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2010–2011 Arab world protests
File:25th Demonstration Against The Government in Cairo in Tahrir square.png
Demonstrators in Egypt on January 25, 2011
Date
December 18, 2010 – ongoing
The 2010–2011 Arab world protests or the '''Arab Intifidahs''' are an unprecedented[1] series of major uprisings, demonstrations and protests in the Middle Eastern countries of Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Algeria, and Jordan, with minor incidents occurring in Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Sudan, Libya, and Lebanon.[2][3][4][5][6][7] These began on December 18, 2010 with the uprising in Tunisia, following the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi, who committed suicide to protest police corruption and ill-treatment.[8][9] Due to similar hardships in the region and successful protests in Tunisia, a chain of unrest was started which was followed by protests in Algeria, in Jordan, in Egypt and in Yemen.[10][11] The first revolution in the protests was in Tunisia (Jasmine Revolution) when former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia. World attention is now focused on Egypt, which saw massive protests on January 28, 2011. After four days of protests, President Mubarak has offered reforms but not his personal resignation, which is the goal of the protesters. The protests in Egypt have drawn large attention and concern from across the world, because of an alliance which exists between Mubarak and the West, to which Mubarak has been an important ally in the War on Terror.[12]
As of January 2011[update] Egypt has been the hot-spot of the protests, with the most deaths and violence reported. 38 deaths have been confirmed as of 29th January, but some alleged figures are as high as 105. Just after midnight on 29 January, local time, Mubarak dismissed his government. Egypt had crossed what he called the "point of no return." The fate of Egypt will determine the fate of much of the Arab world and could change the course of the War on Terror[citation needed]. The Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia inspired Egypt. If there were to be a revolution in Egypt, which as of 29 January, remains uncertain, the resulting shock-wave could resound across the entire authoritarian Arab world, and the protests in other nations intensify[citation needed]. However, some sources suggest that the events of 2011 in this region may not necessarily parallel the Revolutions of 1989 when the Soviet Eastern Bloc collapsed and this region became democratic. On the contrary, some experts[citation needed] fear the creation of a 'New Iran' in Egypt if Islamists, like the so-far relatively idle Muslim Brotherhood, were to successfully fill the resulting power vacuum. However, the protests across the Middle East are more about secular and economoic issues than religious issues.
Distribution of Arabic as sole official language (green) and one of several official or national languages (blue).A political cartoon by Carlos Latuff depicting Hosni Mubarak facing the Tunisian knock-on domino effect
The 2010–2011 Tunisian Revolution, is a continuing series of street demonstrations taking place throughout Tunisia from December 2010 onwards. The demonstrations and riots were reported to have started over unemployment, food inflation, corruption, freedom of speech and poor living conditions. The protests led to the ousting of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who stepped down from the presidency and fled Tunisia on 14 January 2011 after 23 years in power.
On 29 December, clashes with police were also reported in neighbouring Algiers, Algeria, over protests about the lack of housing. At least 53 people were reported to have been injured and another 29 were arrested In total, three demonstrators were killed, more than 800 people were wounded, and at least 1100 were arrested.
From January 12 to January 19, a wave of self-immolation attempts swept the country, beginning on the 12th with Mohamed Aouichia, who set himself on fire in Bordj Menaiel in protest over his family's housing. On January 13, Mohsen Bouterfif set himself on fire after a meeting with the mayor of Boukhadra in Tebessa who was unable to offer Bouterfif a job and a house. Bouterfif was reported to have died a few days later; about 100 youths protested his death, causing the provincial governor to sack the mayor. At least ten other self-immolation attempts were reported that week.
On 22 January the RCD party organised a demonstration for democracy in Algiers attended by about 300 people, illegal under the State of Emergency in force since 1992; it was suppressed by the police, with 42 injuries.
Libya
From 13 January to 16 January 2011, upset at delays and corruption, protesters in Darnah, Benghazi, Bani Walid and other cities in Libya broke into and occupied housing that the government was building.
[13][14]
By 27 January the government had responded to the unrest with a $24 billion investment fund to provide housing and development.
[15]
On 14 January 2011, protests took place in Jordan's capital Amman, Maan, Karak, Salt and Irbid and other cities. The protests, led by trade unionists and leftist parties, came after Friday prayers, and called for the government led by Prime Minister Samir Rifai to step down. They chanted anti-government slogans and called Rifai a "coward." One banner in the protest read "Jordan is not only for the rich. Bread is a red line. Beware of our starvation and fury," while protesters chanted "Down with Rifai's government. Unify yourselves because the government wants to eat your flesh. Raise fuel prices to fill your pocket with millions." Tawfiq al-Batoush, a former head of the Karak municipality, said: "We are protesting the policies of the government, high prices and repeated taxation that made the Jordanian people revolt."[16] The Muslim Brotherhood and 14 trade unions said they would hold a sit-down protest outside parliament the next day to "denounce government['s] economic policies." Parallels were drawn with the Tunisian protests.[17]
The Jordanian government reversed a fuel price rise following the protest.[18]Al Jazeera stated that protests are expected to continue for several weeks because of increasing food prices.[18]
On 21 January 2011, 5,000 people in Amman took part in the largest protest so far.[19]
Egypt
Protesters marching on 25 January. Demonstrators later moved to al-Tahrir Square, in Downtown Cairo, where the main protests were being held.
On 16 January, Egypt's EGX stock market index fell on speculation the instability would spread.[20] Protests in Egypt then also led to a restaurant owner, Abdou Abdel-Moneim Jaafara, setting himself on fire. On 18 January, two other self-immolations, one by a lawyer in Cairo and another by an unemployed 25-year-old in Alexandria, were reported.[21] Many Egyptians set up Facebook pages calling for 25 January, Egypt's 'National Police Day' to be "a day of revolution against torture, poverty, corruption and unemployment."[22]
Starting about 00:10 to 00:35 28 January (Cairo time), in an unprecedented action in the history of Internet censorship, the Egyptian government has almost entirely cut off Egypt from the rest of the Internet.[24]
Protests occurred in many towns in both the north and south of Yemen for several days in mid-January against Yemeni governmental proposals to modify the constitution of Yemen, rejecting the proposals as insufficient, and over unemployment and economic conditions.[25] Protests on 20 January included thousands of protestors in Ta'izz.[25] Protests in Aden took place on 18, 19[26] and 20 January.[25] In Aden, car tires were burnt, roads were blocked, and at least seven people, both soldiers and protestors, were injured.[26] Protests in Sanaa appeared to be weakening as of 20 January 2011[update].[25] Two of the protests occurred at Sanaa University, with a slogan "Leave before you are forced to leave", which Reuters interpreted as a criticism of "autocratic Arab leaders, including Saleh."[25]
The leader of the Yemeni Congregation for Reform, the largest opposition party in Yemen, Mohammed al-Sabry, stated, "We want constitutional amendments but we want amendments that don't lead to the continuance of the ruler and the inheritance of power to his children."[25]
In the Gulf country of Oman, 200 protesters marched demanding a raise in salaries and lower costs of living on the 17th of January, a protest that shocked news reporters who have viewed Oman as a politically stable and sleepy country.[29]
Saudi Arabia
In Saudi Arabia, an unidentified 65-year man died on 21 January 2011 after setting himself on fire in the town of Samtah, Jizan. This was apparently the kingdom's first known case of self-immolation.[30][31] On 29 January, hundreds of protesters gathered in the city of Jeddah in a rare display of criticism against the city's poor infrastructure after deadly floods swept through the city, killing eleven people. Dozens of protesters were later detained by the police.[32]
Since Mohamed Bouazizi's self-immolation in Tunisia led to the successful overthrow of the Ben Ali regime, a number of self-immolation protests emulating Bouazizi's have taken place in other Arab republics. In Algeria, Mohsen Bouterfif set himself on fire after a meeting with a town mayor failed in helping him find employment and housing on January 13, 2011. He later died of his wounds. Another Algerian man attempted but failed to burn himself.[35] In Egypt, Abdou Abdel-Moneim Jaafar, a 49-year-old restaurant owner, set himself alight in front of the Egyptian Parliament.[36] In Saudi Arabia, an unidentified 65-year-old man died on January 21, 2011, after setting himself on fire in the town of Samtah, Jizan. This was apparently the kingdom's first known case of self-immolation.[30][31]
