Starting in February  2013, ARTE will follow the process of change in these regions with documentaries and reports from  ARTE Journal and ARTE Reportage. So please visit these web sites: arte.tv/artejournal ; arte.tv/artereportage!

Our website is staying online, so you can still watch it :

Every videos on the home page or classified by countries or root in our media center, as for example our web series Generation Revolution with Everyday Rebellion Portraits and What’s up productions portraits.

After the revolution – 3 views, one blog: our final blog. Our three regular bloggers: Benoît Delmas (Tunisia), Rima Marrouch (Syria) and Ahmed El Lozy (Egypt) take a look at religious, social and political developments in their country.

Our blogs for each country: Egypt – Alternative Blog, Writings on Syrian walls, Tunisia – Alternative Blog.

A lot of interviews, like with Nawal El Saadawi

Arab cinema with Yousry Nasrallah, Danielle Arbid, Hiam Abbas…

And of course all Cartoons of the week from our collaboration with Cartooning for peace

And more !

If you go beyond the town centre you get the feeling that the revolution in Egypt has become its own world; a world apart with its own version of history, its own accounts, its own heroes. I am struck by this when I leave Tahrir Square to visit my parents who live in Zamalek. I only have to cross the Qasr El Nil bridge and go along the coast road and five minutes later I’m in rue du 26 Juillet surrounded by bars and trendy cafés.

In Egypt, we tend to boast of our ability to adjust easily to change and integrate it into our daily lives. The cycles of violence endlessly repeating since the fall of Mubarak have only confirmed this; 500 metres away from a deadly battle, people are taking a walk and drinking coffee as if nothing was going on. A sad phenomenon perhaps, but one which allows us to reflect on life.

For a few months now I have stood back and prepared for the entry competitions for film schools. When I announced my intention to leave, I was criticized and accused of being a deserter. In my defence, I had already abandoned my studies in  Prague in 2011 to come back to Egypt after the fall of Mubarak.  Instead of working in advertising, I used my audiovisual skills for the service of the revolution.  I don’t regret coming back to Egypt, even if the  “transition period” didn’t turn out as I’d hoped, but it is time to move on.

Ahmed El Lozy

Photo: Ahmed El Lozy. A piece of graffiti in Tahrir Square which says “The (Muslim) Brotherhood are miscreants”

Ahmed El Lozy graduated in sociology from the American University in Cairo. In 2007, he worked as the assistant to the film director Yousry Nasrallah on The Aquarium and embarked on a career in the audiovisual industry. In 2010, Ahmed parted for the Czech Republic to study film at FAMU, where he made his first short film Nocni Smena. On return to Cairo in 2011, he was hired by the website Al-Masry Al-Youm as a video journalist until 2012..

Twitter: @ellozy

Syrians are still fighting for a new system of governance, although it’s not even clear yet what is in shape for them. How do you write a final chapter when there is no end in sight? They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I decided to tell the ongoing battle for a new country in pictures. I took these photos throughout the past year.

Cemetry in Menbej, where at least 16 people were killed, including 8 children and 2 women during aerial bombardments. Ali Alshalash, 20, a law student and a wonderful young reporter at the local newspaper Mas al-7ur, lost his mother during the attack. I met her two weeks ago. Her hospitality and smile made her son find comfort despite the sound of airplanes and strikes. Two of Ali’s sisters were wounded and are still in the hospital. SANA, the government agency reported “heavy losses of terrorists” during the army operation. Ali wrote on his Facebook page: “My mother and sisters are terrorists?”

Crossing between government and rebel controlled areas in Aleppo. The city has been divided, as Beirut, Lebanon was during its civil war. I was amazed by people who still take the risk to cross this land every day as they go to work in government-controlled areas. There are several crossing that people use. 

Young boys survey damages to a home buildings in Azaz, a town in northern Syria that suffered multiple airstrikes and shelling attacks.

“Down with the local council that steals bread and flour.” Local councils have been established to run affairs in liberated areas. But people are growing frustrated with the high prices of bread and shortages. In Aleppo, a bag of bread costs more than five times what it did two years ago, and jobs are more and more scarce. 

Despite the war, some of Aleppo’s residents can still take their breakfasts religiously. The table includes hummus, fuul (fava beans), falafel, fruit and vegetables, a small plate for salt and a pack of imported cigarettes.

Graffiti in Jerablous, northern Syria. The bandana on the figure on the left reads, “God is the greatest.” 

An arrest warrant against Bashar Hafez Al-Assad, born in 1965 for intentional killings  and theft of public property. The warrant was issued by a group of judges who sided with the revolution.

An activist from Latakia said while looking at the hard copy of the warrant, “Killing him would save him a lot of suffering instead of putting him in jail and letting people – mothers and fathers of Syrians – see him suffering in jail. It is a lesson for the new generation, for the young people that no matter what kind of person he is, he has the right to justice. But at the end we know he will be killed because of what he has done.”  

In the absence of aid from humanitarian relief organizations, Syrians are trying to get supplies to the country on their own. At Jerablous crossing, you can see cars full of heating supplies as well as blankets and food from Turkey.

Rima Marrouch

Photo at the top: A boy sitting on the Syrian side of Jerablous crossing. The sign in the back reads ‘Syria of the revolution’

 Rima Marrouch is a Syrian-Polish freelance reporter. She was brought up in Homs in the 90s, when Homs was a happier place. She has reported from Libya and Syria for the LA Times. She also worked for the “Committee to Protect Journalists/Middle East and North Africa Program”. Today, she is based in Lebanon, in Beirut.

You can follow Rima on Twitter and write her under @RimaMarr.

© Photo Rima Marrouch: Everyday Rebellion, a cross-media project on nonviolent struggle all over the world; Supported by ARTE

Open quotes: “August 2010. I moved to Tunisia. Ben Ali’s regime welcomed me by confiscating the 40 boxes of books and notebooks that I had brought with me. Radès customs would leave them to rot for six months in a  hangar. In the meantime, the Minister for the Interior requested a list of my books and DVDs. At the first meeting, a pen-pusher at  7 avenue Bourguiba grabbed hold of my 12-page list of books and essays. ‘Madame Bovary is the author, Gustave Flaubert is the title, never heard of it,’ proclaimed this little bald man. I understood. I tried to explain that I was not so stupid as to have brought “La Régente de Carthage” (1). I read it and left it in Paris. Not appreciating the irony, the uncultured censor filed my list away. End of meeting.

February 2011. Faced with an angry population, the tyrant fled. The regime collapsed.  I turn up at Customs with a lorry. I want my books. In two minutes, it’s sorted. A warehouseman, visibly moved, takes me to one of the warehouses. He opens a large door and I am greeted with a terrifying spectacle:  pallet-loads of books, from floor to ceiling, held in Customs ‘for years’. He points to copies of ‘Les Misérables’, destined for schools, judged too dangerous by the tyrant’s regime. Hundreds of copies rotting. I leave, happy and shaken up by this Tunisian version of Ray Bradbury’s masterpiece. Fahrenheit 451 is over.” Close quotes.

To my Tunisian friends who grow tired faced with the current problems (mass unemployment, inflation, protean unrest), to those who feel nostalgic for Ben Ali, I recount my anecdotal misadventure. 23 years of dictatorship, 23 years of not being allowed to think, read, write, express yourself. That era is over. Despite all the difficulties of daily life, you can now talk, think, express an opinion, shout, confront, mock, get annoyed, chat in the café, loathe the elected members, express dissatisfaction without risking prison, years in isolation.  The fledgling Tunisian democracy has given everyone basic individual rights. It doesn’t fill your stomach, but it’s essential.
As for my French friends who imagine that a Teheran-style Mullah republic has been installed in Tunis, I answer no, despite the efforts of  certain groups. Insecurity is ten times less than I’ve  seen for the last ten years in Châtelet-les Halles. Everything needs to be built, Tunisia takes one step forward then two back, two to the side and so on. The infernal rhythm of rumours, information, debate tires and shakes morale and blurs moral boundaries. But the fight should be fought.

Boussa.

Benoît Delmas

1. This book about the mafia put in place by Leïla Ben Ali infuriated the regime. 
Photo : Lilia El Golli – @Liloone. On the slate he holds in his hands, the child wrote “I love you”.

Since April 2010,  “The Arab world in revolution(s)” has provided a different perspective on the  “Arab Spring”.From February 2013, ARTE will continue to follow the process of change in these regions through documentaries and reports from ARTE Journal and ARTE Reportage.

In the meantime, we’ll take a look at religious, social and political developments in three key countries. For the next four weeks follow our three regular bloggers: Benoît Delmas (Tunisia), Rima Marrouch (Syria) and Ahmed El Lozy (Egypt). 

After the revolution  – 3 views, one blog

Benoît Delmas. Journalist/writer. Lives in Tunisia (by choice). 41. Author of four books (L’Histoire secrète d’Endemol, Flammarion; Bal tragique chez Vivendi, Denoël…). Has worked for Nouvel Economiste, L’Echo républicain, Technikart, Le Magazine Littéraire, Libération, Le Monde,  TSR…

Blog Le Western Culturel
Twitter : @westernculturel

In partnership with Cartooning for Peace, once a week ARTE is publishing a press cartoon on events unfolding in the Arab world by illustrators involved in the various countries, but also by western cartoonists. This week: Antonio (Portugal).

Antonio Moreira Antunes began his career in 1974 at La Republica in Lisbon. He publishes his cartoons in Portuguese newspapers and magazines since 1975 : Diario de Noticias, A Capital, A Vida Mundial, O Jornal and Expresso.
His most famous and controversial cartoon (John Paul II depicted with a condom on the nose) was published in 1992 in the Expresso. Antonio is one of the two founders of the World Press Cartoon and has received numerous international awards.
His cartoons are often exhibited.

 All cartoons

“Boycott the referendum on the constitution!”…“Vote No at the referendum”… “We’ll form a coalition for the legislative elections”…“We can’t yet confirm we’ll be taking part in the legislative elections”…

Such are the statements made by members of the National Salvation Front (FSN), a coalition formed by El Baradei, Sabahi and Moussa following President Morsi’s  constitutional declaration in November 2012. More reformist than revolutionary, the formation of this coalition was nevertheless greeted with optimism, even if it did already seem to exist just to oppose the Islamists.

But since its formation, the coalition has only served to fragment the opposition. A call to boycott the referendum was followed several days later by a call to turn out to vote against the new constitution. The legislative elections are approaching, planned for April 2013, and the coalition has not yet confirmed it will take part.

As for the Muslim Brotherhood (FM), they have already started their electoral campaign by sending doctors out to Egypt’s provinces. Despite their spokesperson saying that “this initiative has nothing to do with the forthcoming elections”, this initiative will undoubtedly help increase their popularity.

Members of the FSN continue to make declarations about the constitution and the fairness of the elections. These are important subjects of course, but subjects which, for the majority of Egyptians, do not affect their social and economic reality. It seems that, in such circumstances, the Muslim Brotherhood won’t need to make much effort to win the elections.

Ahmed El Lozy

photo: Ahmed El Lozy

Ahmed El Lozy graduated in sociology from the American University in Cairo. In 2007, he worked as the assistant to the film director Yousry Nasrallah on The Aquarium and embarked on a career in the audiovisual industry. In 2010, Ahmed parted for the Czech Republic to study film at FAMU, where he made his first short film Nocni Smena. On return to Cairo in 2011, he was hired by the website Al-Masry Al-Youm as a video journalist until 2012..

Twitter: @ellozy

“When the coalition was formed there was a voice of support from many countries but this did not translate into any actual steps on the ground,” says Zena Bitar, a member of Syrian Council following the meetings in Istanbul. “Many countries promised political recognition, and financial support but it did not happen. We will announce an interim government and then what? There is no funds to manage anything,” she says.

According to the group’s page on Facebook, the coalition has distributed about $8 million in funds recently given to them by Qatar for emergency aid in several parts of the country. So far the coalition distributed $700,000 to local councils of Deraa, Hama, Deir El Zor; $600,000 to Damascus, the Damascus suburbs, and Latakia; $800,000 to Idlib, and Homs; $200,000 to Tartous and Quneitra, Raqqa, and Hassaka; and $100,000 to Sweida.

The $8 million is not nearly enough for running a government. Just for comparison, the UNHCR is requesting more than $1 billion for more than 400,000 refugees (that could reach one million people by the end of the year if the conflict continues). In a country of more than 20 million, $8 million dollars is not even enough for garbage collection on the streets.

With such a desperate situation, many Syrians are disillusioned that a political solution is even possible. “Political solutions have no meaning now, it is not possible at this point,” says Mohammad Attar, a Syrian playwright and activist. “It is a deadly and costly reality: We are losing approximately 150 Syrians a day.”

If Syrians are increasingly paying the price for reality, Bashar Assad and his regime are increasingly living away from reality. He talks about defending the homeland, but with bombs on breadlines he’s leaving no homeland left to defend. “The security solution is no choice,” Assad said in his most recent speech. “Here there is one choice, which is self-defense. If we chose the political solution and sought it since the first days, this doesn’t mean we don’t defend ourselves.”

Despite allusions to a political solution by Assad and his allies, the regime has always viewed any political solution as a threat to its existence. The regime’s reality is that it has no partner because it has no equal. Assad refuses to step aside. “If we chose the political solution and didn’t see a partner, that doesn’t mean that we didn’t desire one; this means that we didn’t see a partner,” he said. “To make it clearer: if someone wants to get married and looks for a partner but didn’t find someone to desire and accept him, this doesn’t mean that he doesn’t want to be married.”

Not many in Syria are looking for a marriage with Assad, people are rather looking for a divorce.

Rima Marrouch

 Rima Marrouch is a Syrian-Polish freelance reporter. She was brought up in Homs in the 90s, when Homs was a happier place. She has reported from Libya and Syria for the LA Times. She also worked for the “Committee to Protect Journalists/Middle East and North Africa Program”. Today, she is based in Lebanon, in Beirut.

You can follow Rima on Twitter and write her under @RimaMarr.

© Photo Rima Marrouch: Everyday Rebellion, a cross-media project on nonviolent struggle all over the world; Supported by ARTE

One for the Islamist Ennahdha party, one for Nidaa Tounes, led by the veteran Beji Caïd Essebsi. Between the two are small shops without flashy fronts. In less than two years, the fledgling Tunisian democracy has been forced into a bipartisan model. On the menu: political Islam  and a Republican model, that’s your choice. Both sides caricature each other, insult each other, accuse each other of the worst evils. Ennahdha is the Tunisian variant of Iran under Khomeiny, Nidaa Tounes is the resurgence of Ben Ali’s RCD (Democratic Constitutional Rally ) The political planet turns around these two stars.

The people are fed up, and their feelings are expressed by sit-ins, demonstrations, statements made on Facebook – now the national list of grievances. In the absence of forthcoming elections, which are continually and indefinitely postponed, confrontation takes place on television, from Hannibal TV to France 24, through rallies, each side counting the number of offices trashed. Debate on ideas comes to a sudden end and resumes with repetitive procrastination. Each boasts of being the party of reason, the party of the people, the guarantor of the revolution. Economic programmes have faded away. People squabble, pointing the finger, from morning until night. People do not know whether to laugh or cry.

In the last two years, the fledgling Tunisian democracy has adopted the international model: two opposing camps with no positive result. For lack of concrete solutions, the National Constituent Assembly devotes itself to absenteeism, listening to Ministers and working on drafting a Constitution for Tunisians. The democratic experience goes hand in hand with disillusionment. Promises are made, they are not met, and people mutter while waiting for the next merry-go-round.
 
The political laboratory for the Arab world that is Tunisia seems incapable so far of producing social and economic vaccines. For and against becomes the programme. The solution will only come from a third voice, when the youth learns about politics, its techniques, how to listen and speak to people. In the meantime, it’s just ripples in the water.

Benoît Delmas

Photo : Lilia El Golli – @Liloone

Since April 2010,  “The Arab world in revolution(s)” has provided a different perspective on the  “Arab Spring”.From February 2013, ARTE will continue to follow the process of change in these regions through documentaries and reports from ARTE Journal and ARTE Reportage.

In the meantime, we’ll take a look at religious, social and political developments in three key countries. For the next four weeks follow our three regular bloggers: Benoît Delmas (Tunisia), Rima Marrouch (Syria) and Ahmed El Lozy (Egypt). 

After the revolution  – 3 views, one blog

Benoît Delmas. Journalist/writer. Lives in Tunisia (by choice). 41. Author of four books (L’Histoire secrète d’Endemol, Flammarion; Bal tragique chez Vivendi, Denoël…). Has worked for Nouvel Economiste, L’Echo républicain, Technikart, Le Magazine Littéraire, Libération, Le Monde,  TSR…

Blog Le Western Culturel
Twitter : @westernculturel

In partnership with Cartooning for Peace, once a week ARTE is publishing a press cartoon on events unfolding in the Arab world by illustrators involved in the various countries, but also by western cartoonists. This week: Emad Hajjaj (Jordania).

Born in 1967, Emah Hajjaj is a Jordanian cartoonist, who also works for various advertising agencies in Jordan as an illustrator, artistic director and copywriter.
Graduated from Yarmouk University in 1991 (Journalism and Graphic Design), he worked for various local and regional newspapers in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE.
He is also president of the Jordanian Cartoonists association.

 All cartoons

Mubarak has been gone for two years and the revolution doesn’t have much to show for itself…  Most Egyptians seem to be in despair. “Mubarak wasn’t great but things worked.  I was a taxi driver for tourists, now there aren’t any, so I work in town,” a driver told me the other day.

Weary after two years of demonstrations, confrontations and financial insecurity, the majority of Egyptians miss the stability, which, according to them, characterized Mubarak’s reign.
It is ironic that the attraction of the “stability” of the Mubarak era for a large part of the population has not escaped the Islamists. The latter have not hesitated to exploit this feeling in order to encourage voters to approve the constitution drafted by members of the Muslim Brotherhood. According to their arguments during the referendum, the constitution will provide stability, which, in turn, will bring the prosperity the Egyptians have been seeking for two years. Simple.

Except that last week, the Egyptian pound was again devalued, which will mean higher prices. And this morning there was another rail accident in Upper Egypt, with 19 fatalities. For the moment, the yearned-for stability still seems a way off…

Ahmed El Lozy

photo: Ahmed El Lozy

Ahmed El Lozy graduated in sociology from the American University in Cairo. In 2007, he worked as the assistant to the film director Yousry Nasrallah on The Aquarium and embarked on a career in the audiovisual industry. In 2010, Ahmed parted for the Czech Republic to study film at FAMU, where he made his first short film Nocni Smena. On return to Cairo in 2011, he was hired by the website Al-Masry Al-Youm as a video journalist until 2012..

Twitter: @ellozy