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Arab Spring

Icon Of Egypt’s 2011 Revolt Gets 15 Years

June 11, 2014 Kevin Zeese, www.PopularResistance.org ,
A court on Wednesday convicted a prominent activist from Egypt's 2011 uprising for demonstrating without permit and assaulting a policeman, sentencing him to 15 years in prison. The sentence against Alaa Abdel-Fattah is by far the toughest against any of the liberal, pro-democracy activists behind the 18-day uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak's 29-year regime. It is also the first conviction of a prominent activist since former army chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi took office as president on Sunday. He was tried in abstentia, AP reported "he did turn up at the Cairo courtroom later on Wednesday and was detained by police." But, this does not describe the strange and unjust circumstances that actually occurred. Ahramonline reported that he and other defendants were actually trying to get into the courtroom for the trial...

Tunisia After The Arab Spring: Change, But No Change

April 4, 2014 Serge Halimi, www.mondediplo.com ,
Tunisia has taken the most hopeful direction after its Arab Spring. But none of the entrants in the forthcoming election seems to have the valid and drastic economic plans that will be needed to fulfil the aspirations of Tunisians. The Arab revolts in Egypt, Syria and Libya have not turned out happily, which leaves Tunisia as the last source of potential optimism in the region. None of the social aspirations that sparked its December 2010 uprising have been fulfilled. But after a long political crisis, and the assassinations of two leftwing members of parliament in six months (1), Tunisia has a new constitution, approved by 200 of its 216 parliamentarians, and a technocratic government of national unity. Tensions have eased and there is relative calm.

Tunisia Passes Progressive Constitution

February 13, 2014 Hayes Brown, www.thinkprogress.org , ,
After what had at times been a slow and frustrating process, the Tunisian National Assembly on Sunday evening voted to approve what is one of the most progressive constitutions in the region, with only 12 members of the 216-member legislative body voting against. Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki and outgoing Assembly chief Mustapha Ben Jaafar signed the document on Monday morning, bringing it into effect. With its new constitution, Tunisia, the starting place of the massive protests that swept Western Asia and North Africa in 2011, manages in some ways to surpass even the United States in terms of enshrining progressive ideals.

The Culmination of Resistance Against Urban Neoliberalism

January 8, 2014 Burak Kose, www.roarmag.org ,
On December 17, 2013, Turkey woke up to another morning of dawn operations involving raids, home and office searches, and arrests that have become a routine in the legal and political landscape of the country in recent years. What was anomalous this time, though, was that among the people who were the target of the allegations and taken into custody were there the sons of three Justice and Development Party (AKP) ministers — the Minister of Economics, the Minister of Environment and Urbanism, and the Minister of Internal Affairs.

Third Anniversary Of Tunisian Revolution, Birth Of Arab Spring

December 17, 2013 Staff, www.thetunistimes.com ,
Tunis, Kasbah- On the 17th December 2013, crowds of Tunisians participated in protests in the Kasbah Square, marking the 3rd anniversary of the Tunisian revolution. The demonstrations were based on a common current belief that the interests of Tunisia as a whole are more important than those of individual political parties. According to the event’s official Facebook page, the main goals of the event were to continue what Tunisians started three years ago by protesting against corruption, torture and repression. Following the interior ministry’s ban on the participation of any illegal organization in the protests, including Ansar al Shariaa, the event organizers insisted on peaceful demonstrations, without any use of political slogans or mottos. People from different regions were invited to participate and to show patriotic support, regardless of their political or ideological views. Organizers persuaded participants against the use of Ansar Al Shariaa flags, after threats from the police to break up the protests. Organizers reported various obstacles on their official Facebook page: electricity was occasionally cut, security checkpoints were set up before the entrance to the Kasbah Square, and many people coming from different regions such Kairouan , Sfax , Bizert and Siliana were forbidden from entering the Kasbah Square all together.

Don’t Move, Occupy! Social Movement Vs Social Arrest

November 5, 2013 Mehmet Döşemeci, www.roarmag.org , , , , , , , ,
Regardless of their final present political fate, the global uprisings since 2011 have already established mass continuous occupation of public space as the dominant form of political struggle in the early 21st century: the coming together of people who have both withdrawn their consent to be governed by the existing order and, equally importantly, discovered the responsibility, dignity, difficulty, and — above all — joy of instituting a society outside of it. In so doing, they have challenged the periodization that separated a mass political uprising from the democracy that may follow it. The common feature of all these occupations was the creation of democratic forms within the space and time of the uprising itself. This was made possible not through a politics predicated on movement, but rather one of arrest, of occupation, in order to create sites for the collective restructuring of social relations and space.

Revolution, Civil War and Imperialist Intervention

September 20, 2013 Marea Socialista, www.internationalviewpoint.org , ,
This statement on Syria was issued by the Venezuelan revolutionary organization Marea Socialista (“Socialist Tide”) on 8 September 2013. Active since the beginning within the Chavista movement and the Bolivarian process, Marea Socialista is a current organized within the PSUV (United Socialist Party of Venezuela), founded by Hugo Chavez. It advocates deepening the popular process in Venezuela and mobilizes against the bureaucratization of this process. It is interesting, in this respect, to know its analysis and its positioning concerning events in Syria. Its call for the internationalist and democratic radical Left to make itself heard in a coordinated manner is also important.

Tunisia’s Secular Opposition Pushes for Technocrat Cabinet Amid Political Tensions

August 14, 2013 The Tunis Times, www.thetunistimes.com ,
Critics say Tunisia is heading in wobbly steps towards an Egyptian scenario. Mr. Ben Jaafar, the president of the NCA, has ordered the halt of the national constituent assembly activities until dialogue between Islamists led-government and secularist opposition resumes. It seems very improbable, though, that a general consensus may see the light. The opposition is too keen to the end the reign of Islamists over power through staunch demands of a technocrat cabinet led an independent figure. Beji Kais Sebsi has renewed with platitude his distrust and refusal of Islamist leadership in many occasions. Many of his peer secularists made similar statement.

Security Crackdown Kills Scores in Egypt

August 14, 2013 Al Jazeera, www.aljazeera.com ,
Security forces have moved in on two Cairo protest camps set up by supporters of Egypt's ousted president Mohamed Morsi, launching a crackdown that quickly turned into a bloodbath with dozens dead. Conflicting reports have emerged over the number of people killed on Wednesday. However, Al Jazeera's correspondent counted 94 bodies in Rabaa al-Adawiya's makeshift hospital, while some members of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood said the death toll was as high as 2,200, with about 10,000 injured. Ammar Beltagi, the son of Mohammad Beltagi, the head of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice party, told Al Jazeera his 17-year-old sister, Asmaa, was shot and killed in the Rabaa al-Adawiya sit-in in Nasr City.

Bahrain Declares War on the Opposition

August 5, 2013 Emile Nakhleh, www.ipsnews.net ,
The special session of the Bahraini National Assembly held on Sunday Jul. 28 was a spectacle of venom, a display of vulgarity, and an unabashed nod to increased dictatorship. The 22 recommendations approved during the session aimed at giving the regime pseudo-legal tools to quash dissent and violate human and civil rights with impunity. All in the name of fighting “terrorism”. The parliamentary special session last Sunday showed a divisive, intolerant, and fractured country that is rapidly descending into chaos. It’s as if civility, rationality, and moderation have become relics from the past. King Hamad and the Crown Prince welcomed the recommendations, and the powerful prime minister urged his ministers to implement them immediately; in fact, he has threatened to fire any minister who slows their implementation. According to media reports, the recommendations were prepared before the meeting and were disseminated to the media a few minutes after the session ended. They were not even debated meaningfully or rationally during the session.
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