A recent wave of unrest belies the myth of a Tunisian miracle, and offers a stark warning
Soumaya Ghannoushi
The Guardian, Tuesday 4 January 2011
"......Journalists have fared no better. No other Arab country has imprisoned more journalists since 2000. The Committee for the Protection of Journalists has declared the regime to be one of the world's 10 worst enemies of the press. Tellingly, the only images of the current protests have been captured on mobile- phone cameras and released on the web, as no foreign reporters are allowed into the country. Only North Korea can compete with Tunisia in this regard.
Ben Ali may have brought the stability desired by his foreign backers, but it was the stability of the dead, of graves and cemeteries.
Amid the wreckage of political life, Tunisia's general grapples with two phenomena of his own making. The first is the rise of violent anarchist groups associated with al-Qaida, which have emerged in the vacuum generated by his eradication policy. The second is rage at corruption, unemployment and government repression, which has erupted in the past few weeks.
Events in Tunisia are symptomatic of what lies ahead. Arab rulers have striven to kill politics in all its forms. But as they do away with organised mainstream parties and associations, they will find themselves, like Ben Ali, face to face with a younger generation mobilised by feelings of frustration and humiliation, and yearning for revenge. And when all vessels of movement and expression are shut off, explosions and eruptions become the only possibility left."
Soumaya Ghannoushi
The Guardian, Tuesday 4 January 2011
"......Journalists have fared no better. No other Arab country has imprisoned more journalists since 2000. The Committee for the Protection of Journalists has declared the regime to be one of the world's 10 worst enemies of the press. Tellingly, the only images of the current protests have been captured on mobile- phone cameras and released on the web, as no foreign reporters are allowed into the country. Only North Korea can compete with Tunisia in this regard.
Ben Ali may have brought the stability desired by his foreign backers, but it was the stability of the dead, of graves and cemeteries.
Amid the wreckage of political life, Tunisia's general grapples with two phenomena of his own making. The first is the rise of violent anarchist groups associated with al-Qaida, which have emerged in the vacuum generated by his eradication policy. The second is rage at corruption, unemployment and government repression, which has erupted in the past few weeks.
Events in Tunisia are symptomatic of what lies ahead. Arab rulers have striven to kill politics in all its forms. But as they do away with organised mainstream parties and associations, they will find themselves, like Ben Ali, face to face with a younger generation mobilised by feelings of frustration and humiliation, and yearning for revenge. And when all vessels of movement and expression are shut off, explosions and eruptions become the only possibility left."
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