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89-502: The five arrested activists were: On 27 November 2011, bin Ghaith, Dalk, al-Khamis, and Khaleq were sentenced to two years' imprisonment, and Mansoor to three years of imprisonment for being the main architect and mastermind of the website. However, the following day, the five received a presidential pardon from Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed and were released. Inspired by the growing momentum of

178-628: A presidential election in 2012 regarded as free and fair by election observers, and was subsequently sworn in before judges at the Supreme Constitutional Court . Fresh protests against Morsi erupted in Egypt on 22 November 2012. More protests against Morsi's rule occurred one year into Morsi's presidency in June 2013, and on 3 July 2013, the military overthrew Morsi's government , thus removing him from office. The Arab Spring

267-489: A "campaign of intimidation". More than 2,929 people have been arrested, and at least five people died due to torture while in police custody. On 23 November 2011, the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry released its report on its investigation of the events, finding that the government had systematically tortured prisoners and committed other human rights violations. It also rejected

356-510: A "day of rage", usually Friday afternoon prayers. The protests also triggered similar unrest outside the region . Contrary to expectations the revolutions were not led by Islamists: Even though the Islamists were certainly present during the uprisings, they never determined the directions of these movements—after all, there was hardly any central leadership in any of the uprisings. Some Islamist groups initially were even reluctant to join in

445-465: A collective action—such as foment a political change. As of 5 April 2011 , the number of Facebook users in the Arab world surpassed 27.7 million people. Some critics have argued that digital technologies and other forms of communication—videos, cellular phones, blogs, photos, emails, and text messages—have brought about the concept of a "digital democracy" in parts of North Africa affected by

534-578: A continuation of the Arab Spring. As of 2021 , multiple conflicts are still continuing that might be seen as a result of the Arab Spring. The Syrian Civil War has caused massive political instability and economic hardship in Syria, with the Syrian pound plunging to new lows. In Libya, a major civil war recently concluded, with foreign powers intervening. In Yemen, a civil war continues to affect

623-469: A gory image of a headless 6-year-old girl on your Facebook news feed." In the months leading up to events in Tunisia, Department of Homeland Security , Customs and Border Protection , Communications Program Manager Jonathan Stevens predicted the use of "collaborative Internet utilities" to effect governmental change. In his thesis, Webeaucracy: The Collaborative Revolution Archived 28 February 2019 at

712-450: A major Arab movement towards democratization . The term "Arab Spring" is thus contested as it signifies an expectation that the events would replicate the example of democratic revolutions set by the West. Lastly, the term “Arab” is contested as well as it homogenises the region’s cultural specificities and oversimplifies the nature of its diverse histories and cultures. The world watched

801-414: A number of demographic structural factors, such as a large percentage of educated but dissatisfied youth within the entire population. Catalysts for the revolts in all Northern African and Persian Gulf countries included the concentration of wealth in the hands of monarchs in power for decades, insufficient transparency of its redistribution, corruption, and especially the refusal of the youth to accept

890-542: A number of issues. In February 2008, US Ambassador Robert Ford wrote in a leaked diplomatic cable that Algeria is "unhappy" with long-standing political alienation; that social discontent persisted throughout the country, with food strikes occurring almost every week; that there were demonstrations every day somewhere in the country; and that the Algerian government was corrupt and fragile. Some claimed that during 2010 there were as many as "9,700 riots and unrests" throughout

979-551: A series of conflicts during the three years leading up to the Arab Spring, the most notable occurring in the mining area of Gafsa in 2008, where protests continued for many months. These protests included rallies, sit-ins, and strikes, during which there were two fatalities, an unspecified number of wounded, and dozens of arrests. In Egypt , the labor movement had been strong for years, with more than 3000 labor actions since 2004, and provided an important venue for organizing protests and collective action. One important demonstration

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1068-523: A three-month state of emergency on 15 March and asked the military to reassert its control as clashes spread across the country. On 16 March, armed soldiers and riot police cleared the protesters' camp in the Pearl Roundabout, in which 3 policemen and 3 protesters were reportedly killed. Later, on 18 March, the government tore down Pearl Roundabout monument. After the lifting of emergency law on 1 June, several large rallies were staged by

1157-464: A very high level of Internet usage (such as Bahrain with 88% of its population online in 2011) and in states with some of the lowest Internet penetration ( Yemen and Libya ). The use of social media platforms more than doubled in Arab countries during the protests, with the exception of Libya. Some researchers have shown how collective intelligence , dynamics of the crowd in participatory systems such as social media, has immense power to support

1246-435: Is "a strong and sincere mea culpa " and that his criticism of Middle East experts for "underestimating the hidden forces driving change ... while they worked instead to explain the unshakable stability of repressive authoritarian regimes" is well-placed. Toledano then quotes Gause saying, "As they wipe the egg off their faces," those experts "need to reconsider long-held assumptions about the Arab world." Tunisia experienced

1335-629: The Western Sahara . A major slogan of the demonstrators in the Arab world is ash-shaʻb yurīd isqāṭ an-niẓām! ( Arabic : الشعب يريد إسقاط النظام , lit.   'the people want to bring down the regime'). The wave of initial revolutions and protests faded by mid to late 2012, as many Arab Spring demonstrations were met with violent responses from authorities, pro-government militias, counterdemonstrators, and militaries. These attacks were answered with violence from protesters in some cases. Multiple large-scale conflicts followed:

1424-602: The Great Recession may have had a hand as well. Some activists had taken part in programs sponsored by the US-funded National Endowment for Democracy , but the US government claimed that they did not initiate the uprisings. Numerous factors led to the protests, including issues such as reform, human rights violations, political corruption , economic decline, unemployment, extreme poverty, and

1513-640: The Human Rights Watch demanded his immediate release in April 2019 and described his sentence of 10 years in jail as an "unfair trial". In May 2019, UN human rights experts said Mansoor's condition in the UAE prison and prolonged solitary confinement might constitute torture. They said they were “gravely concerned” for Mansoor's condition in the prison and urged the UAE authorities to provide him with adequate medical support or release him. Ahmed Abdul Khaleq

1602-680: The Syrian civil war ; the rise of ISIL , insurgency in Iraq and the following civil war ; the Egyptian Crisis , election and removal from office of Mohamed Morsi , and subsequent unrest and insurgency ; the Libyan Crisis ; and the Yemeni crisis and subsequent civil war . Regimes that lacked major oil wealth and hereditary succession arrangements were more likely to undergo regime change. A power struggle continued after

1691-612: The Tunisian Revolution protests. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak resigned on 11 February 2011 after 18 days of massive protests, ending his 30-year presidency. The Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown on 23 August 2011, after the National Transitional Council (NTC) took control of Bab al-Azizia . He was killed on 20 October 2011 in his hometown of Sirte after the NTC took control of

1780-506: The Wayback Machine , Stevens put forth that unlike writing, printing, and telecommunications, "collaborative Internet utilities" denote a sea-change in the ability of crowds to effect social change. People and collaborative Internet utilities can be described as actor-networks; the subitizing limit (and history) suggests people left to their own devices cannot fully harness the mental power of crowds. Metcalfe's law suggests that as

1869-576: The monarchy . Lingering frustration among the Shiite majority with being ruled by the Sunni government was a major root cause, but the protests in Tunisia and Egypt are cited as the inspiration for the demonstrations. The protests were largely peaceful until a pre-dawn raid by police on 17 February to clear protestors from Pearl Roundabout in Manama , in which police killed four protesters. Following

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1958-843: The "biggest transformation of the Middle East since decolonization". By the end of February 2012, 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 , Oman , and Sudan ; and minor protests had occurred in Mauritania , Saudi Arabia , Djibouti , Western Sahara , and Palestine . Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia on 14 January 2011 following

2047-540: The 2011 Edinburgh Festival . The organization also coined the name "The UAE Five" to refer to the men, which was later adopted by some media sources. Human Rights Watch condemned the trial as "an attack on free expression", and Front Line Defenders , the Index on Censorship , and the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information also called for the men's release. Because of his academic background, bin Ghaith's trial

2136-775: The Abu Dhabi Federal Appeals Court sentenced bin Ghaith to life in prison. Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( Arabic : الربيع العربي , romanized :  ar-rabīʻ al-ʻarabī ) or the First Arab Spring (to distinguish from the Second Arab Spring ) was a series of anti-government protests , uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in Tunisia in response to corruption and economic stagnation . From Tunisia,

2225-613: The Arab Spring in North Africa . During this period, several leaders announced their intentions to step down at the end of their current terms. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir announced that he would not seek reelection in 2015 (he ultimately retracted his announcement and ran anyway), as did Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki , whose term was to end in 2014, although there were violent demonstrations demanding his immediate resignation in 2011. Protests in Jordan also caused

2314-622: The Arab Spring, people created pages on Facebook to raise awareness about alleged crimes against humanity, such as police brutality in the Egyptian Revolution (see Wael Ghonim and Death of Khaled Mohamed Saeed ). Whether the project of raising awareness was primarily pursued by Arabs themselves or simply advertised by Western social media users is a matter of debate. Jared Keller, a journalist for The Atlantic , claims that most activists and protesters used Facebook (among other social media) to organize; however, what influenced Iran

2403-456: The Egyptian government attempted, somewhat successfully, to eliminate the nation's Internet access, in order to inhibit the protesters' ability to use media activism to organize through social media . Later that day, as tens of thousands protested on the streets of Egypt's major cities, President Hosni Mubarak dismissed his government, later appointing a new cabinet. Mubarak also appointed

2492-580: The Emirati authorities over his release. Ahmed Mansoor was arrested again on March 19, 2017, at his Ajman home, on charges of publishing false information, inciting hatred, and defaming the UAE online and "seeking to damage the relationship of the UAE with its neighbors". He was also accused of conspiring with a terrorist organization but was found innocent of that charge. He was subsequently charged with 10 years in prison and 1,000,000 Emirati Dirham (approximately US$ 270,000) fine. Amnesty International criticized

2581-643: The Mediterranean coast. On 17 March, United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 was adopted, authorising a no-fly zone over Libya, and "all necessary measures" to protect civilians. Two days later, France, the United States and the United Kingdom intervened in Libya with a bombing campaign against pro-Gaddafi forces. A coalition of 27 states from Europe and the Middle East soon joined

2670-458: The Saudi government during this time. He was murdered by the government a few years later. Inspired by the uprising in Tunisia and prior to his entry as a central figure in Egyptian politics, potential presidential candidate Mohamed ElBaradei warned of a "Tunisia-style explosion" in Egypt. Protests in Egypt began on 25 January 2011 and ran for 18 days. Beginning around midnight on 28 January,

2759-589: The UAE forever". Nasser bin Ghaith was rearrested in March 2017 following his comments on Twitter regarding his previous arrest. His charges included “insulting the UAE”. The Amnesty International reported that he was not able to prepare a proper defence as his access to a lawyer was restricted by the UAE authorities. He has been on a hunger strike since 7 October 2018 and has become too weak to even stand, with initial loss of eyesight. Till date there has been no response from

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2848-563: The US political journal Foreign Policy . Political scientist Marc Lynch described Arab Spring as "a term I may have unintentionally coined in a 6 January 2011 article" for Foreign Policy magazine. Protestors involved in the events however described their own political actions as "uprising" ( intifada ), Arab "awakening" ( sahwa ) and Arab "renaissance" ( nahda ), using expressions like al-marar al-Arabi (the Arab bitterness), karama (dignity) and thawra (revolution). Some authors argue that western governments, scholars and media used

2937-546: The United Arab Emirates for Mansoor's verdict and called the charge a "devastating blow to freedom of expression in the country" and called for the unconditional release of Mansoor. Mansoor received the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders in 2015 prior to his imprisonment. Following Mansoor's deteriorating health conditions and massive weight loss due to his month-long hunger strike,

3026-518: The United Nations Development Program concluded that "social media in general, and Facebook in particular, provided new sources of information the regime could not easily control and were crucial in shaping how citizens made individual decisions about participating in protests, the logistics of protest, and the likelihood of success." Marc Lynch of George Washington University said, "while social media boosters envisioned

3115-743: The Year ". Spanish photographer Samuel Aranda won the 2011 World Press Photo award for his image of a Yemeni woman holding an injured family member, taken during the civil uprising in Yemen on 15 October 2011. Overthrow of Mohamed Morsi , who was convicted of espionage and inciting the killing of protestors. Yemeni crisis begins, followed by a civil war Start of War in Iraq (2014–2017) (combined estimate of events) The protests in Bahrain started on 14 February , and were initially aimed at achieving greater political freedom and respect for human rights ; they were not intended to directly threaten

3204-655: The activists regarding the protection of their whereabouts. Western countries are perceived to have generally overlooked these issues, including the United States , France , and several other European countries. The founder of the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy in Washington, DC believed that even ten years after the Arab Spring, Egypt was at its lowest for human rights. Anti-government protests began in Libya on 15 February 2011. By 18 February,

3293-595: The arrest, calling the action an "unlawful expulsion" motivated by the government's desire to stifle dissent. Nasser bin Ghaith was arrested on 18 August 2015, four days after criticising the Egyptian government on Twitter; he was also accused of having ties with al-Islah and the Ummah Party, which had been classified as terrorist organisations in the UAE in 2014. Subsequent charges were also raised that he had published material online with "sarcastic intent" to "damage

3382-588: The city. Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh signed the GCC power-transfer deal in which a presidential election was held, resulting in his successor Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi formally replacing him as president on 27 February 2012 in exchange for immunity from prosecution. Weapons and Tuareg fighters returning from the Libyan Civil War stoked a simmering conflict in Mali that has been described as 'fallout' from

3471-441: The country. In Lebanon, a major banking crisis is threatening the country's economy as well as that of neighboring Syria. The denomination “Arab Spring” is contested by some scholars and observers claiming that the term is problematic for several reasons. First, it was coined by Western commentators, not those involved in the events. The first specific use of the term Arab Spring as used to denote these events may have started with

3560-560: The country. Many protests focused on issues such as education and health care, while others cited rampant corruption. In Western Sahara, the Gdeim Izik protest camp was erected 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) southeast of El Aaiún by a group of young Sahrawis on 9 October 2010. Their intention was to demonstrate against labor discrimination, unemployment, looting of resources, and human rights abuses. The camp contained between 12 000 and 20 000 inhabitants, but on 8 November 2010 it

3649-517: The creation of a new public sphere based on dialogue and mutual respect, the reality is that Islamists and their adversaries retreat to their respective camps, reinforcing each other's prejudices while throwing the occasional rhetorical bomb across the no-man's land that the center has become." Lynch also stated in a Foreign Policy article, "There is something very different about scrolling through pictures and videos of unified, chanting Yemeni or Egyptian crowds demanding democratic change and waking up to

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3738-459: The defendants had been "denied any meaningful opportunity to challenge the charges and the evidence against them". Human Rights Watch also described the trial as "grossly unfair". On 3 October, the UAE Five refused to attend a session of their trial, demanding that the hearings be opened to the public and that they be allowed to question witnesses. On 13 November, with the trial still in progress,

3827-474: The demonstrations, the Bahraini authorities are known to have accelerated their crackdown. They have been targeting human rights defenders, journalists, Shiite political groups and social media critics. Saudi government forces quashed protests in the country and assisted Bahraini authorities in suppressing demonstrations there. Jamal Khashoggi , a Saudi critic, covered the Arab spring and spoke out against

3916-700: The end of 2011 as many Egyptians expressed concern about the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces ' perceived sluggishness in instituting reforms and their grip on power. Hosni Mubarak and his former interior minister Habib el-Adly were sentenced to life in prison on the basis of their failure to stop the killings during the first six days of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. His successor, the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Islamist Mohamed Morsi , won

4005-563: The end of his 42 years of power. Many institutions of the government, including Gaddafi and several top government officials, regrouped in Sirte , which Gaddafi declared to be Libya's new capital. Others fled to Sabha , Bani Walid , and remote reaches of the Libyan Desert , or to surrounding countries. However, Sabha fell in late September, Bani Walid was captured after a grueling siege weeks later, and on 20 October, fighters under

4094-556: The end of the month. Following their arrests, UAE government-controlled media reported that the five were "religious extremists" and Iranian foreign agents. Their arrests received immediate international attention, with continuing coverage in the BBC News , The New York Times , and various other media. Amnesty International designated the five prisoners of conscience and called for their immediate and unconditional release, recruiting comedians and writers to lobby for their cause at

4183-454: The events of the Arab Spring unfold, "gripped by the narrative of a young generation peacefully rising up against oppressive authoritarianism to secure a more democratic political system and a brighter economic future". The Arab Spring is widely believed to have been instigated by dissatisfaction, particularly of youth and unions, with the rule of local governments, though some have speculated that wide gaps in income levels and pressures caused by

4272-455: The existing system, including many unemployed persons, political and human rights activists, labor and trade unionists, students, professors, lawyers, and others to begin the Tunisian Revolution . The series of protests and demonstrations across the Middle East and North Africa that commenced in 2010 became known as the "Arab Spring", and sometimes as the "Arab Spring and Winter", "Arab Awakening", or "Arab Uprisings", even though not all

4361-402: The first Vice President in almost 30 years. The U.S. embassy and international students began a voluntary evacuation near the end of January, as violence and rumors of violence escalated. On 10 February, Mubarak ceded all presidential power to Vice President Omar Suleiman , but soon thereafter announced that he would remain as president until the end of his term. However, protests continued

4450-415: The five began a hunger strike to protest their continued detention; Human Rights Watch reported that the five were in poor health. On 27 November, the panel of four judges sentenced bin Ghaith, Dalk, al-Khamis, and Khaleq to two years' imprisonment, and Mansoor to three years. Following the announcement of the verdict, a pro-government protester reportedly assaulted a relative of one of the defendants despite

4539-541: The five prisoners. The government charged the prisoners with violating article 176 of the UAE Penal Code, which criminalizes insults to the nation's leadership; the prosecutor's case focused on their posts to an online pro-democracy forum, which had by then been shut down and replaced with a travel service. On 18 July, the UAE Five pleaded not guilty. Amnesty International later condemned their trial as "fundamentally unfair" and "marred with irregularities", stating that

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4628-515: The government's claims that the protests were instigated by Iran . Although the report found that systematic torture had stopped, the Bahraini government has refused entry to several international human rights groups and news organizations, and delayed a visit by a UN inspector . More than 80 people had died since the start of the uprising. Even a decade after the 2011 uprisings, the situation in Bahrain remained unchanged. The regime continued suppression against all forms of dissent. Years after

4717-404: The heavy security presence. The following day, however, the five received a presidential pardon and were released. The office of President Khalifa declined to comment to reporters on the reason for the pardon. Bin Ghaith told reporters that he was glad to be free, but that he felt that the trial had been "a sad moment for our homeland, a beginning of a police state that has tarnished the image of

4806-482: The immediate response to the Arab Spring. While leadership changed and regimes were held accountable, power vacuums opened across the Arab world. Ultimately, it resulted in a contentious battle between a consolidation of power by religious elites and the growing support for democracy in many Muslim-majority states. The early hopes that these popular movements would end corruption, increase political participation, and bring about greater economic equity quickly collapsed in

4895-402: The intervention. The forces were driven back from the outskirts of Benghazi, and the rebels mounted an offensive , capturing scores of towns across the coast of Libya. The offensive stalled however, and a counter-offensive by the government retook most of the towns, until a stalemate was formed between Brega and Ajdabiya , the former being held by the government and the latter in the hands of

4984-489: The limited role of social networks, such as Yemen and Libya , the role of mainstream electronic media devices—cellular phones, emails, and video clips (e.g., YouTube )—was very important to cast the light on the situation in the country and spread the word about the protests in the outside world. In Egypt , in Cairo particularly, mosques were one of the main platforms to coordinate the protest actions and raise awareness to

5073-434: The masses. Conversely, scholarship literature on the Middle East, political scientist Gregory Gause has found, had failed to predict the events of the Arab uprisings. Commenting on an early article by Gause whose review of a decade of Middle Eastern studies led him to conclude that almost no scholar foresaw what was coming, Chair of Ottoman and Turkish Studies at Tel Aviv University Ehud R. Toledano writes that Gause's finding

5162-751: The next day, and Suleiman quickly announced that Mubarak had resigned from the presidency and transferred power to the Armed Forces of Egypt . The military immediately dissolved the Egyptian Parliament , suspended the Constitution of Egypt , and promised to lift the nation's thirty-year " emergency laws ". A civilian, Essam Sharaf , was appointed as Prime Minister of Egypt on 4 March to widespread approval among Egyptians in Tahrir Square . Violent protests, however, continued through

5251-438: The number of nodes increases, the value of collaborative actor-networks increases quadratically; collaborative Internet utilities effectively increase the subitizing limit, and, at some macro scale, these interactive collaborative actor-networks can be described by the same rules that govern Parallel Distributed Processing , resulting in crowd sourcing that acts as a type of distributed collective consciousness. The Internet assumes

5340-545: The number of protestors at the Pearl Roundabout peaked at over 150 000 after more than 100 000 protesters marched there and were coming under fire from the Bahraini Military which killed around 20 and injured over 100 protestors. On 14 March, GCC forces (composed mainly of Saudi and UAE troops) were requested by the government and occupied the country. King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa declared

5429-419: The opposition controlled most of Benghazi , the country's second-largest city. The government dispatched elite troops and militia in an attempt to recapture it, but they were repelled. By 20 February, protests had spread to the capital Tripoli , leading to a television address by Saif al-Islam Gaddafi , who warned the protestors that their country could descend into civil war. The rising death toll, numbering in

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5518-544: The opposition parties. Smaller-scale protests and clashes outside of the capital have continued to occur almost daily. On 9 March 2012, over 100 000 protested in what the opposition called "the biggest march in our history". The police response has been described as a "brutal" crackdown on peaceful and unarmed protestors, including doctors and bloggers. The police carried out midnight house raids in Shia neighbourhoods, beatings at checkpoints, and denial of medical care in

5607-610: The participants in the protests were Arab . It was sparked by the first protests that occurred in Tunisia on 18 December 2010 in Sidi Bouzid, following Mohamed Bouazizi 's self-immolation in protest of police corruption and ill treatment. With the success of the protests in Tunisia, a wave of unrest sparked by the Tunisian "Burning Man" struck Algeria , Jordan , Egypt , and Yemen , then spread to other countries. The largest, most organized demonstrations often occurred on

5696-485: The platform for sustained political action in pursuit of the "long revolution". The government mobilized to break the strike through infiltration and riot police, and while the regime was somewhat successful in forestalling a strike, dissidents formed the "6 April Committee" of youths and labor activists, which became one of the major forces calling for the anti- Mubarak demonstration on 25 January in Tahrir Square . In Algeria , discontent had been building for years over

5785-537: The pro-democracy Arab Spring , Emirati activists began to be more vocal in their opposition to the UAE government in early 2011. Bin Ghaith, an "outspoken economics professor", was arrested on 11 April for his call for "democratic and economic reforms". Mansoor, an engineer, blogger, and member of Human Rights Watch , was arrested the same day for signing a petition in favor of an elected parliament, and Dalk, al-Khamis, and Khaleq were detained for their online activities before

5874-656: The problematic nature of projecting Western expectations onto non-Western actors and practices. The terminology follows the Western example of the Revolutions of 1848 referred to as “Spring of Nations” and the Prague Spring in 1968, in which a Czech student, Jan Palach , set himself on fire as Mohamed Bouazizi did. In the aftermath of the Iraq War , it was used by various commentators and bloggers who anticipated

5963-696: The protests then spread to five other countries: Libya , Egypt , Yemen , Syria and Bahrain . Rulers were deposed ( Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia in 2011, Muammar Gaddafi of Libya in 2011, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt in 2011, and Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen in 2012) or major uprisings and social violence occurred including riots, civil wars, or insurgencies. Sustained street demonstrations took place in Morocco , Iraq , Algeria , Lebanon , Jordan , Kuwait , Oman and Sudan . Minor protests took place in Djibouti , Mauritania , Palestine , Saudi Arabia and

6052-602: The protests, and the major religious groups in Egypt— Salafis , al-Azhar , and the Coptic Church —initially opposed the revolution. The mufti of Egypt, Ali Gomaa , proclaimed that rising against a lawful ruler—President Mubarak—was haram , not permissible. And the Muslim Brotherhood 's old guard joined in the protests reluctantly only after being pushed by the group's young people. The Arab Spring caused

6141-488: The raid, some protesters began to expand their aims to a call for the end of the monarchy. On 18 February, army forces opened fire on protesters when they tried to reenter the roundabout, fatally wounding one. The following day protesters reoccupied Pearl Roundabout after the government ordered troops and police to withdraw. Subsequent days saw large demonstrations; on 21 February a pro-government Gathering of National Unity drew tens of thousands, whilst on 22 February

6230-712: The rebels. Focus then shifted to the west of the country, where bitter fighting continued. After a three-month-long battle , a loyalist siege of rebel-held Misrata , the third largest city in Libya, was broken in large part due to coalition air strikes. The four major fronts of combat were generally considered to be the Nafusa Mountains , the Tripolitanian coast, the Gulf of Sidra , and the southern Libyan Desert . In late August, anti-Gaddafi fighters captured Tripoli , scattering Gaddafi's government and marking

6319-451: The region. In the wake of the Arab Spring protests, a considerable amount of attention focused on the role of social media and digital technologies in allowing citizens within areas affected by "the Arab Uprisings" as a means for collective activism to circumvent state-operated media channels. The influence of social media on political activism during the Arab Spring has, however, been much debated. Protests took place both in states with

6408-612: The report, included human rights activists of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), who were arrested in November 2020. The executive director of the Project on Middle East Democracy, Stephen McInerney, said that a majority of pro-democracy activists had escaped Egypt, while those who could not had gone into hiding. The Project on Middle East Democracy mentioned using encrypted communication channels to talk to

6497-482: The reputation" of the Emirati government. In May 2016, he was transferred to Al-Sadr prison, where he was placed in solitary confinement; his whereabouts during the period between his arrest and the transfer were unknown to his family. During his detention, it was reported that bin Ghaith was subjected to ill treatment and torture. Bin Ghaith's trial officially began on 4 April 2016, though Human Rights Watch reported that he did not have access to legal representation until

6586-471: The role of earlier totemic religious figureheads, uniting the members of society through mechanical solidarity forming a collective consciousness. Through many-to-many collaborative Internet utilities, the Webeaucracy is empowered as never before. Social networks were not the only instrument for rebels to coordinate their efforts and communicate. In the countries with the lowest Internet penetration and

6675-562: The sacking of four successive governments by King Abdullah . The popular unrest in Kuwait also resulted in the resignation of Prime Minister Nasser Al-Sabah 's cabinet. The geopolitical implications of the protests drew global attention. Some protesters were nominated for the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize . Tawakkol Karman of Yemen was co-recipient of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize due to her role organizing peaceful protests. In December 2011 Time magazine named "The Protester" its " Person of

6764-406: The same poll said that blocking Facebook greatly hindered and/or disrupted communication. Social media sites were a platform for different movements formed by many frustrated citizens, including the 2008 "April 6 Youth Movement" organized by Ahmed Mahed, which set out to organize and promote a nationwide labor strike and which inspired the later creation of the "Progressive Youth of Tunisia". During

6853-515: The second hearing on 2 May. In December 2016, the judge referred the case to the Federal Appeal Court, delaying the trial from commencing properly until 21 January 2017. Bin Ghaith was subsequently sentenced to 10 years in prison. In January 2014, bin Ghaith was among 84 people arrested on charges of "establishing and managing a clandestine terrorist organisation in the UAE known as the 'Justice and Dignity Committee'". On 10 July 2024,

6942-420: The start of the Arab Spring. The catalyst for the escalation of protests was the self-immolation of Tunisian Mohamed Bouazizi . Unable to find work and selling fruit at a roadside stand, Bouazizi had his wares confiscated by a municipal inspector on 17 December 2010. An hour later he doused himself with gasoline and set himself afire. His death on 4 January 2011 brought together various groups dissatisfied with

7031-495: The status quo. Some protesters looked to the Turkish model as an ideal (contested but peaceful elections, fast-growing but liberal economy, secular constitution but Islamist government). Other analysts blamed the rise in food prices on commodity traders and the conversion of crops to ethanol . Yet others have claimed that the context of high rates of unemployment and corrupt political regimes led to dissent movements within

7120-473: The term to minimise people’s revolutionary aims and discourse. Joseph Massad on Al Jazeera said the term was "part of a US strategy of controlling the movement's aims and goals" and directing it towards Western-style liberal democracy . When Arab Spring protests in some countries were followed by electoral success for Islamist parties, some American pundits coined the terms Islamist Spring and Islamist Winter . The term “Spring” further illustrates

7209-582: The thousands, drew international condemnation and resulted in the resignation of several Libyan diplomats, along with calls for the government's dismantlement. Amidst ongoing efforts by demonstrators and rebel forces to wrest control of Tripoli from the Jamahiriya , the opposition set up an interim government in Benghazi to oppose Colonel Muammar Gaddafi 's rule. However, despite initial opposition success, government forces subsequently took back much of

7298-550: The uprisings. Facebook, Twitter, and other major social media played a key role in the movement of Egyptian and Tunisian activists in particular. Nine out of ten Egyptians and Tunisians responded to a poll that they used Facebook to organize protests and spread awareness. This large population of young Egyptian men referred to themselves as "the Facebook generation", exemplifying their escape from their non-modernized past. Furthermore, 28% of Egyptians and 29% of Tunisians from

7387-749: The wake of the counter-revolutionary moves by foreign state actors in Yemen, the regional and international military interventions in Bahrain and Yemen, and the destructive civil wars in Syria, Iraq, Libya, and Yemen. Some have referred to the succeeding and still ongoing conflicts as the Arab Winter . Recent uprisings in Sudan and Algeria show that the conditions that started the Arab Spring have not faded and political movements against authoritarianism and exploitation are still occurring. Since late 2018, multiple uprisings and protest movements in Algeria, Sudan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Egypt have been seen as

7476-491: Was "good old-fashioned word of mouth". Jared Keller argued that the sudden and anomalous social media output was caused from Westerners witnessing the situation(s), and then broadcasting them. The Middle East and North Africa used texting, emailing, and blogging only to organize and communicate information about internal local protests. A study by Zeynep Tufekci of the University of North Carolina and Christopher Wilson of

7565-537: Was again arrested by authorities for his alleged ties to al-Islah in May 2012, a political organization with roots in the Muslim Brotherhood and is listed as a terrorist organization in the UAE. Since Khaleq was not an Emirati citizen (previously a bedoon and holds a Comorian passport), he was presented with the option of being deported or conviction and imprisonment. Khaleq opted to leave for Thailand, departing for Bangkok on 16 July 2012. Human Rights Watch criticized

7654-658: Was also protested by the Committee for Human Rights of the US National Academy of Sciences , Scholars at Risk , and the Committee of Concerned Scientists . Their trial began on 14 June 2011 in Abu Dhabi . A Human Rights Watch spokesman criticized the "public relations campaign" of the UAE government against the defendants, stating that dozens of pro-government demonstrators were attending the trial to protest

7743-413: Was an attempted workers' strike on 6 April 2008 at the state-run textile factories of al-Mahalla al-Kubra , just outside Cairo . The idea for this type of demonstration spread throughout the country, promoted by computer-literate working-class youths and their supporters among middle-class college students. A Facebook page, set up to promote the strike, attracted tens of thousands of followers and provided

7832-402: Was destroyed and its inhabitants evicted by Moroccan security forces. The security forces faced strong opposition from some young Sahrawi civilians, and rioting soon spread to El Aaiún and other towns within the territory, resulting in an unknown number of injuries and deaths. Violence against Sahrawis in the aftermath of the protests was cited as a reason for renewed protests months later, after

7921-435: Was generally considered to have been a success in Egypt, much like in Tunisia. However, a December 2020 report published by PRI's The World , a US-based public radio news magazine, suggests otherwise. The report says that the Egyptian government increased the amount of executions that it carried out by more than twofold, with the report saying that the government put to death approximately 60 people. This number, according to

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