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.
The National Museum of the State Security System is one of several artistic works that Egyptian playwright-director Laila Soliman and Belgian actor-director Ruud Gielens have created together. The artists were approached by the organizers of Dream City to create a project for the fifth edition of the event (November 4-8). Soliman shared some time with Nawaat to talk about the creative process behind their creation, a glimpse into the unofficial narrative of the state security apparatus that operated under the Ben Ali regime.
On 17 December 2010, a young Tunisian in Sidi Bouzid sets himself ablaze. One by one, the country’s regions rise up. On 14 January 2011, after 23 years of dictatorship, Ben Ali leaves the country. Like so many other Tunisians, Karim Rmadi, Olfa Lamloum, Ghassen Amami and Selim Kharrat decide to return home after many years abroad. Four stories that tell of revolutionary fervor, the challenges of transition, and an unshakable faith in the future.
The highlands of Tunisia’s north-west hold the national record for rainfall. And yet the region’s scarcity of potable water is a nightmare for inhabitants. In the governorate of Béja, the National Water Distribution Utility (SONEDE) system stops at the borders of M’chargua, Zaga, Toghzaz, Marja Zweraa and Oulèja. The idyllic scenery–abundant flora, lakes and rivers that stretch as far as the eye can see—is in sharp contrast with the emaciated faces of perpetually thirsty villagers. Nawaat visited the region to investigate one of the most absurd injustices of independent Tunisia.
Earlier this year, the Food and Agriculture Administration (FAO) of the United Nations reported that wheat constitutes 96% of cereals consumed and over half of the daily caloric intake per person in Tunisia. What’s more, the high demand for cereals, and by extension cereal imports, are projected to rise in the years to come. In measure with these findings, statistics recently published by the Ministry of Agriculture for the 2014-2015 seasons report above-average imports; meanwhile, market speculations for 2016 anticipate that cereal imports to Tunisia will be up 15% from the previous five-year average.
In a political context where cultural expression is stifled as security measures are intensified, going out to see a movie becomes an act of resistance.
Comparing the nature of political discourse and media response in the US and Tunisia following such tragedies reveals key debates that have been stirred up in each country, as well as some fundamental commonalities; namely, failure to face the underlying, internal factors that fuel terrorism.
With under 48 hours left for parties to complete the negotiations, a new version of the draft agreement is expected this afternoon, but the inclusion or exclusion of explicit human rights or gender specific language remains open for debate.
With each measure of “support” the EU has offered Tunisia—whether in the form of a sizable loan for security reforms, or a free trade agreement for economic growth—particular emphasis has been placed on the recent successes and imperative role of civil society in the country’s path to democracy. But if what Tunisian civil society demands is a shifting of the scales and relations based on reciprocity, is Europe really prepared to listen?
The 2015 United Nations (UN) Climate Change negotiations – also referred to as the COP21 and which started in Paris on Monday 30th November, aims to “achieve a legally binding and universal agreement on climate, with the aim of keeping global warming below 2°C.”
In seamless consistency with the government’s response to the Bardo and Sousse attacks in March and June, official discourse, superficial security measures, and the actions of security forces since last Tuesday’s tragedy reflect the absence of a comprehensive counterterrorism strategy and have kept alive the notion that effective security requires the relinquishing of certain rights and liberties.
Nearly five years into the democratic work in progress and in the immediate wake of a bomb explosion that killed 12 in the capital, demands for and promises of US support for the Arab Spring’s sole success appear increasingly tired and misguided.
Land operator Faouzi Bellamine filed a complaint against the inhabitants of the village accusing them of having damaged his crop harvest. Chouigui inhabitants, on the other hand, accuse Bellamine of poor management and of having betrayed promises to provide employment. The affair recalls other conflicts between farmers and private investors stemming from their management of State-owned lands.
Everybody knows that post-revolutionary Tunisian underground hiphop is cool. Until I got my bars together for the song that will ignite my status as a bonafide citizen of Bizerte’s North side Rapdom, I was set on doing the next coolest thing which is write about underground rap for Nawaat.
