It started in the unknown and remote village of Sidi Bouzid. Right after it expanded across the whole Tunisia. It brought down one of Mediterranean oldest regimes. But it did not stop there. It crossed borders towards West (Algeria) and East (Egypt) and moved swiftly to even more distant countries (Yemen, Siria).
A spectre is haunting the Medirettanean – the spectre of democracy.
It is indeed a democratic wave, spreading across the whole area. Breaking long standing, seemingly strong and stable equilibria. Frightening dictatorships. Alarming their pavid European and Arabic friends. A democratic wave that knows no borders nor repression. That is giving birth to a new geopolitical era.
Labouratorio switches to English in order to talk about the biggest youth movement since 1968, the most widespread battle against dictatorships since the War World Two, the most incredible rally for freedom and democracy since 1848.
We are trying to figure out the dimension of what’s going on in these hours and we will try to keep on going with analysis and interviews. Our story has obviously started from the Tunisian revolution. This took western diplomacies completely by surprise.
To be honest, it took almost everybody by surprise.
Borrowing the words of our Tunisian friend Haithem: “How come? Is this really happening?” Is there a reason for all this happening right now? We try to answer this simple question.
We strongly believe that the quick rises of these diverse democratic national movements share common causes, relying on both political and economical forces acting on a global scale.
We analyse the weaknesses of the regimes involved, the effects of the global crisis on the economy. We investigate the role of Europe and the shadows projected by the Chinese giant rising power.
European leadership has been unable to predict, influence or understand what was going on. It is now clear that Western Countries’ egemony over the world is just a souvenir of the past, even where its force and influence seemed to persist.
Still in the very last days, European diplomacies and even corporates were backing Hoshni Mubarak as they did two weeks earlier with Ben Ali. We think that this lack of strategy is unfair and blind, as well as losing.
We are aware of the concerns spreading from the role that Islamic parties are bounded to play in almost all Arabic countries, especially in a stage of turmoil and contended power.
Nevertheless, we strongly believe that the best way to fight intolerance and fanatism is an injection of democracy, freedom and independence. That’s why Labouratorio is backing all of the democratic movements in the world, fighting against dictators. That’s why we gotta catch’em all.
Labouratorio became internationalist with a double interwiev in English. We made the same questions to a young emigrated Tunisian guy and an Italian politician who knows a lot about foreing politics.
Haithem Jarraya is a 28 years old tall guy with the eyes well opened to the world. He has been studying for short periods in US and now he lives and works in London Uk. He smiles when he says, drinking a beer in a classic London pub, that travelling offers the possibility to learn about your self, be tolerant, and accept people differences. His facebook profile, full of news about his country, shows this little image on the right, a symbol of the Tunisian Revolution. Labouratorio finds it really nice.
Today, more than ever, he feels that he has to go home and share it.
What did you feel when Ben Ali resigned?
Friday 14th of January 2011 is a day that I will always remember. I woke up earlier and logged in on my accounts. Twitter, facebook, news channels, everything was setup to follow the demonstration as close as possible (Wanted to be there!). 8 am London time, 9 am Tunis time, but nothing yet. Friends were still connected on facebook getting ready to join the protest. Shortly after, journalist reporting, the crowd was getting bigger and bigger, elder, women, kids, young people, smart dressed, casual dressed, basically everyone was joining. I called my friends over the phone, I couldn’t hear much, apart my friend saying “Haithem It’s amazing! People are peacefully shouting BEN ALI DEGAGE” (“Ben Ali out” in France, n.d.r.). My feeling is still hard to describe. I felt relief from an oppressive regime, I felt proud to be Tunisian, I felt optimistic. I strongly believe that a brighter future is now.
Did you expect that outcome after the first demonstration?
Honestly not at all. I know people that live in the north side of Tunis. They weren’t with the protest in central Tunis but they were gathering to march to the Presidential Palace. In the mean time tweets started announcing that Ben Ali and his family fled the country. I couldn’t believe the video on facebook, showing the presidential flight taking off, and then channel news confirmed the rumors. I was thinking, or more trying to think (with all the emotions and the flow of online information): how come? is this really happening? could he just leave as simple as that? and then I asked my self the questions: what now? what’s going to happen?
Why do you think the regimen felt down now and not before?
I think it’s due to the economic situation. At the beginning it was good and the growth rate accommodated most people but on the other side we were restricted in our freedom. At some point injustice and social gap between rich and poor widened making the middle class smaller than 10 years ago. This revolution started as economic revolt from inside the country, which was lacking the large investment made on the cost (tourism), and changed quickly to a revolution for dignity and against injustice.
What kind of people was in the street demonstrating against the government?
It started with the poorest region of the country. In Sidi Bouzid, on the 17th of December with Mohamed Bouazizi self-immolation. I felt so sorry for him and so angry at the goverment but again I never thought that it would have gone this way. Protest on that region started to grow everyday more, especially when the police opened fire. At that point, no one could stand this injustice no more. When protest arrived in Tunis, everyone was present, rich, poor, educated, young, old, women, men and even kids.
How was Tunisia under Ben Ali?
I grown up in a middle class family, where we criticised the government at home with close friends. There was a general and distributed fear of Ben Ali police. They were above the law and could get you in trouble if you publicly criticise the regime. Therefore, I did like many other, I kept it to my self, study, go out with friends, enjoy drinks and parties. As I grown up, I started hearing about the president family aka “the clan”, it was a publicly organised crime organisation, from inside trading to historical artifact trade. They had a hand on all sector agriculture, banking, tourism… Clearly business was good for them and people around them. In many other cases if your business were healthy and you were doing well, “the clan” will come and ask for part of equities, sometimes all of it. Thus many people with growing business, slowed it down to pass under “the clan” radars. Many of the brightest young Tunisian, preferred to seek a better future somewhere else in the world from New York to Tokyo.
Do you trust the trade union UGTT?
No. For now it’s hard to trust any party; anyone seems to be trying to get to the power. Nobody is trying to reveal his intentions and how he is going to bring calm and democracy in Tunisia.
They have some support on the streets, It’s difficult to assess organization and intention of any political party in a country which hasn’t had a political democratic culture in the last 50 years, since even the former president was against pluralism.
Do you think there will be a ruling class able to take over the regimen and lead the country towards a stable democracy?
It’s still too early, for now it’s important to see if the interim government manage to bring the country towards a democratic election. I’m optimistic that if this happen a debate about the future of the country could arise. Some good events have happened: last Friday Tunisian people overthrown a dictator. On Saturday they fought his militia, on Sunday they cleaned their streets and neighbourhood and on Monday they were back to work.
What do you think of the islamic parties? Are you afraid of them? Do they have support?
Honestly I’m not, because I think that there is a logical reason which tells us they are not going to take the power. Our economy depends mainly on the tourism, Islamic party on power would threaten the economy and the western countries financial support, then I think that on the election polls, people would consider this and they would not win.
I don’t know how much support they have, but surely they have sympathy from the people. Since 11/9 I saw radicalization in the Arabic and western world, more religious in one side, more intolerant on the other, with many young people becoming more religious. It was a sort of reaction to the US foreign politics. Also having a regime taking freedom from people was an incubator for people to find spiritual safety.
Do you think what happened in Tunisi could cause analogous democratic movements in other Northern Africa coutries?
As we speak many self immolation are happening in Algeria and in Egypt, watching middle east news channels, they are praising the Tunisian achievement and they are wishing to do the same. The question still is: is this gonna happen? I’m not sure. In Algeria is more likely than elsewhere but while we had the army on our side, in Algeria is the army itself which is corrupted and in power.
Did you know and what do you think of Mr.Marzouki, who has announced his nomination to the next presidential election?Is he popular? Does he have some chanches to win?
He came back to Tunisia yesterday he went straight to the city, where the revolution started – Sidi Bouzid. I think it’s nice what he did, a good communicative style, but we are still far away from the election. And the problem now is to go to the election. I’ll be watching some video on facebook. He seems to be a smart person with a lot of common sense. He has some support and in this condition everyone has really a chance. Not so many people knew him since almost none political information were available.
What do you think could be the role of the Tunisian comunity in Europe and of Europe itself?
Tunisian community will be helping more on the economical level, investing heavily to help the economy to recover. Another point could be the education, Tunisian professors and scholars will need to come back home to help give knowledge to the next generation.
I think Europe can help with financial support, helping to set democratic elections. A democratic Tunisia is good for Europe too.
What is the role of the youth in the Tunisian Revolution?
This is a young people revolution. One thing Ben Alì did good. His government facilitated people to buy computers, giving low interest credit. It was a sort of cyber-revolution. Thanks to that, there were people on the street filming shooting and sharing on social networks. He tried to control tv and newspapers but he underestimated the impact of this social networks.
These young people in the streets were educated too, thanks to the fact that university is free in Tunisia. Thus they managed to took over Ben Ali and its clan. This has been a spontaneous movement. Do you know the blogger Slim Amamou? What do you think of him?
I don’t know him personally but I remember that about 1 year ago he and one of his friend posted a video on facebook. In the video he asked why we had Internet censorship and we couldn’t access youtube and many websites. It was very common to get on your screen the error “404 – page not found” whenever you were browsing “illegal” (for the regimen) content on the web. At some point there was this song “leave us alone Ammar” which become very popular (see youtube video n.d.r.).
It was a protest against the censorship. Ammar referred to a car model, the 404 Ammar made by Peugeot, which has become the nickname used by Tunisians as a metaphor for the invisible censor blocking their access to many websites.
Their movement were stop by the police.
Last October I saw a video with Slim speaking about free Internet. It was a conference in which he was talking about the Anonymous Movement (http://vimeo.com/15763928) and I was really impressed by this guy and its movement. After December 17 the Anonymous Movement made cyber-attacks targeting government website.
I respect his point of view and I totally agree. Now he’s part of the government and I really hope he will represent the voice of the young people clearly and loudly.
Labouratorio became internationalist with a double interwiev in English. We made the same questions to a young emigrated Tunisian guy and an Italian politician who knows a lot about foreing politics.
Did you expect that outcome after the first demonstration?
The economic arguments of the riots are only the tip of an huge iceberg of illiberal policies that have characterised the Ben Ali regime. Many of those who have been to Tunisia felt that the situation was particularly volatile and ready to “explode”. What was less predictable was the brutality with which the police and the army reacted.
Why do you think the regime fell down now and not before?
I believe that the situation had been ready for quite some time now, what was missing was the trigger, the desperation of the young students lighted the fire. One needs to keep in mind that in late December demonstrations were taking place in Algeria as well and the Egyptian elections had, once again, demonstrated the discontent that Arab people have vis-à-vis with gtheir governments.
What kind of people were in the street demostrating against the government?
All sorts of people, and therefore also those not in good faith. I believe that students and some fringes of the trade unions led the movement. At the same time, for once, legal and illegal opposition groups had the courage to raise.
How was Tunisia under Ben Ali?
I have always considered Tunisa as a modern version of a Soviet Republic, only more attached to the interests of the Ben Ali clan that to real socialism.
Do you trust the trade union UGTT?
I am afraid that all those that were recognized as legal and legitimate under the regime may not necessarily be “clean”
Do you think there will be a ruling class able to take over the regime and lead the country towards a stable democracy?
I would rather take a bit more time to prepare for the elections, possibly with the involvement of international organizations such as OSCE or the UN itself, than rush to vote for the new Tunisian parliament and government. Tunisians are educated, have always had an intellectual community inside and outside that was trying to participate in the debate concerning reforms. There are dozens of people willing and able to govern, the problem is that after 23 years of regime it may prove problematic to detach those close to the previous government from their positions within the State. Tunisia was, at the end of the day, a “socialist” country where work was only granted by the public sector…
What do you think of the islamic parties?Are you afraid of them?
Of all north African countries Tunisia has the smallest and weakest “islamist” groups, and, from what I know, among the most secular one. Dialog and fear is not what should guide politics, I hope that after the dark years of Ben Ali common sense will prevail.
Do you think what happened in Tunisi could cause analogous democratic movements in other Northern Africa coutries?
I am not too sure, or rather, it may happen if European countries change their attitudes towards those governments. But if one were to judge from the way in which Rome treats Tripole there is nothing to be optimistic…
Did you know and what do you think of Mr.Marzouki, who has announced his nomination to the next presidential election?Is he popular?has he some chanches to win?
I don not know him personally, I believe that, so far, he has chosen the right approach. He does not consider himself the saviour of Tunisia and has been very critic of European complacency with Ben Ali. Now we will have to see how he is able to practice democratic principles in a chaotic situation.
What do you think could be the role of the Tunisian comunity in Europe and of Europe itself?
That they should take the courage to put difference aside, go to Tunisia and contribute to the wellbeing to all. Easier said than done…
What is the role of the youth in the Tunisian Revolution?
Crucial, let’s only hope that they do not limit their role to the one of the rioters or protesters. They are educated, know Internet and are known as stern critics of illiberal policies, now they have a chance to make a change but with that chance come responsibilities… I hope that all those that in the past have expressed their solidarity to the Tunisian youth will continue to do so and not only from “socialist” networks. There is a great need to make freedom become the law of the land of the new Tunisia, that it the greatest challange for the future.
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