THE CICAK.com

Youth have to be responsible for their freedom

By RACHEL CHAN

On 16 Mar. 2003, Rachel Corrie was killed, run over by a Caterpillar bulldozer employed in the destruction of houses in Israeli occupied Palestine.

She was a 23-year-old volunteer peace activist and student at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. In giving up her life in the literal sense to support the Palestinian cause, her quest to uphold its human rights has not gone unnoticed. Activists have picked up the story, protesting against the use of Caterpillars throughout the mass media.

Barely a month after Corrie’s was slain by the war machines, another youth by the name of Tom Hurndall was shot in the head for helping some children cross the road in the occupied Gaza Strip of Palestine. Falling into a coma, Hurndall passed away on 13 Jan. 2004. He was 21.

Both Corrie and Hurndall were members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), an organization dedicated to accompanying Palestinians in nonviolent resistance towards Israeli occupation.

These are examples of youths committed to fighting a cause in their lives, a cause that transcends immediate gratification of their personal needs, a cause larger than their own daily concerns before their eyes, and which cross the dimensions of race, religion, and nationality.

These youths have the freedom to choose their direction in life and they have chosen to stand for human rights. And these youths have chosen to dedicate their passion and their lives for this great cause.

However, being responsible for one’s freedom to uphold a cause is not a call for martyrdom. Nowhere is it close to such a definition. But what these youths have displayed in their quest for human dignity and peace is the exemplary embodiment of the human spirit. The will to live in harmony with all others apart from oneself, regardless of creed, ethnicity, or nationhood.

In tandem with the theme of “Youths: Freedom and Responsibility,” the International Movement For A Just World (JUST) organised its 5th Young Leaders Programme (YLP) from 17 - 20 Aug. 2006. Targeted at youth aged 18 to 25, the workcamp sought to incorporate a deeper understanding of global challenges and how youths can contribute towards the creation of a just world, and foster a closer relationship among Malaysian youths from different religious and cultural backgrounds. Guest speakers included JUST President Dr. Chandra Muzaffar, Professor Shad Saleem Faruqi from Universiti Teknologi MARA, and Farish A. Noor.

The YLP highlighted issues such as global poverty, global democracy, global health and social ills, hegemony, war and terrorism, globalisation, human dignity, media, role of the U.N. and ASEAN, and other emerging issues affecting humanity and the earth.

In his opening speech, Dr. Chandra Muzaffar remarked that “freedom indeed, is a difficult value to define.” He further added that one could perhaps look at freedom from the angle of justice or equality, but freedom is a concept that one knows, and feels its presence, through experience. There are many different types of freedoms such as the freedom to speak, to write, to assemble, and to believe.

This he related to the need for youth to be aware of global issues and how these may impact their choices and the consequences of their decisions. One dilemma in particular was the problem of communal polarisation which, Dr. Chandra noted, is increasingly affecting the young.

The freedom we hold dear to our hearts today is not one which has been easily achieved. We are not born with freedom in our hands, just as we are not born with riches. We inherit freedom from our predecessors who strove to attain this rare commodity. All history is the struggle of humankind. The quest for freedom, hence, is an ongoing struggle. It has been the primordial ideal of humankind since the days of lore and before.

The challenge for youth, then, is how do we exercise our freedoms and rights? When Mahatma Gandhi was initially asked for his opinion on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights drafted by the U.N. in 1948, he replied by saying that “there are no rights without responsibility.” The response from other like-minded thinkers was to come up with a bill called the Universal Declaration of Human Responsibilities. The U.N. rejected the latter. The result? They went ahead with rights without responsibility.

One should always take into account the feelings of other stakeholders and whether one’s actions is impinging upon others’ dignity. The Danish cartoons example was, by this definition, an exercise of the freedom of speech without consideration of others’ sentiments.

Youths have to break out of their comfort zone, out of the MTV culture that corresponds only to selfish consumerism and absorbing what is given without giving things a second thought. It is easy to brainwash one who does not resist into blind, dogmatic conformity, which further propagates the ideology of the dominant stakeholders.

We have to appreciate the freedom we have inherited from our predecessors’ hands. Constant vigilance, then, is the way to go. One does not necessarily have to sacrifice one’s life for a cause, but only through concerted efforts can we add towards constructive social change.

This, and many other viewpoints in relation to the main theme were expressed through lectures, presentations, cultural night performances, and other activities designed to empower participants. Among the dimensions discussed were the fairness of Syariah Law (Shad Faruqi), language and power (Farish Noor), freedom fighters throughout history (Vijaya Samarawickrama), transparency (Y.K. Chin), cultural dimensions (Asma Abdullah), the effects of global capitalism (Christopher Boey), and youth activism (Patricia Martinez).

Freedom has to be balanced with responsibility. With responsibility, comes freedom. So what is the true relationship of freedom to responsibility? Can one exist without the other? Perhaps it is similar to the chicken and egg analogy? To quote Dr. Chandra Muzaffar, “perhaps freedom is responsibility.”

One person’s freedom fighter may be another’s terrorist. We may also look at a quote from author Harry Browne: “But freedom is responsibility. When you’re free, you’re automatically responsible for your own future.”

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RACHEL CHAN is a contributing writer for theCICAK.

Rachel is a premature old nag. She blogs about issues close to heart - especially the inefficiency of bureaucrats. She thinks jail is the best place to study for an exam. She is still trying to get there hopefully. Visit her site.