· March, 2009

Stories about Tunisia from March, 2009

Tunisia: Outcry over Italian Court's Verdict on Tunisian Pilots

  27 March 2009

Two Tunisian pilots of Tuninter Flight 1153, which crash landed in the sea off Sicily in 2005 killing 16 people, were sentenced to 10 years in prison by an Italian court. The decision is being contested by Tunisian bloggers, who say the pilots' heroic efforts in saving the 23 other passengers on board should have been celebrated.

Tunisia: Dismissed Student Activists on Hunger Strike for the Right to Education

  27 March 2009

A total of 158 Tunisians and their friends from around the world went on hunger strike for a day today (March 26) in solidarity with five students who have been on hunger strike since February 11 in Tunisia. The initiative has been orchestrated on a Facebook group [Fr] as a symbolic form of support to the students, who are members of Tunisian Students' Union (UGET), and who have been suspended from university for their activism on campus.

Tunisia: Bloggers Divided on Qaradawi's Visit

  25 March 2009

Discussions continue in the Tunisian blogosphere following the visit of Egyptian Islamic scholar Yousif Qaradawi, who is based in Qatar, to the secular country two weeks ago. Lina Ben Mhenni reports from a divided blogosphere.

Tunisia: Hunger Strike Students Defend Right to Study

  23 March 2009

Five Tunisian students have been on hunger strike since February 11th to defend their right to study. Their health is seriously deteriorating but the government is ignoring their request. More on the story on Facebook — here and here.

Tunisia: New 50 Dinar Banknotes Soon

  23 March 2009

Tunisia will get new 50 Dinar banknotes, writes SubZero Blue, who calls for an end to the 30 Dinar notes saying: “now if they’d only kill that damn stupid 30 Dinar note! I mean, what the hell were they thinking?! Someone must’ve been seriously drunk the day they came up...

Tunisia: Gaza's Closed Zone

  20 March 2009

Tunisian blogger Sami ben Gharbia [Ar] reviews Israeli-made Closed Zone, a 90 second new animated film on the closure of Gaza.

Tunisia: Remembering Tunisia's First Internet Prisoner

  17 March 2009

Tunisian Zouhair Yahyaoui will always be remembered among Tunisian activists as someone who had sacrificed his life for the struggle for freedom of speech. Four years after his death from a heart attack at the age of 36, after serving time in prison for articles he had published online, bloggers remember him as a role model and cyberactivism pioneer.

International Women's Day in Tunisian Blogs

  11 March 2009

Tunisia celebrates its National Day for Women on August 13. Calls are now being echoed in the blogosphere to join international women in their celebration and mark the day with the rest of the world on March 8, reports Lina Ben Mhenni.

Libya: Berber Archive to Close

  8 March 2009

Lameen Souag reports at Jabal al-Lughat that a valuable online resource will soon close, possibly for political reasons: “Tawalt is a nine-year-old Libya-focused Amazigh/Berber website with a remarkable collection of audio recordings and resources for some of the least well documented Berber languages – those of Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt…If...