The Arab Spring

Ahmed Farah

The Arab Spring

Overview of the Arab Spring • The Arab Spring is a revolutionary wave of

demonstrations and protests (both non-violent and violent), riots, and civil wars in the Arab world that began on 18 December 2010 and spread throughout the countries of the Arab League and surroundings.

• While the wave of initial revolutions and protests had expired by mid-2012, some refer to the ongoing large-scale conflicts in Middle East and North Africa as a continuation of the Arab Spring, while others refer to aftermath of revolutions and civil wars post mid-2012 as the Arab Winter.

Overview of the Arab Spring • By December 2013, rulers had been forced from power

in Tunisia,  Egypt Libya,  and Yemen; civil uprisings had erupted in Bahrain  and Syria;  major protests had broken out in Algeria, Iraq, Jordan,  Kuwait,  Morocco,  Israel

and Sudan;  and minor protests had occurred in Mauritania,

 Oman,  Saudi Arabia,  Djibouti,  Weste Sahara,

and Palestine.

• Weapons and Target fighters returning from the Libyan Civil War stoked a simmering conflict in Mali which has been described as "fallout" from the Arab Spring in North Africa.

Overview of the Arab Spring • The protests have shared some techniques of civil resistance in

sustained campaigns involving strikes, demonstrations, marches, and rallies, as well as the effective use of social media  to organize, communicate, and raise awareness in the face of state attempts at repression and Internet censorship

• Many Arab Spring demonstrations have been met with violent responses from authorities,  as well as from pro-government militias and counter-demonstrators. These attacks have been answered with violence from protestors in some cases

Overview of the Arab Spring • A major slogan of the demonstrators in the Arab

world has been Ash-sha`b yurid isqat an-nizam ("the people want to bring down the regime")

• Some observers have drawn comparisons between the Arab Spring movements and the Revolutions of 1989 (also known as the "Autumn of Nations") that swept through Eastern Europe and the Second World, in terms of their scale and significance.

• Others, however, have pointed out that there are several key differences between the movements, such as the desired outcomes and the organizational role of Internet-based technologies in the Arab revolutions.

Tunisia

Tunisia

Zine Al-Abidine Ben AliAged 75Deposed after 23 years

The downfall of Tunisia's President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali

inspired pro-democracy activists across the Arab world

Tunisia• Widespread discontent at economic hardship, decades of

autocratic rule and corruption erupted into mass demonstrations in December 2010

• After a young, unemployed man, Mohamed Bouazizi set fire to himself after officials stopped him selling vegetables in Sidi Bouzid

• Around 300 people were killed during the subsequent unrest, which forced Ben Ali to resign in January 2011, after 23 years in power, and go into exile in Saudi Arabia. He was later sentenced to life in prison in absentia.

Tunisia• In October 2011, Tunisia held its first democratic

parliamentary elections.

• The moderate Islamist Ennahda party won more than 41% of the vote in the constituent assembly tasked with drafting a new constitution.

• Veteran dissident Moncef Marzouki was then elected president.

Tunisia• Since July 2013 a stand-off between Ennahda and its secular

rivals, triggered by the assassination of two leftist politicians and other violence blamed on Salafists, has thwarted efforts to complete the draft constitution.

• Opposition supporters took to the streets to demand a non-partisan caretaker government until the constitution was finished and new elections were held,

• December 2013 the main political parties agreed on appointing Mehdi Jomaa as prime minister.

Egypt Hosni Mubarak Aged 84 Deposed after 29 years

Egypt

Egypt• Egypt has witnessed the overthrow of two presidents since

the start of the Arab Spring

• Eighteen days of mass protests forced Hosni Mubarak to resign in February 2011, after three decades in power.

• He was convicted of complicity in the deaths of 846 people killed during the uprising, but the verdict was overturned on appeal

Egypt• Following Mr Mubarak's resignation, the Supreme Council of

the Armed Forces (Scaf) assumed presidential powers.

• Parliamentary elections in 2011-12 saw overwhelming victories for the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party and Salafist al-Nour party

• In June 2012, the Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi was elected president.

Egypt• He swiftly revoked a controversial Scaf decree that limited his

powers, dissolved the House of Representatives and changed the military's leadership, naming Gen Abdul Fattah al-Sisi as chief of staff and defense minister

• Public opposition to Mr Morsi began to build in November 2012, when he issued a decree granting himself far-reaching powers, and were fuelled by the passage of what many considered an Islamist-leaning draft constitution

Egypt• Mr Morsi was deposed by the military in June 2013 after

millions of protesters took to the streets and replaced by an interim government

• Security forces then launched a crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, killing almost 1,000 people at two pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo.

• In December 2013, a constituent assembly finished drafting a new constitution to replace the 2012 charter

Egypt• Egypt is polarized between supporters of the interim

government and the military on the one-hand, and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and those who fear the authorities have become too repressive on the other.

• Some analysts say Egypt has returned to the kind of police state which the revolution aimed to remove

• A referendum were been held on the redrafted constitution, followed by parliamentary and presidential elections in 2014. It was clear what the hugely popular armed forces chief Gen Sisi will be the next President of Mursi

Libya

Libya Muammar Gaddafi Aged 68 Killed after 42 years

Libya • Libya's uprising began in February 2011 after security

forces in the eastern city of Benghazi opened fire on a protest.

• Anti-government demonstrations then erupted in other towns before eventually reaching Tripoli.

• They swiftly evolved into an armed revolt seeking to topple to Muammar Gaddafi.

Libya • In March 2011, after the UN Security Council authorized "all

necessary measures" to protect civilians, Nato powers launched air strikes on government targets, ostensibly aimed at imposing a no-fly zone.

• With military assistance from the West and several Arab states, rebel forces took Tripoli after six months of fighting in which several thousand people were killed.

• After four decades in power, Gaddafi went on the run and was captured and killed outside Sirte in August 2011

Libya

• The National Transitional Council (NTC), which led the revolt, declared Libya officially "liberated" and promised a pluralist, democratic state.

• In July 2012, it organized elections for an interim parliament, the General National Congress (GNC), in which liberal, secular and independent candidates beat the Muslim Brotherhood-aligned Justice and Construction Party

Libya • Since Gaddafi's overthrow Libya has been plagued by

instability, with some 300 revolutionary militias clashing repeatedly, defying requests to disarm and besieging government buildings.

• Many Libyans also complain of uneven regional development, unemployment and a lack of government transparency.

• Plans for the election of a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution were announced in September 2013

Yemen

YemenAli Abdullah Saleh Aged 70 Deposed after 33 years

Yemen• Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh was the fourth Arab

leader to be forced from power.

• Demonstrations calling for the end of his 33-year rule began in January 2011.

• Mr Saleh promised not to seek re-election, but the protests spread. Security forces and Saleh supporters launched a crackdown that eventually left between 200 and 2,000 people dead.

Yemen• In April 2011, Mr Saleh's General People's Congress (GPC)

agreed to a Gulf Co-operation Council-brokered deal to hand over power, but the president refused to sign.

• This prompted the Hashid tribal federation and several army commanders to back the opposition, after which clashes erupted in Sanaa.

• In June 2011, Mr Saleh was seriously injured in a bombing and travelled abroad for medical treatment

Yemen• He returned to the presidential palace in September 2011 amid

renewed clashes.

• It was not until November 2011 that he signed the deal that saw his deputy, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, assume power and form a unity government.

• Mr Hadi was sworn in for a two-year term as president in February 2012 after an election in which he stood unopposed.

Yemen

• Since taking power, President Hadi has struggled to tackle widespread poverty and malnutrition, an Islamist insurgency led by al-Qaeda, a secessionist movement in the south, and Zaidi Shia rebels in the north.

• A National Dialogue Conference involving rival political, tribal, religious and social groups, is being held as part of the process to draft a new constitution and hold democratic elections in February 2014.

Bahrain

BahrainKing Hamad al-Khalifa Aged 63 In power since 1999

Bahrain• Bahrain has been wracked by unrest since in February 2011,

when demonstrators occupied Manama's Pearl Roundabout, demanding more democracy and an end to discrimination against the majority Shia Muslim community by the Sunni royal family.

• The protesters were driven out by security forces in March 2011, after King Hamad declared a state of emergency and brought in troops from neighbouring Sunni-led Gulf states to restore order and crush dissent.

Bahrain• The unrest left at least 30 civilians and five policemen dead.

Almost 3,000 people were also arrested, and scores were handed long prison terms by military courts.

• International condemnation prompted King Hamad to set up the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI)

• which issued recommendations that included the prosecution of security forces personnel responsible for the torture and deaths of detainees, the release prisoners of conscience, and the reinstatement of dismissed Shia workers.

Bahrain• The king accepted the recommendations and the government

says they have all been implemented.

• However, critics have complained that not only is that not happening, but that the crackdown is continuing and abuses are on the increase.

• A national dialogue process has reached an impasse, with the opposition claiming the ruling Khalifa family have no intention of making good on its promises.

Bahrain

• With no breakthrough expected, angry Shia youth are increasingly turning to violence.

• Opposition and human rights activists say more than 45 people have been killed during clashes between security forces and protesters since the end of the March 2011 crackdown, though the government says the death toll is lower.

Syria

Syria

Bashar al-Assad Aged 48 In power since 2000

Syria • The wave of popular unrest that swept the Arab world came

late to Syria, but its once peaceful uprising has evolved into a brutal and increasingly sectarian armed conflict.

• Protests demanding greater freedom and an end to corruption began in the southern city of Deraa in March 2011. After security forces opened fire on demonstrators, more took to the streets.

• By July 2011, hundreds of thousands of people across the country were attending protests demanding President Bashar al-Assad's resignation.

Syria• Despite the security forces' concerted and ruthless efforts to

crush the "terrorists" and "armed criminal gangs", the uprising continued unabated. Opposition supporters began to take up arms, first to defend themselves and then to oust loyalist forces from their areas.

• In February 2012, President Assad pressed ahead with a referendum that approved a new constitution that dropped an article giving the ruling Baath Party unique status as the "leader of the state and society". The opposition denounced it as sham.

Syria• Pressure steadily built on Mr Assad as rebels seized control of

large parts of the north and east of the country and launched offensives on Damascus and Aleppo, while the opposition National Coalition was recognised around the world as the Syrian people's "legitimate representative".

• In 2013, the momentum in the conflict gradually began shifting in Mr Assad's favour, as government forces launched major offensives to recover territory and consolidate their grip on population centres in the south and west. The rebels' appeals for heavy weapons were meanwhile rejected by Western and Gulf allies concerned by the prominence of jihadists affiliated to al-Qaeda.

Syria

• However, Mr Assad was forced onto the defensive in August 2013 after a chemical weapons attack on the outskirts of Damascus that left hundreds dead.

• Although the US pulled back from launching punitive military strikes, the president was forced to agree to destroy Syria's chemical weapons.

Syria

• Neither side has managed to achieve a breakthrough on the battlefield and the government and National Coalition have reluctantly agreed to a peace conference in Geneva in January 2014.

• President Assad is refusing to step aside - a step the National Coalition is insisting on. Meanwhile, the war has produced a humanitarian disaster, leaving more than 100,000 people dead and forcing millions from their homes.