American Red Cross ends blood donation restrictions targeting gay men


By AFP
August 7, 2023

Under the FDA's new individual assessment policy, all prospective donors are asked about new or multiple sexual partners in the past three months -

 Copyright AFP Mandel NGAN, GIORGIO VIERA

The American Red Cross on Monday announced it will now allow gay and bisexual men to donate blood without restrictions that specifically target them over their sexual orientation.

“The Red Cross celebrates this historic move as significant progress and remains committed to achieving an inclusive blood donation process that treats all potential donors with equality and respect while maintaining the safety of the blood supply,” the humanitarian organization said in a statement.

The policy change follows updated guidance announced by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in May, and is set to expand the pool of people eligible to donate.

Under the FDA’s new individual assessment policy, all prospective donors are asked about new or multiple sexual partners in the past three months.

If they report having a new sexual partner, or more than one sexual partner in the past three months, they would be asked if they had anal sex in the past three months. If the answer to the last question is yes, they would then be asked to defer their blood donation.

Penetrative anal sex has a higher risk of spreading many types of sexually transmitted diseases, because the thin lining of the anus is easily damaged, making it more vulnerable to infection.

The new rules replace policies that singled out men who have sex with men (MSM), or women who have sex with MSM, for time-based deferrals.

Andrew Goldstein, a cancer researcher from Los Angeles who was a regular blood donor in his younger years before the FDA’s previous policies made him ineligible to donate as a gay man, welcomed the move.

“Something like giving blood feels like something so small that you can do, and it means a lot to me that I’ll be able to do that again,” said Goldstein, who participated in a clinical study in 2021 that paved the way for the new guidance.

Every two seconds, someone in the United States requires blood or platelets, whether for surgery, cancer treatment, chronic illness or traumatic injuries, according to the Red Cross.

“Whether a patient receives whole blood, red cells, platelets or plasma, this lifesaving care starts with one person making a generous donation,” it says.

GUESS WHO THE ROBOT REPLACES 



Edited video falsely shared with claim Ukraine's Zelensky welcomed 'robot warrior'

Sophia KONG,

  AFP Hong Kong

Published on Monday 07 August 2023 

A video has been shared hundreds of times on social media alongside the false claim it shows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcoming a "robot warrior" that arrived in the country in July 2023. The clip has in fact been digitally manipulated to add the robot and the original footage shows Zelensky with British leader Rishi Sunak at an army camp in south England.

"Robot warriors have arrived in Ukraine, Zelensky welcomed it personally!" reads the simplified-Chinese caption of a clip shared on Twitter, which is being rebranded as "X", on July 23, 2023.

The accompanying video appears to show Zelensky walking alongside a humanoid robot surrounded by soldiers and posing in front of a tank.


Artificial intelligence and weapons experts have said autonomous fighting robots could be deployed in the war in Ukraine, ongoing since Russia's invasion in February 2022 (archived link).

Drones have been used in several attacks during the war, with Russia saying it downed Ukrainian drones targeting Moscow and the Crimea peninsula on July 30, 2023 (archived link).

The edited video was shared more than 200 times on X, Facebook, and YouTube, as well as Chinese social media platforms Weibo and Douyin.
Edited footage

A combination of reverse image and keyword searches on Google found the video was first shared on TikTok here by a user with the handle "animatronic3D" on July 15, 2023 (archived link).

The user's bio reads: "Showing the world how AI+ Robots will change our world."

The user has shared several other videos of robots alongside Zelensky, as well as a clip of a robot playing table tennis and a "robot news reporter" in Ukraine.

Keyword searches on Google found the edited video corresponds to AFP footage published on February 8, 2023 (archived link).

"Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visit Ukrainian troops receiving military training at a camp in Dorset, southern England," the video's description reads.

The Ukrainian leader visited London on February 8, 2023, where he gave a landmark speech to parliament and inspected Ukrainian soldiers undergoing training in southwest England to operate tanks alongside his British counterpart (archived link).

The clip shared in the false posts has been mirrored and doctored to replace Sunak with a humanoid robot.

At the video's 10-second mark, Zelensky can be seen walking alongside Sunak in front of a helicopter.

The scene of Zelensky and the purported robot in front of a tank can be seen in the AFP video's 40-second mark. The original shows Zelensky next to the British leader.

Below are screenshot comparisons of the edited footage (left) and the original AFP video (right):

Screenshot comparisons of the edited footage (left) and the original AFP video (right)

AFP shared the same video on its official YouTube channel on February 9, 2023 (archived link).

Similar videos and photos showing the two leaders meeting were published by other media outlets in February 2023, including by Sky News, BBC News and Voice of America (archived links here, here and here).

The official website for the President of Ukraine also published similar photos from the event here (archived link).

OUTSOURCERS OUTSOURCE

Chinese company starts production of Nike brand products in Uzbekistan

 8 August 2023 

The first products of the Nike brand began to be released from the conveyors of the Uzbekistan enterprise, Azernews reports, citing Kun.uz news agency.

Sino International, a foreign company established in Andijan region by Chinese investors for $3 million, over the past 5 years has fully implemented the international standards set by the Nike company, in particular, the establishment of production lines. It created alternative conditions for workers. As a result of the full implementation of the quality controls established by the brand, the production of the first batch of the brand's sneakers began.

Today, Sino International has 50 employees. Lines for molding soles and uppers of sports shoes have started operating.

The qualifications and skills of Uzbek specialists are being improved by technologists, designers from the Chinese branch of the Nike company. The company can produce 6,000 pairs of sneakers per day. It is planned to increase this capacity by 2% until the end of the year.

“Five years ago, we came to study the business environment in Uzbekistan and implement our projects. At that time, we aimed to implement several projects, considering the conditions created and the benefits given to investors in the country. One of them was our project in the leather-shoe industry. After studying the market, we decided to attract international brands to Uzbekistan. According to the strategy of the Nike company, sneakers produced in Uzbekistan will be directed to the markets of Central Asia, Pakistan, and then to Europe,” Rongxuan Fan, head of the foreign company Sino International, said.

The multinational company Nike provides a barcode for each country in which it manufactures sports shoes. Uzbekistan also got this barcode. This means that the enterprise in Andijan has the right to easily produce all models of sneakers created by the Nike brand.

Tyson Foods closing four chicken processing plants in a cost-cutting move


By Karen Graham
Published August 7, 2023

Tyson Foods is closing four more chicken processing plants. Credit - Fkbowen, CC SA 4.0.

Tyson Foods, hurt by falling chicken and pork prices as well as slowing demand for its beef products, is closing four chicken plants.

Tyson Foods missed Wall Street expectations for third-quarter revenue and profit on Monday, with shares down nearly 6 percent premarket.

Net quarterly sales fell 3% to $13.14 billion, below analysts’ expectations of $13.59 billion, according to Refinitiv data. The company’s average sales prices fell 16.4% for pork and 5.5% for chicken while rising 5.2% for beef.

The company said Monday that the four chicken processing plants being closed are located in North Little Rock, Arkansas; Corydon, Indiana; Dexter, Missouri and Noel, Missouri.

In its attempt to lower costs this year, Tyson has already cut corporate jobs and shuttered other chicken plants, as it struggles with declining profits and reduced demand from consumers squeezed by inflation and higher interest rates.

Last year, the company hiked prices due to spiraling feed and labor costs, but in 2023, it was hit by lower prices in core protein segments, such as pork.

The company has also struggled to predict sales and previously said reduced demand for beef made it difficult to pass on higher costs to consumers.

“Chicken, beef, and pork all face different types of macro and market challenges,” Chief Financial Officer John R. Tyson said in an interview. “That’s persisted for a little while.”

Tyson expects the closing chicken plants to stop operating in the company’s first two quarters of fiscal 2024. It estimates total charges of $300 million to $400 million from the closures.

Tyson wrongly predicted last year that demand for chicken would be strong at supermarkets in November and December, Chief Executive Donnie King said in February. In January, the company replaced the president of its poultry business.

Paramount announces sale of Simon & Schuster for $1.62 bn

By AFP
August 7, 2023

Simon & Schuster is the fourth largest of America's "Big Five" publishing companies, which also include HarperCollins, Hachette Book Group USA and Macmillan Publishers

 - Copyright AFP/File TIMOTHY A. CLARY

Paramount Global said Monday it had reached an agreement to sell Simon & Schuster, a top US publisher, to private equity firm KKR for $1.62 billion.

The proposed sale, if it goes through, will end a years’ long effort to sell the prestigious publishing house, whose authors include Stephen King, Colleen Hoover and Bob Woodward.

“We are pleased to have reached an agreement on a transaction that delivers excellent value to Paramount shareholders while also positioning Simon & Schuster for its next phase of growth with KKR,” Paramount Global president and CEO Bob Bakish said in a statement Monday.

After the purchase — which Paramount said will be made entirely in cash — Simon & Schuster will become a “standalone private company,” according to the statement.

The publisher will retain its existing leadership.

“With KKR’s support, we look forward to collaborating on new strategies that will enhance our ability to provide readers a great array of books and to give authors the best possible publication they can receive,” Simon & Schuster president and CEO Jonathan Karp said in the statement.

The deal announced Monday is less than last year’s tentative plan to sell the company to Penguin Random House for $2.18 billion, which foundered amid regulatory concerns.

US District Court Judge Florence Pan, in her ruling, said the government had convincingly shown that the merger would substantially lessen competition “in the market for the US publishing rights to anticipated top-selling books.”

Paramount at the time made clear its intentions to continue to look for a buyer for the unit, calling it “a non-core asset.”

– ‘Big Five’ –

Also in the running for a potential purchase were fellow publisher HarperCollins, held by Murdoch-owned News Corp, and investor Richard Hurowitz, backed by Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment, the Wall Street Journal reported last week.

Other big-name writers who have published with Simon & Schuster, which was founded in 1924, include Doris Kearns Goodwin and Britain’s Prince Harry.

The publishing house releases around 2,000 books per year, and owns a back catalog of about 36,000 titles for adults and children, plus audio works.

It employs more than 1,600 people.

Simon & Schuster is the fourth largest of America’s “Big Five” publishing companies, which also include HarperCollins, Hachette Book Group USA and Macmillan Publishers.

In after-hours trading Monday, shares of Paramount Global jumped 4.54 percent to $16.82, while KKR shares remained relatively stable, up 0.03 percent to $61.83.

Pop fans report ban on rainbow clothing at concert in China

Aug 07, 2023
Written by Sophie Perry

 Taiwanese singer Chang Hui-mei – known by stage name A-Mei – 

Concert goers in China are reportedly having rainbow apparel confiscated by security in what has been described as the latest crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights and expression.

As reported by Time, fans of Taiwanese singer Chang Hui-mei – known by stage name A-Mei – said on social media that they were unable to wear shirts with rainbows on them inside the Cadillac Arena in Beijing on Saturday (5 August).

Taking to Chinese social media channels, one concert goer said a security guard asked them to turn their shirt inside out to hide the rainbow drawn on the front

“When I watched A-Mei, it was at Beijing Workers’ Sports Complex in 2015. Back then we could still pass around a gigantic rainbow flag,” a user on Xiaohongshu, China’s version of Instagram, wrote. “Now the security guard is really carefully checking all the rainbow elements. What exactly are you afraid of?”

Another person said they were stopped as their shirt changed colour with reflective lighting.

Tian, an attendee who was identified by just their surname, went to the A-Mei concert on Sunday (6 August) and said he did not see any rainbows in the audience – nor did he see security remove any clothing.

However, the 30-year-old, who is gay, thought there was the possibility that attendees were more cautious after seeing the social media posts about rainbows being removed the previous night so did not bring them. 

A participant poses for pictures holding a sign reading ‘I am Chinese, I am gay’ during the ‘Marcha del Orgullo’ Pride parade in Madrid, on 9 July 2022.

 (OSCAR DEL POZO/AFP via Getty Images)

The alleged crackdown on rainbow colours comes amid increasing restrictions on the LGBTQ+ community in China, a country which has previously had an ambivalent stance on LGBTQ+ people but is censoring more and more queer content from the public.

The Chinese government has long been seen as having a stance of “no approval; no disapproval; no promotion” when it comes to LGBTQ+ people. This means that while homosexuality is legal in China, same-sex couples are unable to marry, adopt or receive the same protections as their heterosexual counterparts.

More recently though, there has been growing concern from some factions in China that the LGBTQ+ community is a Western import and should not be encouraged.

In 2021, a large number of WeChat accounts run by LGBTQ+ groups at leading universities were shut down.

The following year, in July 2022, two students at Tsinghua University – the top university in China – were issued warnings for distributing LGBTQ+ rainbow flags on campus.

More recently, in May this year, a prominent LGBTQ+ centre was forced to shut its doors after 15 years serving the community.

Analysts Say Use of Spyware During Conflict Is Chilling

August 07, 2023 
Aram Avetisyan

A view of an Azerbaijani checkpoint at the entry of the Lachin Corridor, the Armenian-populated breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region's only land link with Armenia, by a bridge across the Hakari River, May 2, 2023.

The use of sophisticated spyware to hack into the devices of journalists and human rights defenders during a period of conflict in Armenia has alarmed analysts.

A joint investigation by digital rights organizations, including Amnesty International, found evidence of the surveillance software on devices belonging to 12 people, including a former government spokesperson.

The apparent targeting took place between October 2020 and December 2022, including during key moments in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Amnesty reported.

The region has been at the center of a decades-long dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which have fought two wars over the mountainous territory.

Elina Castillo Jiménez, a digital surveillance researcher at Amnesty International's Security Laboratory, told VOA that her organization’s research — published earlier this year — confirmed that at least a dozen public figures in Armenia were targeted, including a former spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a representative of the United Nations.

Others had reported on the conflict, including for VOA’s sister network Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty; provided analysis; had sensitive conversations related to the conflict; or in some cases worked for organizations known to be critical of the government, the researchers found.

“The conflict may have been one of the reasons for the targeting,” Castillo said.

If, as Amnesty and others suspect, the timing is connected to the conflict, it would mark the first documented use of Pegasus in the context of an international conflict.

Researchers have found previously that Pegasus was used extensively in Azerbaijan to target civil society representatives, opposition figures and journalists, including the award-winning investigative reporter Khadija Ismayilova.

VOA reached out via email to the embassies of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Washington for comment but as of publication had not received a response.

A logo adorns a wall on a branch of the Israeli NSO Group company, near the southern Israeli town of Sapir, Aug. 24, 2021.

Pegasus is a spyware marketed to governments by the Israeli digital security company NSO Group. The global investigative collaboration, The Pegasus Project, has been tracking the spyware’s use against human rights defenders, critics and others.

Since 2021, the U.S government has imposed measures on NSO over the hacking revelations, saying its tools were used for “transnational repression.” U.S actions include export limits on NSO Group and a March 2023 executive order that restricts the U.S. government’s use of commercial spyware like Pegasus.

VOA reached out to the NSO Group for comment but as of publication had not received a response.

Castillo said that Pegasus has the capability to infiltrate both iOS and Android phones.

Pegasus spyware is a “zero-click” mobile surveillance program. It can attack devices without any interaction from the individual who is targeted, gaining complete control over a phone or laptop and in effect transforming it into a spying tool against its owner, she said.

“The way that Pegasus operates is that it is capable of using elements within your iPhones or Androids,” said Castillo. “Imagine that it embed(s) something in your phone, and through that, then it can take control over it.”

The implications of the spyware are not lost on Ruben Melikyan. The lawyer, based in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, is among those whose devices were infected.

An outspoken government critic, Melikyan has represented a range of opposition parliamentarians and activists.

The lawyer said he has concerns that the software could have allowed hackers to gain access to his data and information related to his clients.

“As a lawyer, my phone contained confidential information, and its compromise made me uneasy, particularly regarding the protection of my current and former clients' rights.” he said.

Melikyan told VOA that his phone had been targeted twice: in May 2021, when he was monitoring Armenian elections, and again during a tense period in the Armenia and Azerbaijan conflict in December 2022.

Castillo said she believes targeting individuals with Pegasus is a violation of “international humanitarian law” and that evidence shows it is “an absolute menace to people doing human rights work.”

She said the researchers are not able to confirm who commissioned the use of the spyware, but “we do believe that it is a government customer.”

When the findings were released this year, an NSO Group spokesperson said it was unable to comment but that earlier allegations of “improper use of our technologies” had led to the termination of contracts.

Amnesty International researchers are also investigating the potential use of a commercial spyware, Predator, which was found on Armenian servers.

“We have the evidence that suggests that it was used. However, further investigation is needed,” Castillo said, adding that their findings so far suggest that Pegasus is just “one of the threats against journalists and human rights defenders.”

This story originated in VOA’s Armenia Service.

British city of York, site of a medieval pogrom, gets its first rabbi in 800 years

BY JACKIE HAJDENBERG 

AUGUST 7, 2023 

Clifford's Tower, the site of the massacre of the Jews of York took place in 1190. (Wikimedia Commons)

(JTA) — For the first time in 800 years, the British city of York, whose Jewish population was decimated in a medieval pogrom, will be home to a rabbi.

Rabbi Elisheva Salamo arrived in York from California last week after decades of pulpit work in the United States, Switzerland and South Africa. She will take a part-time pulpit at the York Liberal Jewish Community, which is affiliated with a denomination akin to the American Reform movement. The congregation was founded in 2014 and now has about 100 members.

Her hiring is a milestone for York, a city in northern England whose medieval Jewish community was wiped out in a pogrom in March 1190, on the Shabbat before Passover. Seeking protection from antisemitic rioters who intended to either forcibly convert the Jews to Christianity or kill them, York’s Jews sought refuge in a tower in the king’s castle. 

Realizing they would not make it out of the tower alive as troops amassed outside, they chose to kill themselves rather than convert — a choice also made by other European Jewish communities facing antisemitic armies during the Crusades. Approximately 150 people are estimated to have died in the York pogrom. A century later, the Jews were expelled from England entirely; they were permitted to return only in 1656.

“Helping to rebuild what was once one of England’s most vibrant Jewish communities is an honor and a privilege,” Salamo told The Guardian.

York is not the only British town with a history of medieval antisemitism where Jewish life is being reestablished. The British town of Norwich, where the first known instance of the antisemitic blood libel took place in 1144, and which was the site of another 1190 pogrom, may become home to a Jewish heritage center.

Salamo was ordained at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and attended Reed College and Yale University, where she studied biology and cellular and molecular biology. According to her website, she is also an experienced equestrian.

She will be joining a community that has been led by volunteers in the nearly 10 years since it was founded. Salamo’s first formal role will be to lead High Holiday services in September. The community hopes to fundraise in order to hire her full time, according to the Jewish Chronicle.

“With York’s unique history, this is a very significant moment not just for local Jews but nationally and internationally,” Ben Rich, co-founder of the York Liberal Jewish Community, told the Jewish Chronicle.

He added, “I hope that the whole Jewish community and its allies across the globe will want to help us on the next step of this incredible journey to bring Judaism back to this ancient and most beautiful of cities.”

Hong Kong court rejects government application for ban on pro-democracy protest song

 

Hong Kong court rejects government application for ban on pro-democracy protest song

A HK judge says the injunction might result in double jeopardy

Written byHong Kong Free Press

Posted 31 July 2023 10:23 GMT

This photo dated June 7, 2023, shows the 2019 protest song “Glory to Hong Kong” on streaming platform Spotify. Photo: Kelly Ho/HKFP.

The original version of this report was written by Candice Chau and published in Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) on July 28, 2023. The following edited version has been published on Global Voices as part of a content partnership agreement with HKFP.

Hong Kong’s High Court rejected a government bid to ban people from performing or playing the pro-democracy protest song “Glory to Hong Kong” with illegal intentions, saying such a move could have a “chilling” effect on freedom of speech.

Judge Anthony Chan said in his ruling on July 28, 2023, that he was not “satisfied” that it was “just and convenient” to grant the government’s request for an injunction.

The Department of Justice (DoJ) made the move following several mix-ups at international sporting events, when organisers relying on Google searches mistook the protest song for the official national anthem, China’s “March of the Volunteers.” The DoJ sought to bar the distribution of the pro-democracy protest song with the intention to incite secession, sedition, or violate the national anthem law. The government also sought to bar anyone from assisting with those acts.

But the court raised concerns over the “chilling effects” a ban would bring. Chan's ruling stated:

Given that the Injunction is aimed at criminal acts but not lawful activities, I believe that the intrusion to freedom of expression here, especially to innocent third parties, is what is referred to in public law as ‘chilling effects’.[…]

With respect, I am unable to agree that the chilling effects may be dismissed simply because the Injunction is not aimed at lawful pursuits.

“Perfectly innocent people” might refrain from engaging in lawful acts involving the song “for fear of trespassing the injunction, which has severe consequences,” the judge ruled.

The injunction bid had sparked concern among some about the potential implications for free speech. Hong Kong, unlike the rest of China, does not censor the internet despite a sweeping Beijing-drafted national security law (NSL) passed in June 2020.

City authorities previously urged Google to adjust its search results for “Hong Kong national anthem” so that they displayed the official anthem, but the US tech giant said it needed proof that the protest song was illegal.

The lyrics of “Glory to Hong Kong,” a song popularised during the 2019 extradition bill protests, contain the phrase, “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times,” a slogan that was ruled to be capable of inciting secession during the city’s first national security trial.

Hong Kong already has a law criminalising insults to China’s national anthem or flag but said the injunction against the protest ballad was also necessary.

The justice department said in June the song was “likely to be mistaken as the national anthem” and that its existence could suggest that the city has an anthem of its own or could encourage others to commit seditious acts. Injunctions would protect the national anthem from insult, it added.

But the High Court said an injunction would not be of much use and could conflict with existing laws. The court could not see how the injunction would have helped enforce the law, despite the justice secretary’s earlier argument that it would provide an alternative route for the government to consider using, the ruling said. The ban would also be in conflict with criminal law, raising concerns over matters including potential double jeopardy.

While there was a limited prosecution period for sedition offences, there was no such limitation for civil contempt proceedings. If the injunction were granted, it would “have the effect of overriding the prescribed periods,” which was a matter for the legislature, the judge said.

However, the judge added that if the injunction had “real utility” and was not in conflict with criminal law, he would have granted the government’s application despite the chilling effects:

I am unable to accept as a valid answer to these concerns the [secretary for justice’s] submission that it is legally permissible for him to choose the enforcement means that best facilitate the protection of national security.

The judge also refuted the justice minister’s argument that there should not be concerns over potential double jeopardy since the court would have the power to stay any proceedings “which would constitute an abuse of its process.” Chan said in his judgement:

The power to stay proceedings is discretionary, whereas the right of a convicted person not to be subject to double jeopardy is the rule of law.

The High Court judge also said that the evidence submitted by the secretary for justice “contained little in terms of specificities on how the Injunction would e.g. reduce the prevalence of the Song”, as lawful activities were not targeted.

The injunction would also not ease the government’s request to internet providers to remove the song, as there was “no reason to believe” that the providers were “not aware of their duties to act within the law.”

The tech giants would also have access to legal advice if they had any doubts, Chan said, and it was “difficult to understand what the Injunction may add to the deterrence of the criminal law.”

‘Very reasonable’

Ronson Chan, chairperson of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, said he thought the ruling on Friday was “very reasonable.” The HKJA chair said:

I agree with the court and the judgement saying that chilling effect will keep innocent people from lawful actions [to] keep away from the injunction.[…] I think that the judgement is very reasonable, and HKJA welcomes it.

Ronson Chan added that he had “no idea” what the government would do when asked if he expected an appeal from the administration.

“Glory to Hong Kong” was released on YouTube by a local songwriter, identified only as Thomas, and his team, on August 31, 2019 — during the height of the citywide pro-democracy demonstrations and unrest.

It featured lyrics co-written by internet users on the discussion forum LIHKG. They called for democracy and freedom and included the now-banned slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times.”

The government has refused to say whether “Glory to Hong Kong” is illegal when asked by HKFP, despite the authorities’ insistence that the law is clear. Nevertheless, the recent effort to ban all forms of the song was preceded by other legal moves and arrests.

Earlier this month, 27-year-old photographer Cheng Wing-Chun became the first person convicted under the city’s national anthem law. He was sentenced to three months in prison after replacing “March of the Volunteers” with “Glory to Hong Kong” in a video.

The Arab Spring is not dead

The spirit of the uprising lives on in the hearts and minds of millions of Arabs.


Haythem Guesmi
Published On 31 Jul 2023

Tunisians demonstrate against Tunisian President Kais Saied during the Tunisian Republic Day in Tunis, Tunisia, Tuesday, July 25, 2023.
The sign reads in Arabic: "Freedom for all political prisoners"
[Hassene Dridi/AP Photo]

“The Arab Spring is dead,” analysts and commentators have proclaimed repeatedly since the period immediately following the successful overthrow of long-term dictators in Tunisia and Egypt in 2011.

Over the past decade, the mainstream conversation on the Arab Spring has continuously shifted between questioning why the Arab world “resists” democracy, declaring Arabs are “unprepared for democratic governance” and claiming Arabs do not really desire democracy “due to economic concerns and social norms”.

These shallow arguments and false perceptions, which gloss over the ongoing, determined struggles for democracy in many Arab countries and the diaspora, have been enthusiastically repeated after every single democratic setback in the region.

The return to authoritarianism in Tunisia, the birthplace of the Arab Spring, was especially seized upon by many observers of the region as confirmation of the demise of Arab aspirations for democracy – everywhere, for good.

It is true that not too long after the revolutions, dictatorships made a brutal and bloody return in both Tunisia and Egypt.

Tunisia, once hailed as the symbol of the Arab Spring, descended back into dictatorship with President Saied’s power grab in 2021. Since then, gains made during a decade of political experimentation and economic reforms have been erased, leaving the country in a state of chronic economic, social and political crisis.

In Egypt, the initial optimism surrounding the Arab Spring swiftly turned into a spectacle of oppression and brutality following the military’s ousting of democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi just two years later, in 2013.

More recently, the incident that led to a flurry of gloomy and condescending op-eds on “what became of the Arab Spring” was the warm welcome Syria’s once-derided dictator, Bashar al-Assad, received at the recent Arab League Summit.

Al-Assad, responsible for a bloody civil war in which he employed chemical weapons against his own people, not only got to publicly rub shoulders with other Arab leaders, but also delivered a speech in which he called the summit “a historic opportunity” to address the many crises and increase “solidarity” in the region.

Looking at the state of the region, from Tunisia to Syria, it is impossible to deny the path to democracy for many Arab nations is still full of obstacles and threats.

And yet, the spirit of the 2011 Arab Spring protests is still very much alive.

Those who took to the streets for a better future over a decade ago, and many democratically minded Arabs who have come of age since then, continue to resist the new dictators and their regimes across the Arab world.

The Arab Spring, with all its complexities, was neither an absolute success nor an absolute failure. The post-revolution context in the Arab world exists on a spectrum, with varying degrees of success and failure. And the economic, sociopolitical and cultural factors that paved the way for those uprisings are still very much influencing the masses, keeping alive the possibility of yet another “spring”, against old and brand new dictators alike.

Indeed, the very same Arab populations that successfully challenged and toppled dictators in 2011 are now bravely resisting the counter-revolutions.

Despite all the repression, threats and the impossible-to-ignore pessimism of the international community, Arabs within their countries and the diaspora continue to gather in public spaces and organise albeit considerably small demonstrations, expressing their discontent and demanding political change.

In Tunisia, for example, people are bravely resisting Saied’s oppression through boycotts, strikes and sit-ins. Tunisian judges are routinely suspending work in courts and staging sit-ins to protest against the regime’s attacks on the judiciary. Some judges are also known to be taking continuous sick leave to avoid participating in human rights abuses under Saied’s rule.

Meanwhile, anti-dictatorship journalists, cartoonists and activists determined to circumvent censoring of the press are using social media, online platforms and other means to disseminate critical news and analysis, exposing government abuses. Tunisians are also working hard to garner support from the international community, lobbying governments, international institutions and human rights organisations to take action against the new regime.

As a result of their efforts, the United Nations, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and many other organisations have publicly rebuked Saied’s authoritarian drive and his numerous attacks on Tunisia’s democracy and human rights.

These efforts have already made an impact. An increasing number of Tunisians are loudly and publicly voicing their frustration with high unemployment rates, police repression, and pervasive corruption within the government. Similar to the final days of former dictator Ben Ali, Saied’s support is dwindling, forcing his regime to resort to heavy-handed crackdowns on political opposition and protesters, further fuelling public outrage.

Despite what Western media might argue, in the hearts and minds of democratically minded, anti-Saied Tunisians, the Arab Spring is most certainly not “dead”.

And Tunisia is only one example. From Egypt to Syria and Lebanon, the flame of revolution is not out, and hopes for a better, more democratic and egalitarian future are still very much alive.

Of course, this is not to deny the many setbacks, disappointments and failures experienced on the revolutionary path. But these should be perceived not as irrefutable proof of Arab peoples’ so-called “resistance to democracy”, but as valuable lessons that could help speed up the region’s journey towards democratic governance.

The early waves of democratic experimentation and subsequent failures during the first decade of the Arab Spring, for example, have underscored the importance of community-based political education for the long-term success of a democratic transition.

Working classes, who spearheaded the early Arab Spring uprisings, did not get involved in the post-revolution experimentations with democracy in many countries, and their absence from the public sphere contributed to the easy return of police and military states. Lacking sufficient political education, and excluded from decision-making processes, they have been disillusioned by the empty discourse of NGO activism that became dominant in the revolutionary sphere, and in turn, became increasingly accepting of authoritarian ideologies promising real order and prosperity.

Expanding political education to the Arab masses would equip them with knowledge about their rights and freedoms, enabling them to analyse and challenge narratives enabling oppression. Furthermore, it would allow people to recognise neoliberal ideologies propagated by their own dictators and Western NGOs alike that would achieve nothing other than trapping them in poverty and oppression.

A political education would also empower the populations to participate in the political process actively, countering the passivity and fear being instilled by dictatorial regimes. It could help working classes to remain involved in the democratic process well beyond the street, ensuring that a future revolution would not be NGO-ised and its demands watered down.

And, perhaps most importantly, the introduction of universal, comprehensive political education in these states could help Arabs see through Western discourses about the “failed Arab Spring”, and realise that the West, despite its many claims, could never be a true supporter of democracy in their region.

After all, far from being temporary or accidental, the West’s support for Arab dictators is a fundamental pillar of their longstanding regional foreign policy. Despite positioning themselves as promoters of democracy and human rights, the European Union and the United States have never backed democratic forces of change in the Middle East when it mattered most.

After Saied’s coup in Tunisia, for example, European powers have found the authoritarian president to be a convenient ally in pursuing xenophobic and racist policies. They even empowered his authoritarianism and bankrolled his regime by striking a migration deal with him to prevent refugees from reaching Europe.

The Biden administration, meanwhile, has continued to bolster Saied’s authoritarian regime through financial aid, diplomatic backing and military assistance despite his regime’s well-documented human rights abuses and dictatorial policies.

So, let’s repeat: regardless of what the neoliberal West, its institutions, analysts and experts say, the Arab Spring is not dead. Arabs are still resisting their oppressors in varied ways and keeping the spirit of the Arab Spring alive.

And as long as democratically minded Arabs learn from their past mistakes, make expanding political literacy and participation a priority, and stop believing the West’s lies about supporting democracy, revolution will return to Arab streets – sooner or later.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance

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Haythem Guesmi is a Tunisian academic and writer.