Vol. 13 No. 13 (2014): Scientific Journal Referee Issue: 13

Editorial

The darkness of cities, not the darkness of minds
This issue of Queen Arwa University Magazine is full of rich and diverse topics. What draws attention to what the magazine contains is that it presents scientific and intellectual production covering a wide area of the Arab world, and this is a feature rarely found in any other Yemeni scientific periodical. Since scientific and intellectual writings represent a transparent reflection of the concerns, ambitions and aspirations of the community of their writers, I affirm that our concerns, ambitions and aspirations are the same. What this editorial expresses is the voice of the rest of the Arab societies. We are all looking forward to a savior tomorrow. One of the topics of this issue caught my attention, entitled Good Governance. This is what the Yemeni people have been striving to achieve over many decades, and it represents the basis of this editorial.
On the way to a saved tomorrow, I would like to remind you that Yemeni society has witnessed, since the beginning of the second decade of the third millennium, major events, the most prominent of which was the youth revolution, which resulted in the Comprehensive National Dialogue Conference, and then the corrective revolution, the revolution of September 21, 2014 AD. The youth revolution came forty-eight years after the first revolution, September 26, 1962 AD, but despite the long period of time, it did not bring anything new. It had the same demand that led to the establishment of the first revolution, which was a society of justice and human dignity, free of corruption.
The second event is represented by the comprehensive National Dialogue Conference, in which most, if not all, intellectuals gathered. The conferees came out with many solutions, recommendations, and proposals, all of which ultimately lead to the demand for a society based on justice, preserving human dignity, and free of corruption. The great difference between the reality of Yemeni society in... The 1960s and Yemeni society at the beginning of the third millennium lie in the huge number of intellectuals, many of whom are in power. If the percentage of intellectuals in the society of the 1960s was very limited, most of the people were illiterate, and the ruler was, as is rumored, unjust and tyrannical, then it is no wonder that the revolution deviated from its hoped-for path, and a group of people inherited the revolution and society and considered them their own property. But what is astonishing is what happened in the youth revolution and what emerged from it. The youth revolution took place in the society of the third millennium, a society that is crowded with intellectuals, and the platform of power is crowded with them. They are in control of the three authorities, so how can the revolution deviate from its path? Knowing the reasons for the derailment of the youth revolution is an extremely complex equation, however.
There is nothing wrong with highlighting it. Extrapolating the history of most Yemeni intellectuals shows very clearly how they were the main and direct factor, with or without their knowledge, in the belief of those who rose to power, after the first revolution, that the land and those on it were their exclusive property. They used to portray the ruler that he was not mistaken, and that what he said was the essence of wisdom. He was the professor of professors, the scholar of scholars, and the professor of politicians. Intellectuals were keen for official newspapers to have some of their sayings in the forefront, and if they were not there, they would fabricate it for themselves. From the old system. By doing so, they were deviated These intellectuals who, through their competence, which was never underestimated, or thanks to their fawning over the ruler, occupied sensitive positions in the three authorities, and when the youth revolution broke out, these intellectuals were unable to transcend The culture of fawning and masculinity, which they grew up with for more than forty years. All they had to do was hand it over to those who kept the revolution off track, and society returned to square one, demanding a society dominated by justice and devoid of corruption.
Someone might say, what a fierce campaign against intellectuals!!! Intellectuals are the ones who initiated the revolution, and they are the ones who preserved it. I say, after the outbreak of the youth revolution, the authorities were devoid of everything except the intellectuals, represented by the political parties that represent the people, express their ambitions and goals, and work to achieve those goals. Isn’t this what they say about themselves? Come with me and ponder... They were the ones in the dialogue conference... They were the constellation surrounding the president... They were the ones forming the government... They were the members of the House of Representatives... What was occupying their minds, at the moment? Were they thinking about the interests of the people? ...Were the people's concerns, aspirations, and hopes what preoccupied and disturbed them? ... Have they ever agreed among themselves on a matter that concerns society and the nation? ... Was sharing positions, positions, privileges, and achieving wealth the last thing that mattered to them? ...I leave the answer to the dear reader.
Society entered a tunnel of disappointment and despair, filled with all kinds of heartbreak and remorse for the young lives lost for the sake of the old dream of justice and lack of corruption. Intellectuals did not, and could not, do anything that would restore a glimmer of hope to their people for a better tomorrow. Rather, they contributed to strengthening the reality of injustice and the spread of corruption in society. But the momentum of the revolution did not die, so God rewarded this patient people, a group of them who took it upon themselves to correct the course of the revolution and restore hope and optimism to their souls. Its first action was to get rid of those who believed that they were the masters of the people, and that the state only existed to take care of their interests, and the Free and Proud Army was nothing but a special guard for them. They were the ones who exalted the people and those who demolished them whenever they wanted, and things began to unfold again. How could... This country was plundered by individuals whose number does not exceed the fingers of one hand. The second step of the corrective revolution of September 21, 2014 was to achieve justice and get rid of hotbeds of corruption in institutions headed by a group of intellectuals. This step is what disturbed most of the intellectuals, so they began to work on what they are skilled at, which is to create confusion and fears among the people about the coming calamity, and they were creative in making the most horrific descriptions of him, calling him a divider between the group, serving the interests of foreign countries.
But what they did and what they are doing collided with the reality of what is happening on the ground, what people see and live on a daily basis, which is fighting spoilers and corruption, and achieving security, as much as they can. The last question that must be asked is whether these intellectuals will succeed in reversing the new revolutionary movement and returning home  What is the first square? The answer to this question is as complex as the previous equation. Yemeni society, with its cities and countryside, suffers from power outages, and darkness descends on every part of it. This is an indisputable fact. But the problem is not the darkness we suffer from as a result of the power outage. Rather, the real problem is the darkness of minds, the darkness that appears to have a bright lustre, while its reality is a deadly threat to society, and this is what makes me refrain from answering the question posed.

Prof. Dr. Mohammed Ahmed Al-Khayyat