To Tony Verduyn re Russia, Syria, China

Dear Tony

Thanks very much for engaging and giving detailed responses.  Brilliant!  I may respond again for further search for the truth from your good self.  Meanwhile, ...   (turned out longer than I expected!)

Basically, my position is diplomacy rather than the militarisation of diplomacy.  Inclusion and compromise and understanding, respect for other cultures.  Above all the avoidance of pointing the finger at other countries when there are three fingers pointing back at ourselves.  Our own track record over the centuries is abysmal - and shocking revelations from Michael Portillo in TV programmes of his on Channel 5.  A little self-searching over our foreign policy, I think, is in order.  I am not proud of our military interventions since the Boer War from 1899  - and some self-criticism is in order, I think.

I am particularly interested in how our ally in WW2 became our mortal, sworn enemy in a matter of weeks/months in 1945.  And, why Russia was included as G8 but all too soon it became G7, once more.  What went wrong, exactly?  And why could nuclear secrets not be officially shared with all allies instead of spies doing it, unofficially in the 40s, 50s, 60s?  We can learn a thing or two from Gorbachev, I think.  Just give credit to even China and Russia when it is due and, make friends instead of enemies.

In ruthless countries like Russia and Syria is it not more sensible to lie low, keep quiet and certainly not rebel against very nasty, brutal states that brook no opposition?  The protestors in both countries were treated barbarically but the West must keep out of it, don't you think, Tony?  Don't protest if you know you are going to get a bloody nose.  One firebrand author I met at the Wigtown Book Festival was really stirring things up against Assad with his oratory from the platform!  But, where did that get him?  I don't go on a march in London, anymore when I know I am likely to be kettled by the Police.  My last was in Feb 2003 over the illegal, immoral and quite disgraceful Iraq War.  All the fault of ourselves and not Russia or China.

As a deep green and eco-socialist, why does that make me undemocratic and an eco-fascist, Tony?

All the best

Russia's Christmas goodwill and Empathy

I wonder why the West should ignore the two Russian initiatives in December and pretend we had never received them.  Just like 90% of my emails to the authorities that are totally ignored!!

I  feel obliged to give credit to Russia when, pre-Putin, they initiated perestroika and glasnost and took the wind out of Reagan's sails in Iceland in a surprise act of generosity.  They appear to have a better track record than the US over wars in far-flung corners of the planet.  Never overthrowing capitalist states, as the West has tried in fighting to overthrow many Communist countries (even elected governments if they were left-wing) - all in the name of freedom and democracy since 1945.

Last decade, Russia came to the aid of President Assad of Syria while the West was supporting the rebels in trying to overthrow a well-established, legitimate and legal government, recognised by the UN!

The December 'request' to the West not to come any further east by inviting Ukraine to become a member of NATO, seems perfectly understandable and reasonable to me in the light of their proud history of empire, like ours.  Our side boasts that we won the two World Wars, vanquished the Commies in the Cold War with the break up of the USSR, their loss of buffer states to the West and the dissolving of the Warsaw Pact in 1991.  Russia probably sees the West being on a roll with their former satellite states embracing the West and so many becoming part of the EU and even NATO.  Yet, there is no empathy, let alone understanding from our side.  Just a determination to spread the untold blessings of democracy ever further eastwards.  And the USA and the West must remain the policeman of the world upholding our culture and democracy and extending it at every opportunity.  The USA must always be TOP DOG in the world!  This attitude hardly promotes international understanding and goodwill.

Christmas is, supposedly, a time of peace and goodwill to all nations.  Perfect timing for the Russians but, we ignored them.  We could have stated our position that Ukraine should be a buffer state between Russia and the West, outside our sphere of influence and, we would not fund, give armaments or support any anti-Russian feeling in Ukraine.  Such a move would have lessened tensions and made it less likely that they would invade Ukraine.  If they did, it would still allow the present measures that are being discussed to be implemented.

We must include Russia as much as possible in G7 deliberations as being a much more positive and constructive path to take rather than condemning them for their taking back of Crimea.  Crimea was given to Ukraine in 1954 by Khrushchev.

Empathy and understanding - "leaders using empathy as a vital tool in their diplomatic arsenal."   Breaking History, Radio 4, on 5 January 2022, available for over a year, here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001329q

In 1972, Richard Nixon and Premier Chou En-lai agreed -

"the Joint Communique of the United States of America and the People's Republic of China, also known as the Shanghai Communique.  The communique was highly unconventional; it essentially sees both sides as agreeing to disagree. However, within its text the two sides agreed that both countries, regardless of their social systems, should conduct their relations on the principles of respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states.  It was an agreement that had far-reaching consequences for world history - one that "built a bridge across 16,000 miles" and healed years of division and hostility."

"President Nixon met with Chairman Mao Tsetung of the Communist Party of China on February 21. The two leaders had a serious and frank exchange of views on Sino-US relations and world affairs."  https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/121325

 

The West is Best - or is it the Worst?

SELF:  Not a word of protest or objection or dismay was expressed by the West when, in 2014, 50 civilians were killed in Kiev and an elected, pro Russian government was overthrown and a pro Western government installed.  That worked well for the West because only 50 people were killed and it was quickly over within the week.

Overthrowing the Syrian government, however, has gone horribly wrong for the West over these last seven years.  In addition, Assad was an ophthalmologist in London for a time.  Was he given a state visit to London on one occasion?  Is this man another monster of our own making?  He came from the West, it seems.  Is the West a glowing, good and righteous example to the rest of the world in any respects at all?

​"​Ukraine gained independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and has since veered between seeking closer integration with Western Europe and being drawn into the orbit of Russia, which sees its interests as threatened by a Western-leaning Ukraine.​"​    BBC News​

Take Crimea for instance.  More than half of its 2 million people are Russian, and Russia still maintains a naval base there. In fact, the region was part of Russia until 1954, when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev gave it to Ukraine as a present. When the Soviet Union broke up in 1991, Crimea became part of an independent Ukraine.

Pro Russian Viktor Yanukovych overthrown in 2014; Pro Western Petro Poroshenko installed.

Why Ukraine Is Such A Big Deal For Russia   February 21, 2014 11:52 AM ET

KRISHNADEV CALAMUR

https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2014/02/21/280684831/why-ukraine-is-such-a-big-deal-for-russia

gives:

Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to stem his country's decline in global influence: Moscow's leverage in places like Ukraine is one way to preserve that influence. But there are other reasons why Ukraine is of deep interest to Russia — reasons that have more to do with history, faith, economics and culture.

A Special Relationship

Matthew Rojansky, director of the Kennan Institute at the Wilson Center, says the two countries "are joined at the hip": They share language; Russian media are popular in Ukraine; there are family ties; many Ukrainians work in Russia; and Russians have billions of dollars invested in Ukraine.

"Their relationship is like the U.S.-U.K. special relationship," Rojansky says.

Historically, those ties date back to before the Soviet Union — and even before the days of the Russian empire that began in the 18th century.

Many consider Ukraine to be the birthplace of the region's Orthodox Christianity. Ukraine then became part of the Russian empire, and later part of the Soviet Union, where Ukrainian men were pivotal in the Soviet defeat of the German army in World War II. (Ukraine was perhaps the most important Soviet republic after Russia).

Linguistic And Economic Ties

Linguistically, as we've told you before, most Ukrainians speak both Ukrainian and Russian. But it's the eastern and southern parts of the country where Russian speakers dominate, and where Russia still holds influence.

Take Crimea, for instance. More than half of its 2 million people are Russian, and Russia still maintains a naval base there. In fact, the region was part of Russia until 1954, when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev gave it to Ukraine as a present. When the Soviet Union broke up in 1991, Crimea became part of an independent Ukraine.

Millions of Ukrainians work in Russia, and according to the EU-funded Migration Policy Centre, the Russia-Ukraine border is the second-largest migration corridor in the world. (The U.S.-Mexico border is the largest.) The center says that in 2011, more than one-third of all Ukrainian migration was to Russia.

Russian companies are one of the largest investors in Ukraine, accounting for 7 percent of total foreign investment in 2013, according to official Ukrainian statistics. And when Yanukovych walked away from the deal on closer economic and political ties with the EU, Russia said it would buy $15 billion worth of Ukrainian bonds, giving Kiev an economic lifeline. (But on Friday Moscow said it was taking a wait-and-see approach to the events unfolding across the border.)

Ukraine is also a key component of Russia's plans for a Eurasian customs union with some other former Soviet states. But as Steven Pifer, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, told NPR's Robert Siegel, "for many Ukrainians, and I even think for President Yanukovych, that's not where they want to go."

Seeds Of Discord

The crisis in Ukraine is, in many ways, a conflict about the former Soviet republic's future direction: Should it look westward toward the EU or maintain close ties with Russia?

Until recently, this wasn't an either/or question, says Stephen Sestanovich, a professor of international diplomacy at Columbia University.

"For 20-odd years, it has been possible for the Ukrainians to kind of have it both ways," Sestanovich told NPR's Siegel. "What is now the troubling issue on the agenda is the perception of a lot of people that you do have to choose, and that is producing violence across Ukraine."

There are historical reasons for some of the antipathy — especially in the western part of Ukraine that borders Poland, where the protests against Yanukovych have been the loudest. This area was once part of Poland and Austro-Hungary, and became part of Ukraine only when World War II began.

Ukraine was the victim of the 1932-33 famine induced by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. Later, it was among the Soviet republics that bore the brunt of the Chernobyl disaster.

Those events undoubtedly resonated in the public memory for years: Ukraine was one of the first Soviet republics to vote for independence from the USSR. It did so overwhelmingly in 1991. The Soviet Union fell apart soon after that.

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-12-05/the-west-backed-the-wrong-man-in-ukraine

gives:

"Poroshenko, who had briefly served as Ukraine's foreign minister, looked worldlier than his predecessor, the deposed Viktor Yanukovych, and spoke passable English. He and his first prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, knew what the U.S. State Department and Vice President Joe Biden, who acted as the Obama administration's point man on Ukraine, wanted to hear. So, as Ukraine emerged from the revolutionary chaos of January and February 2014, the U.S., and with it the EU, backed Poroshenko and Yatsenyuk as Ukraine's next leaders. Armed with this support, not least with promises of major technical aid and International Monetary Fund loans, they won elections, posing as Westernizers who would lead Ukraine into Europe. But their agendas turned out to be more self-serving."

Robin Yassin-Kassab

1. I was at Wigtown Book Festival yesterday when I heard Robin speak very powerfully and assuredly about Syria. He said, “I stand with the people not the states”. His oratory brought a round of applause. For me, this is all very well but when the people get clobbered when they stand up to their oppressive dictator, is it really worth all the bloodshed and mayhem?

   In both Christianity and Islam, aren’t the adherents urged to obey the earthly powers, the authorities of the land that have been ordained of God/Allah? I have not been impressed with the behaviour and foreign policy of our English monarchs and rulers down the centuries. However, I would not dream of trying to overthrow them, knowing I would simply end up in jail or with my head cut off or being burnt at the stake! Here in Wigtown, two women were drowned at the stake in the 17th century because they would not acknowledge the authority of their earthly king over and above that of their Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.

   Today, we Westerners continue to enjoy great comforts and ease of life. But then we are the top dogs in the world, still. Our economic wealth has partly come from the armaments and ammunition that we make and sell that end up in the hands of any old dodgy regime! Far better to gain employment in more ethical ways. But then the Scots will get their wages from building and maintaining WMD at Faslane for the English to sail beneath the high seas to threaten nuclear annihilation on a huge section of humanity! Our own aggression, immorality and illegality sets a very bad example to other countries and peoples, like Assad and Islamic State.

   

   Tim Weller

   September 29, 2015 at 1:06 pm

   Reply
   • Tim, I think it’s a misconception that people in Syria in 2011 (or Russia 1917, or France 1789) all decided to have a revolution. It doesn’t happen like that. Instead, regimes collapse when they can no longer bear the weight of their own economic/social/political contradictions. And yes, Islam has an idea about loyalty to the ruler even if he’s unjust – but it’s not an idea I agree with. I don’t blame the revolution for what’s happened in Syria, but the violence of the counter-revolution.

     

     Robin Yassin-Kassab

     September 29, 2015 at 1:52 pm

     Reply
     • Thanks, Robin for the reply.
       I think you have lived in Syria and know all about what’s going on. So could you tell me if the present ‘civil’ war started from a peaceful protest demo being put down by force by Assad, please?
       Or, how did it start? Was it part of the Arab Spring revolts?
       I think I know why you want shot of Assad but, would you mind putting in down for me so that I know and understand your position, please?
       Was Assad a friend of the West, at one time? If so, why did they turn against him?
       Thanks for your help.
       Tim

       

       Tim Weller

       October 8, 2015 at 3:13 pm
2. Tim, I’m afraid I don’t have time to respond to your questions now, but I have a book coming out January 20th 2016, with Leila al-Shami, called Burning Country: Syrians in Revolution and War. That answers your questions. Or, you could read back on this blog from March 2011.

   

   Robin Yassin-Kassab

   October 8, 2015 at 5:08 pm

   Reply
   • Robin, could you listen to this 6 mins, 10 October Radio 4 ‘Today’ interview with Peter Ford who was UK Ambassador to Syria from 2003 to 2006. The interview starts at 1 hr 35 mins 10 secs

     http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06gtbj1

     What do you make of it? 27 days left to listen. Tim

     

     Tim Weller

     October 12, 2015 at 9:04 pm

     Reply
     • if you want to learn what an ex-ambassador to Syria who understands the situation thinks, follow Simon Collis.

       

       Robin Yassin-Kassab

       October 14, 2015 at 11:07 am
   • Is the angelic West on the side of governments (regimes) or rebels?

     Why should a government NOT be ruthless in putting down a rebellion? Any UK government would be. Even the good people of Scotland in 2014 had the fear of God put up them, if they dared to be so stroppy as to vote for independence from big brother England. Our problem, in our so well meaning, we know what is best for you fortress, is supporting the rebels to overthrow their governments in Afghanistan, Iraq, Tunisia, Libya and now Syria. And look where it gets us.

     Rage against the oppressor with extreme care and with non-violence. Only overthrow an oppressive government (regime) by the ballot box, not the bomb and bullet. If there is no ballot box, put up with the tyrant or get out of his reign of terror, oppression, sheer nastiness.

     

     Tim Weller

     October 14, 2015 at 8:06 am

     Reply
     • Tim, who do you think you are to be telling people to ‘put up with the tyrant’? When state officials torture your children to death, rape your wife and destroy your home, I hope someone tells you to put up with it. That’s first. Second, when you say ‘why should any government not be ruthless in putting down a rebellion’ you are talking like a fascist. Are you aware that the Syrian regime has killed 300,000 people and driven out millions? Why shouldn’t it? you ask. Do you leave comments on Jewish people’s sites telling them Hitler had a right to be ruthless? And the armed rebellion was a response to months of state murder, rape and torture. Third, believe it or not, the West is not the prime cause of events in the Middle East. The Tunisian, Libyan and Syrian revolutions were initiated, led and fought by the Tunisians, Libyans and Syrians. Fourth, I already told you I don’t have time to do answers to individual questions, but then you post an ex-British ambassador and ask me to comment. Well here you are: this man is either ignorant of the situation is a straight-forward racist and imperialist. Now please stop trolling.

Robin Yassin-Kassab

Dear Adrian

You invited Robin to speak at last year's book festival.  He was a powerful, persuasive, oratorical speaker that made me feel uncomfortable.  He was very different from Frank Gardner's measured tones, who was on the same platform.  Frank could see all sides of the problem and spoke with quiet authority.  Robin, at one point, got carried away into a rabble rousing piece of eloquence that drew great applause!  I did not join in.

At the end of the festival, in the tent outside the front entrance to the County Buildings, there were slogans posted on two or three boards and all written by your speakers.  One, posted by Robin, had "To be rid of IS, you have to be rid of Assad" (or words to that effect, I believe.  It could have been the other way round).  In other words, Robin was espousing the violent and undemocratic overthrow of a UN recognised and legitimate government in Syria.

My friend and host with whom I was staying, Mike Clayton when I told him commented, "I would prefer the festival not to get into politics."  For me, politics is all about morality, law and order and keeping within the socially accepted bounds.  I felt, Robin overstepped the mark in supporting violent rebellion against the government in Syria.  On the other hand, we cannot of course stifle free speech.  And, of course, the West for five years has and still does support the removal of Assad by force.  I just felt that Robin went too far.

I would be glad to read your perspective on Robin's contribution as to whether it was acceptable.

I would love to hear again, what exactly he did say.  But only you have access to the archive!

With best wishes

"They (Russians and Iranians and 'held by all sides') fear the collapse of another state in Damascus ... they (all sides) don't need another collapsed state." 

Lyse Doucet OBE, a Canadian journalist who is the BBC's Chief International Correspondent on Sunday 28 Feb 2016 on 'Broadcasting House', Radio 4.

'Robin has played his so sincere but ignoble contribution in supporting the overthrow of a legitimate government to bring about yet another collapsed state.'  My conclusion from reading his blog and hearing him speak at Wigtown last year.

Dear Adrian

Thanks v much for your thoughtful and excellent comments.

Robin's trenchant support for the Syrian rebels, although in line with US, UK, NATO five year foreign policy, has brought about another failed state in the Meddle East and hordes of refugees fleeing the mess that our employment in armaments, arms exports, our taxes and our foreign policy has contributed to.

I now think, the long-standing support for the overthrow of UN recognised but unsavoury governments from our Western point of view, should no longer be given a voice unless there is an equally strong, eloquent and oratorical speech giving the other side of the case.  The latter was lacking when it came to Robin's oratory.  My feeble effort in a brief question was easily flattened by Robin.  When I tried to make a point to him, afterwards I got such an eloquent ear bashing that I switched off and missed his over emphatic answer, completely.  I am intellectually slower than him and so I could not keep up with his speed of speech!  I am now returning to read his blog to understand why getting rid of Assad is so important to him, even though the consequences are so horrifying.

I much look forward to hearing Robin again this autumn at the festival.  But should he not be in debate with another eloquent politician like George Galloway, Adrian?  That would be another full house.  The clash of the titans!

All the best

CONGRATULATIONS!

​

Dear James and team

Congratulations for winning the vote last night.  When will you win our wars in the Meddle East?

After four years of war, when will your side overthrow Assad to install our democratically elected, Western sympathetic leader?

Your side overthrew the Russian sympathetic President Yanukovych in Ukraine to replace him with our man, Petro Poronshenko.  War in eastern Ukraine ever since.  When will you win that war, James?

Your side has now lost four wars against 'weak', 'powerless' Afghanistan since the first 1839-42 war.

Your side overthrew Saddam but lost everything else; certainly, lost the peace in Iraq.

Your side overthrew Gaddafi (the friend of Tony Blair for a time) but gained anarchy in Libya.

You allowed terrorists to drive us brave Brits out of Palestine in 1947 to install our Judeo-Christian State in the Muslim Meddle East in 1948.  Many wars, over 67 years, ever since.  A failed state in successfully turning its neighbours into enemies. 

Your side overthrew democratically elected Mosadeq in Iran to install our man, the Shah.  Success for a time but little love and respect for the West for doing so, ever since.

Your side overthrew democratically and fairly elected Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt to put in our Western sympathetic military government in Cairo.

After this 100 year record of Western and Christian misbehaviour, no wonder a very small minority of Muslims are radicalised and are raging against us!

When will your side make it safe, once more for white faces to move freely in the Meddle East and Tunisia without fear of kidnap and death?

The 'Today' programme this morning said that, in the second year of bombing there have, so far, been 7,500 air strikes to wipe Islamic State off the face of the earth.  Yet, the mightiest military force the world has ever seen, is nowhere near winning.  What is so inept about our armed forces, please James?

Winning votes for war to take place far from our shores, is so easy in safe and secure UK.  Victory in wars to bring tolerance and peace throughout the Near East and Meddle East is never delivered by your side.  Not even in our own powerful and WMD armed Israel!

Best wishes for the start of some true success for your side in 2016.  You certainly need it.

Tim

​Switzerland's values v UK/France/US values

Corbyn is NOT a warrior, NOT a warmonger.  He does NOT believe in upping the violence to turn friends into enemies and, then, with more retaliation from our side, making even more ferocious enemies.  Make the UK like Switzerland - famous for non aggression, for being revenge free and, with a first class rail network.  What a fine example for us to follow, James, my friend!  (James Morris, my MP)

Switzerland never attacked Egypt in what the UK, France and Israel called the 'Suez Crisis'.

Switzerland never ousted democratic Prime Minister Mosadeq in Iran.

Switzerland never ousted democratic Allende in Chile on another 9/11.  This time, 1973.

Switzerland never ousted Saddam from Iraq in 2003 or the Taliban in 2001, only to find that the Taliban popped up again, al Qaeda was reinvigorated and Islamic State also rose like a phoenix out of the ashes of our own making in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.

Switzerland did not remove Gaddafi from Libya to make things worse for the people there.

Switzerland is not part of the crusader ("if you are not for us you are against us" GW Bush) coalition of the willing to oust Bashar al Assad from Syria.

Non-aligned Switzerland does not get attacked, bombed and hated for killing our fellow humans 3,000 miles away.
Switzerland is morally strong on the world stage.
UK/France/US is militarily strong on the world stage.

Standing with the people means being cut down by the state!

It was good to read the above posts and replies.  I was at Wigtown Book Festival yesterday when I heard Robin Yassin-Kassab speak very powerfully and assuredly about Syria.  He said, "I stand with the people not the states".  His oratory brought a round of applause.  For me, this is all very well but when the people get clobbered when they stand up to their oppressive dictator, is it really worth all the bloodshed and mayhem?

In both Christianity and Islam, aren't the adherents urged to obey the earthly powers, the authorities of the land that have been ordained of God/Allah?  I have not been impressed with the behaviour and foreign policy of our English monarchs and rulers down the centuries.  However, I would not dream of trying to overthrow them, knowing I would simply end up in jail or with my head cut off or being burnt at the stake!  Here in Wigtown, two women were drowned at the stake in 1685 because they would not acknowledge the authority of their earthly king over and above that of their Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.

Today, we Westerners continue to enjoy great comforts and ease of life.  But then we are the top dogs in the world, still.  Our economic wealth has partly come from the armaments and ammunition that we make and sell that end up in the hands of any old dodgy regime.  Far better to gain employment in more ethical ways.  But then the Scots will get their wages from building and maintaining WMD at Faslane for the English to sail beneath the high seas to threaten nuclear annihilation on a huge section of humanity!  Our own aggression, immorality and illegality sets a very bad example to other countries and peoples, like Assad and Islamic State.  Tim Weller

REPLY:
Tim, I think it’s a misconception that people in Syria in 2011 (or Russia 1917, or France 1789) all decided to have a revolution. It doesn’t happen like that. Instead, regimes collapse when they can no longer bear the weight of their own economic/social/political contradictions. And yes, Islam has an idea about loyalty to the ruler even if he’s unjust – but it’s not an idea I agree with. I don’t blame the revolution for what’s happened in Syria, but the violence of the counter-revolution.

I do blame the revolution in Syria, Robin because State violence was met with protester violence.  Pretty impossible for most of us not to, I know.  But then that shows how important it is to rebel only if you are of the amazing calibre and of the heroic stature of a Gandhi or a Dr Martin Luther King Jnr or one of their many tens of thousands of followers who resisted even revenge over the decades of  suffering.  But, in the process, slowly wearing down the powers that be - and winning!

I think governments (if they do what America, Britain and France want) or regimes (if they don't), Robin will always stifle any opposition either by force as in Syria in 2011 or, much more sensibly as in London by Police action (like kettling) to allow dissent on the streets but only up to a point.  Like last year, the Establishment put the fear of God up some Scots to make them vote 'No' to independence.  The English government and all major parties threatened the Scots with all kinds of dire consequences if they rebelled and voted 'Yes'.  In countries like Ukraine, Syria and Israel, dissent is met with violence.  The West uses violence, coercion and coups to get their way in countries that are not part of their supposedly so very free and democratic Club of nations that toe their line (the Western aligned countries).

NOTES:
Wikipedia has:
"The unrest began in the early spring of 2011 within the context of Arab Spring protests, with nationwide protests against President Bashar al-Assad's government, whose forces responded with violent crackdowns. The conflict gradually morphed from prominent protests to an armed rebellion after months of military sieges."

"The Arab Spring (Arabic: الربيع العربي‎, ar-rabīˁ al-ˁarabī) was a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests (both non-violent and violent), riots, and civil wars in the Arab world that began on 18 December 2010 in Tunisia with the Tunisian Revolution, and spread throughout the countries of the Arab League and its surroundings."

"Many Arab Spring demonstrations were met with violent responses from authorities,^[23][24][25] as well as from pro-government militias and counter-demonstrators. These attacks were answered with violence from protestors in some cases.^[26][27][28] A major slogan of the demonstrators in the Arab world is Ash-sha`b yurid isqat an-nizam ("the people want to bring down the regime")."