This week in the Middle East

Tunisia's God-free uprising and the role of the internet; the growing trend of Saudi spinsters; Yemen's tribal politics

Brian Whitaker
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 19 January 2011

"Without God on our side

One of the most refreshing things about the Tunisian uprising – and very unusual for the Middle East – has been the lack of meddling by external interests. Apart from a few mouse-like squeaks from the state department, the US stayed out of it and so too did God, along with his self-appointed representatives on earth.

In most Arab countries, Islamists are seen as the main alternative to existing regimes – which suits the regimes fine because it scares people into supporting them. In Tunisia, though, as George Joffe explained, the organisational strength of the uprising came mainly from the country's biggest trade union, the UGTT, with students and thousands of disaffected citizens also joining in. The rhetoric was broadly leftist rather than religious.

Hopefully, what Tunisia can provide for the Middle East is a new model – a secular alternative to the Iranian revolution. There are no ayatollahs waiting in the wings. The Islamists will probably to resurface after two decades of suppression, but there are no indications that they have a large popular following in Tunisia and they are unlikely to play anything more than a minor role in the country's political future.

If the Tunisian revolution continues on its current path, we could even see the beginnings of a post-Islamist phase in the Arab countries.

Revolting on the internet

Staying with the Tunisian uprising for a moment, there is a growing debate about the role of the internet. Having followed the events on the internet myself, I'm sure it was a very important element in the struggle – though I wouldn't go so far as to call it a "Twitter revolution".

The WikiLeaks documents released a couple of weeks before the trouble started (and gathered here on the TuniLeaks website) undoubtedly had a powerful effect, portraying President Ben Ali as someone who refused to listen to advice, discussing the widespread hatred directed against his wife (a sort of Tunisian Imelda Marcos), detailing the family's involvement in corruption and describing the disgustingly extravagant lifestyle of the president's son-in-law.

Tunisians probably knew most of this already, though they weren't allowed to talk about it in public. WikiLeaks shifted it out of the private sphere and created a sense of "Now, it's official!". The depictions of extravagant wealth and corruption in the ruling family could also be readily contrasted with the plight of Mohamed Bouazizi, the unemployed fruit-seller who set fire to himself..

My impression is that Twitter, Facebook and YouTube were not used much as organisational tools by the protesters but they did have an important mobilising and inspirational effect. In the absence of first-hand TV coverage they provided information about what was happening on the streets. Dozens of videos were posted, showing demonstrations and the police brutality that often accompanied them. In a country where people are accustomed to lies and propaganda in their newspapers, videos tend to be trusted as sources of truth....."