CJPME Factsheet 170, published April, 2013: Tawakkol Karman is a Yemeni political activist who, along with two female Liberian peace activists, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011.  This factsheet looks at her life leading up to, and following the awarding of the peace prize.  

Print media coverage – Robert Fisk’s speaking tour with CJPME: In January and February of 2013, CJPME hosted veteran Middle East journalist Robert Fisk to Canada.  Fisk has reported from the Middle East for decades in a career which has seen him report internationally for 30+ years.  Media interest in Fisk, as reflected in literally dozens of interviews and reports, was focused on his perspective on the “Arab Spring” and other breaking Middle East events.  

Radio coverage – Robert Fisk’s speaking tour with CJPME: In January and February of 2013, CJPME hosted veteran Middle East journalist Robert Fisk to Canada.  Fisk has reported from the Middle East for decades in a career which has seen him report internationally for 30+ years.  Media interest in Fisk, as reflected in literally dozens of interviews and reports, was focused on his perspective on the “Arab Spring” and other breaking Middle East events.  

Video coverage – Robert Fisk’s speaking tour with CJPME: In January and February of 2013, CJPME hosted veteran Middle East journalist Robert Fisk to Canada.  Fisk has reported from the Middle East for decades in a career which has seen him report internationally for 30+ years.  Media interest in Fisk, as reflected in literally dozens of interviews and reports, was focused on his perspective on the “Arab Spring” and other breaking Middle East events.  

CJPME Factsheet 161, published December, 2012: Following the show of unity between thousands of Sunni and Shia in Bahrain in February, 2011, the Bahraini government began a crackdown on dissidents.  This factsheet reviews the facts of this oppressive crackdown since that time, and Canada’s responsibility to address the repression.

CJPME Factsheet 139, published October, 2011: This factsheet examines the significance of the Tunisian elections in 2011, coming out of the Arab Spring.  The elections came just months after a revolution sparked by several months of protests triggered by the self-immolition of a Tunisian merchant by the name of Mohamed Bouazizi.

CJPME Factsheet 112, published February 2011: This factsheet provides an overview of the current protests in Egypt, a country of extreme importance demographically, geographically, and politically. The significant of these protests is that they are some of the biggest Egypt has experienced in decades. This factsheet looks at the people leading the protests, the socioeconomic and sociopolitical grievances that have triggered calls for Mubarak’s resignation, as well as what Mubarak’s departure could mean to the region, and peace in particular.

CJPME Factsheet 111, published February, 2011: This factsheet analyses the recent emergence of large protests in Jordan, an unusual and extraordinary event in modern Jordanian history. Although different in tone and urgency than parallel protests taking place in Egypt and Yemen, these protests appear to emerge from common grievances. Protests in Jordan stem from deteriorating economic and social conditions, weak democracy, limited human and labour rights, and restricted press freedom. This factsheet also looks at the Jordanian government’s response to the protests.

CJPME Factsheet 110, published February, 2011: This factsheet looks at the anti-government protests taking place in Yemen, some of the most significant in the country’s history. US-allied President Ali Abdullah Saleh has been in power for three decades and Yemenis’ patience for reforms is running out. Protests stem from economic stagnation and rising inequality—it is the poorest country in the Arab world—as well as the lack of democracy. The Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings have inspired Yemenis and have generated a sense among them that deep change is now within their grasp.

CJPME Factsheet 114, published February, 2011: This factsheet provides an overview of the protests taking place in Bahrain. This factsheet looks at the root causes behind Bahrain’s protests, such as the monopoly on political power by the al-Khalifa royal family, the sharp deterioration of human rights in latter half of 2010, and the political marginalization, discrimination and poverty to which the Shia majority is subjected. This factsheet also looks at the evolution of Bahrain’s protests, the government’s reaction towards them, and their international impact, mainly with regard to military and energy implications.