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Tunisia

Look South: Hollande’s Terror Blunder Is Tunisia, Not Syria

July 16, 2016 Staff , www.telesurtv.net , ,
By Staff of Tele Sur - After the Paris attacks of Nov. 13, French President Francois Hollande didn’t flinch before looking east to Syria. Terrorism, he said, must be demolished there. All eyes then followed his gaze: to French history in Syria, French intervention in Syria, French interests in Syria. In highlighting the east, though, Hollande is distracting spectators from its more relevant history, intervention and interests south: in Tunisia.

The Second Tunisian Revolution

February 5, 2016 Giuliana Sgrena, www.ilmanifesto.info , ,
By Giuliana Sgrena for Il Manifesto - Five years after the Arab Spring that shook the Middle East and North Africa, Tunisia is bursting up in flames again. The images that arrived from the city of Sfax, where a young merchant set himself on fire Wednesday after his goods were confiscated by the authorities, is reminiscent of the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi, whose act kicked off the Tunisian Revolution on Dec. 17, 2010. This time, the protest started from Kasserine, in central Tunisia not far from Sidi Bouzid, after a 24 year old young man, Ridha Yahyaoui, who was threatening to kill himself because his name had been deleted from a list of hirings, got struck and died when climbing an electricity pole.

More Than 1,000 Arrested During Tunisia Unrest

January 27, 2016 Staff, www.middleeasteye.net , ,
By Staff of Middle East Eye - Over 1,000 people have been arrested during nine days of fierce anti-government protest in Tunisia, authorities said on Monday as the security forces union launched a mass demonstration. Three hundred of those detained were arrested for breaking a strict curfew put in place nationwide on Friday after widespread looting and rioting broke out, according to a statement from the Interior Ministry on Monday. A total of 1,105 people have been arrested, said ministry spokesperson Walid Louguini, with 538 people detained over the weekend for looting.

Tunisians Continue Resistance 5 Years After Arab Spring

January 27, 2016 Yasmine Ryan, www.independent.co.uk ,
By Yasmine Ryan for Independent - Like most of his friends, Ammar Buthifi, 27, has spent the years since Tunisia kick-started the Arab Spring in much the same way as the years before: unemployed. Five years on from the Tunisian uprising, the mass unemployment that fuelled those protests has, if anything, worsened, and fresh unrest is threatening stability in the country heralded as the Arab Spring success story. Mr Buthifi’s father, a builder, gives him two or three dinars a day, if he’s lucky – less than £1. It is barely enough for the espresso and few cigarettes he has as he idles away his time in cafés with his friends.

Tunisia Invokes Curfew In Face Of Growing Unemployment Protests

January 23, 2016 Staff, www.huffingtonpost.com , ,
By Staff of The Huffington Post - KASSERINE, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisia imposed a nationwide overnight curfew Friday in response to growing unrest as protests over unemployment across the country descended into violence in some cities. A curfew from 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. has been put into place because the attacks on public and private property "represent a danger to the country and its citizens," the Interior Ministry said. On Thursday night, police stations came under attack and security officers used tear gas to repel protesters armed with stones and Molotov cocktails.

Tunisian Labor & Rights Coalition Wins Nobel

October 10, 2015 Sarah Lazare, www.commondreams.org ,
By Sarah Lazare for Common Dreams, The Norwegian Nobel Committee on Friday awarded its prestigious Peace Prize to Tunisia's National Dialogue Quartet—the coalition of labor unions and human rights groups that forged a path to political compromise following the country's 2011 "Arab Spring" uprising. The announcement was immediately met with cries of mabrouk, or congratulations, to the ordinary people and left-wing forces whose tenacious efforts made the initiative possible. Established in 2013, the quartet is a coalition of the Tunisian General Labor Union(UGTT); the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA); theTunisian Human Rights League (LTDH); and the Tunisian Order of Lawyers.

Solidarity Not Fear: World Social Forum Opens In Tunisia

March 26, 2015 Sarah Lazare, www.commondreams.org ,
Tens of thousands of people marched in the pouring rain through Tunisia's capital on Tuesday to kick off the 14th World Social Forum—a global gathering of civil society movements—and bring the message of peace and solidarity to the site of last week's deadly attack on the National Bardo Museum. "The march is really inspiring, and despite the rain, the energy is very high," Mai-Stella Khantouche, member of the California-based Causa Justa/Just Cause, told Common Dreamsover the phone from the demonstration as it proceeded to the museum. "There are so many different organizations and people here coming together to show solidarity," added Khantouche, who is attending the Forum as a delegate with the Grassroots Global Justice Alliance.

Tunisia: Popular Revolutionary Activist And Photographer Arrested

May 17, 2014 Committee For A Worker's International, www.socialistworld.net , ,
Yesterday, Tuesday 13 May, the ‘El Hambra’ theatre in Tunis was the site of a gathering of some 300 activists, young people and human rights’ campaigners. They were there to protest against the arrest on Monday night of the blogger and activist, Azyz Amami, and of his friend, the photographer Sabri Ben Mlouka. They were arrested at the port of La Goulette, in the north of Tunis. The police forced the pair to get out of a car and to kneel down with their hands on their heads. They were then subjected to a humiliating body search, something prohibited by the law, as explained by their lawyers during the protest rally yesterday. The police claimed that Azyz and Sabri had 700 grams of cannabis on their possesion. But the charge of possession or use of cannabis is a notorious tactic dating back from the Ben Ali dictatorship days, and commonly used by the police as a cover for political arrests. Azyz’s father, who visited his son in the Gorjani detention centre, in Tunis, was able to confirm that his son had bruises on the face and body, indicating that he was beaten by the police. A few days ago, Azyz Amami was a guest on a TV talk-show discussing a campaign called, “I too burned a police station”. This campaign defends youth arrested under spurious and often fabricated charges, such as drug use, or vandalism of police stations during the revolutionary movement that brought down Ben Ali.

Tunisia After The Arab Spring: Change, But No Change

April 4, 2014 Serge Halimi, www.mondediplo.com ,
Tunisia has taken the most hopeful direction after its Arab Spring. But none of the entrants in the forthcoming election seems to have the valid and drastic economic plans that will be needed to fulfil the aspirations of Tunisians. The Arab revolts in Egypt, Syria and Libya have not turned out happily, which leaves Tunisia as the last source of potential optimism in the region. None of the social aspirations that sparked its December 2010 uprising have been fulfilled. But after a long political crisis, and the assassinations of two leftwing members of parliament in six months (1), Tunisia has a new constitution, approved by 200 of its 216 parliamentarians, and a technocratic government of national unity. Tensions have eased and there is relative calm.

Tunisia Passes Progressive Constitution

February 13, 2014 Hayes Brown, www.thinkprogress.org , ,
After what had at times been a slow and frustrating process, the Tunisian National Assembly on Sunday evening voted to approve what is one of the most progressive constitutions in the region, with only 12 members of the 216-member legislative body voting against. Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki and outgoing Assembly chief Mustapha Ben Jaafar signed the document on Monday morning, bringing it into effect. With its new constitution, Tunisia, the starting place of the massive protests that swept Western Asia and North Africa in 2011, manages in some ways to surpass even the United States in terms of enshrining progressive ideals.

Third Anniversary Of Tunisian Revolution, Birth Of Arab Spring

December 17, 2013 Staff, www.thetunistimes.com ,
Tunis, Kasbah- On the 17th December 2013, crowds of Tunisians participated in protests in the Kasbah Square, marking the 3rd anniversary of the Tunisian revolution. The demonstrations were based on a common current belief that the interests of Tunisia as a whole are more important than those of individual political parties. According to the event’s official Facebook page, the main goals of the event were to continue what Tunisians started three years ago by protesting against corruption, torture and repression. Following the interior ministry’s ban on the participation of any illegal organization in the protests, including Ansar al Shariaa, the event organizers insisted on peaceful demonstrations, without any use of political slogans or mottos. People from different regions were invited to participate and to show patriotic support, regardless of their political or ideological views. Organizers persuaded participants against the use of Ansar Al Shariaa flags, after threats from the police to break up the protests. Organizers reported various obstacles on their official Facebook page: electricity was occasionally cut, security checkpoints were set up before the entrance to the Kasbah Square, and many people coming from different regions such Kairouan , Sfax , Bizert and Siliana were forbidden from entering the Kasbah Square all together.

Tunisia Protests Call For Government Resignation

October 24, 2013 Staff, www.aljazeera.com , ,
A coalition of secular opposition parties are demanding the immediate departure of the government, which it accuses of clinging to power. A senior member of Ennahda charged on Tuesday that the opposition was preparing to “destroy” the negotiations between the two sides by staging anti-government protests. About 60 opposition MPs who have been boycotting parliament since the political crisis erupted, also said they had received assurances that the national dialogue would begin with the government announcing its resignation. The Islamist party was heavily repressed under the Ben Ali regime.

Tunisia’s Ruling Islamists To Step Down, Pave Way For Vote

September 28, 2013 Tarek Amara, www.reuters.com , , ,
"Tunisia's Islamist-led government agreed on Saturday to resign after talks with secular foes to form a caretaker administration and prepare for elections to safeguard the democratic transition in the country where the Arab Spring uprisings began[...]The crisis, which erupted in July after the killing of an opposition leader by suspected Muslim militants, has eroded an already fragile financial outlook and unnerved the North African country's international lenders. Tunisia's powerful UGTT labor union, mediating between the sides, proposed three weeks of negotiations after which the Islamist Ennahda would yield to an non-partisan administration with a date for parliamentary and presidential elections."

Tunisia’s Opposition Threatens Protests After Talks Fail

September 6, 2013 Staff, www.reuters.com
Tunisia's secular opposition threatened on Wednesday to launch more mass protests to force the Islamist-led government to step down, saying negotiations to end a political stand-off had failed. Hamma Hammami, a senior leader in a coalition of over a dozen secular opposition parties agitating for new elections, blamed the Islamist Ennahda party heading the government coalition for the collapse of two weeks of mediated talks. The talks aimed to lead to new polls that analysts say the unpopular Ennahda would probably lose, ending Tunis's Islamist experiment without the violence seen in Egypt after the army overthrew Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Mursi in July.

Manning And The Arab Spring

August 28, 2013 Sami Ben Gharbia, www.medium.com ,
If the U.S. will take 35 years from Chelsea Manning’s life, may it console her that she has given us, Arabs, the secret gift that helped expose and topple 50 years of dictatorships. For me, it all started in mid-October of 2010, with a direct message on Twitter from a good friend of mine. He belonged to a circle of digital activists with whom I worked closely with for years on many advocacy projects in the Arab World, from anti-censorship strategies and campaigns to building and training non-violent protests movements. In that DM he urgently asked me to speak over encryption with him. After one single OTR chat session, he sent me an encrypted zip file containing a trove of around 400 texts files organized in about 15 folders. All the folders were named after Arab countries: Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Morocco, Bahrain, etc. I didn’t know what was in them. He told me just before ending the chat session: do something with them, I trust you and trust your knowledge and judgment.
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