Moroccos exceptional arab spring was characterized by a collected response by its leader and a desire for further progress by its populace. People from all kinds of backgrounds united in common goals. Six years later, little remains of the hopes that the west saw in the arab spring. At the front of the nearly thousandstrong crowd in casablanca. The reform of judiciaries in the wake of the arab spring. The arab spring uprisings of 2011 triggered a wide set of social movements and regime change across the middle east and north africa. Yet morocco appears to have escaped the arab spring relatively unscathed. For more analysis on the recent movement in the rif, state repression, and the future of democracy in morocco. Unemployment rates 2010, 2015 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% algeria libya.
Analysis of the arab spring 3 blunders in state response, in particular using a heavyhanded approach and trying to crush opposition, had the reverse effect of galvanising more people to join the protests icg, 2011b and 2011d. The arab spring has passed morocco by, but that doesnt mean the kingdom hasnt had its share of trouble. Fmvt, democracy anyone familiar with moroccan womens achievements in the last two decades will not be surprised by their active role in the moroccan spring. Arab spring in morocco ugent open access journals universiteit. They were asking for freedom and democracy, which was long believed to be impossible in the arab world. Started in tunisia, a movement unfolded that fundamentally changed the arab world. We al jazeera tv follow a group of libyan exiles as they sacrifice everything to return home for the final assault on tripoli. The movement was the countrys largest since 2011, when moroccos version of the arab spring ushered in modest constitutional reforms. Inspired by egypt, thousands protest on moroccan streets. The arab spring s revolutionary spirit was translated into reforms as understood and guided by the monarchical state. The profile of arab spring protestors 117 arab spring protests and riots 120 7 the aftermath of the arab spring 127 introduction 127 state responses to the arab spring 128 foreign interventions, identitybased polarization, and highintensity civil wars 1 overlapping horizontal divisions 5 what explains the arab paradox of political. Moroccos version of the arab spring morocco avoided much of the arab spring violence because the islamist justice and development party pjd had been a recognized opposition party in the years before its rise to power in the november 2011 elections. Morocco, arab spring, new social movement, social media, meaning making. Their presence has not been substantially felt or taken into consideration in moroccan politics until the last two decades.
Thi s researc h articl e attempts to scrutinize the nature and cause s of the ara b uprising s which too k people by surpris e globall y throughou t 2011 and int o 2012. Morocco s exceptional arab spring was characterized by a collected response by its leader and a desire for further progress by its populace. Reverberations from the arab spring of 2011 continue to rock the middle east. The 2011 constitutional referendum was a success on the part of king mohammed vi in so far as the reforms calmed moroccans and satisfied their demand for an enumeration of human rights.
The arab spring has broken out in morocco pushing king mohammed vi to put forth in lightning speed a new constitution requiring an elected rather than an appointed prime minister, the first such step in any of the eight monarchies or even most of. Toward a historical sociology of the arab uprising raymond hinnebusch 5. Six years after the arab spring, morocco is experiencing. News arab unrest inspired by egypt, thousands protest on moroccan streets thousandsof people flooded on to the streets of cities across morocco yesterday, hoping to wrest some powers from the ruling monarchy in the first large protestsinspired by events in tunisia and egypt. The initial events of the arab spring occurred in tunisia, where on december 14, 2010, a street vendor named mohammad bouazizi carried out an act of selfimmolation, after a tunisian police officer was alleged to have taken his fruit stand from him, restricting him from selling fruit at his location. The arab spring was a series of prodemocracy uprisings that enveloped several largely muslim countries, including tunisia, morocco, syria, libya, egypt and bahrain. The arab spring its impact on the region and on the middle east conference of the regime and within the regime, with the former comprising tunisia, egypt, and libya and the latter including jordan and saudi arabia. Violent protests and civil conflict in egypt and syria appear in headlines daily. Yet it would be difficult to find three more different countries than morocco, the conservative monarchy, revolutionary algeria, and moderate tunisiaparticularly in light of the arab spring of 2011. Fragile morocco weighs its economic priorities world. Women played their part as leaders and participants, and were not spared the backlash suffering arrests, sexual harassment and even death. With the political turmoil affecting the region since 2010, and the rising of the popular demand for political reform, new opportunities and prospects are emerging. Moroccos king mohammed vi, center, after inaugurating a new phosphate fertilizer plant, jorf lasfar, december 22, 2011. Jordan and morocco are two models those who did not miss the train during the tumultuous arab spring cookie.
They were centred around demands for political reform, which included reform against police brutality, electoral fraud, political censorship. The roots and causes of the 2011 arab uprisings kamal eldin osman salih abstract. Egyptian revolution, also known as arab spring or arab uprising, was a shock for international community because egypt has been seen as one of the. But, however new, their strong presence has been very noticeable in. Between the islamic state and the nationstate the brookings project on u. In reality, however, moroccos situation is so unusual that it probably cannot serve as a model for any other country, even among the other remaining arab.
Impressive though often overlooked, this rare success story from the arab spring is occasionally invoked as a possible source of emulation by other arab or predominantly muslim states. Development of conflict in arab spring libya and syria. A bumpy road ahead pdf by hassan hakimian, director of the london middle east institute and reader, economics department, soas underscores the underlying importance of the economic conditions facing the new republics, such as egypt and tunisia, which are emerging as a result of the arab spring. Morocco and jordan are successful arab spring models al.
In fact, women have never been complete strangers to political activism in morocco, their involvement in the. Whats ironic about the arab spring is that the same autocratic regimes that were, to varying degrees, protected by the u. Morocco is strategically located at the strait of gibraltar, which is a significant sealane of control. Since the tunisian street vendor mohammed bouazizi set himself and the arab world aflame in december 2010, young men all over the middle east have tried to imitate him. The endgame is a series of films exploring the fall of the gaddafi regime from the perspective of those who helped to bring it down al jazeera tv the long road to tripoli. The common slogan of the protesters throughout arab spring was the people want to bring down the regime aissa, 2012. Unrest and uncertainty the big picture, the boston globes photoblog. The protests in morocco were inspired by the arab spring protests and revolutions in other north african countries. While the socalled arab spring has so far toppled despotic regimes in. Moroccan women, arab spring, 20 february movement 20.
Reconstructing peoplehood in the arab spring part 1. Though many commentators have warned that the arab spring is turning into an. Article pdf available in the journal of north african studies march 2018 with 1,207. Real gdp growth 2010, 2015 fffi fffi6% fffi4% fffi2% fffi 0% ff 2% ff 4% ff algeria libya morocco tunisia 2010 2015 source. If youre able, and if you like our content and approach, please support the project.
Security forces stand guard as hundreds of rif movement supporters attend an antigovernment protest demanding release of nasser alzefzafi, who was arrested for organizing demonstration, morocco. The movement started with a rifbased focus, demanding an inquiry into fikris death and previous mysterious killings during the 2011 arab springinspired protests. Why moroccos protests wont usher in another arab spring. Arab spring used their powers vehemently to crush the demonstrators and consequently the peaceful protesters also became violent. As elsewhere in north africa and the middle east, the youthdriven revolts in tunisia and egypt produced a tsunami in moroccos political. Women are newcomers to the political scene in morocco. History, culture and geography have set north africa apart from the rest of the arab and mediterranean worlds. The ongoing protests in morocco, sparked by the death of a fish vendor last week, have led some to speculate that morocco might be on the verge of a second arab spring. Pdf the internet and democracy in arab spring morocco.
Chapter pdf available february 2019 with 286 reads. Islamist electoral legitimacy four years after the arab. Pdf encouraged by the uprisings in tunisia and egypt, and the arab spring, young moroccans began to organise huge demonstrations across the country. Like other arab spring countries, morocco faces economic issues like high unemployment which fed discontent across the region in the years running up to this decades revolts. Reflections on contexts and contests of democratization 2. While interconnected, uprisings in each nation took different forms and reached. The armed forces played a decisive role in many of the arab uprisings, particularly the early ones. It is characterized by youth demonstrations and sitins with the objective of creating a coalition in support.
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