WWomen played a variety of roles in the Arab Spring, but its impact on women and their rights is unclear. The Arab Spring was a series of demonstrations, protests, and civil wars against authoritarian regimes that started in Tunisia and spread to much of the Arab world. The leaders of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen were overthrown; Bahrain has experienced sustained civil disorder, and the protests in Syria have become a civil war. Other Arab countries experienced protests as well.
WMarouf Suleiman al-Bakhit is a Jordanian politician who was twice Prime Minister. He first served as Prime Minister from 27 November 2005 until 25 November 2007 and then again from 9 February 2011 to 17 October 2011. Bakhit also held the position of Jordanian ambassador to Israel and the national security chief. Appointed as Prime Minister by King Abdullah II less than three weeks after the 2005 Amman bombings, Bakhit's main priorities were to maintain security and stability in Jordan. He was reappointed as Prime Minister by the King on 1 February 2011, following weeks of protests.
WTarek el-Tayeb Mohamed Bouazizi was a street vendor who set himself on fire on 17 December 2010 in Ben Arous, Tunisia, which became a catalyst for the Tunisian Revolution and the wider Arab Spring against autocratic regimes. His self-immolation was in response to the confiscation of his wares and the harassment and humiliation inflicted on him by a municipal official and her aides.
WWided Bouchamaoui, also transcribed Ouided Bouchamaoui, is a Tunisian businesswoman who since 2011 has been leader of the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA). As leader of the organization she took from 2013 part in Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet which led the latter organization to receive the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize. The French news magazine Jeune Afrique has identified her as one of the Top 25 Business Women in Africa. In 2014 she won the Oslo Business for Peace Award for her work in UTICA.
WFadi Elsalameen , sometimes written as Fadi El-Salameen, is a non-resident fellow at The Foreign Policy Institute at The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Elsalameen is also the president of the Palestinian Security Project, a new think tank that has been created to develop a Palestinian national security vision and strategy. Elsalameen is also an adjunct senior fellow at the American Security Project, a Washington, DC think tank that has been created to develop an American national security vision and strategy for the 21st century. Elsalameen was also a fellow with the New America Foundation's American Strategy Program, a nonpartisan public policy institute that invests in new thinkers and new ideas to address the next generation of challenges facing the United States. He was the director general of Palestine Note. Before that, he served as the director of institutional advancement at the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) where he established the Development Department by securing the first foundation grant to the organization.
WAwn Shawkat Al-Khasawneh was the prime minister of Jordan from October 2011 to April 2012. He was also formerly a judge of the International Court of Justice.
WEmel Mathlouthi also known as Emel, born 11 January 1982), is a Tunisian singer-songwriter, musician, arranger and producer. She rose to fame with her protest song "Kelmti Horra", which became an anthem for the Tunisian revolution and the Arab spring. Her first studio album, also titled Kelmti Horra, was released worldwide in 2012 to critical acclaim: she married Arabic roots with western flavours. Her second album, Ensen, was released in 2017, blending more electronica to classical music. On Everywhere We Looked Was Burning in 2019, she sang all the lyrics in English.
WSamir Zaid al-Rifai is a Jordanian politician who was Prime Minister of Jordan from 14 December 2009 to 9 February 2011.
WNasser Zefzafi or Zefzafi is a Moroccan political activist, who has been described as the leader of the protest movement in the Rif and the city of Al Hoceima, commonly known as Hirak Rif. On May 29, 2017, he was arrested by the Moroccan police and charged with a list of crimes such as undermining state security, disrespecting the king and receiving funds from abroad used for plots to destabilize the country. These crimes might amount to life imprisonment. He is currently being defended by a team of lawyers, which include Moroccan politician and former Minister, Mohammed Ziane.