The Revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt
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#2 May 2011 Special Issue PERSPECTIVES Political analysis and commentary from the Middle East PEOPle’s POWER THE ARAB WORLD IN REVOLT Published by the Heinrich Böll Stiftung 2011 This work is licensed under the conditions of a Creative Commons license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/. You can download an electronic version online. You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the work under the following conditions: Attribution - you must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work); Noncommercial - you may not use this work for commercial purposes; No Derivative Works - you may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. Editor-in-chief: Layla Al-Zubaidi Editors: Doreen Khoury, Anbara Abu-Ayyash, Joachim Paul Layout: Catherine Coetzer, c2designs, Cédric Hofstetter Translators: Mona Abu-Rayyan, Joumana Seikaly, Word Gym Ltd. Cover photograph: Gwenael Piaser Printed by: www.coloursps.com Additional editing, print edition: Sonya Knox Opinions expressed in articles are those of their authors, and not HBS. Heinrich Böll Foundation – Middle East The Heinrich Böll Foundation, associated with the German Green Party, is a legally autonomous and intellectually open political foundation. Our foremost task is civic education in Germany and abroad with the aim of promoting informed democratic opinion, socio-political commitment and mutual understanding. In addition, the Heinrich Böll Foundation supports artistic, cultural and scholarly projects, as well as cooperation in the development field. The political values of ecology, democracy, gender democracy, solidarity and non-violence are our chief points of reference. Heinrich Böll’s belief in and promotion of citizen participation in politics is the model for the foundation’s work. Our programme areas in the Middle East are: n Statehood & Participation n Conflict & International Politics n Environmental Justice n Culture & Dialogue 2 Heinrich Böll Stiftung Contents Editorial People’s Power: The Arab World in Revolt 7 A Revolution of Ideas n The Arab Revolts: Ten Tentative Observations Mouin Rabbani 10 n Revolutions Bring Down Ideas As Well! Fawaz Traboulsi 14 n The Revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt: The People Without Populism Ahmad Beydoun 22 n What the People Want… Mohammed Ali Atassi 28 n Revolutions for Democracy Hussein Yaakoub 35 Arab Streets and Arab Publics: A New Political Culture? n The “Arab Spring:” Rebirth or Final Throes of Pan-Arabism? Yassine Temlali 46 n A New Arab Street in Post-Islamist Times Asef Bayat 50 n What Next for the “Arab Street?” Muhammad Ali Khalidi and Terry Regier 54 n The Other Face of the January Revolution: The People’s Desire to Liberate Their Language! Mansoura Ez-Eldin 58 Revolutions in Real Time: The Mediatization of Political Struggle n The Role of Al-Jazeera (Arabic) in the Arab Revolts of 2011 Aref Hijjawi 68 n Media Lives Up to Its Name as Game Changers in Spreading Arab Revolutions Magda Abu-Fadil 74 n Social Media and the Revolutions: How the Internet Revived the Arab Public Sphere and Digitalized Activism Doreen Khoury 80 n Digital Activism: Arabs Can Do It Themselves Interview with Sami Ben Gharbia 86 n Portrait: Slim Amamou – From Digital Activist to State Secretary Eva Lehnen 90 Heinrich Böll Stiftung 3 The Social Costs of Authoritarianism n Whither the Political and Social Movement in Arab Countries: Can We Expect a New Arab Renaissance? Adib Nehme 96 n Arab Leaders and Western Countries: Swapping Democracy for Business Interests Ibrahim Saif 106 n The Revolutions of the Arab Region: Socio-economic Questions at the Heart of Successful Ways Forward Ziad Abdel Samad and Kinda Mohamadieh 112 n Feeding the Arab Uprisings Rami Zurayk 119 n Freedom Is the Prerequisite for Bread Interview with Ibrahim Awad 126 “The People Demand...” the Downfall or the Reform of the Regime? n The Youth Revolution: A First Reading of the Social and Cultural Conditions Surrounding the Tunisian Revolution Mehdi Mabrouk 132 n What Kind of Transition for Egypt? Issandr El Amrani 145 n Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and the 25 January Revolution Dalal Bizri 150 n Yemen’s Revolution: The Lack of Public Reasoning Nadia Al-Sakkaf 159 n Bahrain: Change of the Regime or Changes Within the Regime? Mostafa Abdulla 163 n A Tense Syria in a Changing Arab World Yassin al-Haj Salih 170 n It is Imperative that the International Community Sends a Clear Message Interview with Anas Abdah and Astepho Ablahad 180 n Libyan Re-independence and Reclaiming the Revolution Ghazi Gheblawi 188 n Algeria, or the Desire for a Future Ghania Mouffok 192 n The Arab Revolutions-in-the-Making and Palestine George Giacaman 198 n Distorted Democracy: Democratic Transformation and Sectarian Identities in Iraq after 2003 Anbara Abu-Ayyash 202 n The Lebanese “Secularist” Movement in the Shadow of the Arab Democratic Movements Hassan Abbas and Hussein Yaakoub 208 4 Heinrich Böll Stiftung Testimonies n Heroic Resolve in the Face of the Omnipresent Machine of Oppression: Recounting the Events of the Tunisian Revolution Malek Sghiri 214 n Fear and Revolution in Libya Nahla Daoud 220 n The Price of the Divide on Libya: Why I Support the No Fly Zone Tasnim Qutait 224 n Encounters on the Margin of Revolution Muzna Al-Masri 228 Participation and Justice n In the Wake of Arab Revolts: Women’s Rights in the Balance Interview with Hanan Abdel Rahman-Rabbani 234 n We Are Not Accomplices to Power! A New Role for the Judiciary Interview with Nizar Saghieh 242 n A Chronicle of Legislative Developments in the Aftermath of the Tunisian Revolution: A Revolution Seeks the Means to Succeed! Wahid Ferchichi 248 n Nothing Was Ever Brought to Trial Interview with Magda Adly 258 International and Security Politics n American Policies: Debating National Interests Raed Fakeeh 262 n EU-Libya Agreements on Refugees and Asylum Seekers: The Need for a Reassessment Urs Fruehauf 270 n Goodbye Free Libya? A Report from Benghazi Nicolas Pelham 276 n The Securitization of Political Rule: Security Domination of Arab Regimes and the Prospects for Democratization Mouin Rabbani 282 Heinrich Böll Stiftung 5 Editorial People’s Power: The Arab World in Revolt he self-immolation of young and jobless revolutions have cracked two central myths. Tunisian Mohamed Bouazizi in the Both the international actors, skeptical towards provincial town of Sidi Bouzid, upon prospects for democracy in the Arab world, Tbeing deprived of his vegetable stand as well as authoritarian leaders themselves and humiliated by the authorities, triggered had dearly held on to these narratives: First, popular movements and historic events in the that Arab societies constituted an “exception” Arab World completely unexpected in their and were not “mature” for democracy; and magnitude… second, that political Islam and/or chaos would But were they really that unexpected? constitute the only alternative to dictatorship. Have not generations of activists, journalists, The initial euphoria about people’s power and ordinary citizens for decades tirelessly to enforce change has been clouded by the pointed out the repressive practices of their staggering numbers of victims, mainly in Libya, governments? Was it not common knowledge but also by the brutality employed against that thousands were executed, imprisoned, protesters in Bahrain, Yemen and Syria. It is exiled, and that dissent was silenced in many clear, however, that there is no going back. other ways; Was not testimony after testimony Euphoria has transformed into broad political collected, and report after report submitted? awareness, and while the remarkable process of Did not countless experts, Arab and foreign, people’s self-empowerment demands respect, repeatedly stress the need for comprehensive it also demands the international community to political reforms, for economic opportunities for thoroughly review its existing policies towards the growing youth population, for a redistribution the region. The opening of the political space of wealth, and for the establishment of provides a unique opportunity to finally listen to accountable and transparent governance? what the populations on the Southern shores of Two questions therefore are to be asked: the Mediterranean, and especially the young First, what has happened? What burst the generation, have to say. dam and finally pushed millions of citizens to Apart from the already enormous tasks of the streets in the Arab cities and countryside? democratizing state institutions, organizing Which element tore down the wall of fear that elections, and reforming the notorious security had prevented Arab societies for decades from apparatuses, huge efforts will be necessary holding their leaders accountable? How is it that in order to match political participation with neither political parties nor religious movements the demands for equality and socio-economic took to the streets, but rather people – people, development. While the magnitude of peacefully shaking the foundations of deeply transformations and challenges are immense, entrenched authoritarian rule and emerging as the future remains volatile. new and proud political actors? Since the events started to unfold in And second, what invested these regimes - December 2010, much has been speculated as most of them had already lost legitimacy a about the Arab “Spring,” “Awakening” or long time ago - with such long-lasting resilience “Renaissance.” (some of them remaining resilient at this point Will these popular revolts translate into of time)? sustainable change? Will counter-movements History is still very much in the making. What emerge, should citizens not feel that their seems clear, however, is that the current popular lives have improved? In what way will foreign Heinrich Böll Stiftung 7 interests determine the course of events? This special issue was put together in a very The authors in this special edition of short time, and during a period in which many “Perspectives Middle East” address the above of the authors were personally engaged in the questions and many more.