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2010–2011 Arab world protests
Demonstrators standing on an army truck in Tahrir Square, Cairo on January 29, 2011
DateDecember 18, 2010—ongoing
Casualties
Death(s)Around 270 (self-immolation protesters included)

The 2010–2011 Arab world protests[1] are an unprecedented[2] series of major uprisings, demonstrations and protests in the North African and Western Asian countries of Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Algeria, and Jordan, with minor incidents occurring in Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Sudan, Syria, Libya, Morocco, and Palestine.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9] The protests have been referred to as revolutions.[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]

These began on December 18, 2010 with the uprising in Tunisia, following the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi, who committed suicide to protest police corruption and ill-treatment.[18][19][20] Due to similar hardships in the region and ultimately successful protests in Tunisia, a chain of unrest was started which was followed by protests in Algeria, Jordan, Egypt and Yemen,[21][22] and to a lesser degree in other Arab states. In many cases the climactic days have been termed "day of rage," or some variation thereof.

The first and so far only government to be overthrown as a result of the protests was also Tunisia's (the event was termed the Jasmine Revolution in the Western media) when former President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia. World attention is now focused on Egypt, which saw massive protests beginning on January 25, 2011. After four days of protests, President Mubarak offered reforms but not his personal resignation, which is the goal of the protesters. The protests in Egypt have drawn large attention and concern from across the world, because of an alliance which exists between Mubarak and the West, to which Mubarak has been an important ally in the War on Terror.[23]

The international conflict has killed hundreds of people, and injured thousands.

Timeline of protests

Date started Country Date ended Type(s) of protests Outcome
December 18, 2010  Tunisia Mohamed Bouazizi's self-immolation, major street demonstrations Change of government
December 28, 2010  Algeria major street demonstrations
January 13, 2011  Libya January 16, 2011 minor protests over housing
January 14, 2011  Jordan minor protests
January 17, 2011  Mauritania January 17, 2011 self-immolation
January 17, 2011  Oman January 17, 2011
January 18, 2011  Yemen internal government dissent against president,[24] major street demonstrations[25][26]
January 21, 2011  Saudi Arabia self-immolation[27], street demonstration[28]
January 25, 2011  Egypt major street demonstrations
January 26, 2011  Syria self-immolation
January 28, 2011  Palestine
January 30, 2011  Morocco
January 30, 2011  Sudan

Protests

Tunisia

Demonstrators in downtown Tunis on January 14th, 2011
Main article: 2010–2011 Tunisian uprising

The 2010–2011 Tunisian uprising, is a continuing series of street demonstrations taking place throughout Tunisia from December 2010 onwards. The demonstrations and riots were reported to have started over unemployment, food inflation, corruption, freedom of speech and poor living conditions. The protests were exasperated by the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi that eventually led to the ousting of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who stepped down from the presidency and fled Tunisia on 14 January 2011 after 23 years in power.

Algeria

January 7th in Algeria
Main article: 2010-2011 Algerian protests

On 29 December, clashes with police were also reported in neighbouring Algiers, Algeria, over protests about the lack of housing. At least 53 people were reported to have been injured and another 29 were arrested In total, three demonstrators were killed, more than 800 people were wounded, and at least 1100 were arrested.

From January 12 to January 19, a wave of self-immolation attempts swept the country, beginning on the 12th with Mohamed Aouichia, who set himself on fire in Bordj Menaiel in protest over his family's housing. On January 13, Mohsen Bouterfif set himself on fire after a meeting with the mayor of Boukhadra in Tebessa who was unable to offer Bouterfif a job and a house. Bouterfif was reported to have died a few days later; about 100 youths protested his death, causing the provincial governor to sack the mayor. At least ten other self-immolation attempts were reported that week.

On 22 January the RCD party organised a demonstration for democracy in Algiers attended by about 300 people, illegal under the State of Emergency in force since 1992; it was suppressed by the police, with 42 injuries.

On 29 January, at least 10 thousand people marched in the city of northeastern city of Bejaia.

Libya

A political cartoon by Carlos Latuff depicting Hosni Mubarak facing the Tunisian knock-on domino effect

From 13 January to 16 January 2011, upset at delays and corruption, protesters in Darnah, Benghazi, Bani Walid and other cities in Libya broke into and occupied housing that the government was building. [29][30] By 27 January the government had responded to the unrest with a $24 billion investment fund to provide housing and development. [31]

Jordan

Main article: 2011 Jordanian protests

On 14 January 2011, protests took place in Jordan's capital Amman, Maan, Karak, Salt and Irbid and other cities. The protests, led by trade unionists and leftist parties, came after Friday prayers, and called for the government led by Prime Minister Samir Rifai to step down. They chanted anti-government slogans and called Rifai a "coward." One banner in the protest read "Jordan is not only for the rich. Bread is a red line. Beware of our starvation and fury," while protesters chanted "Down with Rifai's government. Unify yourselves because the government wants to eat your flesh. Raise fuel prices to fill your pocket with millions." Tawfiq al-Batoush, a former head of the Karak municipality, said: "We are protesting the policies of the government, high prices and repeated taxation that made the Jordanian people revolt."[32] The Muslim Brotherhood and 14 trade unions said they would hold a sit-down protest outside parliament the next day to "denounce government['s] economic policies." Parallels were drawn with the Tunisian protests.[33]

The Jordanian government reversed a fuel price rise following the protest.[34] Al Jazeera stated that protests are expected to continue for several weeks because of increasing food prices.[34]

On 21 January 2011, 5,000 people in Amman took part in the largest protest so far.[35]

Mauritania

There were also similar protests in Mauritania where Yacoub Ould Dahoud, a protester, burned himself near the Presidential Palace in opposition to the policies of Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz.[36][37]

Oman

In the Gulf country of Oman, 200 protesters marched demanding a raise in salaries and lower costs of living on the 17 January, 2011. The protest shocked news reporters who have viewed Oman as a "politically stable and sleepy country."[38]

Yemen

Main article: 2011 Yemeni protests

Protests occurred in many towns in both the north and south of Yemen starting in mid-January. Protesters initially protested against governmental proposals to modify the constitution of Yemen, unemployment and economic conditions[39] and corruption[40]. Their demands increased to calls for President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been facing internal opposition from his closest advisors since 2009,[24] to resign.[41][26][40] A major demonstration of over 16,000 protestors took place in Sana'a on 27 January[25] and human rights activist and politician Tawakel Karman called for a "Day of Rage" on 3 February.[42]

Saudi Arabia

In Saudi Arabia, an unidentified 65-year man died on 21 January 2011 after setting himself on fire in the town of Samtah, Jizan. This was apparently the kingdom's first known case of self-immolation.[27][43] On 29 January, hundreds of protesters gathered in the city of Jeddah in a rare display of criticism against the city's poor infrastructure after deadly floods swept through the city, killing eleven people.[28] Police stopped the demonstration about 15 minutes after it started. About 30 to 50 people were arrested.[44]

Egypt

Protesters marching on 25 January. Demonstrators later moved to al-Tahrir Square, in Downtown Cairo, where the main protests were being held.
Main article: 2011 Egyptian protests

On 16 January, Egypt's EGX stock market index fell on speculation the instability would spread.[45] Protests in Egypt then also led to a restaurant owner, Abdou Abdel-Moneim Jaafara, setting himself on fire. On 18 January, two other self-immolations, one by a lawyer in Cairo and another by an unemployed 25-year-old in Alexandria, were reported.[46] Many Egyptians set up Facebook pages calling for 25 January, Egypt's 'National Police Day' to be "a day of revolution against torture, poverty, corruption and unemployment."[47]

Potential presidential candidate Mohamed ElBaradei warned of a "Tunisia-style explosion" in the country.[48] This fear came true and went far past.

Starting about 00:10 to 00:35 28 January (Cairo time), in an unprecedented action in the history of Internet censorship, the Egyptian government has almost entirely cut off Egypt from the rest of the Internet.[49]

Later that day, as tens of thousand protested on the streets of Egypt's major cities, President Mubarak formally fired his government, and appointed a new one, which included the first Vice President in almost 30 years.

However, this did not mollify anyone, and over the next few days the crowds grew and grew, with some estimates in the hundreds of thousands. A climax of sorts was for a million person march in Cairo to take place on the first of February.

Syria

On 26 January 2011, Hasan Ali Akleh from Al-Hasakah poured gasoline and burned himself in the same way as Mohamed Bouazizi. According to eyewitnesses, the action was "a protest against the Syrian government"[50][51]. On 29 January 2011, news channel Al Arabiya reported that Internet connection was cut off, that was quickly denied by official sources[52]. On social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, Syrians call for a "Day of Anger" on February 5th.[53][54] On 28 January 2011, a demonstration was held in Ar-Raqqah during the evening, in protest against the killing of two soldiers of Kurdish descent.[55].

On 31 January 2011, Wall Street Journal made an exclusive interview with Bashar al-Assad, President of Syria, in which he said it's time to reform. In a comment on the protests in Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen, he said a "new era" in coming to the Middle East, and that Arab rulers would need to do more to accommodate their people's rising political and economic aspirations.[56][57].

Palestine

On January 28, 2011, large protests against the Palestinian Authority and Al Jazeera's "Palestine Papers" were held in Gaza, Ramallah, and Jabalia.[58]

Morocco

Inspired by Tunisian and Egyptian protesters, at least four Moroccans have set themselves on fire and on January 30, 2011, a protest gathering was held in Tangier.[59]

Sudan

On 17 January 2011, security forces in Sudan arrested the head of the Popular Congress Party, Hassan al-Turabi, as well as five other members of the party, after he called for a similar style protest to oust the ruling government over electoral fraud, stoking inflation and abrogating civil liberties[60][61] at a time when Sudan was facing a secessionist referendum.

On 30 January 2011, police clashed with demonstrators in downtown Khartoum and at least two universities. Demonstrators had organized on online social networking sites since the Tunisian protests the month before. Hussein Khogali, editor in chief of the Al-Watan newspaper stated that his daughter had been arrested for organizing the protest via Facebook and opposition leader Mubarak al-Fadil's two sons were arrested while on their way to the main protest. Pro-government newspapers had warned that protests would cause chaos.[62] Some protesters called for President Omar al-Bashir to step down. Activists said that dozens of people had been arrested. The protests came on the same day the preliminary results for the referendum indicated some 99% of South Sudanese voted to secede.[63] One student died in hospital the same night from injuries received in the clashes.[64]

Self-Immolations

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2010–2011 Arab world protests.

Since Mohamed Bouazizi's self-immolation in Tunisia sparked an uprising that led to the ouster of Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, a number of self-immolation protests emulating Bouazizi's have taken place in other Arab countries. In Algeria, Mohsen Bouterfif set himself on fire after a meeting with a town mayor failed in helping him find employment and housing on January 13, 2011. He later died of his wounds. Another Algerian man attempted but failed to burn himself.[65] In Egypt, Abdou Abdel-Moneim Jaafar, a 49-year-old restaurant owner, set himself alight in front of the Egyptian Parliament.[66] In Saudi Arabia, an unidentified 65-year-old man died on January 21, 2011, after setting himself on fire in the town of Samtah, Jizan. This was apparently the kingdom's first known case of self-immolation.[27][43]

Copycat incidents
Name Residence Date of
self-immolation		 Date of
death		 Ref(s)
1 Algeria Mohsen Bouterfif Boukhadra 13 January 2011 16 January 2011 [67]
2 Algeria Aouichia Mohammad Bordj Menaïel 15 January 2011
—
 [68]
3 Algeria Boubacar Boyden Jijel 15 January 2011
—
 [69]
4 Algeria Mamier Lotfi El Oued 16 January 2011
—
 [70]
5 Algeria Senouci Touat Mostaganem 16 January 2011
—
 [68]
6 Mauritania Yacoub Ould Dahoud Tidjikja 17 January 2011 22 January 2011 [68]
7 Egypt Abdou Abdel-Moneim Jaafar El-Qanater 17 January 2011
—
 [68][66]
8 Egypt Mohammed Farouk Hassan Cairo 18 January 2011
—
 [71]
9 Egypt Ahmed Hashim al-Sayyed Alexandria 18 January 2011 18 January 2011 [72][73]
10 Egypt Mohammed Ashour Sorour Cairo 18 January 2011
—
 [72]
11 Saudi Arabia Faiz Aly Samtah 21 January 2011 21 January 2011 [27][43]
12 Syria Hasan Ali Akleh Al-Hasakah 26 January 2011 26 January 2011 [50][51]
13 Algeria Daniel Remeriez Medjanafat 28 January 2011 29 January 2011 [74]
"—" denotes that the individual survived.

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