Arab Spring Archives - Humanosphere

Arab Spring

Economist: Why food is so expensive for poor people |

The Economist, though starting off with a misleading reference to the horse meat flap in Europe, does a nice job here in its Daily Chart of illustrating why food is so costly to the poor. Were you confused by the stories that explained, way back when, that the riots and political unrest which exploded into what we then called the Arab Spring (now perhaps better dubbed the Arab Turmoil or Festering Wounds) were sparked by food price increases? This may help clear things up.

We all know that food is essential. What we often don’t know is how big a chunk it takes out of a poor person’s daily income.

: Economist

A related article on why Food Riots Likely to Become the New Normal

FILED UNDER: Basics, Politics, Arab Spring, costs, food, politics, poverty

February 9, 2012 | 12:05 PM | By Tom Paulson |

One view on the Arab Spring: From Syrian jail cell to Muslim feminists |

I’ve known journalist D Parvaz for a decade and may never quite see the world the way she does.

But it’s worth trying.

Parvaz is a reporter for Al Jazeera and was formerly a colleague of mine for many years at the (dearly departed print version) Seattle Post Intelligencer newspaper — now Seattlepi.com

She returned to Seattle this week to moderate a talk at Seattle Town Hall by Wael Ghonim, the Google executive who used Facebook to help spark the Egyptian revolution.

Tom Paulson

D Parvaz and Wael Ghonim at Seattle Town Hall

It was a great talk and Ghonim’s story is fairly well-known, as described here on NPR, in part to publicize his new book Revolution 2.0.

But a lot of the folks in the packed room would have liked to hear from D (technically, it’s ‘Dorothy’ but she prefers D). Ghonim tried to get Parvaz to talk about that moment last year when she was world famous – jailed by Syrian officials for attempting to report on protests there.

Held for nearly three weeks, first in Syria and then later in Iran after being secretly deported there for more interrogations, many think she’s lucky to be alive.

D refused to talk last night about her own experiences and perspectives, so I will. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Basics, Al Jazeera, Arab Spring, Dorothy Parvaz, iran, media, Syria, Wael Ghonim

February 8, 2012 | 9:55 AM | By Tom Paulson |

At Seattle Town Hall, the Google executive who sparked the Egyptian revolution |

In 2010, Egyptian Google executive Wael Ghonim used Facebook to coordinate a protest of the torture and killing of a man by dictatorial President Hosni Mubarak’s security police.

It was the beginning of a revolution, the explosion of the Arab Spring movement in Egypt — a popular revolt which forced Mubarak out of office but continues its struggle today under a military regime increasingly at odds with its own people and one of its biggest supporters, the U.S.

Tonight, at Seattle Town Hall, Ghonim will speak on being Inside a Revolution. Moderating the panel will be D Parvaz, a reporter for Al Jazeera based out of Qatar and, before that, a colleague of mine at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Parvaz received international attention last spring when she was arrested and held for weeks in Syria after entering the country to attempt to report on the protests there.

Here’s a recent video interview of Ghonim by the Economist:

Egypt remains in turmoil but Ghonim says he is hopeful:

“I’m very optimistic … We are basically recovering from 60 years of military rule, 30 years of dictatorship and 10 years of a very bad economic situation for most Egyptians.”

Ghonim can be expected to speak tonight in Seattle about his experience, the power and the limits of social media in popular protests and about what he believes has already been an amazing amount of positive change in Egypt. “What’s needed,” he tells the Economist, “is patience, passion and optimism.”

FILED UNDER: Politics, Arab Spring, Dorothy Parvaz, Egypt, Wael Ghonim

January 25, 2012 | 1:26 PM | By Tom Paulson |

Does Davos matter? In a good way, I mean. |

World Economic Forum

News analysis

The World Economic Forum opened today in Davos, Switzerland.

I wasn’t invited. Neither were you, in all likelihood. Bill Gates always is and will make his standard pitch for assisting the world’s poorest.

For decades, the global political and business elite have gathered at the WEF meeting to discuss, deliberate and declaim on all manner of issues.

Economics can pretty much incorporate any issue it wants, given either the scope of this ‘dismal science‘ or perhaps its increasingly unwieldy definition as to what it is economists actually do. So people here talk about almost anything.

Unless they don’t want to.

Last year, I noted that a significant number of participants and pundits asked if Davos was even relevant anymore.

Al Jazeera

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the spread of the Arab Spring from Tunisia to Egypt. Yet at last year’s hobnob gathering of the upper one percentile, nary a peep was heard about this world-changing popular revolution. Even weirder, WEF was celebrating Muammar Gaddafi’s son Saif as one of the world’s top model young leaders.

Some said then that WEF at Davos had become worse than irrelevant given that many of these who come here to talk about finding economic solutions to the global meltdown actually built the fire — and are those who continue to profit from the global inequity they say they want to fix.

One of the most newsworthy (and kind of funny) moments last year was when mega-banker CEO Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase complained about people picking on bankers. The reaction Dimon provoked only provided more evidence, many said, of how clueless are the elite at this meeting.

Since then, the Occupy Movement has emerged like an angry swamp blob, with about as much clarity of purpose say its critics.

But Occupy is now in Davos to greet the elite, a sign of the times. Meanwhile, Desmond Tutu is there also, trying to get people to stop pointing fingers and instead work together to actually solve problems. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Basics, Arab Spring, Bill Gates, Davos, economists, Gaddafi, World Economic Forum

December 19, 2011 | 8:45 AM | By Tom Paulson |

Remembering the fruit vendor who sparked a global revolution, the Arab Spring |

Wikimedia

Tunisian stamp honoring Mohamed Bouazizi

A year ago Saturday, a poor Tunisian fruit vendor named Mohamed Bouazizi killed himself.

This sparked public protest in his village, which then spread to all of Tunisia and became a successful call for the country’s corrupt President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali to step down. Tunisia’s success inspired similar protests in neighboring countries.

Thus was launched the Arab Spring, which continues today with clashes and deaths of protesters in Egypt, Syria and elsewhere.

Bouazizi didn’t intend to make a political statement. He wasn’t known to be political at all. Bouazizi reportedly set himself on fire in an act of desperation, some might say emotional instability, due to a life of constant harassment and humiliation by officials. Whether he intended it or not, his death sparked a global revolution. Continue reading →

FILED UNDER: Politics, Arab Spring, Tunisia

November 23, 2011 | 8:30 AM | By Tom Paulson |

Arab Spring flares up |

Flickr, Jonathan Rashad

Egypt's Tahrir Square, at the start of the uprising

The popular uprising across the Middle East has intensified this week with the eruption of violence in Egypt and the resignation of Yemen’s president President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

As the Washington Post reports, the level of violence in Egypt has reached levels unseen since the original protests which nine months ago forced President Hosni Mubarak out of office. Protesters are demonstrating against what they see as the military’s attempt to hold on to power. So far, 38 people have been reported killed and the UN has condemned the interim government’s response.

Meanwhile, Time magazine says, the UN has announced that Yemen’s President Saleh has agreed to step down if he is allowed to flee to Saudi Arabia and avoid prosecution.

In Syria, the government has continued to crack down on protesters with a death toll so far estimated at 3,500. As Reuters reports, many believe Syria’s violent response to the popular uprising could foment widespread bloodshed and violence for the entire region.

The only bright spot right now is Tunisia, where the Arab Spring started, sparked by the suicide of a fruit seller long abused by the authorities. As the AP reports, Tunisia’s first fairly elected political assembly went to work this week:

Tunisia’s newly elected assembly held its inaugural meeting Tuesday, and begin the yearlong process of shaping the constitution and the democratic future of the country that sparked the Arab Spring uprisings.

And it didn’t take long for the legislators to feel one result of free speech: hundreds of people protested outside Parliament, demanding everything from women’s rights and a crackdown on security forces to limits on Qatar’s influence over Tunisia’s affairs.

Yeah, democracy is messy. Whether the rest of the Middle East and north Africa follows Tunisia’s promising lead remains in question.