hit 7,000,000,000 that's BILLION.

       Let's go back to the beginning shall we. 2011 started with a bomb attack on 2 churches in Alexandria during New Year services, shocking Egyptians and laying the groundwork for what was to begin a mere 24 days later. The desperate actions of a single man in a small city in Tunisia became the spark that was needed to make millions in the Arab world shake off decades of apathy and stand up to their leaders. How this will all pan out is yet to be seen, but I'm so glad that I'm here to see it instead of reading about it in a history book. For better or worse I can tell my children and grandchildren (presuming I ever have any) all about it. 

      The economic crisis focused on Europe and spread. The Occupy movement started with Occupy Wall Street and expanded to include cities and economic landmarks around the world.

       The UK in general and London in particular made international headlines twice in 2011, the first time in April for the Royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton (now the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and then again in August because of the riots which swept from London to include several major UK cities. The riots surprised and horrified some, while others seemed surprised that they hadn't happened before. Either way, everyone agreed that the grief of one man certainly helped bring them to an end. Tariq Jahan lost his son Haroon during the riots in Birmingham, Haroon and two others (brothers) were killed in a hit and run in what appeared to be an anti-Muslim crime by members of an Afro-Caribbean gang. Jahan had tried desperately to revive his son himself. This is what he had to say; "I lost my son. Blacks, Asians, Whites - we all live in the same community. Why do we have to kill one another? Why are we doing this? Step forward if you want to lose your sons. Otherwise, calm down and go home - please."

   Osama Bin Laden was killed a decade after the 9/11 attacks. US forces pulled out of Iraq.

    Natural disasters included earthquakes in New Zealand and Japan. The Japanese earthquake in March was followed by a devastating tsunami. The most dangerous and worrying effect of which was the meltdown it caused at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. The area is still contaminated and people have yet to be allowed to return after they were evacuated.

    There were floods in Asia and droughts in Africa. Again.

     2011 started with several dictators in place: Ben Ali (Tunisia), Mubarak (Egypt), Gaddafi (Libya), Saleh (Yemen), Kim Jung Il (N.Korea) and Mugabe (Zimbabwe). With 2 days till 2012, Mugabe is the only one left in power.

     On a personal note, I finished my Masters degree in education (woohoo me!) and started teaching full time and I voted in my first ever elections. My love life has remained uneventful, which considering everything that's been going on, is a relief. There was no time for romance during a revolution!

      What does 2012 have in store for us? The Olympics in London, Presidential elections in Egypt and the USA and if the Mayans are to be believed; the end of the world. Whatever's coming, it will be memorable!

9/11

    On this day 10 years ago, I was on my way to an O-level Maths class on a Tuesday afternoon . When I left the house, everything was as it ever was, by the time I'd got to school (about 15 minutes away) the first tower of the World Trade Center had been hit. We were herded up to class, not thinking too much about it, it was a tragic accident after all, what else could it be?

    After setting us problems on the board, our teacher stepped out of the class and went downstairs to check the news on the television the school gatekeeper had been watching when we arrived. I remember the stunned look on his face when he came back, 'Remember that plane in New York? It seems it wasn't an accident, another plane hit the second tower and one hit the Pentagon.' I remember how quiet we all went until one girl said that her brother was in Washington and another remembered that one of the biology teachers had mentioned her brother was travelling to New York at some point.

    As Arab teenagers that day, we knew things were never going to be the same again. If we had faced problems getting visas or when travelling before, we knew it would be 10 times as bad now. And it was. It still is sometimes. We still find ourselves apologizing for the actions of 19 men to whom we never gave the right to speak in our names. We explain that no, not all Arabs and Muslims want to kill Americans and bring down Western civilization.

   3000+ people died senselessly  that day, tens of thousands of other in the wars and attacks on civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq and a whole faith and it's followers have become hated (by some) and feared. Al-Qaeda claimed to have carried out these attacks in the name of Islam and God and yet it made life for Muslims (and people who look 'Middle Eastern') difficult and downright dangerous.

   So who gained anything that day?


PS: I have absolutely no recollection of what we were doing in Maths class that day!