A Journey around the Arab-Spring Revolutions in 30 minutes

2 Power Point presentations are attached in the bottom of the page

Journey around the Arab-Spring Revolutions

In 30 minutes

Houston Community College, Central Campus

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

There are 22 countries in the Middle East which form what is known as the Arab world and it is almost one and a half times the size of the USA. All of those countries have Arabic as the official language and the majority of its 300 million citizens follow the faith of Sunni Islam. They are located in southwest Asia and North Africa, expanding from the Arabian Gulf in the east to the Atlantic Ocean in the west. Before the spring of 2011, none of the people of these countries practiced freedom and/or democracy.

The Arabs are very proud of their history as they, in the middle ages, ruled over an empire that stretched from the borders of China in the East to Spain in the West. That is beside the civilizations they hosted on their land and the sciences and inventions they introduced to the world in the fields of medicine, physics, chemistry, astronomy, math, philosophy and poetry. They believe they deserve a better life than what they are having now, under dictatorships.

Arab History at a glance

To begin, I need to go back in time to help you to understand why these revolutions happened? Before WWI, and for about 5 centuries, the Arab world was part of the Ottoman Empire. The Empire lost that war and also lost its colonies which moved to the hands of the victors; mostly to the British and French. But after WWII, and after the rise of the USA and the Soviet Union as the ultimate two super powers, the British and French had to free their colonies and go home, ending the old colonial era. The Arab masses were optimistic an era of freedom and democracy, which they never experienced before, was about to start. Unfortunately, their optimism didn’t last long. As soon as they became independent countries, local leaders jumped to fill the power vacuum left by the colonials. Those leaders gave themselves different titles like Kings, Princes, Sultans, Presidents, and/or Comrades. Regardless of the different titles they gave themselves, their message to their people was the same, and here it is “Since we have just had independence, we, your beloved leaders, have to protect you from the exterior evil and conspiracies. Freedom and democracy are not good for us now, and we have to impose a state of emergency and rule the country with the military and police. Thank you for your understanding”. Sincerely yours.

Therefore, they asked their people to be prepared for long term ‘hardships and tough times’ in order to achieve that goal, but also promised to give them freedom, democracy and prosperity after achieving that goal. But about six decades went without anything. Those leaders not only couldn’t fulfill their pledge, but even two of them lost parts of their homelands to a foreign country, Israel, in the 1967 war; Egypt lost the Sinai Desert and Syria lost the Golan Heights. After that war, the Arab people started to recognize that those leaders are nothing but a bunch of failures, traitors, thieves and liars. Public protests started to take place in the seventies in Syria, Libya, Egypt and other places, but were crushed with no mercy by the dictators while both the East and the West pretended they didn’t see. After the Soviet Union collapsed and many countries gained their freedom from dictatorship, the Arab masses asked themselves “Why not us too?” When the year 2011 started, most of the Arab countries were bankrupt, and the people were suffering from both economic and human rights hardship. With masses of unemployed and oppressed youth, the mood couldn’t be better for revolutions.

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Tunisia

It is a North African and Mediterranean country, ¼ the size of Texas and with a population of 11 million. It got independence from France in 1956, but a year later its first dictator, Bourguiba, took charge and stayed in power for the next thirty years. In 1987, Bin Ali, a military intelligence general and interior minister took his post to become the second dictator. He was a pro-west who ruled with a fist of iron for the next 23 years, rejecting any real power sharing. Corruption flourished and also injustice. His family members and in-laws became ultra rich in a few years while the ordinary people sank more and more into poverty. Every thing was going great for him until Friday, December 17, 2011.

On that day, an unemployed 27 years old citizen called Al-Bouazizi was prevented from selling vegetables on a cart without a license in his town of Sidi-Bozid. His cart was seized by the authority, and then he was humiliated in public and slapped by a police woman. Out of despair and shame, he committed suicide by setting himself on fire in front of the local government building. The news spread real fast, and what happened to him found echoes in the hearts of millions of Tunisians. The next day, Saturday December 18, hundreds took their anger to the streets of that town, clashing with the police and marking the beginning of the revolution. A few days later, the hundreds became hundreds of thousands and they spread to other cities including the capital. The dictator, for the first time in his life, was scared, so he promised more reforms, civil rights and freedoms. He even promised he will not rerun for office again, but he soon noticed that his promises were too short too late.

He then called the uprising a foreign conspiracy and ordered the police to crush it, but it was also too late. So he had to turn to the army and order it to open fire on the protesters who were already advancing to the presidential palace, but he was stunned when his order was rejected. At that point, he had no other choice but to flee the country with his family. He did so January 14, 2011, marking the end of the 27 day revolution that claimed 300 lives.

Soon after, hundreds of his assistants were arrested and taken to the court and the head of the parliament was assigned as a temporary president. But on October 2011, a constitution assembly was elected and Al-Marzouki, a human rights activist, was elected a president. All signs show that the revolution put the country on the path of democracy and freedom.

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Egypt

It is located at the North-Eastern corner of Africa, 1½ times the size of Texas and a population of 80 million. It gained complete independence from Britain in 1952, and a military coup took place the same year against King Farouk. Egypt was under 3 military dictators since then; Nasser started it in 1953 until he died in 1970, Sadat took over until he was assassinated in 1981, and Mubarak stayed in power until the revolution in 2011.

Mubarak, a western ally, neglected his people, turned the economy into ruins and ran the country as a police state. After all that, he started preparing his son, Jamal, to succeed him. As Al-Bouazizi sparked the revolution in Tunisia, Khaled Saeed did in Egypt. This 28 years old young man was beaten to death by the police in a cafe in Alexandria in June 2010. The police claimed that he was a drug dealer and resisted his arrest, but the truth was that the man tried to shed light on police corruption.

The Egyptians, inspired by the Tunisians, started their revolution on January 25, 2011 by taking to the streets of Alexandria protesting the police brutality and the prolonged state of emergency. Few days later, the protesters became millions and reached the capital, Cairo. Mubarak, in his first speech, said “Egypt is not Tunisia” and, also, called the uprising a foreign conspiracy, but offered some reforms and freedoms. A few days later, he also promised not to rerun for reelection again and not to let his son do it. Meanwhile, he ordered more than a million policemen and thugs called ‘Baltajjia’ to crush the revolution by all means. There were rumors that he ordered the army to open fire, but was denied. On February 11, his vice president announced his resignation, ending the 18 day revolution that claimed about 850 lives.

The army formed a military counsel which took charge to keep law and order. Soon after, some of Mubarak’s ministers and helpers were arrested and a transitional government and parliament were put together. In April 2012, Mubarak himself was arrested and found guilty on more than one charge and was sentenced to life in prison in June 2012.

On the other hand, in January 2012 a new parliament was elected, and in July 2012, Morsi, a 61 year old engineer who got his PHD from the USA, became the first president in Egypt’s history to ever win a free election. It looks like the revolution put Egypt on the path of democracy and freedom.

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Yemen

As every country is different, Yemen also is. It is a product of 2 tribal countries which united in full unification back in 1990 to be ¾ the size of Texas. The two parts used to be called Aden and North Yemen.

Aden became a British colony in 1839 but was given its full independence in 1967. It became the Democratic Republic of Yemen and sided with the Soviets. The North got its independence from the Ottoman Empire back in 1849 and tried to rule itself by local leaders called Imams. After tens of years of border disputes and interior political unrest and series of short-term dictatorships, Saleh, a 36 years old army officer, seized power in the North in 1978. After 12 years of tribal turmoil, Aden and North Yemen signed the unification agreement in 1990 and Saleh stayed in charge.

It is not easy to rule a tribal country like Yemen with a population of 25 millions who are armed to the teeth. But instead of serving his people, he neglected them and concentrated on how to fasten his grip on power. He used his sons and relatives in all high ranking jobs, and didn’t do anything to stop corruption or fight unemployment.

The Yemenis were inspired by what happened in Tunisia and Egypt and decided to follow their steps. They made Friday February 11, 2011, the day Egypt’s Mubarak resigned, as the beginning of their peaceful revolution, demanding the removal of Saleh and his corrupted regime. Saleh refused to go and, as expected, didn’t forget to call the uprising a foreign conspiracy.

Ministers, diplomats and army officers started to join the revolution, especially after the police opened fire on the unarmed demonstrators. Saleh was warned by tribal leaders not to use force, but he didn’t listen. Even his own tribe condemned him and in June 3, 2011, an unknown party tried to assassinate him with explosives. Some of his ministers were killed, but he survived with bad burns. He was rushed to neighboring Saudi Arabia where he spent 3 months in treatment and recovery. He returned later and started negotiating his resignation terms with the mediation of the Arab Gulf Union. Finally, he resigned and left the country on January 23, 2012, and his vice president, Mansour, replaced him. It marked the end of the Yemeni revolution which lasted about a year and claimed about 2400 lives. A few months later, a referendum took place and Mansour kept his job as a transitional president until the next general election.

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Libya

This is a huge North African country, 2½ times the size of Texas, but with a population of just 7 million. Between the two WWs, Libya was under a different colonial power, the Fascist Italy, which was defeated in 1943. Libya, then, was managed temporarily by Britain and France until it was given full independence in 1952. Al-Senussi became the king of the country and also a friend to the West. In 1969, Gaddafi, a 27 years old army colonel, led a military coup, which he called a revolution, and toppled the king.

Gaddafi allied himself with the Soviets and tried to play revolutionary roles bigger than his size; he used the huge oil revenue of his country to finance leftists, communists and rebels around the world, which earned him the reputation of being a terrorism supporter. Soon he found himself in confrontation with the free world and the USA in particular which bombarded him in 1986, but missed. He was charged with being behind the downing of PAN AM flight 103 over Scotland in 1988 which earned him economic sanctions by the West. Because of the extreme political line he adopted, he had to rule his country for 40 years with extreme brutality and oppression. He committed a lot of atrocities against his people and was preparing his son, Saif, to succeed him, while his other sons were in top military and government jops.

On February 15 and 16, 2011, the people of Benghazi in the East, inspired by the Tunisians, Egyptians and Yemenis, took to the streets to protest arresting a lawyer whose crime was representing regime opponents; the police opened fire and killed a few people. The next day, February 17, 2011, marked the official beginning of the Libyan revolution. His son, Saif, soon gave a speech saying “Libya is not Tunisia or Egypt”. He meant that his father will not resign or run away, and he meant it, and he also called the uprising a foreign conspiracy. Gaddafi didn’t build a regular army to defend the country, but armed militias which had a lot of mercenaries to protect him and his regime. That is why when he ordered them to open fire on the Libyans, they didn’t hesitate, and many massacres were committed.

Just a month later, the revolution had to carry arms to defend itself from the brutality of Gaddafi. The justice minister, Abdul-Jalil, joined the revolution and formed the National Transitional Council. Also the interior minister, a general, joined and headed the military arm of the revolution. To the east, the city of Benghazi fell into the hands of the rebels, so Gaddafi sent a huge number of tanks and fighters to regain it. Scared of a big massacre there, the international community warned him of stop; but he didn’t listen. The Arab League met fast and authorized the Security Council to interfere and to use all means necessary to stop the expected massacre. An international coalition, mainly from USA, France and Britain started military strikes against Gaddafi’s units on March 19, 2011, forcing them to withdraw back to the west and marking the beginning of the end. Five months later, the capital, Tripoli, fell and Gaddafi and his guards fled to the desert. On October 20, 2011 he was ambushed near the city of Sirt where he was killed by the rebels on the spot. His death marked the end of the six months revolution that claimed about 50 thousand lives.

The Libyan National Transitional Council ran the country and paved the way for a general election that took place in July 2012, proving that the revolution put Libya on the path of democracy and freedom.

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Syria

A Mediterranean Asian country, ¼ the size of Texas, strategically located where Asia, Europe and Africa meet, Syria has a very important geopolitical value. With the oldest capital city in the world, Damascus, and the oldest city in the world, Aleppo, Syria has no match in history. But, also, its regime has no match in the Middle East, if not in the whole world, in its brutality.

Syria got independent from France back in 1946. Kuwatli, a nationalist who opposed the French, was elected by the parliament in 1943 and was re-elected after the French left. From 1946 to 1949, Syria was the first and the last Arab country in modern history to enjoy freedom and democracy, and also the best economy ever. In 1949, an army general who thought he was better than the politicians to rule Syria, led the first military coup in the Arab World and made himself a president. For the next 21 years, Syria suffered another 8 coups, 42 governments and a lot of foreign struggle over it.

In 1970, the defense minister, General Hafez Assad, seized power by the last coup. He decided to learn from those who came and left before him, so he became the bloodiest of all. As a defense minister, he was responsible of losing the Syrian Golan Heights to Israel in the 1967 war. He belonged to a sectarian minority called the Allawite that makes less than 10% of the whole population. Another 20% of the Syrians belong to other minorities like Christians, Kurds, Shiites, Druze and others, whereas about 70% are Arab Sunni Muslims. The Allawite claim they are a branch of the Shiites who make up the majority in Iran. Before Assad came to power, the Syrians didn’t pay attention to the sectarian issue. But then they started questioning Assad’s eligibility, as a minority, to rule Syria without free election. In 1980 and after a try on his life, he ordered a massacre in the military prison of Palmira, where one of his militias opened fire at about 500 prisoners in their cells. In 1982, and responding to an armed uprising, he ordered the massacre of the city of Hama which is considered the world worst massacre in the second half of the last century; about 50 thousand civilians were brutally killed in days. Suspiciously, both the West and East looked the opposite way.

The dictator passed away in 2000. His son, Bachar, a 37 years old eye doctor who had his training in Britain, took over. His fathers’ top officers orchestrated a false referendum for him where he won about 95% of the votes. The Syrians at the beginning were a little bit optimistic with the young new ruler. They didn’t have to wait too long to discover they were wrong. Shortly after he promised freedom and democracy in what was then being called ‘Damascus Spring’ in 2000, he put those who were fooled by his promises in jail. Five years later, Syrians from all classes peacefully requested freedom and democracy again; he did the same to them, proving, that he is no one but his father’s son. In the same year of 2005, the political mates in Saidnaya’s Military prison clashed with the guards and took hostages. The crises ended with a massacre where about a 1000 prisoners where murdered in cold blood.

Even though the Syrians were the last to join the Arab Spring in 2011, but they decided not to be left behind. Middle school kids from the city of Daraa wrote graffiti on their school walls saying ‘Down with Assad’. The kids were arrested and taken to the worst secret police station in Damascus. When their parents asked for their release, the officer in charge laughed and said to them “You have to forget about those kids, so go and make others”. The very next day, March 15, 2011, hundreds then thousands of peaceful demonstrators started to take to the streets, marking the beginning of the revolution. It was kept peaceful for the first six months, but had to take up arms to face the unexpected brutality of the regime that does not understand except the language of force. Soon, a lot of regular army officers and soldiers started to defect and form the Free Syrian Army (FSA) that has about 80 thousands fighters in it now.

After a year and a half, about 40 thousands lost their lives, 200 thousands disappeared with no trace, more than 3 millions became refugees in or outside Syria, and the revolution is still going. Russia and China are helping Assad politically and militarily, but Iran is sending fighters on the ground. Also, the Lebanese militia of Hezbollah and the Iraqi militia of Al-Muhdi Army, both Shiites, are sending troops to fight with Assad. Two incidences shook the regime lately;last July, top Assad security and military generals were assassinated in an explosion in Damascus, the next month, the newly assigned prime minister defected and joined the revolution. Many diplomats and high-rank military officers also did the same. The West and the countries that ally with it, all are helping the Syrian people in their struggle to get rid of that criminal regime. But their help is still too little and too shy to make the FSA accomplishing a clear victory.

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Lecture by Tarif Youssef-Agha

An Expatriate Arab Syrian Writer & Poet

Member of the ‘Syrian Revolutionary Writers Assembly’

Houston, Texas

Was given in HCC, central campus, room # 100 LHSB

Wednesday October 17, 2012

http://sites.google.com/site/tarifspoetry