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The Compass: My Arab Spring: War - Harb

Factual

The human cost

22/12/2021 GMT

War - Harb

My Arab Spring

BBC World Service - The Compass, My Arab Spring, War - Harb

The Arab Spring and the wars that followed – from Libya to Yemen to Syria

The Arab Spring and the wars that followed – from Libya to Yemen to Syria.

Violence and loss of life were features of the 2011 Arab Spring from the outset - peaceful protests were met with live bullets in multiple countries, and protesters were imprisoned, tortured, and killed. 

Brother and sister Abubakr and Ella al-Shamahi look at the revolutionary prisoners of Bahrain, the chaos of the conflict in Libya, the Yemeni Civil War and the destruction and devastation that Syrians have experienced over the last 10 years.

(Photo: A Yemeni sits next to the grave of his slain son at a cemetery dedicated to slain Houthi fighters. Credit: Yahya Arhab/EPA)

The Compass: My Arab Spring

Ten years on from the Arab Spring, which redrew the political map across the Middle East and North Africa, anthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi and her journalist brother Abubakr Al-Shamahi perform an analysis of this widespread revolution in progress. Their questions include; what were the protestors fighting for and how far have they been rewarded? Have they had to shrink their dreams to feel it was worth it? What does “good” look like for the civilians of these countries? And what are their hopes for their homelands now?

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