Relevance of the Jasmine Revolution and the Arab Spring 2011

Annotated from NPR article linked at the bottom:

The Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia (a French colony, btw) started when a street vendor, and primary breadwinner for his family, was told he could not sell his fruit without a permit. Unable to provide for his large family, he set himself on fire in front of the govt office. I'm not sure how that helped his family, but the video went viral! And it led to a bunch of protests, a President step-down, and regime-change in Tunisia, 2011. Egypt followed same year in revolution, led by youth/secular activists, but after President Mubarak stepped down, the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group, was voted into power.

Self-Immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi

 

While the youth focused on ousting the regime, political groups prepared to seize the impending power vacuum. The MB was popular, well-organized, and ready to win/dominate elections. Arab world, religiously conservative, want Islam in life affairs. Islamist groups want to enforce Sharia Law, oppressive to women. So far, revolutions in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Yemen, Syria, and Bahrain.



This period of revolutions was known as the "Arab Spring." It was followed by a period of wide-scale violence and political instability in the region, known as the "Arab Winter." Destabilized by rebel groups, like Houthis in Yemen, who ousted the new government while it was still fragile.




The Jasmine Revolution and Arab Spring in 2011 were uniquely Arab upheavals, other ethnic groups were not involved. Thus, these political stirrings are invariably connected to ISIS, current Middle Eastern instability, and international terror.


Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/12/17/143897126/the-arab-spring-a-year-of-revolution

Related post: "The Connection between Middle Eastern occupation and Southeast Asian occupation."

The Connection between Middle Eastern occupation and Southeast Asian occupation:

For some related context, see: "Jasmine Revolutions and the Arab Spring/Winter."

Western hegemony in the Middle East

European imperialism in Southeast Asia

I Realized This Morning:

    -Although their situations are different, and certainly their methods for obtaining what they want are different...
    -What Islamic State wants politically CAN be compared to what the Communist Vietnamese wanted, after hundreds of years of degradation and European/Chinese occupation: National Sovereignty! I never even understood that phrase in AP Euro. But it makes sense now, they want Independence, their own state, they wanted to be sovereign rulers of their own land.

    -Problem is, we don't trust them, and they're not proving themselves to be trustworthy. And their Sharia law is oppressive to women. End of the day, they're being jerks, and people would rather "bomb the shit" out of them than give them what they want, ESPECIALLY when...
    -They seem to have no forward-moving plan, aside from barbaric mass killings and beheadings, and smuggling/selling oil. There is a reason all these Syrians are FLEEING THEIR COUNTRY EN MASSE. Their actions are saying "Fuck THAT shit."


The Positive Side of Islam:

    -On that note, I want to say something about Muslims that I've personally known and interacted with. Many of them are great people, diligent students, wonderful artists/musicians/activists, welcoming shopkeepers, and so forth. We should not hate them. They are subject to bullying and hatespeech in schools. I knew this poor kid when I was teaching, sharp student, but outcasted by his peers. I wish you the best, Ahmed! Unfortunately, that type of thing goes on in adult groups too, so we shouldn't direct anger toward our Muslim brothers and sisters, we should try to understand them, most of them want peace too.
    -I've also found almsgiving(donation of food/money to those less fortunate), one of the 5 pillars of Islam, is a worthwhile and spiritually rewarding charitable practice.
    -Abstaining from pig meat and intoxicants is commendable too, I can't do it, but I try.
    -Many rappers are Muslim or have espoused Muslim-derived ideologies, my favorites including Nas, Guru, Busta Rhymes, Big Daddy Kane, Rakim, Akbar, Jay-Z, Jay Electronica, and Wu-Tang Clan. The number of Muslim hip hop artists is not limited to my list.


Nature of Islam: 

    -Because the religion lends itself to syncretization (merging with other people's existing beliefs), there are many types of Islam in different regions, and some are bound to be Extreme...ly obnoxious. Most are not Radical or violent. Many are peaceful, from American factions, like the Nation of Islam and the Nation of Gods and Earths, to Southeast Asian variants in Malaysian, Indonesia, and Thailand. In fact, I think there are more Asian Muslims than Arab Muslims... and I thought right, after a google check, 62% of world's Muslims live in South/Southeast Asia, and the largest Muslim country is Indonesia (ha, but knew that without Google). You don't hear from them as much because they're not as violent, and the Dalai Lama said most people just want peace and happiness, not violence and barbarism. Our intelligent species must know better than that if we are to save ourselves from ourselves.