Introduction

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Foreword: Understanding Recent Social and Political Developments in the Middle East and North Africa: A Personal Odyssey xiii
4. Acknowledgments xxiii
5. Introduction 1
6. 1. Tunisia
7. Introduction 19
8. Tunisian Revolution: Gaining Our Freedom and Dignity 21
9. The Death of My Cousin and the Birth of a New Tunisia 25
10. Tunisians Breaking the Silence 30
11. Revolution from the Outside 34
12. The Torments of the Revolution 38
13. Tunisia’s Hard Times and Its Best Times 41
14. The Smell of Jasmine: The Tunisian Revolution from the Outside 46
15. 2. Egypt
16. Introduction 51
17. The Moment the Barrier of Fear Broke Down 55
18. Funny Beginnings and Happy Endings 60
19. The Egyptian Revolution: A Personal Account 64
20. It Is Just . . . the Beginning 67
21. Welcome to Utopia 71
22. My Egyptian Revolution 75
23. The Bullets Are Still in My Leg 78
24. It Happened in Egypt! 83
25. Diary to Democracy ( Inshallah [God Willing]) 88
26. Telling My Secret 93
27. The Fall and Rise of an Egyptian Uprising 98
28. The Spirit of Tahrir Square: “Like Going to Mecca on a Pilgrimage” 109
29. 3. Libya
30. Introduction 113
31. My Mission in the Libyan Revolution 114
32. Fighting Qaddafi : More Determination Than Weapons 121
33. The Dark Night on the Tripoli Front 126
34. Fighting for Freedom 129
35. From School to the Battlefield 133
36. Living Through the Libyan Uprising 137
37. Benghazi, My Love 140
38. My Work in Revolutionary Libya 144
39. The Days of My Life 148
40. Blood for My Country 153
41. 4. Yemen
42. Introduction 157
43. Witnessing the Yemeni Revolution 159
44. Yemeni Observations 163
45. The Yemeni Dream 167
46. The Emerging New Yemen 171
47. The Aroma of Freedom and the Smell of Blood 175
48. The Aroma of Freedom and the Smell of Blood 181
49. The Tent and the Revolution 185
50. The Challenges of Our Yemeni Revolution 190
51. 5. Syria
52. Introduction 198
53. Syrian Women’s Revolution: The New Women of Quraish 201
54. The Road from Damascus to al-Qaboun 206
55. Freedom and Nothing Else 212
56. A Story from Homs 217
57. The First Steps Toward Democracy 222
58. A Small Community of Great Syrian Revolutionaries 226
59. From the Damascus Spring to the Arab Spring: A Nonpersonal Story 230
60. Before and After the Arab Spring: Kurdish Strife for Freedom 233
61. State Security and My Country 238
62. Bibliography 243