Unemployed Protests in Tunisia

[Kiev Communard]

Job protests escalate in Tunisia

Demonstrations involving around 1000 people in the capital are halted by security forces before they reach main street.

Tunisian police have used batons to disperse a rare demonstration in Tunis, the capital, calling for jobs in a show of solidarity with youths protesting in poorer regions.

Around 1,000 people took part in the demonstration on Monday, called by independent trade union activists. Security forces prevented them from marching towards a main Tunis thoroughfare.

A Reuters reporter saw at least a dozen protesters sustaining light injuries from police batons, mainly to the head, and some others fainted.

Protests are rare in Tunisia - which has been run for 23 years by President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and works closely with Western governments to combat al-Qaeda - but have been gathering force in recent weeks.

The Tunis protest followed the deadly shooting by police of a jobless graduate in Bouziane, south of Tunis, last Friday.

Clashes broke out earlier this month in the town of Sidi Bouzid after a man committed suicide in a protest about unemployment.

The protests later spread to several neighbouring cities such as Sousse, Sfax and Meknassi.

Show of support

One young woman at the Tunis demonstration told Reuters: "Our demand is employment ... We are here to support the youth of Sidi Bouzid and demand work".

The protesters chanted slogans such as "We need work" and "Stop the corruption", and carried banners including one that read "Free Sidi Bouzid's prisoners".

Officials have declined to say how many people were detained over the clashes in Sidi Bouzid.

Tunisia remains relatively prosperous compared to African peers but several international right groups say its government crushes dissent, an accusation it denies.

The North African country has become a regional focus for international financial institutions since announcing a plan to complete current account convertibility of its dinar currency over the 2010-2012 period.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2010/12/20101227204853391930.html







Tunisian jobs protests reach capital Tunis

Scuffles have broken out in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, between police and protesters angry at high unemployment levels.

Some 1,000 protesters, mainly unemployed graduates, rallied outside the offices of the main workers' union.

On Friday, one protester was shot dead during violent clashes in the central Tunisian town of Menzel Bouzaiene.

Tensions have been high since the attempted suicide earlier this month of a jobless graduate.

Twenty-six year old Mohammed Bouazizi sold fruit and vegetables illegally in Sidi Bouzid because he could not find a job.

According to the Tunisian League for the Defence of Human Rights, he doused himself in petrol and set himself alight earlier this month when police confiscated his produce, telling him he did not have the necessary permit.

Demonstrations followed and tensions heightened when another young man electrocuted himself in the same town, saying he was fed up with being unemployed.

In Tunis on Monday, Sami Tahr, head of the union for high school teachers said the demonstrators sought radical solutions to the country's problems.

"We're gathered today in solidarity with the population of Sidi Bouzid and to salute the memories of the martyrs of repression who seek only their right to work," AP reported him as saying.

The government said the violence was isolated and had been exploited by the opposition. However, the country's development minister has travelled to the region and pledged to invest in an employment programme.

Public protests in Tunisia - where the government is often criticised for its human rights record - are rare and political dissent is repressed, correspondents say. But recent economic discontent has provoked the most violent unrest in more than a decade.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12083602



Does anybody know whether there are any serious left-wing underground movements in Tunisia? It seems there is a ripe recruiting ground for them.

[theAnarch]

Aljazeera



Africa Tunisia president warns protesters President warns that rare display of public defiance over unemployment will be met with 'firm' punishment.

Bilal Randeree Last Modified: 28 Dec 2010 23:57 GMT



As tensions over unemployment and poor living conditions flare in Tunisia, president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali has warned in a national television broadcast that protests are unacceptable and will have a negative impact on the economy.
In his speech on Tuesday, Ben Ali criticised the "use of violence in the streets by a minority of extremists" and said the law would be applied "in all firmness" to punish protesters.
Earlier on Tuesday, security forces blocked an anti-government rally in the town of Gafsa, sources told Al Jazeera.
The protest, organised by the Tunisian federation of labour unions, was one of a number of reported public demonstrations across the country. The public defiance marks a rare display of a popular anger against Ben Ali, who has been in power for 23 years.
Around 300 lawyers were also reported to have rallied in a street close to the government's palace in the capital of Tunis.
Lina Ben Mhenni, a Tunisian blogger (http://atunisiangirl.blogspot.com/) and university assistant, told Al Jazeera that she heard that two of the lawyers were arrested late on Tuesday.
"People were protesting in solidarity with [other demonstrations in the town of] Sidi Bouzid, but they were also talking about the policies of the government and the president," she said.
"They are even asking the president to leave," she said.
Government censorship
A separate protest in the capital, organised by a high school trade union, was held outside the ministry of education, according to Ben Mhenni.
Tunisian authorities also blocked the release of two opposition parties' papers, "Tareeq al-Jadid" and "al-Mawqif".
"They were censored because they wrote about the protests of Sidi Bouzid this week," Ben Mhenni said.
Protests are rare occurrence in Tunisia, where Ben Ali works closely with Western governments to combat al-Qaeda.
The latest protest followed the deadly shooting by police of a jobless graduate in Bouziane, south of Tunis, last Friday.
Suicide protests
Clashes broke out earlier this month (http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2010/12/2010122063745828931.html) in the town of Sidi Bouzid after a man committed suicide in an apparent protest against high unemployment.
Lina Ben Mhenni also said that there were reports of another young man who on Tuesday committed suicide in the town of Nabeuls by throwing himself on a train track.
"Young men are killing themselves in Tunisia," she said.
Mohamed Ben Madani, an analyst with the Maghreb Review, told Al Jazeera that this is one of the most extraordinary events that happened in Tunisia for the last 23 years.
"Tunisia has been ruled by Ben Ali for 23 years with an iron fist and this is the first time that he has been challenged by people from various towns," Madani said.
Signs of change
"Tunisian people are coming out and showing their anger for lack of food, lack of jobs and also lack of human rights."
He said that for the first time, through the use of social media, the world was seeing videos and pictures of the protests, and how the government cant contain it.
"What is shocking is that if this happened in Iran or in Moscow, then it would be on all global media, but because this is Tunisia, nobody cares."
Madani said that while this may not lead to the "overthrow of the Ben Ali government, which is very well protected, but they will get the message that enough is enough."
On the social media site Twitter, there were unconfirmed reports of the president being seen in Dubai on Friday.
"This morning all the people were talking about Ben Ali being in Dubai, but nobody has the right information," Lina Ben Mhenni said.
"I just heard that the president is going to talk on TV tonight - I'm not sure but this what I heard."
Meanwhile, the Tunisian parliament, along with four political parties, accused Al Jazeera of attempts "to destabilise the country, and to spread sedition via its coverage to Sidi Bouzaid incidents and the subsequent protests".
They have jointly issued statements released by the official Tunisian news agency, saying that Al Jazeera had "opted to exaggeration, fabrication and fallacy in its coverage of social protests over unemployment."

[freepalestine]

Tunisia: The battle of Sidi Bouzid

Poor economic policies have led to widespread distress as Tunisia's youth take their frustrations to the streets.

Larbi Sadiki Last Modified: 27 Dec 2010 15:27 GMT



http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2010/12/25/2010122504845976580_20.jpg



The economic policies as championed by the 'Washington Consensus' have manifested in unbearable levels of unemployment, a core factor behind the latest rounds of street protests [AFP] What happened to the state? Where did civil society go? Why is there only silence from Development Minister Mohamed Nouri Jouini?
Before even attempting to answer each one of those questions, these seemingly dysfunctional institutions need to be inspected more closely in order to see the extent to which they share responsibility for the suicidal protests of despair by Tunisia’s youth.
This is a not time for scoring political points. What Wikileaks says or does not say about Tunisia’s ruling familiy serves no purpose here. This is a time for reflection on Tunisia’s own ‘wretched of the earth’ – the ‘khobz-istes’ of Sidi Bouzid and the country’s disenfranchised youth.

The Khobz-istes (the jobless) strike back
Putting Rousseau’s notion of a ‘social contract’ and Arab politics in the same phrase is to ask for an oxymoron. Tunisia’s politics is no exception. But there is another type of contract which has nothing to do with Rousseau: The ‘bread contract' - bread in parts of Tunisia and Egypt are called ‘eish, dear 'life' itself.
The tacit contract that has defined the North African country since its independence in 1956 is the ‘bread’ provision - mostly subsidies - in return for political deference. With modest resources, Tunisia has historically funded subsidies of strategic commodities - bread, sugar, tea, coffee, kerosene - and education, health, housing in some cases, and even recreational activities, such as sport.
The National Solidarity Fund and the National Employment Fund, still under centralised control, have had some successes. They have partly shifted the burden of providence from the state to society.
Tunisians dug into their pockets to volunteer what little of their non-disposable income they have to the cause of poverty alleviation, and improvements of the so-called ‘shadow zones’ (bidon-villes), the misery belt suffocating the rich towns and suburbs.
But even this system of quid pro quo bread and political deference has failed many Tunisians, leaving many hopeless and jobless.
Bou’azizi’s letter to President Bin Ali
It is a national tragedy when the youth - literally the future - commit suicide to make a point.
The despair must have been unimaginable when a university graduate, 26-year-old Mohamed Bou’azizi, was prevented from earning an honest living peddling fruits and vegetables. It is humiliating enough to do that.
He doused himself in petrol and set himself aflame on December 17. If he survives his horrific burns, he will now live with physical and emotional pain for the rest of his life.
Irrational as it might have been, it was a cry for help, and a message to his state and his president to act.
The police tend to intercept these cries for help, seemingly able to diagnose all the psychological damage done to tens of thousands of Bou'azizis with the prescription of a handy baton and a badge. But for the local authorities to confiscate his cart or stall is to add insult to injury.
Bou’azizi’s message was seconded by another suicidal signature of another young man in his mid-twenties, Lahseen Naji, who electrocuted himself in despair of ‘hunger and joblessness’. A third, Ramzi Al-Abboudi, under the burden of business debt, ironically made possible by the country’s micro-credit solidarity programme, killed himself.
Added to these signatures to Bou’azizi’s letter to Mr Bin Ali are the spontaneous riots of Sidi Bouzid and surrounding towns.
Tunisia's long winter of discontent
Like many developing states, Tunisia jumped onto the ‘Washington consensus’ bandwagon, which led to fiscal, political and social adjustments.
This led to a decrease in subsidies, privatization, poor convertibility of the dinar, vast land sales with foreign ownership of real estate, tourist resort leasing, nouveaux riches consumption patterns, big business commissions, business monopolies and corruption.
Inevitably, the clouds gathering over the skies of Tunisia’s winter of discontent have started the tell-tale signs of a deluge of ills symptomatic of a quasi ‘banana republic’.
The marginalization of the agrarian and arid central and southern areas will continue unabated. Some of this is due to nature (poor soil and low rainfall), and some to nurture (state neglect and weak entrepreneurship by Tunisia’s industrial and commercial elites).
The state is a control-freak to the point that it disallows the existence of any hint of an informal economy. There is one in Italy - even in America - but not in Tunisia. If the state is partly failing in its provision of jobs, then it is unwise to ban informal trade and work.
A youth empowered by education but disempowered by marginalization can be the spark that ignites social upheaval and social tension.
In Tunisia, marginalization is today being translated into irrational and tragic suicides. But tomorrow these can be the triggers of a different type of suicides.
Does Minister Jouini want to be held responsible for this?
'North' vs 'South'
A stroll in the boulevards, leisure and sports centres, rich esplanades and shopping malls of the green coastal areas reveals a Tunisia that looks and feels like a land of geniality, of delight - in official propaganda parlance, a ‘model’ of development worthy of emulation.
The models of development and distribution applied to the country’s coastal and northern cities, towns and suburbs are nowhere to be seen in the centre or the south. The riots of Sidi Bouzid and surrounding towns call into question years of uneven development and mis-distribution.
They challenge policy-makers to rethink redistributive justice and regional development urgently.
But today the notion of ‘total state’ and ‘total politics’ may not be apt for successful social engineering and re-distribution. Total control can translate into loss of control. The signs are there.
From the central phosphates Basin towns via Sidi Bouzid to Ben Guerdane, the cracks on the current developmental model are showing.
The puzzle of Tunisia is that it insists upon belt-fastening whilst, for a while, cruising at a high altitude (i.e. stability, development). It is time to unfasten belts and let society, NGOS, entrepreneurs, the informal economy, political parties, local initiatives, and autonomous charities share the burden of development with the state.
The State: What to do?
If Mr Ben Ali is not sacking his Development Minister, then he needs to demand a new course of action from his foreign, development, employment and education ministers, along with new, implementable policies.
Alternatively, he can face the gale of a long winter of discontent, because a paltry eight million Euros will not satisify the needs of Sidi Bouzid and surrounding towns.
Sidi Bouzid has been kind to Tunisia by producing high quality agricultural produce, like milk. The Tunisian government can pay back this debt in the form of just economic and civic redistribution to the region’s youth.
Perhaps Tunisia has to rethink their heavy and sole reliance on the European Union. With the Union of the Mediterranean nearly defunct, and the EU openly favouring eastern European labour, Libya and the Arab Gulf may be able to relieve the long queues of the jobless. This works for the other Arab nations, so why not Tunisia? Tunisia can adjust too.
The President must at once lift the siege on Sidi Bouzid, and show courage by visiting these marginalized towns himself. It is high time Mr Bin Ali revamped his government with new blood.
Maybe non-ruling party independents and other competent figures can pluralize the pool of ideas available to him.
Finally, the president is strongly advised to recall a simple truth and a time-hardened adage: a fight against those who have nothing to lose is unwinnable!
Civil society and the opposition
The return of the Khobz-istes must not be turned into political football. Both the opposition and the state have failed Sidi Bouzid and Tunisia’s jobless youth. The path forward is not through propaganda and hollow lectures.
Rather, youth calls of despair for civic engagement should be heeded in Tunisia, not punished with political absence or exile. They need practical solutions, not slogans.
This should be a moment for all the Bou’azizis of Tunisia. If need be, pay the price of peaceful democratic struggle. Indefinite absence and exile do not earn democracy but animosity.
It is not a moment about Moncef Marzouki, Nahdah or the ruling party. From the comfortable distance of Paris and London, the exiled opposition is as remote from Tunisia’s people as the incompetent ministries who seem to have missed socio-economic problems right under their noses.
Together with the state, and entrepreneurs they can think of specific solidarity funds for these regions, specific investment, job searches in the Arab Gulf, or even bursaries for those willing to continue with higher education.
Able expatriates and local civil society can be part of the solution. Only thus they will also learn how to reformulate the political equation inside Tunisia.
The Battle of Sidi Bouzid redux
In 1943 Sidi Bouzid was the theatre of another battle: a battle for freedom by the Allied forces against the Nazis.
Today it is the theatre of another battle. A battle for freedom from hunger.
Bou’azizi comes to mind when reading the words from Tunisia’s national anthem: ‘We die, we die, so that the homeland lives.’
Minister Jouini must contemplate the real and intended meaning of these words for the remainder of his tenure in the Ministry of Development (of under-development) in the areas he, his aides, and their predecessors have for so long neglected.
Lest graduate Bou’azizi and other marginals are forgotten, state and society must hold up a mirror to see whether the face of mis-distribution and uneven development today reflects an alien value of moral decay; 'We live, we live, so that the homeland dies...'
Dr Larbi Sadiki is a Senior Lecturer in Middle East Politics at the University of Exeter, and author of Arab Democratisation: Elections without Democracy (Oxford University Press, 2009) and The Search for Arab Democracy: Discourses and Counter-Discourses (Columbia University Press, 2004), forthcoming Hamas and the Political Process (2011).
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2010/12/20101227142811755739.html

[theAnarch]

the Tunisian Workers' Communist Party which is illegal member of the International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organizations (Unity & Struggle). from wiki: The Tunisian Workers' Communist Party (http://www.revleft.com/wiki/Tunisian_Workers%27_Communist_Party) (Parti communiste des ouvriers tunisiens, PCOT) is a proscribed communist political party led by Hamma Hammami (http://www.revleft.com/w/index.php?title=Hamma_Hammami&action=edit&redlink=1). PCOT is described by its co-thinkers in France as "constituting the most important opposition force" in Tunisia. Hammami was arrested and sentenced to over four years in prison for contempt of court, and reports that he was "savagely tortured." He was given additional sentences of eleven years and five years for, among other things, membership in an illegal organisation and distribution of propaganda.7 (http://www.revleft.com/vb/#References) At least ten of his books are banned. Hammami's wife, Radhia Nasraoui (http://www.revleft.com/w/index.php?title=Radhia_Nasraoui&action=edit&redlink=1), a human rights lawyer and also an outspoken opponent of President Ben Ali, went on a 57-day hunger strike (http://www.revleft.com/wiki/Hunger_strike) in late 2003 to protest official surveillance of her home and communications

the old Soviet backed party is called Movement Ettajdid, seems to be content with running for Parliament.

[theAnarch]

Videos of the protests:
NBkOosu6WSs
Appearently a "flash mob" the governments worried about.

WAkRqA&rel (http://www.youtube.com/v/oy_x_WAkRqA&rel=0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3"></param><param)
Police Attack protesters

[theAnarch]

Protests spread to Algeria;




Africa Algerian youth protest high prices Protesters in the capital throw rocks at police, set trash bins and tyres on fire, and chant anti-government slogans.

Last Modified: 06 Jan 2011 08:00 GMT









Algerian youth throughout the country have protested against living conditions and the rising prices of basic commodities.
Sources in Algeria told Al Jazeera that protest rallies were staged in several neighbourhoods in the capital Algiers on Wednesday night, while the crackle of gunfire was also heard.
Protesters threw rocks and other debris at police, and lit garbage bins and tyres on fire. Riot police responded with tear gas.
Protests were reported at the Martyrs' Square, Balkor, Bash Jarrah, Babal Wadi and Astawali, while both Jalfa in southern Algeria and Wahran in the west, also witnessed violent rallies in protest over the deteriorating living conditions and rising prices.
An Al Jazeera correspondent reported that protesters also stoned the Wahran municipality headquarters and other government buildings.
Demonstrators posted videos on the internet of large fires burning in the street, police firing tear gas, and protesters throwing rocks.
Anti-government sentiments
The protesters chanted slogans criticising the high cost of living and blaming the problem on president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the Reuters news agency reported.
Bouteflika has been in power for 11 years and was elected to his third term in 2009 with 90 per cent of the vote after parliament abolished presidential term limits.
The government recently announced rises in prices for basic staples such as oil and sugar.
The country is also running low on flour, prompting fears of a bread shortage.
Protesters are also angry at the lack of water, power outages, and poor distribution of social housing.
Bouteflika has overseen a relatively calm period in Algeria, despite the lack of a democratic opposition, and has tried to institute a reconciliation plan to end hostilities with Islamist fighters.

[Crux]

Street vendor’s attempted suicide sparks riots and police shootings

www.socialistworld.net, 29/12/2010
website of the committee for a workers' international, CWI
Lack of freedom and mass unemployment stoke up revolt
S.R., CWI reporter and recent visitor to Tunisia
http://www.socialistworld.net/img/2011010220101229143127Grafik8658163096741344952.jp g
Over the last few days, Tunisian youths have clashed with police, in riots sparked by anger over unemployment in the provincial town of Sidi Bouzid.
The nightly disturbances started after an unemployed graduate set himself alight in a protest against police officers who confiscated fruit and vegetable he was selling from a market stall. There were clashes last Monday when youth held protests to demand the release of dozens of people arrested earlier.
Any form of opposition is rare in Tunisia under the repressive rule of President Zein Al Abidine ben Ali. Although Tunisia’s economy is expected to grow by 3.8% in 2010, it will make little difference to the 14% jobless figure, which fires much of the protests and riots.
Below, a CWI member, S.R., who recently visited Tunisia, reports on the clashes over the last few days.
Socialistworld.net
Large clashes took place in Tunisia between youth and state security forces on 25 December. These are the biggest protests since action by miners in Redeyef in 2008. The new protests were triggered when on17 December, in the central town of Sidi Bouzid, Mohamed Bou’azizi, a street vendor of cheap plastic toys/ vegetables was asked by the police for a permit to sell. He replied that he had a diploma and wanted to have a skilled job instead. The police confiscated Mohamed Bou’azizi’s goods and assaulted him. Mohamed Bou’azizi then bought gasoline with his last money and attempted to commit suicide by burning himself alive in front of the Sidi Bouzid City Hall.
Since then, there have been daily demonstrations in the small town, which soon spread to neighboring cities. The 25th December saw a demonstration in Menzel Bouzaiene, during which riots broke out, police cars were set on fire, and the police shot 18-year old Mohamed Ammari and seventeen others were seriously injured. Families were prevented from seeing their relatives in the hospitals and the city was sealed off. No one was allowed to go in or out of the city and telephone and water and electricity was cut off.
On 26 December, there were attempted solidarity demonstrations in Tunis, Gabes and Sfax cities. People gathered in the trade union offices but heavily armed policemen would not let them leave the buildings and hold protests.
On 28 December, there were reports of demonstrations in the capital, Tunis, and five other cities, even on the small fisherman’s island of Qarqannah.
Lack of freedoms

Demonstrations are rarely seen in the virtual police state of Tunisia (the country has 400,000 police, including national guard and secret police, in a country with a population of 10 million). During the time was I there, no-one had seen a demonstration before. No-one would not speak about the rule of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, even in private. He has been in office for 23 years. His pictures are everywhere on the streets, in cafes and in shops. No meaningful opposition is allowed. The internet is censored, with the same blocking mechanisms that are used as in China and Iran. Many websites are not accessible and pictures on Facebook showing Mohamed Bou’azizi burning himself in protest were replaced by a picture of the president!
The people I spoke to were deeply frustrated with the lack of freedoms - and that was mainly in more or less the wealthy parts of the country, let alone the poorer south. Many youth see their only prospects lie in leaving the country and many have illusions in getting a better life in Europe. But visas are hard to obtain, with the EU states closing their borders to Tunisia. In the countryside, unemployment is very high. National joblessness sits at 18% and as these are government figures, the real situation is much worse. Years of privatizations, nepotism and corruption have made the President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his elite friends richer, while destroying the future of the youth.
The government will try to suppress the opposition movement developing. There are reports of police raiding homes at night. It is important to encourage working people and youth to continue their fight for freedom and jobs. Send solidarity messages to the UGTT trade union (www.ugtt.org.tn) and send protests to your nearest Tunisian embassy.

[Os Cangaceiros]

(the country has 400,000 police, including national guard and secret police, in a country with a population of 10 million).

That's insane.

[Stranger Than Paradise]

http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/01/02/tunisia_s_protest_wave_where_it_comes_from_and_wha t_it_means_for_ben_ali


January traditionally has been Tunisia's month for political drama -- a general strike in January 1978; a Libyan-supported insurrection in January 1980; bread riots in January 1984. This year, however, January will be hard-pressed to top the previous December. The last two weeks of 2010 witnessed the most dramatic wave of social unrest in Tunisia since the 1980s. What began with one young man's desperate protest against unemployment in Sidi Bouzid, in Tunisia's center-west, spread quickly to other regions and other issues. Within days of Mohamed Bouazizi's attempted suicide in front of the local government office, students, teachers, lawyers, journalists, human rights activists, trade unionists, and opposition politicians took to the streets in several cities, including Tunis, to condemn the government's economic policies, its repression of all critics, and a mafia-style corruption that enriches members of the president's family.

In a country known for authoritarian stability, it is easy to see this unrest as a harbinger of dramatic change. In fact, the protests have been building for at least two years. The frustration is rooted in a deep history of unbalanced economic growth. Several organizations have helped to convert this frustration into collective protest. To date, the December protests have produced a cabinet reshuffle, a governor's sacking, and a renewed commitment to job creation in disadvantaged regions. Whether they lead to more dramatic change remains to be seen. If Ben Ali's rule is not in immediate danger, the protests at least suggest that his governing strategy is in serious trouble.

Ben Ali's rule has relied on a skillful combination of co-optation and repression. By pledging his fidelity to democracy and human rights early in his tenure, he deftly hijacked the core of the liberal opposition's message. At the same time, he used electoral manipulation, intimidation, and favors to co-opt leaders of ruling-party organs and civil society organizations. Those who remained beyond the reach of these tools felt the force of an internal security apparatus that grew dramatically in the 1990s. Most Tunisians grudgingly accepted Ben Ali's heavy-handedness through the 1990s. Authoritarian rule was the price they paid for stability that could attract tourists and investors. Ben Ali was an effective, if uncharismatic, technocratic who beat back the Islamists, generated growth, and saved the country from the unrest that plagued Algeria.

Over the last five years, however, the fabric of Ben Ali's authoritarianism has frayed. Once it became clear that the Islamists no longer posed a serious threat, many Tunisians became less willing to accept the government's heavy-handedness. The regime also lost some of its earlier deftness. Its methods became less creative and more transparently brutal. The government seemed less willing to at least play at any dialogue with critics or opposition parties. Arbitrary arrests, control of the print media and Internet access, and physical attacks on journalists and human rights and opposition-party activists became more common. So, too, did stories of corruption -- not the usual kickbacks and favoritism that one might expect, but truly mafia-grade criminality that lined the pockets of Ben Ali's wife and her family. The growth of Facebook, Twitter, and a Tunisian blogosphere -- much of it based outside the country -- made it increasingly easy for Tunisians to learn about the latest arrest, beating, or illicit business deal involving the president's family.

Shortly before the December protests began, WikiLeaks released internal U.S. State Department communications in which the American ambassador described Ben Ali as aging, out of touch, and surrounded by corruption. Given Ben Ali's reputation as a stalwart U.S. ally, it mattered greatly to many Tunisians -- particularly to politically engaged Tunisians who are plugged into social media -- that American officials are saying the same things about Ben Ali that they themselves say about him. These revelations contributed to an environment that was ripe for a wave of protest that gathered broad support.

Tunisia has built a reputation as the Maghreb's healthiest economy since Ben Ali seized power, as market-oriented reforms opened the country to private investment and integrated it more deeply into the regional economy. Annual GDP growth has averaged 5 percent. But the government's policies have done little to address long-standing concerns about the distribution of growth across the country. Since the colonial period, Tunisia's economic activity has been concentrated in the north and along the eastern coastline. Virtually every economic development plan since independence in 1956 has committed the government to making investments that would create jobs and enhance living standards in the center, south, and west. Eroding regional disparities would build national solidarity and slow the pace of urban migration. The latter became a particular concern as social protest organized by trade unionists, students, and Islamists mounted in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Government investment transformed the countryside in terms of access to potable water, electrification, transportation infrastructure, health care, and education. But the government never succeeded in generating enough jobs in the interior for a rapidly growing population. In fact, two aspects of the government's development strategy actually made it harder to generate jobs. First, Tunisia's development strategy since the early 1970s has relied progressively on exports and private investment. For a small country with a limited resource base and close ties to Europe, this strategy generated an emphasis on tourism and low-skilled manufactured products (primarily clothes and agricultural products) for the European market. Scarce natural resources, climate constraints, and the need to minimize transport costs make it difficult to attract considerable numbers of tourists or export-oriented producers to the hinterland. Consequently, 80 percent of current national production remains concentrated in coastal areas. Only one-fifth of national production takes place in the southwest and center-west regions, home to 40 percent of the population.

Education issues complicate matters further. The Tunisian government has long received praise for its commitment to broad education. The prevailing culture holds up university education as the key to security and social advancement. However, universities do not produce young people with training that meets the needs of an economy that depends on low-skilled jobs in tourism and clothing manufacturing. This mismatch between education and expectations on the one hand, and the realities of the marketplace on the other, generates serious frustrations for young people who invested in university educations but cannot find commensurate work. The challenge is particularly dire for young people in the interior. While estimates of national unemployment range from 13 to 16 percent, unemployment among university graduates in Sidi Bouzid ranges between 25 and 30 percent.

The trade unions' role is one of the most striking aspects of the December protests. The government worked very hard, and with great success, to domesticate the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT), Tunisia's sole trade union confederation, in the 1990s. More recently, however, activists in some unions have succeeded in taking a more independent and confrontational stance. In 2008 and again in early 2010, union activists organized prolonged protests in the southern Gafsa mining basin. The players and the grievances in those cases resemble what we saw in late December. Education unions, some of the most independent and aggressive within the UGTT, played a critical role in organizing unemployed workers, many with university degrees, who protested the government's failure to provide jobs, its corruption, and its refusal to engage in meaningful dialogue. Human rights organizations, journalists, lawyers, and opposition parties then joined in to criticize the government's restrictions on media coverage of the protests and the arrests and torture of demonstrators. In this way, a broad coalition of civil society organizations has connected bread-and-butter employment grievances with fundamental human rights and rule-of-law concerns. They also pull together constituencies that transcend class and regional distinctions -- unemployed young people in Sidi Bouzid, Menzel Bouzaiene, and Regueb, and lawyers and journalists in Monastir, Sfax, and Tunis.

It is too early to know if these protests signal the beginning of the end for Ben Ali. However, Tunisia's current political scene looks a bit like it did in 1975 and 1976, the beginning of the long slide for Ben Ali's predecessor, Habib Bourguiba. Again, we see an aging president who seems increasingly out of touch and whose ability to co-opt and repress has deteriorated. We still see a political system that lacks strong possible successors and a clear mechanism for selecting one. We have a set of economic and political grievances that enjoys the support of a range of civil society organizations, including some with the ability to mobilize considerable numbers of protesters. Over the medium and long terms, this is the most significant aspect of the December protests. The fact that unemployed young people took to the streets is much less important than the fact that their cause has been taken up -- and supplemented -- by civil society organizations that spent most of Ben Ali's rule under his thumb or too cowed to act.

Despite all this, it is important to recall that Bourguiba did not fall suddenly to a mass movement that rallied broad popular support. His government rotted steadily for more than a decade. Additionally, Ben Ali's bloodless coup and his subsequent rule took great advantage of the disorganization in Tunisia's political class. Tunisia's civil society, including the opposition parties, is notoriously easy to divide and conquer. If Ben Ali's ability to repress and co-opt has deteriorated, it has not disappeared. With the December protests, Tunisia might have turned an important corner. However, nothing in the country's history or its current state of affairs makes it easy to believe that the protests will lead quickly to a coherent, unified opposition movement with a clear message, a charismatic leader, and a national support base. Additionally, another long, slow slide toward chaos could simply set the stage for another Ben Ali -- another unelected president who seizes power at the top and changes little below it.

some of this article is good, especially the work people are doing in the unions, does anyone know anymore about the UGT? But the last paragraph seems to be calling for a populist movement that seems nothing more than Liberal.

[freepalestine]

Tunisia arrests bloggers and rapper Dissidents were arrested or "disappeared" in crackdowns against what is being described as a national uprising.
Last Modified: 07 Jan 2011 20:37 GMT

http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2011/1/3/201113131644799876_20.jpg
Journalists and activists face violence and arrest in the uprising that began on December 17 [AFP]


Tunisian authorities have rounded up bloggers, activists and a rap singer in a string of arrests that come in the midst of what is being described as a nationwide uprising.
Two web activists, Slim Amamou and Azyz Amamy, have not been heard from since Thursday, sources in Tunisia told Al Jazeera.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said that it had been alerted that at least six bloggers and activists had been arrested or had disappeared in locations across Tunisia, and that there were probably others who had been targeted.
Al Jazeera spoke with Amamy on Wednesday evening, local time, after his email and Facebook accounts were hijacked in an alleged government-led "phishing" campaign (http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/01/20111614145839362.html). His last tweet was published on Thursday morning, as was Amamou's.
Amamy's phone was disconnected on Friday night when Al Jazeera tried to reach him.
Hamadi Kaloutcha was arrested at 6am local time by police dressed in civilian clothing. His laptop and hard drive were also taken, according to RSF. The police officers told his wife that they had "a few questions to ask him" and that it would take a few hours.
Another cyberdissident, Sleh Edine Kchouk, linked to the Tunisian General Students’ Union (UGET) was taken in for questioning in the town Bizerte and had his computer confiscated.
As of Friday evening, he had not been released, sources confirmed.
The arrests come in the context of a "cyberwar" (http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/01/20111614145839362.html) between the Tunisian authorities and web activists, who have been struggling to break through the country’s extensive censorship wall.
International web activists from Anonymous have launched "distributed denial of service" (DDoS) attacks on government-linked websites during the past week.

'Muffling discontent'
Local journalists are facing violence and arrest as they try to cover the "unprecedented" protests that began on December 17 (http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/spotlight/tunisia/).

[/URL]"We are asking for the release of all those who are in jail for just telling the story of what is going on in their country," Jean-Francois Julliard, the head of RSF, said.

"And we are asking above all for journalists to have access to what is going on in the country at the moment."
Julliard said it was unacceptable that the Tunisian authorities have refused to allow a correspondent from the newspaper Le Monde into the country.
"We are worried, worried because we feel that there is a toughening of the situation," Julliard said.
"President [Zine El Abidine] Ben Ali … only wants to muffle this discontent as soon as possible, he wants his country to go back to this image of a tourist paradise, the beaches, security, peace and so on, so I think he's ready to do anything."
The Committee to Protect Journalists said it was "disturbed" by the Tunisian government's attempts to censor coverage of the protests, citing violence against journalists, newspapers being pulled from shelves and the blocking of websites.
"We are also alarmed by the shrill government-orchestrated campaign against Al Jazeera," the CPJ said in an open letter to Ben Ali.

"We call on your government to present its views on the air, as it has been invited to do by media outlets on countless occasions, instead of attacking news organisations for simply performing their duties."

Rap singer arrested
Tunisian police have arrested a rap singer who made a song critical of government policies as protests against President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali's rule continue to shake the North African nation, his brother said on Friday.

Video that led to The General's arrest
Hamada Ben-Amor, a 22-year-old rapper, was taken from his home in the Mediterranean Sea coast city of Sfax late on Thursday, his brother Hamdi Ben-Amor said.
"Some 30 plainclothes policemen came to our house to arrest Hamada and took him away without ever telling us where to. When we asked why they were arresting him, they said 'he knows why'," he said.
Ben-Amor is known to fans as "The General".
Last week he released a song on the internet titled 'President, your people are dying' that talks about the problems of the youth and unemployment.
The song came out as students, professionals and youths mounted a series of protests over a shortage of jobs and restrictions on public freedoms.
The protests have grown into the most widespread and violent flare-up of dissent of Ben Ali's 23-year rule.
Tunisian officials had no immediate comment on any of the arrests.
[URL]http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/01/20111718360234492.html (http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/spotlight/tunisia/)

[Dimentio]

The Swedish Pirate Party has been calling for sanctions against Tunisia, due to the incarceration of two members of the Tunisian Pirate Party.

[freepalestine]

l-WiBIBybKU

[the last donut of the night]

The Swedish Pirate Party has been calling for sanctions against Tunisia, due to the incarceration of two members of the Tunisian Pirate Party.

Pirate party? Huh?

[freepalestine]

TUNISIA: AT LEAST 20 KILLED IN PROTESTS

AlJazeera.net



http://www.uruknet.info/pic.php?f=9tunisi639566965_20.jpg (http://www.uruknet.info/pic.php?f=9tunisi639566965_20.jpg)

Protesters killed in Tunisia riots




At least 20 people have been killed as demonstrators clashed with security forces in Tala and Kasserine.



January 9, 2011

At least 20 people have been killed in clashes with police in a two cities in Tunisia.
Six people were killed and another six wounded in the city of Tala, 200km southwest of the capital Tunis, on Saturday, after security forces opened fire on protesters.
Another 14 people were killed in similar clashes in the Kasserine region, union sources told Al Jazeera.
Belgacem Sayhi, a teacher and trade union activist, told the AFP news agency that the victims in Tala were between 17 and 30 years old, and were killed when the police opened fire on the crowd.
The government has put the death toll after the Tala riots at two.
"The police opened fire in legitimate self-defence and this led to two dead and eight wounded, as well as several wounded among police, three of them seriously," a government statement said.
An employee at a hospital in Tala told Reuters that several people had been admitted to the hospital after the clashes, and other witnesses said that six people who were in critical condition have been moved to the regional capital, Kasserine.



Police attacked

http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/imagecache/218/330/mritems/Images/2011/1/4/201114143754154150_20.jpg (http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/spotlight/tunisia/)
Al Jazeera's spotlight page on Tunisia


Witnesses said police fired their weapons after using water cannons to try to disperse a crowd which had set fire to a government building. The crowd has also thrown stones and petrol bombs at police.

There had already been unrest in Tala on Friday, with protesters attacking a bank and official buildings, and setting them on fire, Sadok Mahmoudi, a union leader, told AFP news agency.

French police confirmed that a "small explosion" occurred at the Tunisian consulate in a Paris suburb early on Sunday morning.
The blast took place at the consulate in Pantin, and caused "minor damage to the consulates metal shutters", police said.
Raouf Najar, Tunisia's ambassador to France, said in a statement: "The disinformation these past few days on what is happening in Tunisia is such that anything is possible, even this terrorist act."
The consulate reopened for business later on Sunday morning, with a police guard posted outside.
On Saturday, troops were deployed to the area for the first time since the start of the recent wave of unrest which has been in protest at high levels of youth unemployment.
The soldiers were assigned to protect public buildings, said Mahmoudi.



Protests sparked by high youth unemployment have spread from the central town of Sidi Bouzid to other parts chiefly in the north African country's interior, which lags behind the more prosperous coastal areas.


Union protest

On Saturday, the Tunisian General Union of Labour (UGTT), the country's main union, condemned the authorities for their heavy-handed response to protesters.
Several hundred UGTT members gathered in Tunis to observe a minute's silence for those who have died since protests began.
"We support the demands of the people in Sidi Bouzid and interior regions," said Abid Brigui, deputy general secretary of the union, which is considered to be close to the government.
Last week, a 26-year-old Tunisian man who set off a wave of protests (http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/spotlight/tunisia/2011/01/201114142223827361.html) after attempting to commit suicide by setting himself on fire last month died of third-degree burns in hospital.
Zine al Abidine Ben Ali , the Tunisian president, has said the violent protests are unacceptable and could harm the country's interests by discouraging investors and tourists who provide a large part of the country's revenues.


Protests traditionally have been rare in Tunisia, which has had only two presidents since independence from France 55 years ago.

The country has in the past been praised by Western allies as a model of stability and prosperity in the Arab world.



:: Article nr. 73729 sent on 09-jan-2011 16:37 ECT


www.uruknet.info?p=73729 (http://www.uruknet.info/?p=73729)</I>

[freepalestine]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dpaje/sets/72157625658761967/




10 January 2011 Last updated at 10:23

Fourteen killed in Tunisia unemployment protests

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/50724000/jpg/_50724899_010977977-1.jpg Three towns have been caught up in the latest wave of protests
Continue reading the main story (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12144906#story_continues_1) Related stories


In pictures: Tunisia protests (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12149160)
US summons Tunisia's ambassador (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12140461)
Suicide protester dies in Tunisia (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12120228)

The number of people killed in unrest over unemployment in Tunisia over the weekend has risen to 14, officials say.
The deaths occurred in the towns of Thala, Kasserine and Regueb, in the west and centre of the country.
An interior ministry statement said that in Thala and Kasserine, police had fired in self-defence after rioters attacked public buildings.
The protests first broke out in December over a lack of freedom and jobs.
Tunisia's official news agency Tap said five people had died as a result of clashes in the western town of Thala on Saturday night, and five had been killed in nearby Kasserine.
"Several government buildings in Kasserine were attacked by groups who set fire to and destroyed three banks, a police station and a filling station and set fire to a police vehicle," the statement said.
"The police fired in the air but the crowds continued, and the police acted out of legitimate self-defence."
Four people were killed in Regueb, near the central town of Sidi Bouzid, Tap said.
Protesters say the total number of casualties is higher than officials have admitted.
The leader of the opposition Progressive Democratic Party, Ahmed Najib Chebbi, said he believed at least 20 people had been killed in clashes in the three towns.
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/50727000/gif/_50727394_tunisia_tunis_thala_kasserine_regueb_sfa x_0111.gif
Adnan el Ameri, a member of Tunisia's general labour union and a human rights activist, says the protesters have faced a tough response from the security forces.
"The youth were protesting against their social situation and unemployment... but security forces confronted them with brutality and real bullets. Six people were killed in Kasserine, and eight in Thala."
Separately, the authorities have released a rap singer, Hamada Ben-Amor, who was held last week in Sfax after recording a song critical of the government, the rapper's family told Reuters news agency.
'Ceasefire' call
Mr Chebbi called on Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to "call an immediate ceasefire to spare the lives of innocent citizens and respect their right to protest".
The demonstrations began after a man set fire to himself on 17 December in Sidi Bouzid to protest against the police confiscating fruit and vegetables that he was selling without a permit.
He died on Tuesday, while another man is reported to have electrocuted himself as part of the protests.
Demonstrations are rare in Tunisia, where there are tight controls aimed at preventing dissent. The unrest has been linked to frustrations with the president and the ruling elite.
On Friday, the US expressed concern over the government's handling of the demonstrations.
Correspondents say the riots in Tunisia appear to have inspired similar violent protests in Algeria over food prices - forcing the government there to impose a cut on the price of some basic goods. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12144906

[freepalestine]

TUNISIA: Schools shut down as protests continue; president promises jobs (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2011/01/tunisia-schools-shuttered-as-protests-continue-and-president-promises-jobs.html)

LA-LA TIMES January 10, 2011 | 3:53 pm
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef0148c77d0878970c-800wi (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef0148c77d0878970c-pi)
Riots and protests continued Monday across Tunisia with opposition sources saying as many as 24 people have been killed in clashes between police and youths angry over unemployment and a lack of political freedom under the reign of President Zine el Abidine ben Ali, who took to the airwaves (http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/01/201111016239214548.html) in an attempt to calm the nation.
In an "I-feel-your-pain" gambit, he promised to create 300,000 new jobs. But he also took a hard line against the protesters, blaming them for the violence.

(http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef0148c77d0bc6970c-pi)http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef0148c77d0bc6970c-320wi (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef0148c77d0bc6970c-pi) "The events were violent, sometimes bloody, and caused the death of civilians and wounded several members of the security forces," he said. "The events were the work of masked gangs that attacked at night government buildings and even civilians inside their homes in a terrorist act that cannot be overlooked."
Few bought Ben Ali's rhetoric. Security forces continued to be deployed in full force across the country. One local trade union source said that "the Tunisian authorities decisively deployed troops that were stationed in front of a number of government organization in the town of Thela" after a gathering by protesters and a strike by teachers to protest the shootings.
In response to huge rallies by college and high school students around the country, Ben Ali's education minister took the extraordinary step of cancelling all classes and closing all campuses, according to the country's official TAP news agency.

The government says only 14 people have been killed in weeks of violence across the country..
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef0148c77d13b8970c-600wi (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef0148c77d13b8970c-pi) http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2011/01/tunisia-schools-shuttered-as-protests-continue-and-president-promises-jobs.html

[theAnarch]

Looks like the protests are working :D

The Tunisian president has announced in a televised address he will not seek a new term in office.
The announcement by Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who has been in power since 1987, came amid violent protests across the country over unemployement and rising food prices.
He said he will not seek re-election when his presidency comes to an end in 2014.
"I understand the Tunisians, I understand their demands. I am sad about what is happening now after 50 years of service to the country, military service, all the different posts, 23 years of the presidency," Ben Ali said.
Ben Ali ordered reduction in the prices of bread, milk and sugar, and also instructed security forces to stop using firearms against protesters in his speech on Thursday evening.

"Enough firing of real bullets," he said. "I refuse to see new victims fall."

Deadly shootings
Yet despite the president's announcement that live ammunition would not be used, Al Jazeera learned that three more people were killed in Aouina, a suburb of Tunis - less than an hour after the president's speech.
"I couldn't understand because the president just said that they'd stop using live ammunition, but they still shooting people," the witness told Al Jazeera.
http://www.revleft.com/mritems/imagecache/218/330/mritems/Images/2011/1/13/201111313551834784_20.jpg (http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/spotlight/tunisia/)See Al Jazeera's complete coverage (http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/spotlight/tunisia/)
Earlier, two young men were killed in clashes with police in the town of Sliman, according to witnesses, bringing the number of dead in the past two days to at least 16 people.
Those killed included three people in the town of Menzel Bourguiba, one person in Bizerte and one in Tataouine.
A woman with dual Swiss-Tunisian nationality was reportedly shot in the throat by police during a demonstration in the town of Dar Chaabane on Wednesday, the Swiss foreign ministry announced.
Police killed another four people in the southern town of Douz, according to the Reuters news agency.
The International Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH) said earlier on Thursday that it has tallied 66 confirmed deaths since the protests began on December 17.
The death toll includes seven people who committed suicide in protest over unemployment and economic hardships. The rest were reportedly killed by the Tunisian security forces.
French and Swiss citizens visiting their native country were among those killed, the two European governments said.
Opposition surprise
Najib Chebbi, Tunisia's main opposition leader, welcomed what he described as an unexpected decision by the president to step down in 2014 and introduce a raft of measures to ease tensions in the country.
"This speech is important politically and corresponds to the expectations of civil society and the opposition," the founder of the PDP party, told the Reuters news agency.
"This is something we have asked for for a long time and it is very good that he has promised not to put himself forward for the election."
"The president has touched on the heart of the issue, demands for reform. That is very important and I salute that," Chebbi said.
"But what remains is how will this be carried out and I ask that a coalition of government be created."
Activists were also positive about the far-reaching political changes which the president promised.
Rafik Ouerchefani, a supporter of the centre-left Ettajdid party, told Al Jazeera that he was sceptical over whether the president's promises would be delivered.
"I am happy with the speech, but let's not forget the dead," he said.
He said he was relieved that Ben Ali will not be standing down immediately, as time was needed for the country to prepare for a genuinely democratic election.
After decades of being stifled, he said opposition parties must work to prepare candidates capable of taking over the role of president.
"This is already a major victory, now we must work towards the alternative: what happens post-Ben Ali," he said.
'Unprecedented'
A Tunisian activist told Al Jazeera, speaking from Tunis under condition of anonymity, that the speech "shows definitely a major shift in Tunisia's history".
"Ben Ali talked for the third time in the past month to the people. Something unprecedented, we barely knew this guy," he said.
It was noteworthy that, for the first time on Thursday, Ben Ali spoke in the Tunisian dialect instead of Arabic, he added.
"He spoke directly to the police forces and ordered them not to shoot, unless in cases of self-defence. On the same line he said a commission will investigate in the murders that occurred," he said.
Ben Ali promised broader political freedoms, including the formation of a political party and that all censorship of the internet and traditional media would be halted.
"People are still cautious and doubt these words," the activist said. "Turning his words into action will be a very difficult mission."

[ckaihatsu]

CLASSWAR: ILC Urgent Communiqué on Uprising in Tunisia -- January 13, 2010


FYI: In case people are not getting even a taste of truth thru the
'usual channels' (I do not generally pass along this stuff because I
do not support groups whose strategy is reform of the present
'business union' setup in the Western imperialist World).

This crisis WILL be visited upon all the rest of us, soon enuff. So
pay attention to what's going on in the Maghreb.


-- grok.






----- Forwarded message from ILC <[email protected]> -----

From: ILC <[email protected]>
Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2011 08:27:56 -0800
Subject: ILC Urgent
Communiqué on Uprising in Tunisia -- January 13, 2010
To: Recipient List Suppressed: ;
Message-Id: <[email protected][192.168.2.100]>

INTERNATIONAL LIAISON COMMITTEE
P.O. Box 40009, San Francisco, CA 94140
Tel. (415) 641-8616; fax: (415) 626-1217
email: [email protected]
website: www.owcinfo.org
PLEASE EXCUSE DUPLICATE POSTINGS
----------

International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples
Urgent Communiqué
January 13, 2011

The International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples (ILC) condemns
the repression against the youth, workers and people of Tunisia, who have
risen up against oppression, the high cost of living, and corruption.

The ILC sends its support to the workers, youth and people of Tunisia and
their organizations, particularly the General Union of Tunisian Workers
(UGTT), which has spearheaded the mobilization.

The ILC calls on the labor movement and workers' organizations worldwide to
express their solidarity with the workers, youth and people of Tunisia, and
to demand an end to the brutal repression.

The bloody and corrupt regime of dictator Ben Ali, supported by the
European Union and the IMF, has faithfully applied their plans and dictates
in the context of the Association with the European Union, to be completed
in 2011, which aims to make Tunisia a "free trade" zone.

Immersed in misery, without any perspective, the youth and working class of
Tunisia, reclaiming their unions for struggle, are rising up across the
country to defend their very right to exist.

During several days, union activists of the UGTT have been killed under the
bullets of police repression. Men and women united, workers, youth,
lawyers, artists, academics ... hundreds have been injured, beaten, jailed.

Spontaneously in dozens of cities, the population went to the local
headquarters of the UGTT to express their opposition to Ben Ali. For the
first time in 25 years, one can hear the chants in the Tunisian
demonstrations of "Down with Ben Ali!"

The police repression has been systematic. At Kasserin and Thala dozens of
people have been killed. Police snipers have sown panic in the
demonstrations.

In Tunis, trade unionists were reading to leave their union's headquarters
to take to the streets, but they were soon driven back by police tear gas.

On Sunday, January 9, the UGTT local affiliate in Sfax issued a call for a
regional general strike. With only a few exceptions (hospitals and many
bakeries), the strike was followed 100%. In Sfax, 30,000 workers and youths
demonstrated in the streets. A Jenduba on January 12, there were 12,000
people demonstrating in a city of 30,000 inhabitants.

The mobilizations are sweeping every corner of the country, including the
suburbs of Tunis itself. In several cities the police were forced to
retreat or withdraw in the face of the relentless population. The curfew in
the greater Tunis metropolitan area has been largely ignored as the
protests continue to swell.

In the south, particularly in Kasserin, hundreds demonstrated,
appropriating the city buses to travel to Thala, where they violated the
22-out-of-24 hour curfew and forced the police to withdraw back to their
stations.

The government-run television channel, a mouthpiece for the propaganda of
General Ben Ali, filmed scenes of looting, staged by the police in
civilian clothing who infiltrated the demonstrations, to justify the
repression.

But in Thala, Kasserin and Sidi Bouzid, the youth set up Neighborhood
Committees to organize their marches and expel the provocateurs from their
mass protests.

Last week, on several occasions members of the military brandished their
weapons against the Public Order Brigades after the people took refuge
behind these brigades. The movement is so deep it has caused the dismissal
of the General Staff of the Army.

At the time of this writing, very violent clashes are taking place between
the police and the army, on one side, against tens of thousands of
demonstrators in Nabeul, Tunis, and Sfax and other cities and towns.

The International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples calls on
workers' organizations the world over to express their solidarity with the
workers and people of Tunisia, and in particular with the UGTT trade union
federation.

- For an immediate halt to the repression against the workers, people and
youth of Tunisia;

- Respect democratic freedoms in Tunisia;

- Meet the just social and political demands of the Tunisian workers and
people;

- For an immediate lifting of the siege of the UGTT headquarters in Tunis!

Algiers - Paris,
January 13, 2011, 4:10 p.m.

signed/

- Louisa Hanoune, General Secretary of the Workers Party of Algeria
- Daniel Gluckstein, National secretary of the Independent Workers' Party (POI)

Coordinators of the International Liaison Committee of Workers and Peoples









----- End forwarded message -----

--
The Financiers & Banksters have looted untold trillions of our future earnings.
Their bureaucratic police & military goons are here to make us all pay for it.
Forever.
Well FORGET THAT. Let's get it *ALL* back from them -- and more.

**Socialist revolution NOW!!**

Build the North America-wide General Strike.
TODO el poder a los consejos y las comunas.
TOUT le pouvoir aux conseils et communes.
ALL power to the councils and communes.

And beware the 'bait & switch' fraud: "Social Justice" is NOT *Socialism*...

[Kiev Communard]

It is BBC report, so don't expect the focus on the (possible) role of the Left here, but still:




Tunisia: President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali forced out

Tunisia's President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali has stepped down after 23 years in power, amid widespread protests on the streets of the capital Tunis.

In a televised address, Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi said he would be taking over from the president.

A state of emergency was declared earlier, as weeks of protests over economic issues snowballed into rallies against Mr Ben Ali's rule.

Unconfirmed reports say Mr Ben Ali and his family have left Tunisia.

The reports suggest that the deposed president is looking for a place of asylum, with French media saying that French President Nicolas Sarkozy has turned down a request for his plane to land in France.

Earlier, police fired tear gas as thousands of protesters gathered outside the interior ministry.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12195025