MUST READ : THE ARAB COUNTRIES ARE BURNING DOWN AGAIN / NEGARA ARAB HANCUR TERBAKAR ROUND TIGA

 No 1.  Here is a short video from Wion. They talk about mounting protests and violence in the Middle East again.

 

 

No 2. The following is adapted from "Arab Winter? What Arab Winter?" by Prof James M. Dorsey dated Sep 3, 2023. (Dr. James M. Dorsey is an Honorary Fellow at Singapore’s Middle East Institute-NUS). The Middle East is going into its THIRD ROUND of unrest and uprisings since 2011.
     

• Protests in Syria, Bahrain, Libya, Iran
• Arab autocrats scrambling to squash third wave of protests in a decade
• cracking down street protests, increased repression
• exploding and potential future powder kegs
• latest protests after street agitation across Middle East

• 2011 Arab Spring toppled  leaders of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen
• 2019 and 2020 uprisings in Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon and Sudan
• latest protests suggest more trouble

IRAN

• Iran braces for Sept 16 first anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death
• Ms. Amini’s death sparked months of street protests 
• 530 people killed, 22,000 arrested
• Since then protest and civil disobedience
• People cannot take more pressure
• will witness street protests again  

SYRIA

• Syria two weeks sustained anti-govt protests by Druze-population 
• demanding fall of President Bashar al-Assad
• Assad’s military will have to keep him in power

BAHRAIN

• Bahrain failed to end three-week-long hunger strike by 800 prisoners 
• acceding to demands for improved incarceration conditions

LIBYA

• this week Libyan security forces deployed in Tripoli
• to prevent renewed protests
• protests heap pressure on Libya’s govt to step down 

IRAQ READY TO BURN DOWN

• Authorities imposed curfew in Kirkuk after four people killed
•  Arab, Turkmen protesters opposed to Kurds in disputed Kirkuk 
• clashed with Kurds this weekend
• Iraq could rejoin Middle Eastern countries experiencing social unrest

 

EGYPT WILL EXPLODE AGAIN

• Supporters of  al-Sisi, including UAE, worry renewed protests in Egypt.
• people aren't comfortable with anything right now 
• debt crisis, prices inflation gone up dramatically
• People's situation from bad to worse
• willingness to stay quiet has disappeared
• likely to hear about discontent openly in the streets

• ‘Egypt’s Sisi Rules by Fear—and Is Ruled by It’ 
• growing, noticeable divergence between govt promises and everyday life
• Fear of renewed protests in Egypt 
  
• world’s largest importer of wheat for 2023-2024
• reason why UAE agreed to provide Egypt US$100m a year wheat

  

SAUDI ARABIA LIVING DANGEROUSLY

• Saudi’s unnecessarily harsh repression of any sign of dissent.
• Saudi Arabia's out-of-proportion repressive measures  
• sentencing to death 54-year-old teacher for  Twitter post
• Teacher's Twitter accounts had 10 followers

• protests in Iran, Syria and powder keg Egypt suggest repression only buys  time
• mounting discontent with social and economic policies spilling onto the streets.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.