Ten years ago, in mid-December of 2010, I returned to Egypt on a quick visit from Britain, where I was working at the time on my doctoral thesis at the prestigious Durham University.

At the time, the political atmosphere was heavy, and the outlook bleak.

A few weeks ago, the former National Democratic Party, the ruling party, had taken control of Parliament after an electoral farce that took place during the months of October and November, and the scenario of inheriting power from former President Hosni Mubarak to his son Gamal was in full swing, or This is how it looked at the time, and there was no official presence of the opposition, whether Islamist represented by the "Muslim Brotherhood" or the opposition domesticated by traditional parties, whether liberal or left-wing, after they were completely excluded from the political scene in favor of those who were known at the time as the "new guard." "In the party and the state.

This atmosphere was recorded by my personal Facebook page, on which I wrote, "I came to Egypt two days ago ... and I find no better than what Farouk Jweideh said (This is a country that is no longer my country)."

In another post, she wrote, "There is nothing left for this people but uprising or death forever," or something close to that meaning.

Days later, thousands of Tunisians will take to the streets, demonstrating against what happened to the seller of vegetables and fruits, Mohamed Bouazizi, who set himself on fire on December 17, 2010, to protest the behavior of the Tunisian police, who insulted him, and confiscated the vegetable cart that he was making His livelihood.

The Tunisian revolution ignited, and former Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali found no way but to flee for fear of the wrath of the Tunisian masses. Tunisian citizen Abdel Nasser Al-Awaini went out to chant his famous slogan, "Ben Ali ... fled."

What is striking about the "Arab Spring" is the political and moral bankruptcy of the West.

While Western governments are giving others lessons in respecting democracy, their behavior over the past decade has done the opposite.

The West has failed to support the democratic transition process in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and Yemen.

On the contrary, some of his governments have supported the Arab authoritarian regimes, which are hostile to the Arab Spring.

After that, the uprisings and revolutions followed, the masses went out in Egypt, Syria, Libya and Yemen, protesting the crimes and violations of their rulers, dropping the heads of tyranny one by one with the exception of Syria, whose dictator Bashar al-Assad chose to destroy it instead of responding to the demands of the revolutionaries and demonstrators.

Ten years have passed since the beginning of the "Arab Spring", and despite the attempts to silence the Arab peoples, large sectors of them, especially the youth, still yearn for freedom, dignity and justice.

The evidence for this is that every time the fighting stops in Syria, peaceful protesters come out to express their rejection of Bashar al-Assad, and demand his departure from power.

The same is the case in Egypt, which is witnessing increasing tension and congestion, with the increase in the tone of criticism that the angry directed against General Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi on a daily basis, whether on social networks or through protests, which occur from time to time, despite the iron fist practiced by Sisi.

Several years ago, no one would have dared criticize Sisi, privately or publicly.

Now, social media is rife with criticism and accusations of Sisi, his family, and those close to him of corruption, profiteering, and the abuse of power for financial gain.

Not to mention that it implicated the Egyptian army in all fields of the economy, which angered many segments, especially businessmen, who were supporting it strongly when it came to power 6 years ago.

With Sisi closing all outlets of expression, and the continued use of violence and repression against opponents, it is expected that the situation will explode in his face, sooner or later.

What is striking about the "Arab Spring" story is the political and moral bankruptcy of the West.

While Western governments are giving others lessons in respecting democracy, their behavior over the past decade has done the opposite.

The West has failed to support the democratic transition process in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and Yemen.

On the contrary, some of his governments have supported the Arab authoritarian regimes, which are hostile to the Arab Spring.

The European governments and the American administration are colluding publicly and without equivocation with the authoritarian regimes in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain.

Read the memoirs of former US President Barack Obama and his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in order to know how America failed the "Arab Spring" and aborted it, in contrast to what supporters of counter-revolutions say.

This is not evidenced by the shameful silence of the Obama administration over Sisi's coup in Egypt in the summer of 2013, as well as the silence about the horrific human rights violations carried out by his regime in a way that Egypt has never seen before.

Western governments have also colluded with the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, who gruesome murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi on October 2, 2018 inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

It is also silent on bin Salman's arrest of dozens of journalists, businessmen, religious scholars, and political activists, especially women, without any legal basis.

It prioritizes arms deals and investments at the expense of human rights and democracy in the Arab world, as French President Emmanuel Macron does with Sisi and Mohammed bin Zayed, or what Trump has done with Mohammed bin Salman over the past four years.

Perhaps one of the important lessons for the Arab peoples over the past decade is not to depend on external support in order to confront authoritarian regimes and establish democracy.

The outcome of the Arab Spring may seem meager compared to the sacrifices that have occurred so far, whether in Egypt, Libya, Syria or Yemen.

But the inevitable fact is that the "Arab Spring" has become a reference for Arab youth, who dream of freedom, dignity and justice, and who will not stop until they achieve their dream.