Arabesques of the Revolution

January 2011: The Tunisian people rise up, the Egyptian people join them in a short time. Enraged, they shout "Dégage! - Get lost!" in the face of their tyrants and announce the "Days of Rage". A short time later, the end, the "game over" of the heads of government Zinedine Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak. The fear of repression and state violence is broken in Tunisia and Egypt. Like a beacon, the voice of the famous Tunisian poet Abulqasim Ash-Shabbi from the colonial era runs through the angry Arab societies of the present: "If one day the people gather around the truth, they will break the course of history and determine their destiny. Woe to you, tyrant and oppressor, fear the morning!" The Tunisians and Egyptians have risen. Other countries are joining in, Arab societies are on the move, fighting for freedom, self-determination and for democracy.r The editor and author Roland Merk invites writers, intellectuals, journalists and filmmakers from Tunisia and Egypt to take a closer look at their homeland in upheaval. r With literary contributions by the well-known Egyptian writer and intellectual Salwa Bakr and the narrator and blogger Howeida Saleh, both influential voices who spent the days on Tahrir Square. With stories, reports and diaries by the Tunisian writers and filmmakers Ali Toumi Abassi, Amel Moktar and Lassaad Dkhili, who lived through the days of the Tunisian revolution, as well as contributions by the Palestinian writer Hasan Bakr, who lives in Syria, this book is a unique contribution.The editors also include contributions by the Palestinian writer Hasan Hamid, who lives in Syria, the Algerian journalist Hakim Soltani and the "new Israeli historian" Ilan Pappe, who explore the question of what influence these epochal events have had on their countries. A contribution by the editor on the question of the influence of the Arab revolutions on Europe concludes the book. r.