The Arab Spring

This post has been included on my new blog: http://welovearabic.wordpress.com

The early part of 2011 was an amazing time of revolution, protest and civil unrest. Here I try to save useful links and resources for students of Arabic and Arab world studies on this historic period and cultural phenomenon

Articles

Maps & data visualisation
* Fantastic interactive timeline from the Guardian

Cartoons & jokes
* * Imminent Migration - will the revolutions in North Africa spark a wave of migration to Europe? (by Arcadio Esquivel) [that's a bit of a damp squib of a mixed metaphor!]

Video & audio

Flash mob freeze

This post has been included on my new blog: http://welovearabic.wordpress.com
Protestors in Morocco are holding flash mob silent protests where they freeze for a period of time, some holding slogans.



Source: the Arabist blog

Egypt revolution 2011 links

This post has been included on my new blog: http://welovearabic.wordpress.com
Here's a list of recommended resources related to the events in Egypt of Jan-Feb 2011, especially for Arabic A level students focussing on this as a history/politics research topic for the unit 4 writing paper.

Video and photo
* I am Jan 25 media library: absolutely loads of pictures and videos of the protests
* I am Tahrir facebook page: artwork of the revolution, uploaded by Facebook users. See especially We Are All Khaled Said tag word cloud and words from the mission statement of the 6 April Movement
* US TV documentary Frontline (PBS channel) excerpt Revolution in Cairo (full programme only available online in the US)

Websites
* We are all Khaled Said website: the original site that kickstarted the Egypt protests. There is also this parallel Facebook version.



Articles


Protest songs and slogans


Cartoons
* Interview with cartoonist Sherif Arafa, and some examples of his work. Before the revolution, his depictions of Mubarak were disguised in portrayals of a generic despot, but since the revolution he has dared to portray the recognisable face of the former president.
* The Egyptian Street  (by Fadi Abou Hassan)
* Imminent Migration - as North Africa is aflame with revolution (by Arcadio Esquivel)
* Egypt cries (by Farhad Foroutanian)



Jokes
* Making fun of Pharaoh (Foreign Policy magazine)


Maps and statistics
* The new Arabic Awakening maps illustrating demographic statistics for North Africa and the Middle East, including student populations, illiteracy, internet usage, oil production (Le Monde Diplomatique English edition)

Egypt protests: interview with protest initiator Wael Ghonim

This post has been included on my new blog: http://welovearabic.wordpress.com
Google executive Wael Ghonim was the creator of the Facebook group which originally sparked the anti-government protests in Egypt. He was arrested and spent 12 days in custody. This is his first interview after his release on 7 February 2011. The video, in which Ghonim speaks in Egyptian colloquial, has English subtitles and was posted on the website Alive in Egypt, a volunteer-run project aiming to translate videos of events in Egypt and make them available to the international audience.

Video Subtitles courtesy Alive in Egypt

Source: Alive in Egypt

Tahrir Square protest signs captured by filmmaker Oliver Wilkins

What a wonderful video! Wilkins has captured countless slogans and placards and translated them into English.

Tahrir Square, Cairo, Feb 1 2011 from Oliver Wilkins on Vimeo.

Source: Oliver Wilkins' video on Vimeo, also on his blog at DSLR

See this other article on the poetry of the revolution, its slogans and shouts.

Poetry of the revolution

The protests in Egypt have been alive with poetic chants, often using rhyming couplets, Egyptian slang and clever puns. Here are translations of some of the commonly chanted slogans and an analysis of some of the poetry of the revolution.

This video (located on Vimeo) of protests in Tahrir Square was posted on Facebook:

Untitled from Marwa on Vimeo.

Egyptian soldier speaks out in support of anti-government protesters

Watch this interview with Egyptian army officer by journalist and blogger Issandr El Amrani, on his impressive Arab politics analysis blog www.arabist.com

Key phrases - in order of appearance
مطلوب, مطالب - demand
رحيل نظام مبارك - The departure of the Mubarak regime
ثورة بيضاء - white [peaceful] revolution
حكومة انتقالية - interim government / transitional government
تغيير الدستور, يغيّر الدستور - to change the constitution
تطلعات الشعب المصري -the aspirations of the Egyptian people
الانتخابات نزيهة - fair elections
نختار واحد - we choose someone
فترة محدودة - limited term
زي أي دولة متقدمة - like any modern state (مثل أي دولة متقدمة)

Revolution in Tunisia, Jan 2011

Key words
استقلال - independence
باسل - brave, courageous
تضامن - solidarity

ثورة - revolution
الشعوب - the people
غطرسة - arrogance, insolence
القمع - repression, oppression
لا يحررنا إلا أنفسن - no-one can free us but ourselves


Song lyrics (Tunisian dialect)

Source: الساطور Libyan blog

رئيس البلاد
هاني اليوم نحكي معاك باسمي وباسم الشعب
الكل اللي عايش في العذاب
2011 مازال تم شكون يموت بالجوع،
حابب يخدم باش يعيش لكن صوتوا موش مسموع
اهبط للشارع وشوف العباد ولات وحوش
شوف الحاكم بالمطراك تاك تاك ما يهموش
مادام ما ثمة حد باش يقوله كلمة لا
حتى القانون اللي في الدستور نفخه واشرب ماءه
كل نهار نسمع قضية ركبوهاله بالسيف
بورتان الحاكم يعرف اللي هو عبد نظيف
زعمة ترضاها لبنتك، عارف كلامي يبكي العين
عارف ما دامك بو ( أب) ما ترضاش الشر لصغارك
هذا ميساج عبارة واحد من صغارك يحكي معاك
رانا عايشين كالكلاب
نص الشعب عايشين الذل وذاقوا من كأس العذاب
رئيس البلاد ، شعبك مات وبرشة عباد من الزبلة كلات
هاك تشوف آش قاعد صاير في البلاد
مآسي باردو والناس ما لقاتش وين تبات
هاني نحكي باسم الشعب
اللي انظلموا واللي نداسو بالصباط
رئيس البلاد، قتلي احكي من غير خوف
هاني حكيت ونعرف اللي نهايتي مش تكون الكفوف
لكن نشوف برشة ظلم وهذاك علاش اخترتك
بورتان وصاوني برشة عباد
الي نهايتي تكون الاعدام
لكن
الى متى التونسي عايش في الأوهام
وين حرية التعبير
رايت منها كان الكلام
اسمها تونس الخضراء
رئيس البلاد….

Jan 2011 protests in Egypt

استمرار المظاهرات في المدن المصرية ضد مبارك

Video clip on Euronews (video might not stay on site for long, although the text should be archived)

Vocabulary
اضرموا النيران - they set on fire
اصطدم المتظاهرون مع قوات الأمن - protesters clashed with security forces
الناس ضاقوا ذرعا بالنظام - people are sick of the regime
انتقال السلطة بشكل سلمي - peaceful transfer of power
تشكيل حكومة وحدة وطنية انتقالية  - forming a transitional national unity government
حل الحكومة - dissolve the government
مطالبين باسقاط النظام - demanding the fall of the regime
متظاهر - protester
مظاهرات عارمة - mass protests
مواجهات عنيفة - violent confrontations
يصرخون ملئ حناجرهم - they're shouting at the top of their voices

More vocab
بلطجية - Baltaguia - paid thugs, hired by the police to subdue anti-government protesters. (Examples of baltaguia thugs being directed by the police on Arabist.net)

Issues outstanding after Southern Sudan referendum

قضايا عالقة بعد استفتاء جنوب السودان

Video from BBC Arabic

Queen Elizabeth's visit to the Emirates

زيارة ملكة بريطانيا الى الإمارات

Series of photos of the Queen's visit to UAE (BBC Arabic).

Iranian President Ahmadinejad plays football against Bolivian President

احمدي نجاد وموراليس نجمان "مؤقتان" بكرة القدم

كانت اللياقة البدنية ظاهرة على الرئيس الايراني محمود أحمدي نجاد خلال مشاركته الرئيس البوليفي ايفو موراليس الاربعاء في مباراة ودية بكرة مع لاعبين ايرانيين محترفين في طهران

ولم تكن مباراة خالية من الاهداف، اذ انتهت بالتعادل باربعة اهداف لكلا الفريقين، تمكن كل رئيس من تسجيل هدف

Vocabulary

 اللياقة البدنية - physical fitness

ظاهر - evident, conspicuous, obvious

مباراة ودية - friendly match

محترف - professional

خالي من- empty, free of

اهداف , هدف - goal

بالتعادل - with a draw

  سجل  - تسجيل هدف - to score a goal

National and international events: past, present and future (articles for A Level topic)

See the links below for articles on this site and elsewhere on the web for the Edexcel A2 level topic National and international events: past, present and future

Sorry - work in progress. Hope to find time to add some links soon!

Customs, traditions, beliefs and religions (articles for A Level topic)

See the links below for articles on this site and elsewhere on the web for the Edexcel A2 level topic Customs, traditions, beliefs and religions

Cautious welcome for Iraq power-sharing deal

See here for a short clip of Iraqis giving their reaction to news that a deal between political leaders has been reached, 12 November 2010 (www.guardian.co.uk)

With English subtitles

Cartoon grannies are a hit in Dubai

Watch this short BBC Arabic video about the Dubai-based cartoon Freej, read the short text and answer the questions below

تسعى الإمارات بقوة لتغيير صورتها كاقتصاد قائم على النفط بالأساس، ومن ثم فقد بدأت في تشجيع الجوانب الإبداعية، التي كان من أبرزها مسلسل "فريج" للرسوم المتحركة، وبطولته لأربع جدات تقوم بمغامرات للتصدي لمشكلات اجتماعية في قالب طريف

المسلسل يعد رائدا في منطقته في مجال الرسوم المتحركة ثلاثية الأبعاد

How would you say the following in Arabic?

From the text:

* The Emirates are trying to change their image

* an economy based on oil

*encouraging creative aspects
* cartoon series
* its stars
* adventures
* addressing social problems
* is a pioneer in 3D animation

From the video:


Fancy more Freej...?
When you've had a go listening to the Arabic version, check how much you understood by watching the English version of the same video.
There are LOADS more episodes of Freej are available on YouTube, eg:

 *الفريج - فتاوى البحبحاني

 فريج .. كتاب الألغاز*

 Just search for "فريج"

Arabic language podcasts available from Al-Jazeera

This article has been  moved to our new site at welovearabic.wordpress.com

This page lists all the podcasts available either from the Al-Jazeera website or from Itunes.


The Arabic podcasts that are available are:

• Shariah Wal Haya / Shariah and Life (الشريعة والحياة)
• Bila Hudood / No limits ( بلا حدود )
• AlItijah Al Ma3kas / The other direction (الاتجاه المعاكس)
• In Depth (في العمق)
• Al Melaf / The Dossier (الملف)
• Hewar Maftooh / Open Discussion (حوار مفتوح)
• Dunya al-Kurah / The World of Football (دنيا الكرة)
• Shahed Alaa Al Asr (شاهد على العصر)
• Le Qaa Alyoum / The Meeting of the Day (لقاء اليوم)
• Tahtah Al Mejhar / Under the Microscope (تحت المجهر) 
•  Manbar al-Jazeera (منبر الجزيرة)

When you find a podcast on Itunes that you're interested in, it's worth looking up the title on the Al-Jazeera website as you might just find the whole transcript of the programme!

Jehan al-Sadat interview - Al-Jazeera

This long and detailed interview with Jehan al-Sadat, the widow of former Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat, is available as a video on the Al-Jazeera website or as an audio only podcast from Itunes.

The Al-Jazeera series is called Shahid 3ala al-3asr (شاهد على العصر) and the website offers the full transcripts of the interview and the introductory prologue in the first episode. Wonderful! The interviewer speaks clear fusha, and while she responds in Egyptian dialect, it is clear and not too fast, so if you have an idea of Egyptian pronunciation, it should be possible to follow for learners of Arabic who are more familiar with Modern Standard than with Egyptian.

Julia Boutros - Lebanon is Victorious

Very moving song from Julia Boutros, performed after Israeli forces withdrew from Lebanon in 2006.

Watch the performance, read the lyrics in Arabic and in English translation on the fabulous Arabic Music Translation site 

BBC Xtra podcasts

* This site (varabic.wordpress.com) is a brilliant way to download the BBC Xtra bilingual Arabic-English radio programme podcasts

You can also download the podcasts on Itunes