In the Spring of 2011, chaos and revolts rippled across the Arab world, commonly referred to as ‘The Arab Spring’. The term ‘Arab Spring’ originates from the 1848 revolutions, also called the ‘People’s Spring’, when political upheavals swept across Europe. ‘Spring’ is often used to describe movements against democracy with the Western media leveraging ‘Arab Spring’ in reference to these Middle Eastern upheavals. A humble fruit seller in Tunisia, Mohammed Bouazizi, was at the root of these uprisings against oppression and suffering as he sparked a great revolution in the Middle Eastern world.
In 2010, Bouazizi’s vegetable barrow was seized by the police over his failure to obtain a legal permit. In an act of desperation and protest, at a time of deep economic hardship across the country, Bouazizi poured petrol over himself and completed an act of self-immolation. The people of Tunisia became inspired by this act as huge uprisings spread across the country against the government and police. The government attempted to use violence to settle these uprisings but this proved unsuccessful, and the President, Zine al Abidine Ben Ali, was forced to abdicate in January 2011, after a 23-year rule. The unrest had positive outcomes for the Tunisians, and by October 2011, the people participated in a free election and a new constitution began being drafted.
The altruism of this fruit seller quickly inspired surrounding countries as people in neighbouring Arab countries also rose up to resist corruption and poverty in their lands. Arabs across the Middle East sought social freedoms; in Cairo, thousands of Egyptians protested against their president, Hosni Mubarak. As the number of protestors rose to millions, Mubarak resigned and handed power over to the military, leading to the formation of a new government. Thus, this conflict resulted in improvements in two Arab countries.
However, the compromises and relative peace experienced in Tunisia and Egypt didn’t translate the same way across the Arab sphere. Some demonstrations morphed into civil wars as discontent poured through the streets, and the Arabs were met with opposition leading to bloody and violent outcomes.
In Libya, police used brutal force to break up the uprisings and though the country’s leader was captured and killed in October 2011 by rebels. Libya found no peace and remains split between rival Eastern and Western-based administrations to this day.
Syria and Yemen, are also impeded with power struggles and inadequate, weak infrastructures. Only in 2019, did Tunisia experience a peaceful transfer of democratic powers, becoming one of the first Arab countries to do so. Between 2018 and 2020, a second wave of Arab Spring uprisings grew with the fall of four more rulers, however, it remains a long-term revolutionary process.
By Aaliah Patel