Arab-Uprisings-2013

Teaching about the Arab Uprisings Deborah Smith Johnston Lakeside School, Seattle

TED talk by Dalia Mogahed Women involved in the revolution

Arab Spring in Egypt

Ted Talk by Wael Ghonim

Role of Social Media

Tunisia now– The Café

What Now?

Cooking Up A Revolution Your goal is to write a recipe for a SUCCESSFUL revolution. 

What are the essential ingredients?

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What are some optional “seasonings”?

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Is making a revolution more akin to cooking a dinner entrée, baking a dessert or making bread? For each different rules apply. Or perhaps it needs to incorporate the whole menu.

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Think carefully about proportions to show how important one cause is when weighted against another. Don’t worry too much about yield as we can multiply to “feed” larger populations.

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Think about method / preparation. Do revolutions “taste better” (are more far reaching, successful…) if they are flash fried? Put in the pressure cooker? Cooked at high heat on the grill outside? In a crock pot? Pot roast? Stir fried? Sashimi? Include preparation time needed.

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You should be able to apply your recipe to the Haitian and the French revolutions (and possibly the US if you buy the argument that it was a revolution). The true test of course will be whether or not other chefs can apply it to future revolutions (China, Russia, Iran, Egypt, Tunisia etc.) but that is a task for another day.

World History: Revolutions Compared

DBQ on UDHR and Egypt (Winter 2011) The Question: 

Use all the documents to comment on the connections between Human rights and the Egyptian revolution as they relate to Motivations, Tools, and Legacy using the documents below. Include a request for an Additional document.

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Was the Revolution motivated by primarily by the desire for more economic or political rights? What “tools of revolution” were employed that reflected the attainment of some political rights? What will be the human rights legacy of this historic event?

AP World History DBQ

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DOCUMENT ONE: Preamble of the United Nations Charter DOCUMENT TWO: Speech excerpt by spokesperson for SECRETARY-GENERAL [Ban Ki Moon] DOCUMENT THREE: Image of Women protesting in Tahrir Square in Cairo on Feb. 1 to protest rising food costs and widespread joblessness amongst young males. DOCUMENT FOUR: Speech excerpts by President Obama , 10 and 11 Feb, 2011 DOCUMENT FIVE: Hosni Mubarak, former President of Egypt addressing the world, prior to stepping down. 11 Feb, 2011. DOCUMENT SIX: Political Cartoon, 11 Feb, 2011. DOCUMENT SEVEN: Blog from Bruce Nussbaum blogger and former assistant managing editor for BusinessWeek. Feb 15, 2011 DOCUMENT EIGHT: Book excerpt by Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of one of the founders of Hamas, who published a book called, Son of Hamas. DOCUMENT NINE: Written by Egyptian Americans in NYC following the end of Mubarak’s rule. DOCUMENT TEN: Interview with Wael Ghonim. DOCUMENT ELEVEN: Tom Porteous, director of Human Rights Watch and former foreign correspondent in Cairo.

AP World History DBQ Docs

MENA: CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN THE MIDDLE EAST NORTH AFRICA 2012 SYLLABUS

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Course Description What a time to be learning TOGETHER about the Middle East! So much has happened in the last two years that we could spend the entire time just unraveling these events. We will certainly address the changes but we will also look at the entire region in the context of what has happened over the past 100 years, focusing particularly on the role of media, development, conflict, and human rights. Our overarching theme will be on CHANGE—how change has happened in the region and what prospects there are for more. Texts:  James Gelvin, The Arab Uprisings What everyone needs to Know  Alaa Aslani, The Yacoubian Building  Sandy Tolan, The Lemon Tree  Rajaa Alsanea and Marilyn Booth, Girls of Riyadh

Current Issues in the Middle East

Central Topics- Fall 2012 ◦ Media Literacy: Syria, Israel, Iran and the US presidential Elections ◦ Globalization and Change as seen through Social Networking in Saudi Arabia and throughout the region ◦ Arab Awakening, with a focus on Egypt (Socio-Economic Development Issues, Political liberalization and Gender roles) ◦ Change in the Middle East (class focus on Israel and Palestine, but other conflicts will come up in individual research) ◦ Finding Solutions in the Region

Current Issues in the Middle East

Gelvin

Choose your group (Egypt, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Bahrain) Create a ONE PAGE visually interesting document in the next 60 minutes. Consider using a Template or more images to make it interesting Include:  Timeline of Events (at least 10) (could be conditions, sparks, methods… )  Highlight (at least ONE) Turning Point  Include a picture of the deposed (or embattled) leader (and more pictures or clip art if possible)  Be sure to include things that help you to distinguish this uprising from the others.

Review Assignment– Arab Uprisings

Why and How did change happen in _______________?  Choose one of the following countries: Tunisia Egypt Yemen Libya Syria (Feel free to make comparisons to any of the others as well: Morocco, Bahrain, Algeria) Agree or disagree with one of the following statements and include this tailored more specifically for your country (or something like this) as your thesis. 

“The spontaneity, leaderlessness, diversity and loose organization that have marked the uprisings have been both their greatest strength and their greatest liability.”

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“The internal strength or weakness of a state and the relative independence of state institutions play a critical role in determining the course an uprising will take.”

Essay Assessment

As you respond to the questions be sure to include in your essay, the following information: 

What conditions existed on the eve of the uprisings in this country?

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What four factors did (or did not) make this country vulnerable?

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What were the methods used (by both the government and the protestors)? Think about force, social media, policies, reforms…

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What made this country unique in the way that they responded to the protests?

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Within your response above, be sure to compare (similarities and differences) to at least one other place).

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What is your prognosis for what happens there in the next 10 years (short and long term)?

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[Challenge: Critique Gelvin’s interpretation of what has happened. How would you interpret things differently? ]

Assessment

The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany

Yacoubian Building Creative Response Choose one of the characters in the book. Think about what societal issues matter most to him or her. Track character traits, as well as significant quotes as you read. Complete ONE of the choices below.

Create a 1000 word dialogue between your character and Mubarak that addresses the Causes of the Revolution. Use both evidence of issues raised by Alaa Al Aswany in Yacoubian Building, as well as news stories from the present to make your case to the former dictator of Egypt. (Note: Your interview may be used by the Egyptian court currently trying him.) OR Write a 1000 word petition to President Morsi of Egypt from the perspective of one of the characters in the book (presume everyone lives). Now, almost 2 years later, what do you see as continuing trends in Egypt, based on what you read in Yacoubian Building about the past, and what you see in the news today? What alarms you most and what changes do you want to see implemented?

OR Write a 1000 word one act play set in the present day that creates a dialogue between at least five of the characters of the novel. Choose carefully so that you have a variety of people from different classes. Discuss the Revolution in Cairo in 2011, bringing up references to the events in the novel, as well as to the present. What issues relating to class and development are most relevant? (for example, Garbage Dreams, news stories, development indicators…)

Assignment

Francis 4 November 2012 To His Honor President Mohammed Morsi, It brings such great joy to my heart to know that the tyranny of Hosni Mubarak has ended; I have great hope that the future of Egypt is much brighter than it was before. Although I was hundreds of miles away in France during the revolution, I watched the news day and night to the point where it seemed that I was there myself with those countless Egyptians who stood up for their rights. Although my home is in Paris now, and not Cairo, I tweeted daily about my hopes and aspirations for the revolution and my solidarity with those brave men and women in Tahrir square. For us Egyptians who are scattered across the world today, social media is a marvel of technology that we never could have imagined in Egypt before. I am so proud of what our people have accomplished together, and I congratulate you on your victory in a pure and uncorrupt political election. However, as you are no doubt aware of, there is much work to be done. Egypt is a country plagued by problems, issues, and rifts that prevent us from becoming the great nation that we can be. Corruption will not end with Mubarak’s exit, and the vast economic inequality between the richest and poorest members of our society will not disappear overnight. I have known people in my life who have been driven to do terrible things just to feed their families, and the culture of inequality has created a society where few people can trust each other. …I am writing to your eminence to bring to your attention to an issue which has largely been swept under the rug in the excitement over the new political system. Women, who were formerly among the foremost leaders of the revolution, have been pushed to the foreground during the elections and under the de facto reign of the SCAF. We who marched next to our male brothers in Islam have been relegated to little more than figureheads at best… To fix this great rift between the two genders, I suggest two things. First, you must use your power as president to ensure that women are granted the political power that they deserve as befits their contribution to the revolution. Second, you must crack down harder on the brutality of those who seek to quash our attempts to exercise our right to protest. Before, the thugs of Mubarak both physically and sexually assaulted women who took to the streets, while today, the SCAF does the same. … Sincerely, Busayna el Sayed 34, Talaat Harb Street

Student Sample

A New Egypt? A short play written by Isabella about the aftermath of the Egyptian revolution including snippets of the lives and opinions of characters from Alaa Al Aswany’s book The Yacoubian Building. BUSAYNA: This is such a mess. ZAKI BEY: What is it now, Busayna? I told you not to read those papers anymore, every time you do they get you all strung-up, can’t we just enjoy the beautiful day? Look around you! BUSAYNA: That’s easy for you to say, Zaki, the only person you left behind in Egypt was your sister who despises you. My family is still there, Zaki, my brothers and sisters too. We were so hopeful that Morsi would make things better, keep his promises, but Zaki it’s gotten worse! (Cook, Fadel)

Student Sample

… BUSAYNA: Morsi promised he would get the people more jobs, that he would lower the price of bread, that the streets would be safer… it was all a lie. (Fadel) ZAKI BEY: But Busayna, it has only been a few months since he went into power, you have to give the guy a chance. BUSAYNA: There’s no time to lose though! Zaki, our people have been living in hell. Do you know what it’s like to have to give up your honor and your dignity to barely make a living? What it’s like to work ten hour days and still not have enough food at the table every night for your family? To have a mother who expects you to do everything that you can, even if it means completely throwing your integrity and education out the window to make a living in the jungle that is Cairo, Egypt? You don’t. (Aswany, 138) We had hope, Zaki, that Morsi would be different… a breath of fresh air. A change. But look what’s happening! Look at these numbers! Since he went into office things have gotten even worse than before. The unemployment rate has skyrocketed; there are blackouts in Cairo every day still, and they’ve gotten longer, more consisted. There is a lack of fresh water, there is no affordable food (Cook, Fadel). I can’t imagine things being any worse than they were before. What a liar. He’s no better than Mubarak was. …

A Year of Change

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Modeling Future Timelines

Teaching about the Future (too?!)

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Modeling Future Timelines

Teaching about the Future (too?!)

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Modeling Future Timelines

Teaching about the Future (too?!)