The causes leading up to the Arab Spring are multiple but not particularly unusual. Police brutality, unreasonable laws, lack of freedom, and censorship are all similar problems that occurred in Naguib Mahfouz's novel Palace Walk. In both cases, the citizens of Egypt partook in protests and demonstrations to voice their complaints. The different between the situation in Palace Walk and the one of Arab Spring is that the citizens in Palace Walk protested against the British occupation while the demonstrations of Arab Spring protested the Egyptian government.
Police brutality was a major issue that the citizens of Egypt protested during Arab Spring. The police used various forms of torture, including harassment and tear gas, to get information or confessions out of people. During the demonstrations of Arab Spring, the police brutality continued in an attempt to keep the citizens “under control” (“Arab Spring”). This type of police brutality was exactly what happened in Palace Walk. When Fahmy and his fellow students protested in the streets, British police began shooting at the protesters no matter if the protesters were violent or not. While there were not clear examples of police torturing citizens for information in Palace Walk, there were forms of torture for no apparent reason. For example, Ahmad was forced by the British police to fill in hole with dirt all night. In Palace Walk and during the Arab Spring, Egyptians experienced police brutality because of the oppression of the citizens by the government in power.
Another complaint of the citizens during the Arab Spring was Emergency Law. Emergency Law was first instated in 1958. Under this law the police had a lot power as was evident in their forms of torture. Also, the citizens had fewer rights and more censorship. The state and the police could arrest people for minor reasons and without trial (“Arab Spring”). Although Emergency Law was not in effect during Palace Walk, many of the same aspects of the law were. When Yasin was desirous and wished to go to see Zanuba, he refrained for fear of being caught out too late by the police. Similarly when he was walking in the street and a British police officer motioned to him, Yasin panicked, thinking that he was going to be taken away. Yasin’s fear shows how unreasonable laws similar to those of Emergency law oppressed the Egyptian people.
Before and during Arab Spring, the Egyptian government had a lot of control over the media in Egypt. The Egyptian government owns stock in three of the largest Arab newspapers, which gives it a lot of influence in what is published. The government also controls the licensing and the distribution of all papers. The government is allowed to censor anything that is considered a threat to the country or the people. Writers who did not comply with accepted material were subject to home-raids, torture, or even imprisonment (“Arab Spring”). This same censorship can be found in Palace Walk. The handbills that Fahmy and other students were handing out were illegal, and if the police found them, the students would be arrested. In Palace Walk, the British tried to censor what was written to limit knowledge of the repression. The same situation happened during the demonstrations of Arab Spring but under the oppressive Egyptian government.
Works Cited
“Arab Spring” Sourcewatch. Sourcewatch.org. Web 19 Oct. 2011
Mahfouz, Naguib. Palace Walk. Eds. William Maynard Hutchins et al. New York: Doubleday, 1956.
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