Tunisia: the protests continue (from an arab marxist site)

[freepalestine]

[FONT=Verdana,Arial]Tunisia: the protests continue[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana,Arial]Marxy.com[/FONT]



[FONT=Verdana,Arial][FONT=Verdana,Arial]In Defence of Marxism, January 11, 2011 [/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana,Arial]This article, written by the comrades of Marxy.com, the Arab website of the IMT, gives a full account of the development of the Tunisian uprising, its roots, the hypocrisy of imperialism, and discusses the methods of struggle and the programme needed to take it to a victorious conclusion.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana,Arial]The earthquake![/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial][/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana,Arial]For the fourth week straight, Tunisia is continuing to witness a popular mass movement. The uprising began in the region of Sidi Bouzid in the center of western Tunisia on December 17th, in solidarity with young Muhammad Bouazizi, who set himself on fire in protest against the confiscation of his fruit stand. Since then, the movement has spread like wildfire to the rest of the cities and regions of Tunisia, and raised multiple demands, first among them the right to work and liberty. These protests have included setting fire to a number of government buildings, as well as the headquarters of the governing party and police stations. The movement has acted as a pole of attraction for various groups in society dissatisfied with the existing system: the unemployed, political and human rights activists, trade unionists, students, professors and lawyers. This proves the seriousness of the movement and its enormous potential.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]How similar this glorious mass intifada is to an earthquake! For it has remained as it is, preparing its arrival slowly and silently over decades of apparent calm, and then it exploded. The epicentre was the town of Sidi Bouzid, but its aftershocks, which will open the door to the fall of all the crumbling castles of tyranny, spread rapidly to many other areas.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana,Arial]The repression was unable to stop the movement. On the contrary: the more intense the repression became, the more the popular anger flared up and fresh layers joined the movement and its struggle evolved. In the city of Haffouz (in the province of Sidi Bouzid), students from several campuses organized a demonstration which was joined by many unemployed youth, teachers and workers, and started from the headquarters of the local labour union to reach the headquarters of the government of the department. The protesters demanded the right to work, the equitable distribution of wealth, and general freedom. They also raised slogans in solidarity with the people of Sidi Bouzid and Tala. Reports indicate that demonstrators attacked an office of the forces of repression in the "Al-Saeeda" area in the "Al-Riqab" department in southern Tunisia (37 km from the town of Sidi Bouzid), and the authorities responded by firing live rounds, wounding at least five people.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]As protests escalated on Friday, January 7th, the teachers joined the strike call following the earlier strike call issued by the lawyers. The website of the Tunisian Communist Workers’ Party (Alternative albadil.org/) published a report about the spreading of the protests to Al-Hareesah, Al-Kal’a Al-Khusba and Tajeryoun in Kaf province. It also reported protesters in the city of Makthar (in the north-west, 160 km from Tunis, the capital) blocking the main streets of the city with tyres and rocks and continuing confrontations with the police. The demonstrators also set fire to the city hall and destroyed the adjacent building, a government registrar, as well as a number of other government offices.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]The city of Boruiz (in the north-western province of Siliana) also saw protests break out on the initiative of the students of secondary and preparatory schools, during which there were clashes between the protesters and the forces of repression who attacked them. There were intense clashes on the night of Thursday the 6th of January, between the unemployed youth and the security forces that used tear gas grenades and rubber bullets. This drove the demonstrators to burn tires and set fire to the mayor’s office, the building of the ruling party, a branch of the peasants’ union, a part of the city hall, and one financial institution, as well as to deface the November 7th monument. A crowd of unemployed youth continues to occupy the provincial headquarters, demanding their right to work. The same thing was experienced in the city of Kairouan, which is considered one of the most important Tunisian cities (about 160 km from Tunis), where protests broke out at the initiative of the students and teachers at the Aqaba institute in Kairouan.[/FONT]



[FONT=Verdana,Arial]Protests also spread to Sousse province (70 km south of the capital, and 300 km north of Sfax), where in the city of Enfidha the students from the secondary and preparatory schools came out to the street last Friday morning to support the people of Sidi Bouzid and the city of Tala, and trade union sources stated that major security reinforcements had arrived from Sousse to control the situation.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]In the province of Jendouba (far north-west, 200 km north of Tunis), in the border city of Ghardimaou, a mass rally was organized with the participation of the students of the Youth institute and the Ghardimaou institute and the other preparatory schools. The procession witnessed the intervention of the police forces, and the students responded by pelting them with rocks. Trade union sources reported that the security forces used tear gas grenades against the protesters.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]In the city of Bou Salem, students from the Shareh Al-Bi’a institute came out in a demonstration after the strike that the teachers carried out on Friday morning, which brought out a significant section of Shareh Al-Bi’a. Students from the Bou Salem secondary school, however, were banned from leaving their school, with the gates of the institute being locked.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]In the province of Kasserine (in the center of western Tunisia, at a distance of about 228 km from the capital) a student protest which began from the city’s schools took over the streets and turned into clashes between the police (who used their batons and tear gas grenades) and the unemployed youth and students. Eye-witnesses said that in the city of Fériana a massive march was held on Friday morning which took over the streets of the city, punctuated by confrontations with the forces of repression, with the demonstrators burning the offices of the ruling party and the municipality.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial]The working class city of Sfax (275 km south of Tunis) also witnessed a mass march which began from the Ali Al-Nouri preparatory school and went to the Mustafa Al-Fourati secondary academy before ending at the at the Abul Hasan Alakhmi Biskra institute, despite the road blocks set up by the forces of repression.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]In the city of Jebeniana, for the fifth consecutive day, there have been clashes between students of the January 18 academy and the forces of repression that are surrounding the campus to prevent the students from coming out onto the street, but the latter have failed in attempts to storm the school and arrest student activists.[/FONT]



[FONT=Verdana,Arial]According to a statement of the Union of Communist Youth of Tunisia, on the 7th of January:

"Many colleges in the capital Tunis and other cities have witnessed, since the return to classes on Monday, January 3rd, a series of movements in solidarity with the social movement in Sidi Bouzid and elsewhere in the country, coming from the General Union of Tunisian Students through the general assemblies, slogans and red symbols graffitied on the walls, and protests in front of the center of the "campus security" which have led to clashes with the political police in more than one location, the most serious of which is the clash at the April 9 college in the capital and in the arts college in Sousse beginning on the 4th of January.

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[FONT=Verdana,Arial]"The police faced down every outbreak of the movement with total brutality - using tear gas and batons and all manner of abuse from which no one was spared amongst the students, faculty and staff. As happened in the arts college in Sousse, where after the blind police repression, amongst the number of wounded we are told of Wael Nawar, Munther Aqiq, Iman Malih, Qais Al-Bazzouzi and Mourad Ben Jeddom who had to be taken to the emergency room, where they continued to be surrounded in the confines of the hospital, despite the presence of many civil society activists who were there to break the siege around them.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana,Arial]"On the other hand, the police arrested some freedom fighters, amongst them a union leader of the General Union of Tunisian Students, Wael Nawar whom police violence left with a broken leg and who was abducted from his house on the morning of January 6. He was held in custody in the police station where he was once again subjected to beatings and torture before being referred quickly to be tried without the knowledge of his family and lawyer on multiple charges. Some of the charges date back to two old cases that have been following him for a while, now plastered with new charges against the backdrop of the latest developments."[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana,Arial]It is worth remembering that these latest developments are not isolated, neither at the domestic nor regional level. From the point of view of the domestic situation, this intifada comes in the context of a mighty rise of conflict in the class struggle in Tunisia. The country has experienced a series of outbreaks of heroic struggles over the past three years, which faced violent repression, the most notable of which was an uprising in the mining area of Gafsa which broke out spontaneously against the results of a skill test required to obtain a job in one of the big companies and developed to become a protest against corruption and the lack of job opportunities. And these protests continued for many months through rallies, sit-ins and strikes, during which two were struck dead and an unspecified number were wounded as a result of barbaric repression, in addition to dozens of arrested who are facing unjust sentences after sham trials.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]And in August 2010 the situation exploded again in the south-east in protest against the closure of the "Ras Al-Jadeer" commercial border crossing which is shared with Libya. There were violent clashes in "Bin Qurdan" during those protests which resulted in many injuries amongst the demonstrators and the repressive apparatus arrested more than 150 people.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana,Arial]At the regional level, specifically in the Maghreb region, these movements follow the overwhelming mass struggle of the working class and toiling masses in Morocco and Western Sahara and Algeria.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana,Arial]Tunisia and the Maghreb region as a whole have entered the stage of revolutionary storms. These movements in which the leading role is being played by the unemployed youth, the teachers and students, are an anticipation of the rising of the workers which Tunisia and the region in general will experience sooner or later. The movements of the youth are an accurate barometer of the extent of the pressures which are building up in the depths of society. The winds of change have begun to blow the leaves of the mighty tree: the unemployed youth, the students and the teachers, and it will inevitably shake the roots: the working class. The time has come where the old mole of the revolution which has been digging underground for decades shall pop his head up, and the whole world will leap to their feet and shout with joy: "well dug old mole!"[/FONT]



[FONT=Verdana,Arial]Forms of the struggle[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]The movement broke out, as we noted above, against the backdrop of the young Bouazizi lighting himself on fire, and this incident was followed by the attempts of other youths to commit suicide themselves, in separate regions of Tunisia. This tragic incident is evidence of the extent of the frustration and discontent that is accumulating in the depths of the youth, because of the reality of terrible poverty, unemployment, exploitation, and of being gagged for decades by a blood sucking ruling layer. Just as it is also evidence of the barbarism of the capitalist system which imposes on young people miserable and unbearable conditions, pushing them to prefer death by drowning in the sea in a desperate attempt to escape to Europe, or suicide, or drowning in the swamp of crime and drug addiction.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]And when they rise up for their political rights, the dictatorial regime does not hesitate from firing live rounds at the chests and backs of the protesters, and many victims have fallen so that the system of private property and capitalist exploitation is defended.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana,Arial]To the families of these youth, who committed suicide in despair and in protest, and to the Tunisian working class in general, we extend our deepest condolences on the deaths of these martyrs for freedom! We regret losing them in such a way. What a heavy loss that some of the best, most educated and qualified youth of the region, are pushed to resort to suicide![/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana,Arial]We understand the motives that drove these youth to this method of protest, and we place full responsibility for this on the system of oppression, the dictatorship of the capitalist system. However, we do not think this is the correct method for protest and struggle. While we oppose these forms of protest, we do so because we consider them not conducive to the goal of overthrowing the capitalist system and eliminating hunger and unemployment.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana,Arial]The struggle against unemployment, poverty and oppression requires of us, the workers and youth, to organize our ranks in revolutionary workers’ parties. To organize our struggles through democratically elected workers’ councils and popular councils. And to organize in the trade unions to fight a revolutionary class struggle through general strikes and armed uprising and other forms of popular revolutionary struggle in order to bring down the capitalist system which is responsible for all we suffer from exploitation, unemployment and oppression.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]The position of imperialism[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana,Arial]The imperialist powers considered the Tunisian dictatorial regime to be their star pupil, and this is why they never stopped praising it as "a model for the region and beyond" as David Walsh, Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs in the Bush administration, put it (Al-Horria). And it wasn’t so long ago - November 2010 - that the current American ambassador noted the excellent relations between Tunisia and the United States of America (Tribune Mediatique). And in the same vein, Newsweek issued a study which ranked Tunisia first place on the continent of Africa as a part of its list of the "100 best countries in the world"![/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]This is why the imperialists have never stopped giving support and everything required for the suppression of the Tunisian people and the perpetuation of its slavery to domestic and foreign capital. Even when the popular mass uprising broke out beginning from the area of Sidi Bouzid and it was met with fierce repression by the dictatorial regime, resulting so far in the killing of two martyrs and an unknown number of wounded and arrested, the imperialist powers preferred to cynically stand by for more than two weeks in the hope that the dictator would be able to crush his people. The French foreign ministry, in its regular press conference on Friday, used the phrase "we are watching the situation closely" when referring to developments in Algeria, whereas no comment was forthcoming on the situation in Tunisia. And when two bloggers and activists who were arrested on Thursday, France has refrained from asking publicly for their release. (Now! Lebanon)[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]But the intifada continued despite the repression, if it wasn’t even lit further aflame by that very repression. And so imperialism changed its stance in the same way that a snake changes its skin. And so American imperialism manoeuvred yet again: "the US State Department summoned the Tunisian ambassador in Washington and expressed concern about the handling of the protests by the Tunisian authorities … and the restrictions on freedoms." (Al-Jazeera)[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial]But the workers and youth of Tunis must be sceptical of these hypocritical pronouncements. Imperialism is the main ally of all the dictatorships in the region, it provides them with the weapons they kill us with, and it encourages them to remain perched on us. It is our enemy, not our friend, it is the primary enemy for the peoples of the whole world: in Iraq, Palestine, Venezuela and everywhere, and so we must not place any confidence in these lies, we must not be fooled by these reactionary manoeuvres. We must fight the attempts to sow illusions amongst our ranks, especially the illusion that we can rely on imperialist powers and their international institutions to stop the repression. An end to the repression can only come from our revolutionary struggle, the workers, the poor, and the youth, to bring down the regimes of oppression and exploitation, the agents of imperialism.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]On the other hand it is our duty to orient towards the working class across the whole world, by issuing a call, for all those who share with us the reality of oppression and an interest in a better tomorrow, to stand with us and come out in solidarity with our struggle. Already signs are appearing and growing of a labour solidarity movement supporting our struggle, and it will gradually gain strength. No reliance on imperialism - yes to internationalist workers’ solidarity![/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]The task of revolutionary worker activists[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana,Arial]In order that these heroic struggles and heavy sacrifices are not be in vain, the militant activists, workers and revolutionaries need to organize themselves. The trade unionists and revolutionary working class activists need to put forward within the movement a transitional program springing from the most burning demands of the masses and expanding their horizons continuously by connecting them to the goal of elimination the root of injustice and oppression: the dictatorship of capital.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]Recently, comrade Hamma Al-Hammami, the spokesman for the Tunisian Communist Workers’ Party, in a speech that he published on youtube, said the following about the movement and its demands and perspectives:[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial]

"the masses want freedom, they do not want the shuffling around of ministers, they want freedom, freedom of association, freedom to protest, freedom of assembly, freedom of expression; they want to put an end to injustice, they want respect and dignity… The unemployed want action against unemployment, they want unemployment compensation, they want free treatment, they want free public transportation. People want concrete action against the high cost of living. They want to improve wages and income."

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[FONT=Verdana,Arial]And this is correct! These demands and other democratic demands, "participation in the planning of the economy and the struggle against corruption, etc…" are what should be condensed, developed, and brought together in a program of struggle.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]Of course we must raise the banner of a people’s trial for all those responsible for the killings and repression against the revolutionary masses, and all those responsible for plundering the wealth of the country, beginning with the criminal Ben Ali and the Mafia gang that surrounds him.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]We must propose a program of struggle for the right to a job for all (women and men), work which is decent, stable and appropriate to the skills and training of the worker. No more precarious and limited contract labour, yes to permanent, stable and appropriate job contracts. Reduction of the work week to 35 hours, without loss of pay. And faced with the layoffs and corporate restructuring, working hours should be divided amongst all the workers without loss of pay! The demand should be raised for unemployment subsidy which is equal to the minimum wage, until a job appropriate to their qualifications and skills is provided. With social security and free public transportation provided for unemployed workers.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]We must put forward the demand of raising the minimum wage, at the national level and in all sectors, without exception, with the imposition of the sliding scale of wages whereby wages rise in proportion to any increase in prices. And the elimination of wage discrimination on the basis of sex or age: same work, same pay! And limit the wages of state officials so that any official – anyone – is paid no more than the average workers’ wage.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]We must raise the demand for the overthrow of the dictatorial capitalist system and its replacement with a system of workers’ democracy, based on the nationalization of the most important companies, placing them under the control and management of the democratically elected workers’ and popular councils. Expropriate the expropriators![/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]This is how the mass intifada can be given a clear way forward, and we can ensure that the sacrifices were not in vain. This is how the Tunisian working class can avenge its martyrs and build its own system, where all the unemployment, exploitation, oppression, hunger and nightmares will be things of the past![/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana,Arial]Editorial Board of Marxy.com – the Arab website of the International Marxist Tendency[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial]Saturday, January 8th, 2011[/FONT]




[/FONT][FONT=Verdana,Arial]:: Article nr. 73814 sent on 11-jan-2011 22:28 ECT[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial][FONT=Verdana,Arial]www.uruknet.info?p=73814</I>[/FONT]

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[freepalestine]

Around 50 killed at Tunisia jobless protests


Tuesday 11 January 2011
by Our Foreign Desk




A human rights federation charged today that around 50 people have been killed in the riots that erupted over the weekend in Tunisia.


International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) president Souhayr Belhassen said FIDH had the names of 35 people killed and that "the total figure is somewhere around 50, but that's an estimate."


Ms Belhassen said the death toll had "increased tragically" since weekend protests in the Regueb, Thala and Kasserine areas and so many had been wounded that "they can't be counted."

Before these riots the death toll was estimated at four, including two suicides.
The Paris-based FIDH, which unites 164 human rights groups, has followed events in Tunisia closely through a network of local monitors since protests broke out last month.

The unrest started when an unemployed university graduate set himself on fire in protest after police seized vegetables he was trying to sell to make ends meet.

More fierce riots over joblessness and the rising cost of living erupted at the weekend, triggering a draconian crackdown by Tunisian authorities.

On Monday the government temporarily shut all of its secondary schools and universities as it tried to gain control.

And Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali went on national television and announced a plan to create 300,000 jobs over two years in the developing country.

Mr Ben Ali also blamed rioters for what he called "terrorist acts."

Protesters have attacked public buildings and set cars on fire during more than three weeks of unrest, while police have shot at rioters several times.

Amnesty International urged authorities today to "ensure the safety of protesters and instruct security forces to act with restraint and not to use excessive force against them."

Senior Amnesty activist Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui said: "The authorities claim they acted in self-defence but the rising death toll and the images of demonstrations suppressed by the security forces cast serious doubt on this version of events."


Amnesty condemned the authorities for trying to impose a media blackout on the protests by blocking internet access and closing the email accounts of online activists.

At least three bloggers are known to have been arrested: Hamadi Kloucha, Slim Amamou and Azyz Amamy, whose blog and Facebook page have been offline since he covered clashes in Sidi Bouzid.

Ms Sahraoui urged authorities to "immediately release those detained solely for trying to speak out, including the three bloggers."

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/i...iew/full/99660

[freepalestine]

Clashes erupt in capital Tunis despite government freeing those detained during ongoing protests over unemployment.[etc etc]

Last Modified: 12 Jan 2011 13:57 GMT





The Tunisian president has sacked his interior minister after a deadly wave of violent unrest engulfed the capital, Tunis, for the first time.
Rafik Belhaj Kacem, who was responsible for the police force which has been widely criticised for its ruthless response to the protests, was dismissed on Wednesday.
But the dismissal did little to douse public anger immediately and hundreds of protesters emerged from a souk, or market, in the capital and hurled stones at police at a key intersection on Wednesday. Officers responded with volleys of tear gas, driving the protesters to disperse into adjoining streets. Stores in the area were shuttered.
It was not immediately clear whether there were any injuries or arrests. Two army vehicles were posted at the intersection, which is right by the French Embassy.
In another neighbourhood in central Tunis, hundreds of protesters tried to reach the regional governor's office but were blocked by riot police. And at the main national union headquarters, police surrounded protesters who tried to break out. Tensions also erupted along the edges of the capital.
Armoured vehicles rumbled through Tunis and troops took up positions at major intersections and the
entrance to the Cite Ettadhamen quarter where rioters burnt vehicles and attacked government offices late on Tuesday.
It was the first rioting in the capital since protests over unemployment erupted in mid-December, turning violent in the west of the country at the weekend when security forces opened fire on demonstrators.
The government said 21 people were killed in three days of unrest in the western Kasserine region, and that security forces acted in self-defence, but labour unions and rights groups said more than 50 were killed.
Meanwhile sources told Al Jazeera that five people had been killed in fresh clashes between protesters and security forces in the south.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/af...527251937.html

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Soldiers on the streets as Tunisian violence reaches capital

</U>Reuters




</B>

[FONT=Verdana,Arial]</U></I></B></STRONG>Troops protect embassies and state buildings in Tunis as protesters criticise unemployment, corruption and repression


January 12, 2011


Soldiers have been deployed in the centre of Tunis amid violent unrest that officials say has killed 23 people..

In a Tunisian provincial town that was the scene of some of the worst clashes at the weekend, witnesses said a large crowd had gathered to demand the resignation of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and that police were nowhere to be seen.

Protesters are angry about unemployment, corruption and what they say is a repressive government. Officials claim the protests have been hijacked by a minority of violent extremists who want to undermine Tunisia.
The protests have been continuing for nearly a month and are the worst in the north African country for decades. They are being watched closely in other Arab countries with potential for social unrest.

In the strongest US statement on the violence to date, state department spokesman Mark Toner said Washington was "deeply concerned by reports of the use of excessive force by the government of Tunisia".

On the main avenue in the capital two military vehicles were parked opposite the French embassy and two soldiers with weapons were patrolling in the street, a Reuters reporter said.

A short distance from central Tunis two Humveee vehicles were parked at the entrance to the state television headquarters with two armed soldiers in helmets and flak jackets outside.

Late on Tuesday police fired into the air to disperse a crowd ransacking buildings in a Tunis suburb. There were no reports of any casualties.

Officials said the civilian deaths – almost all of them in clashes in provincial towns over the weekend – came as police fired on rioters in legitimate self-defence.
Two witnesses said that several thousand people had come out on to the streets in Gassrine, about 120 miles from Tunis, to protest against the government and its crackdown on the protests.


People were chanting "Go away Ben Ali," one witness, Mohsen Nasri, told Reuters by telephone.
"There are about 3,000 people here protesting," said a second witness. "There are no police, they have fled to their barracks."


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[FONT=Verdana,Arial]:: Article nr. 73828 sent on 12-jan-2011 17:35 ECT


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]www.uruknet.info?p=73828</I>
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[Red Eagles]

footage from tunisia revolt

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[freepalestine]

Curfew ordered in Tunisian capital

By Tom Eley


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]>WSWS January 13, 2011 [/FONT]



[FONT=Verdana,Arial]The Tunisian government ordered a total curfew over Tunis and its suburbs to last from 8 p.m. Wednesday until 6 a.m. on Thursday morning, after riots and demonstrations against high unemployment, government corruption, and spiraling prices hit the capital city. The wave of protests began weeks ago in regional towns and cities.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]Police fired tear gas in the city center against hundreds of demonstrators, who responded by hurling stones. International correspondents in Tunis—who report heavy censorship from the regime of Zine El Abidine Ben Al—say that the military has been deployed in critical spots in the city and its suburbs. According to Al Jazeera, five protesters were killed in Tunis on Wednesday, among them a university professor.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]The military presence is reportedly most concentrated in Tunis’ suburb of Ettadhamen, west of the capital, which was the site of rioting the night before.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]In the coastal city of Sfax, tens of thousands responded to a call for a general strike Wednesday. The Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported that two protesters were killed by police in the city of Douz, while Deutsche Welle put the number killed there at four. The Italian newspaper La Repubblica reports that in the tourist city of Tozeur the municipal building was set ablaze.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]All schools and universities remain closed indefinitely. Football matches had earlier been banned. Extensive efforts by the government to hack into Tunisians’ e-mail and Facebook accounts have been all but confirmed, according to Danny O’Brien of the Committee to Protect Journalists. "All the evidence points to a state-controlled" hacking operation, he said.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]Prime Minister Ben Ali made no public appearances on Wednesday, increasing speculation that his 23-year-old regime may be nearing its end. The Egyptian newspaper El Wafd has reported that his wife and children have already fled for the United Arab Emirates, and the New York Times reports that other Ben Ali relatives have also hastily departed.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]There are unconfirmed reports that the military has resisted Ben Ali’s orders to break up demonstrations, and may be preparing a coup. According to Tunisian opposition sources, army chief General Rashid Ammar was removed for failing to carry out orders, and was replaced by Ahmad Shabir, head of the Tunisian secret service.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]Since they began nearly one month ago, demonstrations have resulted in an official death toll of 21. The real number is far higher. According to a local union representative, at least 50 were killed in the city of Kasserine in one night of rioting last week. The victims were reportedly shot by police snipers. In spite of the bloodshed, Kasserine was the site of another protest on Wednesday, according to El Pais.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]The government took steps to mollify popular anger on Wednesday, but these too failed to head off the protests. Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi dismissed Interior Minister Rafik Belhaj Kacem, and decreed that most prisoners arrested during the demonstrations would be freed. He also announced the formation of a commission to investigate "excesses committed during the troubles" and "the question of corruption and faults committed by certain officials."[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]The Interior Ministry under Kacem had earlier defended the bloody police repression in Kasserine, claiming that only four "attackers" were killed and that "police used their weapons in an act of legitimate defense."[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]Repression continues under Kacem’s replacement as interior minister, Ahmad Faria, who after assuming office quickly ordered the arrest of Hama al-Hamami. Al-Hamami was jailed until 2002 for the formation of an illegal party, the Tunisian Workers Communist Party.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]The riots in Tunisia began in the middle of December after Mohamed Bouazizi, a university graduate who worked as a street vendor, set himself on fire to protest police seizure of his fruits and vegetables. The 26-year-old Bouazizi died from his injuries on January 4.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]News of his action spread via e-mail and social networking sites, escaping police censorship and triggering protests across the country.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]Demonstrations were first concentrated in the nations’ poorer eastern and southern regions, but they have spread to the wealthier coastal cities and now to Tunis itself, prompting a number of European countries to issue travel advisories.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]The spread within Tunisia of the protests, which have been called a "bread Intifada," and the eruption of similar demonstrations over price increases in neighboring Algeria, have raised fears that that seething social anger may ignite in other pro-western regimes in the region, including critical US allies Morocco, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana,Arial]On Wednesday, the Libyan regime of Moammar al-Gadaffi announced that it would suspend all taxes on foodstuffs and other basic commodities in a bid to head off rioting spreading from Algerian and Tunisia, both of which border Libya to the west.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]The conditions that have given rise to the events in Tunisia—"high levels of unemployment, soaring food and fuel inflation and corruption in [the] ruling class," in the words of the BBC—are common throughout North Africa, the Middle East, and, for that matter, Europe and North America.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana,Arial]By all accounts, the demonstrations in Tunisia are the spontaneous eruption of the impoverished masses. There is no evidence that Islamic fundamentalists or "terrorists"—who Ben Ali proclaims to be responsible— have played any significant role.[/FONT]



[FONT=Verdana,Arial]The established trade union federation, the UGTT, a long-time Ben Ali ally, has only in recent days hinted at support for the demonstrations. After formally opposing them, the UGTT is now trying to place itself ahead of the storm erupting from below, calling a series of city-by-city general strikes. Citywide strikes are slated for Kairouan and Jendouba today, and for Tunis on Friday.[/FONT]



[FONT=Verdana,Arial]With the prospect that the Ben Ali regime may collapse growing by the day, every effort will be made by pro-capitalist forces in Tunisia, including the UGTT, to replace it with a government that will continue to carry out the dictates of Washington, Paris, and the international finance industry.[/FONT]



[FONT=Verdana,Arial]The US and the European powers may already be preparing for a post-Ben Ali Tunisia. "The United States is deeply concerned by reports of the use of excessive force by the government of Tunisia" said US State Department spokesman Mark Toner, while Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday issued her first tepid criticism of the government response, expressing concern over the "deaths of mostly young people who were protesting." The European Union issued a statement criticizing the regime’s "disproportionate response."[/FONT]






[FONT=Verdana,Arial]:: Article nr. 73853 sent on 13-jan-2011 18:51 ECT[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial][FONT=Verdana,Arial]www.uruknet.info?p=73853</I>[/FONT]
[/FONT]

[freepalestine]

Tunisia protests: Live bullets fired in central Tunis
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12180738

(and video )
Tunisian police to stop using live fire at protests

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12187222




http://www.breakingnews.com/filter/tunisia-protests


more capitalist bs news

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/af...110570350.html

[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*...

[theAnarch]

Ben Ali has Fled!

Tunisia's long-standing president has left the country amid violent protests and the prime minister has taken over control of the government.
"Since the president [Zine El Abidine Ben Ali] is temporarily unable to exercise his duties, it has been decided that the prime minister will exercise temporarily the [presidential] duties," Mohammed Ghannouchi, the Tunisian prime minister, said on state television.
Ghannouchi is now the interim president. He cited chapter 56 of the Tunisian constitution as the article by which he was assuming power.
Maltese air traffic controllers have told Al Jazeera that Ben Ali is bound for Paris, though the Maltese government has denied any knowledge of Ben Ali's plane having stopped in Malta after having left Tunis.
In his televised address, Ghannouchi vowed to respect the constitution and restore stability, and called on citizens to "maintain patriotic spirit ... in order to brave through these difficult moments".
He also vowed to carry out inflation and unemployment redressal policies "exactly" as they had recently been announced by Ben Ali.
Ayesha Sabavala, a Tunisia analyst with the Economist Intelligence Unit in London, told Al Jazeera that with President Ben Ali out of the country, there are "only ... a few people ... capable of [running the country] within the RCD [the ruling Rassemblement Constitutionel Démocratique party], and Ghannouchi is an ideal candidate".
[FONT=Verdana][FONT=Verdana]Follow Al Jazeera's complete coverage[/FONT][/FONT]
Abdel Karim Kebiri, a former senior adviser to the International Labour Organisation, told Al Jazeera that "the people will be happy" with Ben Ali's departure.
Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra said the days events were a "political earthquake" and "something unheard of".
He said that it was also as yet unclear what role the army was playing in matters, as it was reportedly moving towards the capital to "take charge of the situation from the security forces, which are seen by Tunisians as a main problem for its long record of human rights abuses".
Violent unrest
Friday's developments come following weeks of violent clashes across the country over unemployment and rising food prices.
Matters came to a head in the capital, Tunis, on Friday, as police tear-gassed protesters gathered outside the interior ministry building. Witnesses said police used batons to disperse the crowd, but the protesters insisted they would not leave until Ben Ali steps down.
Sabavala opined that Ben Ali's exit will "certainly lessen these protests, but whether they completely stop - the only way that is going to happen is if the interim government immediately starts implementing plans to address the issues that have been at the core of these protests".
"Simply bringing in an interim president, and especially one who has been close to Ben Ali ... is not going to be enough," she said.
"Logically, there is bound to be a lot of distrust, because Ghannouchi is part of the very close inner circle ... of Ben Ali. Past promises that have been made [by that government] have not been kept."
State media earlier reported that Ben Ali had imposed a state of emergency in the country and promised fresh legislative elections within six months in an attempt to quell the wave of dissent sweeping across the country.
There were also reports that the airport in Tunis had been surrounded by troops and the country's airspace has been closed. Air France, the main international airline into and out of Tunisia announced that it had ceased flights to Tunisia following that announcement.
State TV also reported that gatherings of more than three people had been banned.

Ben Ali had been in power for the last 23 years. On Thursday, he vowed not to seek re-election and reduce food prices in a bid to placate protesters.
But the pledges seemed to have little effect as fresh street protests erupted on Friday.
The unrest in the country began on December 17, after a 26-year-old unemployed graduate set himself on fire in an attempt to commit suicide. Mohammed Bousazizi's act of desperation set off the public's growing frustration with rising inflation and unemployment, and prompted a wave of protests across the country

[Magón]

+ YouTube Video

[Dimentio]

Probably a military coup. The question is what would happen now.

[Iraultzaile Ezkerreko]

The Military took over. Ben Ali fled the country and the Prime Minister is now President. Let's hope the people keep this up and we see a real revolution.

[freepalestine]

Tunisian president quits after violent protests
Published yesterday (updated) 14/01/2011 21:26

Smoke rises from fire left after clashes between security forces and demonstrators
[AFP/Fethi Belaid]

by Mohamed Hasni and Hamida Ben Salah

TUNIS (AFP) - Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali quit on Friday after 23 years in power and fled the north African state as the authorities declared a state of emergency following deadly protests.

Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi announced on state television that he had taken over as interim president, after a day of violent clashes between rock-throwing protesters and riot police in the streets of central Tunis.

"I call on Tunisians of all political persuasions and from all regions to demonstrate patriotism and unity," Ghannouchi said in a solemn live address.

Government sources told AFP that Ben Ali had left the country but it was not immediately clear where he was headed.

Ben Ali had promised on Thursday to stand down at the end of his mandate in 2014 and said the prices of basic foodstuffs would be cut.

Ghannouchi announced after another day of violence Friday that the government had been sacked and elections would be held in six months.

Scene: Anger boils over in the streets of Tunis

Ben Ali's dramatic departure came after several tumultuous weeks in which a protest over high food prices and unemployment in central Tunisia escalated and spread across the country, with anger against the president spilling into the streets.

"We just want democracy," 24-year-old Hosni, his face wrapped in a Tunisian flag against tear gas, said during riots ahead of the president's departure.

Tarek, 19, an engineering student with a rock in one hand and a metal bar in the other, said: "Our president has promised a lot. They're empty promises."

Protesters even descended on the interior ministry in Tunis, one of the symbols of 74-year-old Ben Ali's iron-fisted rule, where they openly chanted for his swift departure and paid tribute to the "blood of the martyrs".

"I've never seen anything like this. This is our chance. We'll never have another chance like this," said Adel Ouni, a 36-year-old diplomat, observing the protest, adding: "This is a social revolution."

Tunisian authorities then declared a national state of emergency, banning public gatherings and imposing a strict curfew across the country.

"The police and the army are authorised to fire on any suspect person who has not obeyed orders or fled without the possibility of being stopped," said a government statement carried by the official TAP news agency.

The army meanwhile took control of the main international Tunis Carthage airport and airspace was shut down, an airport source said.

In earlier comments on TAP, Ghannouchi said the president had decided "to dismiss the government and call early elections in six months".

The statement said the decision had been made the day before, but there had been no mention of the government's dismissal in Ben Ali's national address Thursday although he did take a swipe at his lieutenants for "deceit".

But the apparent concessions did little to stem the calls for change with the chant of "Ben Ali Out!" echoing at demonstrations across the country.

"This is a demonstration of hope," Moncef Ben Mrad, editor of an independent newspaper, said at the protest in Tunis earlier on Friday.

"It is the birth of a people who demand more freedom and that the families that have looted the country return the wealth and are called to account."

Speaking at a news conference in Paris, Tunisia's main opposition parties, both legal and banned, had demanded Ben Ali step down in favor.

According to a Paris-based rights group, 66 people have been killed since mid-December in the worst unrest faced in Ben Ali's rule, about three times higher than the official toll.

Although Ben Ali had called on Thursday for an end to live firing by his security forces, medical sources said 13 people had been shot dead on the same night in the Tunisian capital and suburbs.

In a bid to quell the unrest, the president had promised in his national address that he would not seek another term in office and vowed to liberalize the political system.

Addressing other complaints, he also pledged to lower the prices of basic commodities such as milk, bread and sugar, and lift restrictions on the Internet.

With the tensions mounting, the leading tour operator Thomas Cook said it was evacuating more than 4,000 holidaymakers from the Mediterranean nation including from Germany, Britain and Ireland.

France became the latest in a list of European countries to advise its citizens against travel to Tunisia.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/Default.aspx

[freepalestine]

Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali forced to flee Tunisia as protesters claim victory

Angelique Chrisafis and Ian Black,





[FONT=Verdana,Arial][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial]A Tunisian demonstrator holds a placard reading "Game Over" during a rally in front of the country's interior ministry. The president, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, has relinquished power after weeks of protests. Photograph: Fethi Belaid/AFP/Getty Images[/FONT]



[FONT=Verdana,Arial]January 14, 2011[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana,Arial]• Tunisian PM Mohamed Ghannouchi declares temporary rule[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial]• Sarkozy refuses refuge to Ben Ali, French media reports[/FONT]



[FONT=Verdana,Arial]Tunisia's president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali fled his country tonight after weeks of mass protests culminated in a victory for people power over one of the Arab world's most repressive regimes. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial]Ben Ali was variously reported to be in Malta, France and Saudi Arabia at the end of an extraordinary day which had seen the declaration of a state of emergency, the evacuation of tourists of British and other nationalities, and an earthquake for the authoritarian politics of the Middle East and north Africa.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial] [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial]Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia's ousted president. Photograph: Fethi Belaid/AFP/Getty Images[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial] French media reported tonight that President Nicolas Sarkozy had refused refuge to Ben Ali, although it was denied any request had come from him.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]In Tunisia, prime minister Mohamed Ghannouchi announced he had taken over as interim president, vowing to respect the constitution and restore stability for Tunisia's 10.5 million citizens.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana,Arial]"I call on the sons and daughters of Tunisia, of all political and intellectual persuasions, to unite to allow our beloved country to overcome this difficult period and to return to stability," he said in a broadcast.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana,Arial]But there was confusion among protesters about what will happen next, and concern that Ben Ali might return before elections could be held. "We must remain vigilant," warned an email from the Free Tunis group, monitoring developments to circumvent an official news blackout.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana,Arial]Ben Ali, 74, had been in power since 1987. On Thursday he announced he would not stand for another presidential term in 2014, but Tunisia had been radicalised by the weeks of violence and the killings of scores of demonstrators.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana,Arial]Today in the capital police fired teargas to disperse crowds demanding his immediate resignation. The state of emergency and a 12-hour curfew did little to restore calm. Analysts said the army would be crucial.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana,Arial]Tonight , soldiers were guarding ministries, public buildings and the state TV building. Public meetings were banned, and the security forces were authorised to fire live rounds.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Arial]Tunis's main avenues were deserted except for scores of soldiers. Protesters who had earlier been beaten and clubbed by police in the streets still sheltered in apartment buildings. Army vehicles were stationed outside the interior ministry.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]Opposition leader Najib Chebbi, one of Ben Ali's loudest critics, captured the sense of historic change. "This is a crucial moment. There is a change of regime under way. Now it's the succession," he said.He added: "It must lead to profound reforms, to reform the law and let the people choose."[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana,Arial]Al-Jazeera television, broadcasting the story across an Arab world which has been transfixed by the Tunisian drama, reported that a unnamed member of Ben Ali's wife's family had been detained by security forces at the capital's airport. Hatred of the president's close relatives, symbols of corruption and cronyism, has galvanised the opposition in recent weeks. Tunisians were riveted by revelations of US views of the Ben Ali regime in leaked WikiLeaks cables last month.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]Ben Ali's western friends, adapting to the sudden change, asked for a peaceful end to the crisis. "We condemn the ongoing violence against civilians in Tunisia, and call on the Tunisian authorities to fulfil the important commitments ... including respect for basic human rights and a process of much-needed political reform," said a White House spokesman.[/FONT]




[FONT=Verdana,Arial]:: Article nr. 73900 sent on 14-jan-2011 23:23 ECT[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Arial][FONT=Verdana,Arial]www.uruknet.info?p=73900</I>[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana,Arial]Link: www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/14/tunisian-president-flees-country-protests</I>[/FONT]

[/FONT]

[freepalestine]

+ YouTube Video

[freepalestine]

[FONT=Verdana,Arial]


Tunisian poet Echebbi's words hold warning for tyrants of Arab world

</U>Peter Beaumont


</B>
[FONT=Verdana,Arial]</U></I></B></STRONG>Dictatorial regimes face sudden and shocking challenge to authority as words of a famous Tunisian poet prove prophetic

January 15, 2011

One of Tunisia's most famous poets, Abou al-Kacem Echebbi, whose face adorns the 30-dinar note, is best known in the wider Arab world for several verses that warn tyrants they will face bloody insurrection. "Who grows thorns will reap wounds," Echebbi wrote – a line that the country's dictatorial president, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, might be reflecting on in his place of exile, Saudi Arabia.
He may not, however, be the only leader in the region to be doing so. For what has happened in Tunisia, a country which Ben Ali and his cronies controlled since he seized power in 1987, has a message for other regimes whose democratic credentials are less than shining. While it is not clear what Tunisia's path will be after Friday's insurrection, the complaints of the protesters are familiar across the region and have also, in some cases, prompted demonstrations. Algeria, home to an often restless young population, has seen protests about unemployment and food prices which began on 5 January and prompted a harsh crackdown. In Jordan, which saw demonstrations last week in five cities, the calls were very similar. There, too, the country's leader was assailed with demands to resign.
Nowhere has the link between the removal of Ben Ali and other countries been clearer than in Cairo, where on Friday night protests were held by opposition members outside the Tunisian embassy. Their message was explicit: President Hosni Mubarak should follow Ben Ali's example and leave his country, too.
The complaints of angry Tunisians are not surprising. What has shocked observers was how fragile the ousted president's police state proved when confronted by a political uprising.
They have realised that, on 17 December, when a desperate 26-year-old graduate turned vegetable seller set fire to himself and prompted the protests that brought down the Tunisian president, an alienated young man became a symbol of the powerless against the corrupt and powerful.
It is something many ageing autocrats in the region may face in the near future. And, with it, the prophetic realisation of Abou al-Kacem Echebbi's words.


[/FONT]
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana,Arial]:: Article nr. 73942 sent on 16-jan-2011 00:28 ECT


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]www.uruknet.info?p=73942</I>

Link: www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/15/tunisia-poet-tyrants-arab-world</I>
[/FONT][/FONT]

[freepalestine]

[FONT=Verdana,Arial]


Not Twitter, Not WikiLeaks: A Human Revolution

</U>Jillian C. York


</B>
[FONT=Verdana,Arial]</U></I></B></STRONG>
January 14, 2011

Beginning this afternoon, shortly after (former) president Ben Ali fled Tunisia, I started getting calls about the effect of social media on the Tunisian uprising. I answered a few questions, mostly deferring reporters to friends in Tunisia for their side of the story, and then settled in for the night…only to find rantings and ravings about Tunisia’s "Twitter revolution" and "WikiLeaks revolution" blowing up the airwaves.
Like Alaa Abd El Fattah, I think it’s too soon to tell what the true impact of social media was on the events of the past few weeks. I also think it’s a bit irresponsible of Western analysts to start pontificating on the relevance of social media to the Tunisian uprising without talking to Tunisians (there are notable exceptions; Ethan Zuckerman’s piece for Foreign Policy is spot on, Matthew Ingram does a nice job of opening the debate here, and Evgeny Morozov’s analysis–which starts with this great piece–is ongoing).
But for each thoughtful, skeptical piece, there is yet another claiming the unknowable. In this piece, for example, Elizabeth Dickinson of Foreign Policy writes:

Of course, Tunisians didn’t need anyone to tell them [about the excesses of the first family]. But the details noted in the cables — for example, the fact that the first lady may have made massive profits off a private school — stirred things up.

By all Tunisian accounts, WikiLeaks had little–if anything–to do with the protests; rather, the protests were spurred by unemployment and economic woes. Furthermore, Tunisians have been documenting abuses by the Ben Ali regime and the first family for years, as Zuckerman notes. In fact, Dickinson seems to realize this herself, and yet for some reason still attempts to argue that WikiLeaks was a catalyst in the unrest.
Andrew Sullivan, who praised Dickinson’s piece, seems to have decided for himself that social media was used as a tool for organizing:

The core test is whether Twitter and online activism helped organize protests. It appears they did, even through government censorship. Wikileaks also clearly helped. So did al Jazeera, for those who see it entirely as an Islamist front.

I’m not sure by what means such an idea appeared to Sullivan, but I haven’t heard it said yet–not once–by a Tunisian. Until I do, I’ll remain skeptical (though Sullivan’s praise of Al Jazeera is welcome).

Now, I’m not about to discount social media’s relationship to the Tunisian uprising. For one, it most certainly played a huge role in getting videos, photos, and news out to the world–and not just to a public audience, but to news organizations as well. Al Jazeera–which had some of the best coverage of Tunisia over the past few weeks–relied heavily on sources gleaned from social networks for much of its print work, as did other organizations. Tunisian blogs and news sources–such as Nawaat and SBZ News–filled in the gaps left by the mainstream media’s shoddy reporting of the events. And speaking from personal experience, I was able to connect a lot of Tunisians–some of whom I’ve never met in real life–with journalists because of our connections on Facebook and Twitter.
But to call this a "Twitter revolution" or even a "WikiLeaks revolution" demonstrates that we haven’t learned anything from past experiences in Moldova and Iran. Evgeny Morozov’s question–"Would this revolution have happened if there were no Facebook and Twitter?"–says it all. And in this case, yes, I–like most Tunisians to whom I’ve posed this question–believe that this would have happened without the Internet.
The real question, then, is would the rest of us have heard about it without the Internet? Would the State Department have gotten involved early on (remember, their first public comment was in respect to Tunisian Net freedom)? Would Al Jazeera–without offices on the ground–have been able to report on the unfolding story as they did? Most importantly, would any of that have mattered?
Social media may have had some tangential effect on organization within Tunisia; I think it’s too soon to say. No doubt, SMS and e-mail (not to be mistaken with social media) helped Tunisians keep in touch during, before, and after protests, but no one’s hyping those–e-mails and texts simply aren’t as fascinating to the public as tweets. In fact, assuming SMS and e-mail did play a role in organizing (and again, I don’t doubt they did — Tunisian’s Internet penetration rate may be only 33%, but its mobile penetration rate is closer to 85%), then we ought to be asking what it is about social media that is unappealing for organization? Could it be the sheer publicness of it, the inherent risks of posting one’s location for the world to see? Given the mass phishing of Facebook accounts, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if Facebook were seen as risky (Gmail accounts were also hacked, however, which undoubtedly led some to view digital communications in general as risky).
I am incredibly thrilled for and proud of my Tunisian friends. This is an incredible victory and one unlikely to fade from popular memory anytime soon. And I am glad that Tunisians were able to utilize social media to bring attention to their plight. But I will not dishonor the memory of Mohamed Bouazizi–or the 65 others that died on the streets for their cause–by dubbing this anything but a human revolution.


source


[/FONT]
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana,Arial]:: Article nr. 73949 sent on 16-jan-2011 02:01 ECT


[FONT=Verdana,Arial]www.uruknet.info?p=73949</I>

:: The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website.
[/FONT][/FONT]

[freepalestine]

Tunisia hit by widespread looting

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/af...341179388.html

[Tommy4ever]

*sigh*

The looting is something we just have to accept I guess. When order starts to break down many people just start thinking about what they can steal.

[the last donut of the night]

*sigh*

The looting is something we just have to accept I guess. When order starts to break down many people just start thinking about what they can steal.

Or we can see a bit through the media lens and doubt that it's "looting" that's going on. I don't doubt that it has, but Al Jazeera is no revolutionary media organization, and the title itself is deceiving: "Tunisia Hit by Looting". It implies that looting has just smacked Tunisia in the face and paralysed all of its inner workings. I really doubt so.