Abstract
The freedoms of assembly and association are mentioned as individual rights in various international legal documents. They are recognized as cornerstones of a functioning democracy, and much has been written about these rights as they are understood and pertain to western democratic societies. With the aim of expanding our understanding beyond the west, this chapter focuses on perspectives on protest held by persons living in 12 Middle Eastern countries. Given the diversity within and among these states, a brief comparative overview of their demographics follows a discussion of protest and freedom of assembly as global concepts. The wave of protests that recently occurred throughout the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region is examined, as these protests are active examples of the thoughts shared by survey respondents. Analysis of the qualitative survey data collected from nationals of each state revealed that the majority of respondents are pro-protest (91 %). They view protest as a socially sanctioned right, a human right, and a moral responsibility. Men were more likely than women to portray protest is a moral responsibility. Persons with military service were more likely to view protest as a socially sanctioned right, while persons with no military service most often cited the goal of protest as peace. Seventy-five percent (75 %) of respondents were in favor of exercising pro-social agency in response to police violence against nonviolent protesters and gave examples of personal initiative, activism, and legal action as ways they would respond to the police in such instances.
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Scruggs, N. et al. (2013). Perspectives of Protest in the Middle East. In: Malley-Morrison, K., Mercurio, A., Twose, G. (eds) International Handbook of Peace and Reconciliation. Peace Psychology Book Series, vol 7. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5933-0_16
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