BZU hosts the international conference on Arab revolutions - News

On 12 June 2011, the international conference entitled: "Arab
revolutions", was organized by the Faculty of Law and Public
Administration. This conference aims to shed light on the Arab revolutions, and
to address present and the future reflections of the revolutions from a
scientific perspective.

In his opening address, the Vice President for Academic Affairs,
Dr.. Adnan Yahya, noted that holding this 
conference at this particular time, reflects the importance of what is
happening in the region, and BZU’s desire to keep pace with developments in the
surrounding areas, attempting  to analyze
and understand the facts, and perhaps learns lessons regarding the Palestinian
situation . Dr. Yahya stressed that what is happening in the Arab region presently,
reflects the human vitality and sustainability factors of innovation and
interaction.

In his speech, the
Dean of the Faculty of Law and Public Administration, Dr. Saleh Abdel Jawwad, pointed
out that revolutions and the popular protest movements represent a process undergoing
formation and development, whether those that have succeeded in overthrowing the
symbols of previous systems, or those who are still fighting for real change.

The conference was held in three sessions, the 1st session
was entitled: " Arab Social and political revolutions: theoretical
approaches," in which Dr. Laurent Jean-Pierre from the University of Paris
VIII addressed the factors and causes that led to these revolutions in the Arab
world, noting that the West could not expect such revolutions.

Pierre stressed that structural explanations are basically
traditional reasons such as poverty and unemployment, which led to these
revolutions, pointing that the Arab countries are suffering from the complex of
“militarization.”

In the same context, Dr. Saleh Abdul Jawwad, stated that the West
did not expect these revolutions, due  to
the presence of old concepts that prevented any new extrapolations, since all
is being measured by outdated  standards.

The Professor at the Sorbonne University, Dr. Jack Fournier,  presented readings in Arab revolutions,
calling for the need to deal very carefully with this phenomenon, pointing to the
difference between the experiences of the different revolutions. He attributed
the reasons of the revolution to the lack of development in the Arab countries,
in addition to the role of the communications technology.

At the 3rd
session, Dr. Asia Abu-Taleb from the University of Paris VIII, presented a
paper entitled "From the dynamics of protests to the process of political
transition: Reflections on the Egyptian case." The paper focused on the
Egyptian revolution as a case study by highlighting a number of broad lines regarding
the process of transition from indirect protests to direct protests against the
system in Egypt and how to participate in the political process.

Dr. Hala Yousefi from the University of Paris, Dauphine, delivered
a speech titled "Union of Tunisian Workers: In the heart of the Tunisian
revolution," focusing on the role played by the Union of Tunisian Workers
in triggering the Tunisian revolution, and the mechanism that contributed to
the success of this revolution.

Dr. Bernard Botyvo from the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies
IREMAM, delivered a speech entitled "Constitutional amendments for political
change: the case of Egypt." He highlighted the most important legal and
political aspects of the late constitutional amendments in Egypt, after the
referendum, shedding the light on a number of them

Later, the floor was
given to talk about the current revolution of Yemen, where Dr.. Laurent Bonn from
the French Institute for Near East Studies (IFPO), focused on a number of
challenges facing the young revolutionists, in view of the role played by the
international community in the political changes in Yemen.