1. Warm Up
You are a young, well-educated individual living in a country that has been ruled by the same man for 30 years. You cannot participate in the political process because your country does not have democratic elections. While you would like to voice your discontent, you fear the retaliation of the government and are all too familiar with the harsh punishments inflicted on those who dissent. Frustrated, your resentment toward your government silently grows. One day, a young man similar to yourself douses himself in gasoline and lights himself on fire to protest the actions of the government.
How do you react? List your first three actions following this event. Why do you choose each of these actions?
Do you believe that the actions of this single individual can bring about change? Provide two pieces of support for your opinion.

2. Cause: Political and Religious Oppression
Under the rule of dictators, citizens in many countries were forbidden from participating in the political process
Rights of the people were not protected by the government but instead were limited
No freedom of speech
Restrictions on religious choice
Attempts to change this were met with brutal force
Dictators would use the military and police forces to protect their interests
No fair trials
Protestors were silenced
Scenario: If you lived in a country where your rights were not protected but rather limited by your government how would you react? Give two examples and defend why your actions would be justified.

3. Cause : Educated Workforce, No Jobs
Countries possessed effective education systems
The population of the Arab world is about 400 million people
Of this 400 million, half of the population is under 25 years old
These factors combined result in a large population of University educated youth
However, these individuals cannot find jobs upon graduation
Highly skilled young people grow increasingly frustrated with the lack of support or action from the government
Why do you think youth unemployment is connected to civil uprisings and unrest. Does adult unemployment have as a pronounced of an effect? Why or why not?

4. Included many countries…
Revolutions:
Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen
Civil Uprisings:
Bahrain, Syria
Major Protests:
Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, and Oman
Minor Protests:
Lebanon, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Western Sahara
Map

5. Today
The first country to spark a revolution: Tunisia.

6. Situation
Read the following scenario and answer the questions in complete sentences in your notes:
You are in school and get into a fight in the hallway. Many people are filming the fight on their phones and notifying classmates about the action. Before you know it, your situation is known by everyone in the school.
How long do you think it would take before 10 people know about it? 100?
Why does this information travel so fast?
How does this information travel so fast?
Explain the process through which the information regarding your fight would spread.

7. Arab Spring – Spreading the Word
Considering that the Arab Spring is very recent, newer technology helped spread the word of revolution.
Facebook, Twitter, blogs, Instagram, text messaging, etc.
Social Media
How many people do you think use social networking sites across the globe? What impact does this have on society as a whole?

8. Scenario
Read the following scenario and answer the questions that follow:
You live in the United States, our country has now banned all use of the internet, freedom of speech, and freedom of expression. You cannot post anything on Twitter. You cannot speak as you’d please, you cannot dress as you’d like, and the government watches everything that you do.
Do you have a Twitter/Facebook?
How would this make you feel?
What would you do about losing your privileges like freedom of speech?

9. Watch start – 6:00
What were the “weapons” used by the people during the Arab Spring?
Where did the Arab Spring begin? – country
What was Muhammad's story?

10. 1. What would have happened in Tunisia after Mohamed Bouazizi lit himself on fire 30 years ago? Would word have gotten out the way it did in 2010? Why or why not?
2. Predict: what are the effects of this world wide and in Tunisia.

11. Tunisia
The “birthplace” of the Arab Spring was the North African country of Tunisia.
Sparked by one man’s suicide, nearly an entire country was led to revolution and fighting for change.
Reasons for the revolution in Tunisia included:
High unemployment, inequality, high inflation, government corruption, and lack of personal freedoms.
How can one man’s suicide spark action in tens of thousands of people?
Has anything motivated you to take action in your life?

12. Watch 6:00 – 9:30 What happened the next day after the suicide?
How were the people there all similar?
What “tool” was used by nearly every protestor to show the world what was happening?
What was the one way to spread the images around Tunisia?

13. Dictactorships
One of the causes of the Arab Spring was political corruption.
In most of the Northern African countries, the government in place was a dictatorship
The leaders of these countries were men who ruled unjustly for up to 40 years without the consent of their people.
Can you name dictators throughout history?

14. Tunisia and Ben Ali
The President of Tunisia was a man named Zine El Abidine Ben Ali (“Ben Ali”). Ben Ali became the president of Tunisia in 1987.
From the start, Ben Ali was widely criticized for his removal of freedom of speech.
The government controlled all press, television, internet access, and news.
One reporter was beaten, imprisoned, and harassed for his criticism of Ben Ali in his journal.
Upon being re-elected for a fifth term in 2009, Ben Ali did not know that he would soon be forced out of his own country.
In 2010, riots and rebellion began in Tunisia due to the high unemployment rates.
Ben Ali was forced to leave office, resign, and even fled with his family to Saudi Arabia to avoid further conflict with the Tunisian people.
Tunisia was now in a state of full revolution.
Evaluate the Tunisian revolution, do you think that the Tunisian people had the right to revolt? Was it justified?

15. Watch9:30 – 14:30 How many Tunisian Facebook users were there?
How did the president remain in power?
How many Tunisians had cell phones?
How did the people avoid the Tunisian censorship?

16. The Arab Spring Spreads to Egypt
After the fall of Ben Ali in Tunisia, the Arab Spring spread east across North Africa to Egypt.
Egypt is a primarily Muslim nation and was controlled at this time by President Hosni Mubarak.
What is the purpose of this political cartoon? How does it relate to the spread of the Arab Spring to Egypt?

17. 11:13-14:12
How were the Egyptians being oppressed under the Mubarak regime?
Describe what happened to the young blogger in Egypt. What impact did this event have?
How did Mubarak underestimate the power of the internet?

18. Egypt On January 25th , 2011, wide spread protests broke out in Egypt.
People were protesting the government of Hosni Mubarak
Protests were aimed at the corruption and oppression of the Egyptian government.
On January 26th the government started to limit access to the internet.
They began censoring all types of media that the people had access to in Egypt.
Why would the government of Hosni Mubarak try to limit access to the internet? Do you think this plan was successful?

19. The Arab Spring Spreads to Libya
Libya is a primarily Muslim nation and was controlled at this time by President Muammar al-Qaddafi 
Qaddafi had ruled Libya since 1969 until his death in 2011
Brutal dictatorship – no freedoms, countless human rights abuses
Sponsored terrorist groups