Just after few days from the end of a Jazz Festival, the city of El Kef hosted one of the most important artistic event of the country, the “24-hours theatre non-stop”. The event took place in the frame of a theatre festival which lasted from the 23rd to the 28th of March, and which included, a part from theatre and music spectacles, seminars and workshop on dramatic arts.
I was curious about how today’s generation thinks about gender roles and I figured that the best way to do so is to leave it for Tunisians (28 students in my case) to answer a one question survey : What are the things that you would like to do, but you can only do them if you were a member of the opposite sex ?
In contrast with the triumphant discourse of officials and mainstream news outlets in Tunisia, a more foreboding tone has been adopted by foreign media.
Rhyme is no crime, photographer Emeric Fohlen’s exposition currently on view at the Institut Francais, offers the public a technicolor glimpse into “a censored culture,” Tunisia’s hip hop movement.
Between a near blackout on social and economic realities, and a sensationalist, fear-mongering rhetoric concerning complex security and political issues, the country’s dominant media outlets continue to work against the diffusion of quality news and information through censorship, rumors, and stories.
When one remembers, that the 2011 uprising was primarily triggered by economic and social disparities and that now those disparities are not only growing, but that nothing has been done to narrow the gap, it suggests that social explosions will inevitably continue.
While it contains a breadth of information and recommendations, the OECD report’s evident eagerness to highlight progress tends to overlook important shortcomings, while the time lapse between data collection (in 2014) and publication of Open Government in Tunisia (8 February 2016) has rendered certain facts and observations outdated.
Informal trade has had a disastrous impact on the economy: inadequate production-consumption cycle, lack of goods such as foodstuffs and medicine, local farmers and traders threatened by parallel trade, sharp increase in prices, etc.
For the past two weeks, some fifty women have assembled each day in front of the delegation of Jebiniana in hopes of a better life.
“The most important thing is to remain loyal to the concept,” explains geographer Habib Ayeb who recently launched preparations for the Food Sovereignty Forum which will take place in 2017. “Without this loyalty, we cannot gain anything, we cannot make any progress. We cannot organize a forum on food sovereignty and demand financial support from Monsanto; Monsanto is a target for the Forum—Monsanto must be broken. Also we won’t work with USAID or AFD or GIZ—these are governmental organizations that try to impose their models on the Global South, and they are also targets of the Forum.”
While citizens and local authorities in a few regions have undertaken negotiations for employment and development, the government has yet to respond to protesters’ demands with a comprehensive strategy or solution. Instead, a union of the National Guard is implicated in the diffusion of fabricated images portraying violent protests, and police forces have begun to arrest young activists accused of “disrupting public order.”
For many, democracy is a “miracle” and one element to make this marvelous event achievable is the presence of an effective civil society. Of course, when we refer to “civil society organizations and movements,” the quality and quantity are equally important.
Mahmoudi, Beskri, Bidi, Richi, Jneh Khottifa, Rommani, Ouard Bled, Ajlili, Arbi, Ardhaoui, Souhili…many would not recognize the importance of these names, representing but a fraction of the wheat and barley varieties once cultivated in Tunisia. Since the 1940s, the number of local cereal varieties has decreased by 90%, from fifty to five. Having recently examined some of the nutritional and economic implications of cereal production in Tunisia, Nawaat spoke with Amine Slim, researcher at the National Gene Bank, for a closer look at cereals, a glimpse into this vital food source from the inside-out.
Today, Monday, January 25, a demonstration took place in Sidi Bouzid on the city’s main street. Organized by the Union of Unemployed Graduates (UDC), the Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT), and the Tunisian League of Human Rights (LTDH), marchers headed to governorate headquarters where they demanded the governor’s presence.
Demonstrations have not ceased since Saturday, January 16 when Ridha Yahyaoui was electrocuted at the top of a utility pole in Kasserine. Yahyaoui’s death was the turning point in recent protests which have turned into clashes between protesters and security forces across the country. Less than a week later, the government has imposed a national curfew.
Voting in a corrupt, fraudulent election is providing legitimacy to organized financial crime. Not until basic transparency criteria are met, could we have a fair election on a national level. Considering the rotten political reality, the only alternative available is the street, as populist as it may sound.
After five years of struggles to keep the country on track, civil society demands for “work, freedom, and dignity” have remained unchanged.
If some will remember 2015 as the year Tunisia’s National Quartet was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, others will recall that it was citizens’ struggles online and on the ground which kept the country on track.
