The Arab Spring

4th January 2011- A man immolated himself by fire in Tunisia.

25th January 2011- The Egyptian citizens stand up against the goverment.

26th January 2011 -Protests start in Daraa, a city in Syria.

15th February 2011- Protests expand into an uprising and spreads across Libya.

20th February 2011- Thousands of Morrocan cityzens take the streets in peacefull protests.

I choose writing my blog about this issue because it is happening in the present day. Also I am Morrocan, therefore, Arabic and I find it great that people decide to take a stand for their rights. Finally, I lived in Egypt for a couple of years and travelled to Syria, so it is important to me to follow what's going on in these countries. Today in the Arabic Spring people are asking themselves what they think is worth fighting for.

Tunisia:

His name was Moha

med Bouazizi, he was a 26 year old ambulant vendor in the streets of Sidi Bouzzid. On the 17th of December 2010, The police confiscated Bouazizi's merchandise. He had already been arrested and mistreated by the police several times. Though the young Tunisian seller, kept going, knowing that was the only thing he could do to feed his family. He never gave up. This time Bouazizi did not have the money required to allow his street vending to continue. After having been publicly humiliated. The yound man ran to the governor's office to complain and get his scales back. He was rejected and quoted as saying: "If you don't see me, I'll burn myself." . So he did, Bouazizi, immolated himself by fire on the 17th of December 2010. He died in hospital on the 4th of January. Even though it was sad death, it was not a vain one. After his death, people started protesting against the unfair government in Tunisia. Mohamed Bouazizi was the impetus of the Tunisian revolution. He was the spark that light the fire. On the 14th January, Twenty-eight days after Bouazizi's immolation, the President, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, in power for the last 24 years, was forced to flee to Saudi Arabia.

Egypt:

Following the move Tunisia started, on the 25th of January, Egyptian cityzens decide to stand up for there rights in "the Square of Liberation".

They want to replace the current president, Mubarak, by a new president that will be elected by the people. The people want the votes to be fair. Mubarak had been ruling for 30 year, he ran for president four times in a row and mysteriously got elected 4 years in a row. Due to the violent protests, approximately 300 deaths by the police, on the 10th of January, Mubarak was forced to resign from the presidential seat. He is now in jail waiting for his sentence. A Military Council are now ruling Egypt and are expected to manage the transition toward a new constitution and free elections. Egyptian citizens are now hoping for change but are worried their revolution is stolen from them by the Military Council. So they still keep protesting on regular basis on the "square of liberation".

Syria:

In most countries of the Arab Spring now, the prostests are over. Though in some countries it is harder to change things than in others. For instance in Syria, people are still protesting, fighting for their rights and seeking change. The syrian ciitizens are protesting in hope the current president, Bashar El- Assad , t

o step down. Bashar el Assad has only been ruling for 10 years but he, illogically as Syria is supposed to be a democracy, replaced his father who had been ruling for 40 years.

The president doesn't seem like he is willing to step down a lot of people die everyday in Syria.The military forces kill the people they call, dissidents everyday (estimated 2000 deaths to date). No one is spared.We do not have a lot of information about the current situation. No journalists are allowed in the country, the few videos we get are the ones filmed by people there. The Syrian citizens and the president are in an on-going fight, and neither of them is looking like they are giving up.

Lybia:

Muammar Gaddafi has been ruling over Lybia since he led a military coup to overtrow Lybia's last ruler fourty two years ago. He has abolished the Lybian constitution, "adopted laws based on his own ideology" and corrupted his own country. Eight months ago, in Benghazi, second biggest city after Tripoli, people decided they had had enough. They decided to free themselves from Gaddafi's authorities. But the authorities used military aviation to attack the protestors in Benghazi causing many civilian deaths. To protect those civilians a coalition led by France and UK, under UN resolution number 1973, decided to intervene and help the rebels in Lybia. They also cut Gaddafi and his allies from selling oil and prevented them from using heavy weapons.

The rebels created the NTC the National Transition Council that is commited to lead the country toward democracy and economic develppement. On the 22th of August, the rebels took over Tripoli but Gaddafi and his family flew away. They are under internationnal arrest mandate and should be trialed before the ICT of the Hague. On the 15th of September, Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President and David Cameron, prime minister of the United Kingdom, visited Tripoli and Benghazi to demonstrate their support to the people in Libya.

Morocco:

It was planned on facebook, the February 20th Movement for Change

(M20), that day, thousands of Morrocan cityzens took the streets in Rabat and main Morrocan cities to demand the king Mohammed VI change in their society. The people were walking

around the streets in peacefull protests requesting for constitutional change, freedom of expresion, justice, dignity and jobs. In the light of what happened in Tunisia and Egypt, the King Mohammed VI and his advisers were wise enough to take the initiative of change. Morrocan people voted for a new constitution on the 1st of July. New parliamentary elections will take place on the 11th Of November. The M20 is not satisfied with this level of change and continues protesting peacefully on regualer basis claiming for a true Constitutional Monarchy, where the King would have no political power. Morrocan people and their ruler hae choosen the peacefull change path. They will be prooven succesfull only if King Mohammed VI keeps his word and people's expectations are fullfiled.

I hope the blood will stop flowing as soon as possible in Syria. At the moment none of the countries of the Arab Spring have completely succeded in getting what they want. This is a good start. People have high expectations on the following events but most importantly they have hope and persistence. This is a long and hard way but as Elbert Hubbard once said: "A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success." I hope the Arab Spring will proove Elbert Hubbard right. Freedom is worth fighting for.