My local paper hadn't reported on this, and it caught me completely by surprise. I know very little about Tunisia, except that it is known to be especially repressive toward speech and journalists, and like many North African countries, has very high youth unemployment (even for university graduates). Apparently, Tunisia and the US have quite good relations. How do you think this will turn out? Will this reach a level of publicity similar to the protests/democratic movement in Iran?
Exposing the real Tunisia: A recent wave of unrest belies the myth of a Tunisian miracle, and offers a stark warning (Jan 04)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jan/04/tunisia-riots-economic-miracle-ben-ali
Quote:
It seems that the waters of the stagnant Arab swamp may be stirring at last. Tunisia, that small north African country on the Arab world's western shores, has for the past two weeks been the scene of a social uprising rare in this tightly controlled part of the world. This outburst of popular anger was ignited by an unemployed 26-year-old university graduate setting himself ablaze outside a police station in the provincial town of Sidi Bouzid. Soon afterwards another young man electrocuted himself, shouting "No unemployment, no misery!" and more attempted suicides have been reported since. A wave of riots and protests has ensued, sweeping through towns and villages all over the country – even in the capital, Tunis.
As in many Arab nations, political despotism and socioeconomic failure is acute in Tunisia. And this unrest points to the reality hidden behind the facade of tourist brochures and lavish resorts exhibited to the outside world. This is the world of ordinary Tunisians, of a rapidly depleted middle class crushed under the weight of rampant privatisation and a decreasing public sector, of soaring prices, debt, unemployment, social marginalisation and young men boarding "death boats" in the hope of escape to the other side of the Mediterranean. It is a world of the systematic impoverishment of the masses in inner cities and villages by the nouveaux riches, by a wealthy minority linked to the president and his family through a tight web of corruption and theft.
This is the "Tunisian miracle" trumpeted by president Zine Ben Ali's regime and echoed by its backers in the European Union, particularly France, Italy and Spain. For its sake, Tunisians were told to keep quiet and relinquish all hope of political freedom and democracy. While acknowledging the regime's flagrant human rights violations, the EU is considering upgrading relations with Tunisia and granting it "advanced-partner status".
The myth of socioeconomic success is not the only fabrication. The official discourse is borrowed from the latest liberal dictionary, replete with such phrases as civil society, individual freedom and human rights. But these ring hollow in Ben Ali's police state. He seized power from his predecessor in a coup d'état 23 years ago, and has not budged from his throne since, thanks to a string of falsified elections – in which his share of the votes has ranged from 97% to 99% – and a 150,000-strong police force, the same size as Britain's, with a population a sixth as large.
The general's eradication campaign began with a crackdown on an-Nahda, the main opposition party of liberal democratic Islamist tendencies, in 1990, in the name of combating the "fundamentalist threat". It then moved on to devour all political dissidents, including nationalists, leftists, liberals and student activists. Next came civil society's turn. Between annexation and dissolution, no association remained autonomous or active, including trade unions, human rights organisations, and cultural, social and even sports associations. Tunisian jails became the sole gathering point for activists.
Journalists have fared no better. No other Arab country has imprisoned more journalists since 2000. The Committee for the Protection of Journalists has declared the regime to be one of the world's 10 worst enemies of the press. Tellingly, the only images of the current protests have been captured on mobile- phone cameras and released on the web, as no foreign reporters are allowed into the country. Only North Korea can compete with Tunisia in this regard. ...
Tunisian protests fueled by social media networks (Jan 13, in GMT time at least)
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/01/12/tunisia/Quote:
The protests that have gripped Tunisia in recent weeks are, to say the least, unusual. Organized dissent in the streets is rarely tolerated in Arab states, and human rights groups say the Tunisian government has had a short fuse when dealing with opponents. But what's going on in Tunisia is all the more unusual because the protests are being organized and supported through online networks centered on Twitter and Facebook.
So prolific are the educated members of the northern African natinon's younger generation online that it has become a top priority of the Tunisian government to block and disrupt bloggers and others perceived as opponents.
The U.S. State Department -- in an unusual public criticism of a pro-West Arab government -- said last week it was concerned about "recent reports that Tunisian ISP providers, at the direction of the government, hacked into the accounts of Tunisian users of American companies including Facebook, and providers of email such as Yahoo and Google, and stealing passwords. This kind of interference", it continued, "threatens the ability of civil society to realize the benefits of new technologies." ...
US not taking sides in Tunisia unrest: Clinton (Jan 12)
http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/3695.aspxentire article wrote:
We are not taking sides" regarding the deadly clashes between protesters and government forces in Tunisia, US State Secretary Hillary Clinton said according to an English-language transcript of an interview with Al-Arabiya television, received by AFP on Wednesday.
"But we are saying we hope that there can be a peaceful resolution. And I hope that the Tunisian government can bring that about," she said.
Tunisia's foreign ministry had summoned US ambassador Gordon Gray on Monday after the State Department expressed concerns about "reports of the use of excessive force by the government of Tunisia" against demonstrators.
"We regret that because, obviously, we have got a lot of very positive aspects of our relationship with Tunisia," said Clinton.
"What the ambassador and what the State Department back in Washington did was just express concern that this is a protest that has, unfortunately, provoked such a reaction from the government, leading to the deaths of mostly young people who were protesting," she added.
Tunisian authorities have struggled to contain the unrest, with as many as 50 people killed in protests against unemployment, according to labour and human rights activists.
The government contested the death toll saying only 21 people had died in the three days of violence.
Clinton is on a Gulf tour which has so far taken her to the United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Oman, while she is expected to conclude it in Qatar.
12 Jan 2011, 11:43 pm
