Jonathan NakajimaCom 114 Sec 2452012 February 19

COM 114: News Speech

General Purpose: To inform.Specific Purpose: To inform the audience about the Arab Spring, in particular the Egyptian Revolution and the Syrian uprising. Organizational Pattern: Chronological.

IntroductionI. Attention Getter: Wael Ghonim, a 30-year-old Egyptian Google engineer, had just heard about

the killing of Khaled Said, according to a CBS News article on Feb. 13, 2011. He started a facebook page to protest the unfair death of Khaled Said, called “We are all Khaled Said”. He posted an event on facebook, asking Egyptians to take to the streets and protest on January 25, 2011. On January 25, 2011, thousands of Egyptians took to the streets and protested the Egyptian regime. Wael Ghonim joined the protests too, though he was generally unrecognized. Wael Ghonim went missing on January 27, 2011.

II. Relevance Statement: Many Egyptian protestors used facebook to organize. Facebook is something that 90% of the class uses. Also, there are many Arab students at Purdue. Many of us have Arab friends or know other Arab students. Finally, the Occupy Wall Street protests were partially inspired by the Arab Spring.

III. Credibility Statement: I have been interested in the Arab Spring and followed the news reports. I have researched the Arab Spring thoroughly.

IV. Thesis Statement: The Arab Spring changed the governments of Egypt, Syria, Bahrain, and many other countries.

Directional Transition: Now that you know what my topic is about, let's talk about the Egyptian Revolution.

Body

I. Protests by the Egyptian people led to the ouster of Mubarak and a new Egyptian regime.A. Poor living conditions and a repressive government led to dissatisfaction among Egyptian youth.

1. According to an article from Cliodynamics on April 4, 2011, there had been a population explosion in Egypt, making the average age of Egyptians 25 years old.

2. Also according to Cliodynamics, there was a spike in food prices, making it hard for low-income Egyptians to afford food.

3. Khaled Saeed was beaten to death by police, causing outrage by Egyptian citizens, according to an article in Egypt Independent on June 25, 2010.

a. Photographs of his battered body circulated among the Egyptian citizens.b. This was one example of police brutality that led to Egyptian protests.

B. Protests occurred in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt on January 25, 2011.1. According to an article from Egypt Independent on January 20, 2011, many

opposition groups called for protests against the government on January 25, 2011, because it was Egypt's Police Day.

2. According to an article from Foreign Policy on February 1, 2011, estimates of the number of protesters range from 100,000 to 250,000 in Tahrir Square, and

Jonathan NakajimaCom 114 Sec 2452012 February 19

more in downtown Cairo and across Egypt.3. Many of the protesters had learned of the upcoming protests through Facebook.

C. According to an Al Jazeera article on February 11, 2011, Hosni Mubarak resigned his position as president of Egypt.

1. The night before, he had announced that he would be staying as president of Egypt.

2. He handed over power to the armed forces of Egypt.

Directional Transition: Now that you know about the Egyptian Revolution, let's talk about uprisings in Syria.

II. Protests by Syrian youth led to many concessions by the Syrian government.A. Lack of human rights and high unemployment among Syrian youth led to protests.

1. According to the Human Rights Watch report in 2010, Syria has a poor human rights situation.

a. Syria lacks freedom of press and censors the internet.b. Women are discriminated against in law, for example, women need permission from their husbands to travel abroad.

2. According to an article from Journalist's Resource on August 11, 2011, Syrian youth have high unemployment.

a. Syrian youth have about 6 times the unemployment rate of older workers (24% to 4%).b. 75% of Syrian unemployed youth had been searching for work for over a year.

3. Conditions were similar in many other Arab countries and also led to protests in many other Arab countries.

B. Protests across Syria started on January 26, 2011, and are still going on to this day.1. According to an ABC Sydney report from February 17, 2012, the protests began on January 26, 2011 when Hasan Ali Akleh poured gasoline on himself and set himself on fire. 2. On March 15, 2011, mass protests in major Syrian cities began starting.3. There is an armed opposition fighting with the Syrian army now.

C. Some concessions were granted as a result of the demonstrations.1. According to a Syrian Arab News Agency report from April 22, 2011, the state of

emergency that curtailed Syrians' civil liberties was lifted. 2. According to a CNN World article from April 7, 2011, Kurds (an ethnic minority in

Syria) were granted Syrian citizenship.3. According to a Syrian Arab News Agency report from January 22, 2012, 5,255

Syrian prisoners who were jailed for protesting were set free due to a decree by the Syrian president.

Directional Transition: Now that we've heard about the Egyptian revolution and uprisings in Syria, let us conclude.

Conclusion

Jonathan NakajimaCom 114 Sec 2452012 February 19

I. Restatement of Thesis: The Arab Spring led to changes for the people of Egypt, Syria, and many other countries.

II. Clincher: After being blindfolded for 12 days, Wael Ghonim was released from detention on February 8, 2011, according to a guardian article on February 8, 2011. He said, “I am not a hero. The real heroes are the ones on the ground.”

Jonathan NakajimaCom 114 Sec 2452012 February 19

References

Al Jazeera (2011, February 11). Hosni Mubarak resigns as president. Al Jazeera. Retrieved from

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2011/02/201121125158705862.html

CBS News (2011, February 13). Wael Ghonim and Egypt's New Age Revolution. CBS News. Retrieved

from http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/02/13/60minutes/main20031701.shtml

CNN Wire Staff (2011, April 7). Stateless Kurds in Syria granted citizenship. CNN World. Retrieved

from http://articles.cnn.com/2011-04-07/world/syria.kurdish.citizenship_1_kurdish-region-

kurdish-identity-stateless-kurds?_s=PM:WORLD

Human Rights Watch (2010). Syria. Human Rights Watch. Retrieved from

http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/wr2010.pdf

Ian Black (2011, February 8). Wael Ghonim anointed voice of the revolution by Tahrir Square faithful.

The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/08/wael-ghonim-

tahrir-square

Keating, Joshua (2011, February 1). How do we know how many protesters came out in Cairo?

Foreign Policy. Retrieved from

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/02/01/how_do_we_know_how_many_protesters_c

ame_out_in_cairo

Khalil, Ashraf (2010, June 25). Anger in Alexandria: 'We're afraid of our own government.' Egypt

Independent. Retrieved from http://www.egyptindependent.com/node/51909

Korotayev, Andrey, Zinkina, Julia (2011, April 4). Egyptian Revolution: A Demographic Structural

Analysis. Cliodynamics. Retrieved from

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http://cliodynamics.ru/download/Korotayev_Zinkina_Egyptian_Revolution_Entelequia_New.pd

f

Larsen, Rozanne (2011, August 11). Youth Exclusion in Syria: Social, Economic, and Institutional

Dimensions. Journalist's Resource. Retrieved from

http://journalistsresource.org/studies/government/international/youth-exclusion-in-syria-

economic/

Staff (2011, January 20). 6 April Movement calls for protest against police abuse. Egypt Independent.

Retrieved from http://www.egyptindependent.com/node/301058

Syrian Arab News Agency (2011, April 22). Decrees on ending State of Emergency, Abolishing SSSC,

Regulating Right to Peaceful Demonstration. Syrian Arab News Agency. Retrieved from

http://sana.sy/eng/21/2011/04/22/342711.htm

Williams, Clive (2012, February 17). Syrian Security: Can Bashar Prevail? ABC Sydney. Retrieved

from http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/3834550.html

Zain, H. (2012, January 22). 5,255 detainees set free due to Amnesty decree no. 10 for 2012. Syrian

Arab News Agency. Retrieved from http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2012/01/22/395766.htm