Images of the Arab Spring

David Schmidt

The Arab Spring

11/20/14

Images from The Arab Spring

Images from the Vietnam War have become recognizable worldwide as it was the first war to be openly documented for the public to interpret without a major media bias. The Arab spring in Tunisia, Egypt, and Algeria was similar on a few levels; firstly, the Internet helped spread previously censored images and repressed thoughts in a way never possible. Secondly, people were able to see first hand how their fellow citizens were being mistreated with out the corrupt media distorting reality. Self-immolation images lit a fire that would blaze through the Arab world opening the eyes of millions to their unfair societal conditions. These images may have had the single most profound impact on the Arab Spring but there are other images that helped united this region of the world.

On June 6, 2010 An Egyptian man named Khaled Saeed was dragged out of a cyber café and beaten to death by two police officers. At first authorities refused to investigate Saeed’s death claiming that his death was caused from swallowing a pack of marijuana. The images of his beaten body tell a different story. The image of Saeeds mangled face was uploaded to the World Wide Web for Egyptians and the world to see. This sparked a public outcry resulting in daily protests with police in both Alexandria and Cairo. Facebook groups like My Name is Khalid Saeed and We are all Khalid Saeed attracted nearly 400,000. This tragedy exposed the emergency law act that allows police to arrest and detain citizens without reason. Saeeds death woke up the nation of Egypt and helped bring realization to the public that this was happening to countless citizens in everyday life.

Many of the Arab countries that have gone through uprisings in resent years have had images of self-immolations associated with them. This is certainly one of the most profound ways of making a comment on society; however, they offer no hope for the future. Images...