A post-revolutionary context is supposed to be one of “pluralism” where different political, intellectual, and social tendencies co-exist and compete at the same time. However, in Tunisia, we seem to confuse “pluralism” with “bipolarism”.
Blogs 85
An Intellectual Revolution from a Reactionary Elite?
More than two years after the “revolution”, this very elite is still lagging behind; complaining about the absence of an “intellectual revolution” while no revolution whatsoever has yet occurred in our intellectuals’ minds.
What the Tunisian Government Should Learn from Egypt
The deposition of former Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi: call it what you like – a popular uprising, a military coup, a continuation of the “Arab Spring”, or a hammer blow to democratic reform efforts. Whatever it was, Tunisia is certainly not immune to it.
The Popular Front and the Union for Tunisia: the Tunisian Left’s Reactionary Conversion
A would-be political alliance between the Popular Front and the Union for Tunisia is looming ahead, emblematized in a significantly-symbolic “encounter” between representatives of each party. The Popular Front, uniting the elusive Left, and the Union for Tunisia, monopolized by a dubious party whose conservative tendencies are economically obvious
Weld El 15: Two Years for “Rapped Retaliation”?
Weld El 15, the young rapper, was sentenced to two years of prison for singing “policemen are dogs” (البوليسية كلاب) and convicted for public indecency and cop contempt. Is it that I do not understand the law? Or is it that these laws defy those of logic?
What Is Wrong with Post-Revolution Tunisia?
Back in the days of “Big Brother” and the “Thought Police”, the Tunisian people could not discern what was precisely wrong with politics, society, and economy. All the political, social, and economic ills were subsumed under one major ill: that of “oppression”. Now that Oppression, emblematized in Ben Ali’s figure, is toppled, the once unnoticeable problems are surfacing.
Ansar Al-Sharia: When Political Immaturity Confronts Governmental Clumsiness
Ansar Al-Sharia Congress: When Political Immaturity Confronts Governmental Clumsiness. The government refused to allow Ansar Al-Sharia to hold their third Congress and Kairouan has become a pseudo-military base ever since.
A Cyber Survey of Tunisian Political/Metaphysical Parties
Two years after the Tunisian Revolution, political parties in Tunisia are still living in political prehistory. It is true that the revolution took our rusty politicians by surprise. They were either in jail, or abroad, or in some fancy Tunisian suburb leading a status quo existence.
Chaambi: This is your bidding Mr. Ghannouchi, and your goods have been returned to you!
In the thick of the Chaambi Mount events, we received four messages which can provide raw material to understand part of what’s going on. The first message came from “Sheikh” Habib Elouze who called on Tunisian citizens who refuse “Shariah” Holy Law to leave the country.
Tunisian Revolution, Feminist De-volution: “Bourgeois Mammary Activism”
Our activists have somehow committed “Feminist plagiarism”, borrowing a foreign concept heedless of its source and unfaithful of its uses, without revision or modification. In this de-volutionary process, our Feminists transfigured revolutionary thought into “mammary thought” and transformed social justice marches into “bourgeois catwalks”.
“Conservatism for Specific Purposes”, “Revolutionary Fallacy” or What You Will
In our Tunisian post-revolution context, it has become quite the trend to display signs –or symptoms- of being “revolutionary”. The word has grown into an umbrella epithet for those who are “fashionable”, “educated” and “sophisticated”. It has become synonymous with “taste”, “culture”, and the elusive notion of Leftism that has developed in a generally politically-illiterate country; the all-at-once neoliberal-communist-socialist-nationalist-anarchist ideologically elusive Leftism.
The Ignored Challenges of the Arab Spring Backbone
The last two years witnessed major changes in the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa), Falling down political regimes and starting liberation process in societies which have been living in decades of dictatorships. Those dictatorships were not only on the macro level, the state, but also on the micro level which is the family and even on the personal level.
Ennahdha Masterstroke or how to survive unscathed the first political assassination in post-revolutionary Tunisia
On February 6, 2013, Chokri Belaid, the outspoken political opponent of Ennahdha was cowardly gunned down in front of his house. Three weeks later, it is however useful to re-visit the aftermath and one would almost gasp with admiration how the leading party Ennahdha managed to turn the situation around.
The Zanga (Impasse) has reached the Dead End for the Ennahda Runaway *
Tunisian journalist Malek Triki offers insight in this week’s OpEd into Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali’s “Last Passion” which eventually culminated in his resignation. He dissects the foundational flaws which could lead to the failure of Tunisia’s revolution.
Listen Tunisians: Take your martyrs, leave this country, and let us rule and bask in our eternal “mandate”!
For “awaiting a conclusive investigation into the murder” does not mean the cancellation of an obvious truth: The murder of Leftist activist Chokri Belaid cannot come from the opposition parties to the current rulers, or opponents of the ideology called ‘Political Islam’, or even enemies of the dogma of puritan ignorant Kharajites.
Tunisia and the make-up of a crisis: burkas, children’s rights, and accented spoken Arabic
Today, we are confronting what we could credibly call a ‘crisis.’ An identity crisis, a socioeconomic crisis, and most of all, a daily, practical crisis.
Tunisia: Two years On; The Crisis Deepens
The “Tunisian Revolution” has lost a good deal of its gloss. The rhetoric remains “radical”, the reality much less so. That it was a genuine national uprising engaging virtually the entire population is beyond doubt – and as such, nothing short of a regional inspiration. That it can be characterized as “a revolution” is open to question. What has changed?
Tunisia: Revolutionary decisions and actions, not parades and celebrations!
At the heart of the plight of the more than 700 wounded and the families of the 300 martyrs is the fact that they were used for political purposes during the elections campaign. Today, those in power are busy sharing the pie, on the other hand the losers aspire to a piece of the pie and in the midst of this very struggle for power the cause of the wounded is lost.
