Revolutionary Movement in Tunisia: Successful Regime Change

The Tunisian Revolution was a movement of people that mobilized to end the regime of President Zine el- Abidine Ben Ali that took place for 3 weeks and 6 days. The movement is ultimately against President Ben Ali’s suppressive and violent dictatorship that not only had poor economic and equality effects on the people but also restrictions on speech and political freedom. Protest began in Sisi Bouzid, started with Mohamed Bouazizi. He became a catalyst for the revolution after he committed suicide on December 17, 2010, because of the oppression of the regime and harassment from a municipal official. His frustration portrayed what many Tunisians felt towards the regime under Ben Ali, so the revolution took its course after his death as it sparked more anger and a unifying desire for change. The First protest occurred in Sidi Bouzid, were protesters gathered to demonstrate against the mistreatment of Mohamed Bouazizi. The protest was met with violence from the police and this occurred more as protests increased across Tunisia. As the protests prominence increased there was more diverse following from the people. People from varying occupations and class were involved because of the severity of issues that impacts everyone. Lawyers went on strikes, human-rights activists, dissenters, and other workers. The negative impacts of his presidency onto the people of Tunisia include the contracting economy, high levels of unemployment and inequality, censored media and internet, widespread corruption and lack of political freedom. Tunisia has aggressively censored the internet since 2005, including explicitly political sites and video sharing sites. Aside from the corruption, lack of free elections, and high unemployment media restriction and lack of freedom of speech is also a motivating factor in mobilizing. Although, the internet was aggressively censored, actors in the revolution used Twitter and Facebook and other online media in order to mobilize citizens and coordinate protests.

 The movement is also known as Tunisia’s Twitter Revolution because actors in the movement used Twitter as a platform to mobilize in order to stay organized and get a successful regime change. In response, authorities issued cyber-attacks on activists on Gmail and Facebook accounts. The censorship and lack of freedom is extreme that Ben Ali’s monitors were able to obtain passwords to these accounts, to obtain information about key actors in the movement by locking out activists in order to get other user’s information. Because censorship limits certain activities and information from user’s activists had to use creative means and platforms to express information. To coordinate they posted videos to YouTube and Dailymotion to communicate events. Tunisians documented events on Facebook. Media played a significant role in helping Tunisians learn about other actions citizens were taking to mobilize. In response to the mobilization Ben Ali offered to step down in 2014. He ordered the police to stop using live ammunition on protesters, cut the price of foodstuffs, and promised to allow a freer media and end internet censorship. On January 14, Ben Ali announced the dissolvent of his government and declared state of emergency. That day people weren’t allowed to be in groups larger than three or they risked being arrested or killed. Ben Ali attempted to hold new elections within six months of the date. That same day Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia because he could not end the movement without the people ending his regime. After Ben Ali resigned as president, Parliamentary speaker Fouad Mebazaa was given the presidency and was given 60 days to hold new elections. These elections gave citizens the chance to hold an election cycle and have political freedom. There was also a commission to reform the constitution and there was an increase in internet freedoms. Aside from the positives that the people mobilized for and were able to receive, leftover from the revolution are negative effects on the economy.

            Overall, the movement to overthrow the regime was a successful movement because the people were able to mobilize through communicating with media about events to coordinate and speak directly to people using video platforms and messages on Facebook and Twitter. As well as their ability to stay organized throughout the violence that police forces from the regime kept using in order to control or suppress the political action. The activists in the movement kept doing demonstrations and protests across Tunisia until they weakened Ben Ali and his regime to flee Tunisia. They were effective and were able to stay organized until they received democratic elections, more internet access, and a new constitution. Even when President Ben Ali attempted to compromise with the people in the movement they didn’t compromise or stop until they got what they were fighting for.

Sources:

Chomiak, Laryssa. “Five Years after the Tunisian Revolution, Political Frustration Doesn't Diminish Progress.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 14 Jan. 2016, www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/01/14/five-years-after-the-tunisian-revolution/?utm_term=.d9aa86929c4d.

Zuckerman, Ethan. “The First Twitter Revolution?” Foreign Policy, Foreign Policy, 15 Jan. 2011, foreignpolicy.com/2011/01/15/the-first-twitter-revolution-2/.

#Women2Drive

In many western societies, people don’t think twice when asked their mother’s name and they don’t question a female driver. In the Middle East and North African region, women’s rights are limited and the need a male guardian with them to make decisions and take them places. For men in Egypt and other MENA countries, there is a taboo of not disclosing your mother’s name in public to prevent shame, so she is only referred as daughter of, sister of or wife of and then to be only allowed to leave the house with a male present, just like the taboo to not drive. Gender inequality is so prevalent in the MENA society and women have been fighting for years to gain basic rights (Trister). Unlike any other Arab country, Saudi Arabia adheres to wahhabism, “a strict brand of Sunni Islam, which requires the veiling of women, an absolute segregation of the sexes, and prohibiting women from driving” (Almahmoud) or this is the interpretation that is taken by the council.

Women first began demanding social reform in the 1990s which included fighting for the right to drive which led the religious police to enforce more strict rules against driving (Almahmoud).  In response, women activist arranged a driving protest in Riyadh streets and were arrested with their passports confiscated and government jobs were lost. Almost 20 years later, action was taken again to obtain the right to drive. Manal al-Sharif filmed herself driving a car and then uploaded it onto youtube causing an uprise in Saudi society in 2011. Moments like this and many more during the Arab Spring in 2011 allowed the campaign women2drive to begin and with the use of social media, it gained support from all around the world. While Manal al-Sharif was in jail, supporters gathered to release her and obtain the right to drive.

"For me, driving — or the right to drive — is not only about moving from A to B; it's a way to emancipate women, It gives them so much liberty. It makes them independent” (Gross). Manal al-Sharif describes driving to be a civil disobedience, but in reality, it was a de facto ban implemented on false studies. In Sharif’s Ted Talk, she states the reason behind this ban was research that was conducted by a local professor that concluding countries where women drive have more rape cases, drug abuse, and teen pregnancies (al-Sharif). The grand council was blinded by societal traditions and was failing to see that there was no real law against women driving. “The former Grand Mufti Abdel Aziz bin Baz had argued that lifting the ban would corrupt society with promiscuity and sin,” (Saudi).

After all these years King Salman finally issued a statement that allows women to drive which will be ratified June 24, 2018. The spread of the campaign on social media aided in gaining an abundance of supporters all over the nation and the world, which seems to be the reason the Saudi government gave into a new legislation seven years later.

“Freedom is dignity” was just one of Manal al-Sharif's famous words that rose

the power in women to fight for their rights and break the taboo in Saudi Arabia. The women2drive movement shows the power that action holds and how the voice of thousands can be heard and change can take place. They didn’t just argue for the rights of women though, they also stated that by lifting the ban would help the economy. The government needs more citizens to work in the public sector as the price of oil has decreased, but incentive is low due to the fact that women need a driver to get to work (Saudi).

With the success of women2drive movement, women are able to travel without a ‘guardian’ and get to work and for single mothers like Manal al-Sharif, they can raise their own family without wasting money on drivers or fearing to find a way back home. With the success of this social campaign, citizens are shown that change takes place with action and with the words of Manal - “freedom is dignity.” Respect should be given to everyone and that is why after this win, Manal al-Sharif began the next movement #IamMyOwnGuardian because there is always room for improvement to ensure human rights stay intact.

This major success has sparked a light in educated, ambitious women to help their youth and not suffer like the ones before them had to. This movement has empowered many women to speak up and demand the respect they deserve and fight to be their own guardian. Nothing comes easy, but when the voice of an entire nation is heard globally, change does take place.

#Women2Drive

Up until 2017, Saudi Arabia was the only country that did not allow women to drive motor vehicles by law. Saudi Arabia has long had a history deny women the same basic rights that it awards men. The ban on women driving is the one that most recently has caught global attention and has dominated movements for change in the nation. The fight for equality for women’s rights, at least in terms of automobile driving, is not a new fight in the nation.

 The 1990’s saw the first protests against the regime to allow women to drive. The first protests were on November 6^th, 1990 when 47 women drove cars in the city of Riyadh to protest the ban on driving. These 47 women were jailed for one day due to their protest and subsequently had their passports taken away and many lost their jobs. In September of 2007, a women’s group in Saudi Arabia called the Association for the Protection and Defense of Women’s Rights in Saudi Arabia sent a petition to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. The petition had 1100 signatures that asked the king to give permission for women to drive.

On international women’s day a year later, al-Huwaider posted multiple videos of her driving on YouTube. The videos showed her driving on her own property, where she is allowed to drive as it is not a public road. The video continues to show her drive on public roads, which was in direct violation of the Saudi law. Al-Huwaider spoke of her wishes that one day women would be able to drive in her nation. The video itself went viral and brought the #Women2Drive movement into the 21^st century.  

In 2011 Manal al-Shariff, through an extensive Facebook campaign, officially started the modern day #Women2Drive movement in Saudi Arabia. Also called the “teach me how to drive so I can protect myself movement,” the #Women2Drive movement was said to be inspired by the Arab Spring that was happening at the same time. Unlike many of the countries in the region, Saudi Arabia did not see the high governmental change, but protests for women’s rights spurred instead. A couple weeks after the initial Facebook page went out, it had over 12 thousand readers and supporters, and soon after women were driving in the street out of protest. Due to marketing campaign aimed at women in the US, many Saudi women’s groups including Saudi Women for Driving asked Subaru’s parent company to stop selling cars to nations that do not allow women to drive.

Al-Shariff was arrested in 2011 when al-Huwaider filmed her driving on public streets, again in direct opposition from the law at the time. Al-Shariff was subsequently released and rearrested and was only released on bail only with the conditions that she would no longer drive and would not talk to the press. American news outlets connected the arrest with Saudi Arabia’s fear of protest during the height of the Arab Spring. Al-Shariff’s arrest empowered more women to go into the street and drive in solidarity. Women all over Saudi Arabia posted videos of themselves driving in protest with the law. On the 17^th of June, 30-50 Saudi women drove together on the streets of Riyadh. Their cars were stopped by police but were only given a traffic ticket marking the start of change to the law.

In late July, after more women were arrested for driving cars, Princess al-Taweel announced on NPR that she was in support of the protests and was trying to advocate for women equality in the workforce, legal system, and education. It was during this same period that King Abdullah announced that by 2015 women would have more voting rights in the country. The fight was fought for another six years. During this time constant battles went back and forth; each side seeming to give and take ground with their arguments. Many more conservative hardliners in the government ensured that if women were able to drive that “issues” such as prostitution, pornography, homosexuality, divorce, and the “end of virginity.” Protestors in the other camp argued that women deserve the same simple rights as men, driving being the main talking point.

On September 26^th of 2017, King Salman announced that women would be able to drive in Saudi Arabia in accordance with Sharia. Licenses are only to be issued to women starting June 24^th, 2018. This, however, marks a massive shift in Saudi Arabia and how a social movement can change a society for good.

Women's Rights Social Movements

While many consider the Middle East and its civil society, they remember revolutions like Arab Spring, or the Green Revolution, the truth is that social movements play a huge role in Middle Eastern politics, not just overthrowing leaders. In fact, civil society has been full of many of these unheard-of movements making differences in people’s lives. The movement I will be highlighting is the movement for Women’s Rights, specifically in Saudi Arabia. Recently, the Women’s Rights Movement in Saudi Arabia celebrated a huge win when King Salman announced that women would be given the right to drive in September of 2017 (Hubbard). Countries, specifically those in the West congratulated the Saudi Arabian monarchy. President Trump, and the United States Department of State issued a statement remarking on the “positive step” towards equal rights (Hubbard). However, they seem to be overlooking that the government issued this decree after decades of protest and dissent of the people. There is an overall gender equality movement in the region, however there were also movements that worked specifically on the driving issue, such as the social media campaign #Women2Drive.

            I found for the most part, however, many movement campaigns used and highlighted the fact that women couldn’t drive in Saudi Arabia as a frame. It was easy to see this ban as ridiculous and to want to fight it, since women all over the world can drive; this wasn’t a sensitive issue and was not debated anywhere else. In fact, Saudi Arabia is the last country in the entire world to allow women to drive. Many of these campaigns which fought for the right to drive also had bigger goals in mind, such as ending the male guardianship laws. These oppressive laws were put into place in the 1930s, so the government could ensure societal and political control (Winsor). Guardianship laws make it so that women are almost second-class citizens and are not allowed to do fundamental things without the permission or presence of a male guardian. Women are not able to get married without approval, they cannot divorce, have custody of their children until age 7 and 9 for boys and girls respectively, get a passport, travel internationally, open a bank account, get a job, and they even cannot receive medical care without male approval (Winsor). This is still a widely debated issue in Saudi Arabia and will be the next target for these social movements after the driving law is officially in effect this coming June.

            These movements are not very old. The movement to lift the driving ban began in 1990, during the Gulf War. Saudi Women noticed that female American soldiers were allowed to drive freely around their military bases (Begum). In November of 1990, women organized the first official protests through the capital Riyadh. As we see commonly with governments dealing with protests from their citizenry, the 47 women involved were arrested, and released into the custody of their male guardians, who had to promise the women would never attempt to drive again. Up until this point, there was no official law stating that women could not drive, it was purely customary and followed by society based on their values (Begum). However, following the protest in 1990, the Council of Senior Scholars, which is Saudi Arabia’s highest religious body, convened to discuss the issue. In response, they issued a “fatwa” or an edict, to prohibit driving citing social reasons. The Council believed that allowing women to drive could cause “social chaos,” such as women mixing and socializing with unrelated men. (Begum) This fatwa caused the government to issue a decree which prohibited driving, making the ban official law.

            The next part of this movement came in the early 2000s, where the rise of social allowed for their message and movement to be heard around the world. Women like Wajeha al-Huwaider, who filmed and uploaded a video of her driving in Saudi Arabia headed the new era of this movement. In 2011, the #Women2Drive movement mentioned previously was launched. This new approach using social media allowed for leaders to organize the movement, release dtaes of protests and to inspire those with international driving licenses to all drive on the street on the same day – June 17^th (Some). These protests continued for several years, resulting in the arrest, and detention of several women, who were sentenced to multiple whippings (Begum). That sentencing was eventually overturned in court. The real international recognition, however, came in 2013, when a comic posted a music video on YouTube titled “No Woman, No Drive.” This video was a parody of Bob Marley’s famous song “No Woman, No Cry,” which the comic made more “relatable” to Arabs in a satirical manner (Begum). The video quickly went viral, and currently has 15 million views. This video brought the movement international attention, which caused people to discuss the issue of women’s rights in the Middle East. While the video was most likely not originally created as a tool for the Women2Drive movement, it became instrumental in the fight.

            Clearly, there is a lot more to Middle Eastern civil society, and more protests or social movements than media reports, or the governments want the world to see. However, they play a huge role in policy decisions for lawmakers, much like in the case of Saudi Arabia and the driving ban. While this movement was successful, and social media campaigns like #Women2Drive might be ending, the movements and fight for women’s rights are far from over, and women all over the MENA region are bravely fighting for equality.

Works Cited

Begum, Rothna. “The Brave Female Activists Who Fought to Lift Saudi Arabia’s Driving Ban.”              Human Rights Watch, 29 Sept. 2017,

Hubbard, Ben. “Saudi Arabia Agrees to Let Women Drive.” The New York Times, 26 Sept. 2017,

“Some Saudi Women Defy Driving Ban in Day of Protest.” BBC News, BBC, 26 Oct. 2013,

Winsor, Morgan. “Women in Saudi Arabia got the right to drive, but they still can’t do these                    things.” ABC News, Disney Media Networks, 29 Sept. 2017,