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The Blooming of the Jasmine
As the dead don’t speak, he too is absolutely mute. However, his muteness speaks a lot about the current popular sentiment brewing in the Arab world that had traditionally been marked by dictatorial regimes for decades together. But the waves of democracy just cannot be stopped.
The fear and trembling is because of what happened in France in 1789, in Russia in 1917, in Iran in 1979, in China in 1949 and in Cuba in 1959. Now on the streets of Cairo, Tunis, Algiers, Tehran, Manama, Riyadh and Saana, the world is getting a good glance at what the people see as the main threat – their own governments. For decades, a host of Arab dictators have justified their endless terms in office by pointing to Islamists waiting in the wings. Having both inflated the egos and power of Islamists and scared Western allies into accepting stability over democracy, those leaders were left to comfortably sweep ‘elections’.
THE JASMINE
REVOLUTION?
Tunisia’s ‘Jasmine Revolution’ as it has been dubbed, is the first popular uprising to succeed in removing a President in the Arab world. Violence in Tunisia now is a product of decades of repression.
The Tunisian example also shows change can come from the Arab societies themselves. It doesn’t have to be an invasion like in Iraq. It’s a big lesson for autocratic regimes in the region. The Lebanese daily An Nahar said in an editorial that the “echo” of the unprecedented revolution would resound “in more than one country of the region”.
The ousting of Tunisia’s President after violent protests is a stark warning to authoritarian regimes across the Arab world, whose people have long voiced similar grievances. A joke making the rounds in Egypt shortly after the news that the Tunisian leader, Zine el - Abidine Ben Ali had fled the country after 23 years in power reflects the mood on the streets of Arab nations. It says: “Ben Ali’s plane is approaching Sharm el-Sheikh (Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s residence on the Red Sea resort) not to land, but to pick up more passengers!”
The power of the Jasmine Revolution is to be marvelled at! The Tunisian revolution triggered democracy throughout the Arab world. Tahrir Square of Cairo has become a catchword for the youth in the Arabic World. Years ago in 1789, it was Tennis Court that caused the bloody revolution in France. Tehrir Square not only turned synonymous with Tennis Court but also became the rallying point of youth all over the Arab World.
Now let us have a peep into the Jasmine Revolution. How did it start in Tunisia?
The rage at political and economic disenfranchisement of Tunisians spilled over with the desperate act of an unemployed man. Mohammed Bouazizi, 26, distraught when police confiscated his unlicensed produce stand, set himself on fire on the 17th of December and died on the 3rd of January. Soon, several other unemployed youth tried to commit suicide, and at least one of them died. Is there a more poignant portrayal of what ails the Arab world than images of its young people killing themselves as their leaders get older and richer?
Waves of protests have swept across many Middle-Eastern countries after Egypt’s successful uprising which led to its President’s ouster. In Bahrain, Libya, and Yemen, the revolts are taking a bloody turn with Libya witnessing the bloodiest of riots. Human rights groups say more than 60 people have died in clashes with Ben Ali’s security forces since the 17th of December, but Bouazizi’s self-immolation has come to symbolize what many are calling the Jasmine Revolution.
Tunisia is a typical Middle East country in that its population is composed largely of young people. Half the population is under 25 years of age and so has known no leader other than Ben Ali, who was Tunisia’s only second President since it gained independence from France in 1956. Beginning in December last year, a series of ongoing protests in the streets of Tunisia escalated to the point where President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali - who had ruled the country for 23 years - at first declared he would not seek re-election, then fled the country on the 14th of January.
All around him is a depressingly familiar pattern. Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi (68 years old) has been in power since 1969; Yemen’s Ali Abdullah Saleh (64) has ruled since 1978 and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (82) since 1981. Algeria’s Abdelaziz Bouteflika (73) is a relative newcomer, having been in power only since 1999. Not so much fathers as grandfathers of their nations, these autocrats cling to office - and are increasingly out of touch with their young populaces.
It is interesting to note how the Army has been steering the protest movement along by vowing not to act violently against the people and giving them ‘legitimacy’ and the right to argue their case in Tunisia, Egypt and other countries. This has been the biggest blow to the dictators and their supporters in the Arab World. Although ironically, if the Army really wanted, they could have called it a day and the game would have been over from day one. Libya had to press mercenaries into the services to shoot the protesters.
It has taken 30 years for the Egyptian people to speak out against the autocratic regime of Hosni Mobarak. “Jasmine Revolution” made people of Libya speak against Colonel Muammar Gaddafi after 40 years of his autocratic rule. We’re seeing protests all throughout the region and people are drawing inspiration from the Tunisian-Egyptian model.
The ‘people power’ has emerged in Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Bahrain, Libya, Syria, Jordan, Iran, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Iraq: the ‘dirty dozen’ in the global map of democracy. The people there never had a taste of true democracy. Naturally, these nations are witnessing a historic moment: the democratic avalanche. The people of the region have a revolutionary opportunity to enfranchise citizens and this is the antithesis of the entire post-colonial formula. The pro-democracy movement, first in Tunisia, has engulfed almost the whole Arab World posing a threat to the archaic system of dictatorial regimes or anachronistic kingships.
The Arab upheaval, which has been compared to the 1989 collapse of the Berlin Wall, challenges not only the regimes that are falling, but also more fundamentally the entire Arab order that has held since the decolonization of three generations ago. People no longer seem to be afraid of Ben Ali, Mubarak, King Abdullah, Ali Nasser, Colonel Gaddafi and Hosni Mubarak.
Demonstrators are openly burning photographs of the dictators in open public places: an act that could not even be imagined a few years ago. This is a revolution in the making, sparked by youth who are determined to alter the dominant paradigm of politics and power. The orchestration of clamour for ‘Azadi’ shows that Arab people are not going to be cowed down by whims and fancies of dictatorial regimes. The fear of fear is over. The Arabians are showing a unique social contract cutting across their national boundaries.
THE DOMINO EFFECT?
Has the ongoing pro-democracy stir created a unique domino effect in the Arab World? Would the Domino Effect also affect Mayanmar, China, Cuba, Uganda, Nigeria, North Korea, Somalia and a host of other countries?
The most powerful effect of the Domino Effect was seen in 1980-90 when the Soviet Union disintegrated and heralded the collapse of the dictatorial communist regime. Soon, numerous eastern European nations having communist regimes started collapsing. Even the Berlin Wall was demolished to unite two East and West Germany which signified the death of communism in East Germany and its unification with West Germany.
Dictators and corrupt regimes in the Middle East and Africa are now holding their breath as young people have begun inspiring each other via the super information highway to usher in a peaceful transformation of the old order replete with human rights abuse.
The December riots in Tunisia which ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali ignited a wave of anti-government protests throughout the Arab world. Since December 2010, the pro-democracy movement has found new energy. Initially its demands were mostly economic, but within a short period after the start of the current revolt they have added the need for liberty, equality and fraternity.
The news of uprising from Tunis to Cairo and Cairo to Benghazi brought a flutter of excitement to the entire Arab World. Just take the case of the spread of popular outburst in Syria. Syria too, like Egypt or Tunisia, has been ruled for decades by a single party, with a security service that maintains an iron grip on its citizens. While looking at the Domino Effect, the travel route of protests offers us a very interesting study.
Following several days of protest, Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh announced on 2nd February that, after three decades in power, he would not seek another term in office. Take the instance of Algeria: a unique case of the Domino Effect. As the winter protests escalated in Tunisia, its western neighbour Algeria also saw a large number of young people taking to the streets. Though emergency has been in place in Algeria since 1992 and public demonstrations banned, the people took to the streets to replace the dictatorial regime with a democratic one.
From Algeria, the ‘day of rage’ traveled to Syria where President Bashar al-Assad inherited power in 2000 and ruled through emergency laws. The Domino Effect then affected Libya where Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has been ruling with an iron hand for the last four decades. Benghazi, the country’s second city, has seen the worst of the violence with security forces reportedly using machine-guns and heavy weapons to mow down mobs. The ‘day of rage’ then moved to Morocco where thousands of Moroccans joined nationwide protests on the 20th of February to demand the handing over of some of King Mohammed’s powers to a newly elected government thus making the justice system more independent. Morocco, like Egypt and Algeria, does allow limited freedom of expression and has so far been able to contain protests. Like Jordan it is a monarchy with strong support among sections of the public.
Thousands of Jordanians have taken to the streets over the past five weeks, demanding better employment prospects and cuts in food and fuel costs. In response, King Abdullah II sacked Prime Minister Samir Rifai over the slow pace of reform and appointed Marouf al-Bakhit, a former army general and ambassador to Israel.
A new 26-member cabinet was sworn in on the 10th of February. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a small country with few natural resources but it has played a pivotal role in the struggle for power in the Middle East. The death of King Hussein, who ruled for 46 years, left Jordan still struggling for economic and social survival as well as regional peace.
The fear and trembling is because of what happened in France in 1789, in Russia in 1917, in Iran in 1979, in China in 1949 and in Cuba in 1959. Now on the streets of Cairo, Tunis, Algiers, Tehran, Manama, Riyadh and Saana, the world is getting a good glance at what the people see as the main threat – their own governments. For decades, a host of Arab dictators have justified their endless terms in office by pointing to Islamists waiting in the wings. Having both inflated the egos and power of Islamists and scared Western allies into accepting stability over democracy, those leaders were left to comfortably sweep ‘elections’.
THE JASMINE
REVOLUTION?
Tunisia’s ‘Jasmine Revolution’ as it has been dubbed, is the first popular uprising to succeed in removing a President in the Arab world. Violence in Tunisia now is a product of decades of repression.
The Tunisian example also shows change can come from the Arab societies themselves. It doesn’t have to be an invasion like in Iraq. It’s a big lesson for autocratic regimes in the region. The Lebanese daily An Nahar said in an editorial that the “echo” of the unprecedented revolution would resound “in more than one country of the region”.
The ousting of Tunisia’s President after violent protests is a stark warning to authoritarian regimes across the Arab world, whose people have long voiced similar grievances. A joke making the rounds in Egypt shortly after the news that the Tunisian leader, Zine el - Abidine Ben Ali had fled the country after 23 years in power reflects the mood on the streets of Arab nations. It says: “Ben Ali’s plane is approaching Sharm el-Sheikh (Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s residence on the Red Sea resort) not to land, but to pick up more passengers!”
The power of the Jasmine Revolution is to be marvelled at! The Tunisian revolution triggered democracy throughout the Arab world. Tahrir Square of Cairo has become a catchword for the youth in the Arabic World. Years ago in 1789, it was Tennis Court that caused the bloody revolution in France. Tehrir Square not only turned synonymous with Tennis Court but also became the rallying point of youth all over the Arab World.
Now let us have a peep into the Jasmine Revolution. How did it start in Tunisia?
The rage at political and economic disenfranchisement of Tunisians spilled over with the desperate act of an unemployed man. Mohammed Bouazizi, 26, distraught when police confiscated his unlicensed produce stand, set himself on fire on the 17th of December and died on the 3rd of January. Soon, several other unemployed youth tried to commit suicide, and at least one of them died. Is there a more poignant portrayal of what ails the Arab world than images of its young people killing themselves as their leaders get older and richer?
Waves of protests have swept across many Middle-Eastern countries after Egypt’s successful uprising which led to its President’s ouster. In Bahrain, Libya, and Yemen, the revolts are taking a bloody turn with Libya witnessing the bloodiest of riots. Human rights groups say more than 60 people have died in clashes with Ben Ali’s security forces since the 17th of December, but Bouazizi’s self-immolation has come to symbolize what many are calling the Jasmine Revolution.
Tunisia is a typical Middle East country in that its population is composed largely of young people. Half the population is under 25 years of age and so has known no leader other than Ben Ali, who was Tunisia’s only second President since it gained independence from France in 1956. Beginning in December last year, a series of ongoing protests in the streets of Tunisia escalated to the point where President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali - who had ruled the country for 23 years - at first declared he would not seek re-election, then fled the country on the 14th of January.
All around him is a depressingly familiar pattern. Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi (68 years old) has been in power since 1969; Yemen’s Ali Abdullah Saleh (64) has ruled since 1978 and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (82) since 1981. Algeria’s Abdelaziz Bouteflika (73) is a relative newcomer, having been in power only since 1999. Not so much fathers as grandfathers of their nations, these autocrats cling to office - and are increasingly out of touch with their young populaces.
It is interesting to note how the Army has been steering the protest movement along by vowing not to act violently against the people and giving them ‘legitimacy’ and the right to argue their case in Tunisia, Egypt and other countries. This has been the biggest blow to the dictators and their supporters in the Arab World. Although ironically, if the Army really wanted, they could have called it a day and the game would have been over from day one. Libya had to press mercenaries into the services to shoot the protesters.
It has taken 30 years for the Egyptian people to speak out against the autocratic regime of Hosni Mobarak. “Jasmine Revolution” made people of Libya speak against Colonel Muammar Gaddafi after 40 years of his autocratic rule. We’re seeing protests all throughout the region and people are drawing inspiration from the Tunisian-Egyptian model.
The ‘people power’ has emerged in Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Bahrain, Libya, Syria, Jordan, Iran, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Iraq: the ‘dirty dozen’ in the global map of democracy. The people there never had a taste of true democracy. Naturally, these nations are witnessing a historic moment: the democratic avalanche. The people of the region have a revolutionary opportunity to enfranchise citizens and this is the antithesis of the entire post-colonial formula. The pro-democracy movement, first in Tunisia, has engulfed almost the whole Arab World posing a threat to the archaic system of dictatorial regimes or anachronistic kingships.
The Arab upheaval, which has been compared to the 1989 collapse of the Berlin Wall, challenges not only the regimes that are falling, but also more fundamentally the entire Arab order that has held since the decolonization of three generations ago. People no longer seem to be afraid of Ben Ali, Mubarak, King Abdullah, Ali Nasser, Colonel Gaddafi and Hosni Mubarak.
Demonstrators are openly burning photographs of the dictators in open public places: an act that could not even be imagined a few years ago. This is a revolution in the making, sparked by youth who are determined to alter the dominant paradigm of politics and power. The orchestration of clamour for ‘Azadi’ shows that Arab people are not going to be cowed down by whims and fancies of dictatorial regimes. The fear of fear is over. The Arabians are showing a unique social contract cutting across their national boundaries.
THE DOMINO EFFECT?
Has the ongoing pro-democracy stir created a unique domino effect in the Arab World? Would the Domino Effect also affect Mayanmar, China, Cuba, Uganda, Nigeria, North Korea, Somalia and a host of other countries?
The most powerful effect of the Domino Effect was seen in 1980-90 when the Soviet Union disintegrated and heralded the collapse of the dictatorial communist regime. Soon, numerous eastern European nations having communist regimes started collapsing. Even the Berlin Wall was demolished to unite two East and West Germany which signified the death of communism in East Germany and its unification with West Germany.
Dictators and corrupt regimes in the Middle East and Africa are now holding their breath as young people have begun inspiring each other via the super information highway to usher in a peaceful transformation of the old order replete with human rights abuse.
The December riots in Tunisia which ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali ignited a wave of anti-government protests throughout the Arab world. Since December 2010, the pro-democracy movement has found new energy. Initially its demands were mostly economic, but within a short period after the start of the current revolt they have added the need for liberty, equality and fraternity.
The news of uprising from Tunis to Cairo and Cairo to Benghazi brought a flutter of excitement to the entire Arab World. Just take the case of the spread of popular outburst in Syria. Syria too, like Egypt or Tunisia, has been ruled for decades by a single party, with a security service that maintains an iron grip on its citizens. While looking at the Domino Effect, the travel route of protests offers us a very interesting study.
Following several days of protest, Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh announced on 2nd February that, after three decades in power, he would not seek another term in office. Take the instance of Algeria: a unique case of the Domino Effect. As the winter protests escalated in Tunisia, its western neighbour Algeria also saw a large number of young people taking to the streets. Though emergency has been in place in Algeria since 1992 and public demonstrations banned, the people took to the streets to replace the dictatorial regime with a democratic one.
From Algeria, the ‘day of rage’ traveled to Syria where President Bashar al-Assad inherited power in 2000 and ruled through emergency laws. The Domino Effect then affected Libya where Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has been ruling with an iron hand for the last four decades. Benghazi, the country’s second city, has seen the worst of the violence with security forces reportedly using machine-guns and heavy weapons to mow down mobs. The ‘day of rage’ then moved to Morocco where thousands of Moroccans joined nationwide protests on the 20th of February to demand the handing over of some of King Mohammed’s powers to a newly elected government thus making the justice system more independent. Morocco, like Egypt and Algeria, does allow limited freedom of expression and has so far been able to contain protests. Like Jordan it is a monarchy with strong support among sections of the public.
Thousands of Jordanians have taken to the streets over the past five weeks, demanding better employment prospects and cuts in food and fuel costs. In response, King Abdullah II sacked Prime Minister Samir Rifai over the slow pace of reform and appointed Marouf al-Bakhit, a former army general and ambassador to Israel.
A new 26-member cabinet was sworn in on the 10th of February. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a small country with few natural resources but it has played a pivotal role in the struggle for power in the Middle East. The death of King Hussein, who ruled for 46 years, left Jordan still struggling for economic and social survival as well as regional peace.
Amlan Home Chowdhury
