Global Voices » Lina Ben Mhenni

Tunisia: Time to Register for Elections

Lina Ben Mhenni — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 17:12:18 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage Tunisia Revolution 2011.

Registration for electoral lists in Tunisia started on July 11, 2011, and will be closed on August 2. But statistics have shown that Tunisians are reluctant to register on the lists. That is why a group of Tunisian bloggers have launched an online campaign to urge people to register on the electoral lists for the election of a constituent assembly on October 23, 2011.

They chose the slogan: “Time to Register for their campaign” (see below right).

Moreover, a Facebook event was created under the name of ‘Bloguez pour l'inscription aux listes électorales‘. More than 309 bloggers confirmed their participation in the event organized on July 25 and 26.

"Time to Register for their campaign"

Some bloggers have already written posts, such as Wallada [ar], who wrote:

أنا سجّلت اسمي في القائمات الانتخابيّة ، و كذلك الشّأن بالنّسبة إلى أفراد عائلتي و جيراني و أصدقائي . سجّلنا برغم كلّ شيء برغم زخم الأحزاب و خطابها السّياسي غير المقنع ، و برغم الانفلات الأمني ، و الحرائق المُدَبَّرة ، برغم غلاء المعيشة و تدهور المقدرة الشرائيّة ، برغم الاحتكار و الاستغلال و استمرار البطالة ، برغم البطولات الورقيّة و العنف و الاستفزاز … برغم كلّ هذا و غيره سجّلنا

لأنّ الإحجام عن التسجيل سلبيّة و استقالة و السلبيّة لا تبني بلدا

I registered my name on the electoral list. My family members, my neighbors and my friends did the same. We registered despite everything: despite the incredible number of political parties and their unconvincing political rhetoric, despite the lawlessness and deliberate fires, despite the high cost of living and deterioration of purchasing power, despite the monopoly, exploitation and the continuing unemployment, despite the imaginary victories and heroes , violence and provocation … Despite all of this and other we registered…

Indeed boycott is negative. It is resignation. Negativism and resignation do not build a country.

And Another Brick in the Wall [ar] who wrote:

ناس عطاطها ولادها وأكبادها

ناس عطاتها أعزّ ما عندها

ناس عطاتها عمر فناتو في خدمته

ناس عطاتها ايّامها ولياليها

وأنت؟ ما عندكش دقيقة ليها؟

برى قيّد باش كان تحبّ تعاود تبنيها

برى قيّد و ما تبخلش عليها!!

من وقتك، دقيقة أعطيها !!

قيّد….خير ما نبكيو عليها

Some sacrificed their children for its sake

Others offered it the dearest things to their hearts

Some dedicated both their days and nights to it

And you? Do you have a minute for it?

Go and register if you want to re-build it

Go and register don't be mean to it

Just offer it a minute from your time

Some people are calling for the registration on the electoral lists however, other people are calling for a boycott as is the case for the group Takriz ('Anger' in Tunisian dialect), which called people on Twitter to boycott both the registration and the elections. They addressed the Tunisian government saying:

@Takriz: You want elections? Give us justice, transparency, financial control on the parties, a less absurd electoral code and foreign controllers.

As the date of the election of a constituent assembly is slowly approaching, many discussions and controversies are arising in Tunisia. Tunisians succeeded in ousting a dictator and are now trying to build a true democracy. Will they succeed in doing so? Only time can reveal this.

This post is part of our special coverage Tunisia Revolution 2011.

Tunisia: Lawyers Assaulted for their Sidi Bouzid Stand

Lina Ben Mhenni — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 21:13:07 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage of Tunisia Revolution 2011.

Tunisian lawyers have been making a stand throughout Sidi Bouzid’s events - and paying the price for it.

They have been protesting regularly to denounce what happened in Sidi Bouzid and the social situation in Tunisia. This is why the government has decided to ‘punish’ them. Every day, news of the kidnapping, arrest, or assault of lawyers is surfacing on social networking sites.

In her post, Lawyers’Demonstration Tuesday 28th, 2010, Tunisian Girl wrote:

After that, the lawyers went into the first instance court and shouted the slogans again. They addressed some of them to the judges asking them to be independent.
Later in the afternoon, two lawyers who took part in the demonstration were arrested they are: Chokri Belaid and Abderrahmen Ayadi.

Nevertheless, December 31, 2010, presented the most horrible day for lawyers. Indeed, police officers did not hesitate to violently beat them when they were gathering in the Bar House located in front of the Courthouse of Tunis. Security forces used their truncheons causing many injuries for the lawyers.

On Twitter, netizens showed their support and spread the word about the assaults targeting lawyers:
Moalla tweeted:

Le 31 décembre 2010 restera à jamais comme le “vendredi de la matraque” pour les avocats tunisiens. Honte à la dictature! #SidiBouzid

December 31st, 2010 will forever remain as the “Friday of the truncheon” to the Tunisian lawyers. Shame on the dictatorship!

Also on Twitter, Osama F Moushraf wrote :

تعرّض عشرات المحامين في تونس إلى اعتداءات عنيفة من قبل الشرطة http://bit.ly/hLq6Ty #sidibouzid RT

Dozens of lawyers in Tunisia subjected to violent attacks by the police

Netizens denounced what happened:

Assad Tounsi tweeted:

فضيحة فضيحة فضيحة فضيحة فضيحة فضيحة تونس .. المحامون يضربون ويعتقلون والشعب يتفرج

Tunisia's Scandal scandal scandal scandal scandal scandal .. Lawyers beaten and arrested and the citizens are just watching.

This post is part of our special coverage of Tunisia Revolution 2011.

Tunisia: Unemployed Man's Suicide Attempt Sparks Riots

Lina Ben Mhenni — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 17:33:05 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage of Tunisia Revolution 2011.

An unemployed Tunisian set himself on fire in protest against his joblessness, sparking a wave of riots on the ground and solidarity and support on social networking platforms.

While the fate of Mohamed Bouazizi, aged 26, from Sidi Bouzid, in southern Tunisia, remains unclear, Tunisian netizens ceased the incident to complain about the lack of jobs, corruption and deteriorating human rights conditions in their country.

From Facebook to Twitter to blogs, Internet users expressed their solidarity with Mohamed, who had graduated with Mahdia University a few years ago, but could not find a job. Being the only breadwinner in his family, he decided to earn a living and with his family’s help, he started selling fruit and vegetable from a street stall. His venture gave him very little, enough to guarantee the dignity of his family. But city hall officials were on the look out, and have seized his goods several times. He tried to explain to them that what he was doing was not his choice that he was just trying to survive. Each time, his goods were confiscated, he was also insulted and asked to leave the city hall premises. The last time this happened, Mohamed lost all hope in this life and decided to leave it forever. He poured gasoline on himself and set himself on fire.

On Facebook, several groups were created to denounce what happened. Mr President, Tunisians are Setting Themselves on Fire (Ar) is such a group. In less than 24 hours, the group attracted 2,500 members, and today boasts more than 10,000 fans. In less than 24 hours, it has also been censored by the authorities, who have clamped down on the Internet with an iron fist.

Here are two screen images, the second showing what Tunisians see when they try and access the page:

Some bloggers wrote about what happened and expressed their anger. Writing in a Tunisian dialect, Boukachen wrote a post entitled The Sidi Bouzid Holocaust:

الحكاية يا جماعة ميش جديدة، عندها سنين حالة المناطق الداخلية ميزيريا تتحد في تسليطها على الناس الظروف المناخية و تهميش هالمناطق بكل لامبالاة و فرح دائم و طحين مستمر. اما الحكاية ما تاقفش هنا، لأنو الاعلام المنحط متاع بلاد العم بوكشان يمارس تعتيم كامل عالحكاية،…

What happened is not something new. This miserable situation has been ongoing in the remote areas for many years. It is the result of the combination of the climatic conditions and the marginalization of such areas, coupled by the total indifference (of the authorities). But the story does not end here as our depraved media exercises a full blackout of this incident.

Tunisian Girl added:

Dernièrement , les immolations par le feu se sont multipliées en Tunisie .Les acteurs de ces actions sont généralement des citoyens tunisiens qui ont perdu tout espoir en une vie descente . Chômage et pauvreté sont au rendez-vous et ont envenimé leur existence.

The Tunisian government did not find another solution but to censor the websites disseminating the story and imposing a blockade on the city of Sidi Bouzid, where people are expressing their anger by protesting in the streets.

On Twitter, the furor is also continuing, with the hash tag #sidibouzid trending among Tunisian users.

This post is part of our special coverage of Tunisia Revolution 2011.

The number one cause for suicide is untreated depression. Depression is treatable and suicide is preventable. You can get help from confidential support lines for the suicidal and those in emotional crisis. Please visit www.befrienders.org to find a suicide prevention helpline in your country.

Western Sahara: Wikileaks Revelations Spark Comments

Lina Ben Mhenni — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 00:41:05 +0000

Reactions to the diplomatic cables released by the whistleblower website Wikileaks continue to flourish all over the blogosphere. Revelations concerning the conflict over Western Sahara have sparked a few comments.

Ali Amar is a Moroccan journalist. Writing on VoxMaroc [Fr], a blog hosted by the French daily Le Monde, he underlines the fact that although the leaked cables revealed American diplomats' reservations about bad governance and corruption in Morocco, they showed unwavering American support for the kingdom's position on Western Sahara:

[A]ux yeux de Washington, le Maroc demeure une monarchie bananière, régentée par une clique proto mafieuse. La realpolitik reprend cependant le dessus lorsqu’il s’agit d’épauler le régime de Mohammed VI, sur la question du Sahara Occidental notamment : un rapport de l’ex ambassadeur Thomas Riley daté de 2009 soutient sans détour le plan d’autonomie préconisé par Rabat.

In the eyes of Washington, Morocco remains a banana monarchy, regimented by a proto mafia clique. Realpolitik, however, takes the upper hand when it comes to supporting the regime of Mohammed VI, on the question of Western Sahara in particular: a report by former Ambassador Thomas Riley dated 2009 clearly supports the autonomy plan advocated by Rabat.

Stephen Zunes writing on the Huffington Post, agrees. He dismisses views expressed by a diplomat on a cable dated August 2009, as flawed and distorted by an ideology, he says, is reminiscent of the Cold War (link added):

This cable is very reminiscent of the longstanding effort by State Department officials during the Cold War to delegitimize national liberation struggles by claiming they were simply the creation of Cuba, the Soviet Union, or some other nation-state challenging U.S. hegemony. Indeed, in a throwback to Cold War rhetoric, Jackson [the diplomat, author of the cable] insists that the Polisario Front, which has been recognized as the legitimate government of Western Sahara by over 80 governments, is “Cuba-like.” In the cable, Jackson calls for U.S. support for Moroccan calls for a census and audit of international programs in Polisario-led refugee camps, but not support for the international call for human rights monitors in the occupied territory.

A cable released earlier this month suggests that Algerian president is seeking a resolution of the conflict that would allow his country to “save face.” Fayçal, writing on the Algerian online news website Algerie Focus comments [Fr]:

L’Algérie aurait-elle tourné le dos au Front Polisario ? La question mérite d’être posée, surtout quand on lit un câble du site WikiLeaks assez intriguant qui montre un Président algérien voulant en finir avec un problème devenu trop embarrassant pour l’Algérie.

Has Algeria turned its back to the Polisario Front? The question is worth asking, especially when one reads an embarrassing cable released by the Wikileaks website, which intriguingly shows Algerian President wanting to end a problem that has become too embarrassing for Algeria.

Tunisia: Censorship Continues as Wikileaks Cables Make the Rounds

Lina Ben Mhenni — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 09:56:50 +0000

Tunileaks - a project by Nawaat

Tunisian activists pounced on the latest Wikileaks US Embassy Cables, dedicating a new website to republish and discuss the revelations related to their country. Tunileaks, was launched by Nawaat one hour after the whistle-blowing site unleashed the cables on Sunday, November 28th.

The first release contained 17 cables issued from the US Embassy in Tunisia. The majority of these cables show the exchanges between the embassy and the US State Department. The classified documents were transmitted between May 28th, 2008, and February 9th, 2010. Two of the documents were written by the present Ambassador Gordon Gray whereas the remaining 15 were by his predecessor.

They mainly dealt with the neglect of human rights in Tunisia and the restrictions on freedom of expression. On Twitter, the hashtag #tunileaks was created. There, people shared different secrets revealed by the site.

Secret prisons and torture revealed in Tunisia

The documents also reveal personal secrets about the ruling family and their close circle.

I didn't know that Sakhr Materi has a tiger at home.

The Tunisian government, known for its restriction on freedom of expression, rapidly blocked the access to Tunileaks. They first blocked http://tunileaks.appspot.com/ ( without the https). One day later, they blocked Google App Engine's IP address (209.85.229.141) in order to block Tunileaks under https, making appspot.com partially unavailable in the country .

No , they have censored appspot.com because of #tunileaks.
Let them block #tunileaks + Nawaat appspot.com proxies. They will block Gmail and Google search #tunisia.

Even the electronic version of the Lebanese newspaper ‘Al akhbar' has been censored in Tunisia after the publication of some cables released by Tunileaks.

The Lebanese newspaper ‘Al Akhbar' publishes new cables released by Tunileaks, this is why it is censored in Tunisia today.

Will more of the Tunisian cyberspace become restricted as more cables and secrets are revealed and published?

Tunisia: Launch a Blog Campaign Kicks Off

Lina Ben Mhenni — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 23:20:20 +0000

The Tunisian blogosphere has witnessed a period of stagnation since April. Indeed, the month was a black one for Tunisian bloggers as more than 100 blogs have been censored by the authorities, discouraging the rest of the bloggers, who have become reluctant to write on their blogs. Since then, blogger Arabasta, proposed to launch an online campaign to urge Tunisian internet users to create blogs. Some bloggers supported the initiative, which other bloggers have rejected it.

Seven months later, the campaign is now being launched under the name ‘7el Blog’ (Tunisian dialect) translated in English as ‘Launch a Blog’. A blog was created under the same name.

In her first post, Arabasta explains the goal behind the campaign and encourages people to launch their own blogs:

اليوم باش تبدى حملة حل بلوغ
شنوة الهدف؟ ساهل برشة، أنك إنت من إنسان يقرى في البلوغات تولي إنسان يكتب في بلوغ
علاش نشارك؟ خاطرني نحب نعبر، نتكلم، نحكي، نخرف، نفرغ قلبي
على شنوة لازم نحكي؟ أي حاجة، البلوغ ما يلزمش يكون برشة جدي و عندو قواعد، الطقس موش عاجبك، الثنية عوجة، أمك تمرج فيك على العرس، الخدمة تفدد
شكون ينجم يشارك؟ أي واحد، البلوغ “حكاية فارغة”، ما يلزموش معرفة كبيرة للأنفورماتيك، كيما المايل بالظبط، و أي واحد ينجم يعمل بلوغ، الطبيب و المعلم و المهندس و البطال و المعرس و الصغير و الكبير و المتقاعد و الفادد و الغني و الفقير
مازلت متردد؟ مجموعة من المدونين القدم باش تكتب أرتيكلوات و تعاونك باش تبدى، مبعد كل شي يولي ساهل

Today the campaign ‘Launch a Blog’ will start.
What is the goal? It is so easy to explain: You as a blog reader you will become the author of a blog.
Why should you take part? Because I want to express my self, to talk, to express my concerns.
You don’t like the weather; the pavement is bad. What do I have to write? Anything. The blog is not necessarily so serious and following strict rules. You can talk about your mother pushing you to get married, or your job that you don’t like.
Concerning the technical part of things: it is like creating an e-mail account. Anyone can do it. You don’t need great knowledge in IT. The rich , the poor, teachers, physicians, engineers, the unemployed, the married, the single, the young, the old, the retired, and the bored, every one of us can launch a blog.
If you are still hesitating, a group of old bloggers will write posts and will help you to write. After that, things will be easier.

Moreover, a Facebook group has been created. More than 500 people joined it in less than 24 hours.

Also, a Twitter account has been created and a hashtag #7ellblog is used :

Oh my God, 11 blogs were created in one day. I love you Tunisian citizens.

Arabsta adds in this post:

Ce qui fait, pour les doués de calcul, 13 blogs en une journée: oui, la jeunesse tunisienne a des trucs à dire, elle veut parler et s'exprimer! Nos encouragements à ces pionniers et en attendant de voir ce nombre se multiplier encore et encore

This makes, for those who love statistics, 13 blogs in one day: Yes the Tunisian youth have things to say. They want to speak and to express themselves! We encourage this group of pioneers and we are longing to see this number becoming bigger and bigger.

This initiative was welcomed by many people and hopefully the Tunisian blogosphere will become vital and active again soon.

Tunisia: When the Singer Chants “Long Live Netanyahu”

Lina Ben Mhenni — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 20:48:07 +0000

One of the many Facebook pages set up to denounce Sherif

The circulation of a video showing Tunisian singer Mohsen Sherif yelling “Long live Bibi Netanyahu!” and inviting Jews to come in droves to Djerba Island for El Ghariba pilgrimage, has triggered a wave of anger and disappointment among Tunisians. In geek speak, the video circulated on Facebook has now created a buzz.

It is understood that Sherif, accompanied by other Tunisian musicians, were performing in Israel, which has no diplomatic ties with their country.

Soon enough, many Facebook groups were created to denounce Sherif's action. Among them is this group , which is calling for the withdrawal of the Tunisian nationality from the singer.

Bloggers were quick to react to the video too. However, they were divided in their opinion. Some bloggers such as stupidity zone start say that singers are free to yell whatever they want to. He wrote:

Ces derniers jours,une vague de haine envers deux artistes locales inonde le net Tunisien …ces deux artistes sont Mohsen Echrif et Noureddine El Kahléoui !!!
Alors le motif de cette campagne me semble absurde mais pour mes concitoyens c'est suffisant pour être traité de tous les noms …Mohsen Echrif dans un mariage organisé par des Juifs dis dans son micro je cite “Ya7ya Bibi Netanyéhou”

Lately, a wave of hatred towards two local artists flooded the Tunisian web. These two artists are Mohsen Sherif and Nourredine Kahlaoui !!!
Despite the fact that the motivation behind this campaign seems absurd to me, my countrymen found that this was enough to insult him.
Mohsen Sherif said in his mic: “Long live Bibi Natenyahu”

Zizou from Djerba wrote:

Pour moi, Le chanteur en question n'a fait que caresser tout le monde dans le sens du poil (son boulot en qlq sorte) puisqu'on peut voir clairement dans la vidéo qu'il faisait un peu de politique dans le but de raffermir les liens des tunes avec la Tunisie et de les convaincre de venir plus nombreux en Tunisie (leurs pays) pour le pèlerinage de la Ghriba.

For me, the singer has just tried to please everyone (He did his job in someway). We can clearly see in the video that he was doing some politics in order to strengthen the ties of Tunisians with Tunisia, and convince them to come more often to Tunisia (their country) for the pilgrimage to the Ghariba.

On the other hand some bloggers considered what happened as an act of normalization with Israel, and called for the government to react. Bassam Bounenni wrote :

C'est dans cette ambiance que survient la diffusion sur la toile d'une vidéo du chanteur, Mohsen Cherif, scandant le slogan “Vive Ben Ali … Vive Netenyahu”. Les réactions officielles se font toujours attendre, en dépit d'une grande colère populaire qui s'est étendue au niveau des syndicats. Paradoxalement, les partis d'obédience nationaliste optent, là aussi, pour le mutisme. Laissant la grogne aux masses … virtuelles. Les mêmes masses qui se sont toujours tues quand la normalisation allaient de pair avec un choix gouvernemental ou est l'oeuvre, tout simplement, d'un membre du gouvernement.

It was in this atmosphere that the webcasting of a video showing singer Mohsen Cherif, yelling “Long live Ben Ali … Vive Netenyahu. The official response is still lacking, despite much popular anger that has extended to the labor unions level. Ironically, the obedience nationalist parties choose silence too. Let discontent for the virtual masses … . The same masses who kept silence when normalisation actions were going along with the government's choice or were simply the work of a member of the government.

The story may have started on the web but it is now preoccupying public opinion. National Tunisian journals are writing about it and people are discussing it on all occasions as Zizou from Djerba put it in his blog:

L'affaire est celle qui occupe l'opinion publique tunisienne en ce moment. Les discussions au boulot, a la plage et ailleurs tournent autour de cette bande de chanteurs tunisiens partis en Israel pour animer une soiree tunisienne. Meme si cette initiative peut surprendre, ce qui a choque une majorite de tunisien est le fait qu'un chanteur ( Mohsen Cherif) a prononce des viva pour le premier ministre israelien.

The case is the one which occupies the Tunisian public opinion for now. Discussions at work, on the beach, and in other places revolve around this band of Tunisian singers who traveled to Israel to perform a Tunisian evening there. Despite the fact that this initiative is somewhat surprising what shocked Tunisians more is the fact that the Tunisian singer (Mohsen Cherif) chanted long life to the Israeli prime minister.

The case is still preoccupying Tunisians, who are asking how did the musicians travel to Israel and perform there.

Tunisia: A Black Day for Bloggers

Lina Ben Mhenni — Wed, 05 May 2010 21:01:13 +0000

Tunisian bloggers are protesting the censorship by placing such screens on their blogs

The Tunisian blogosphere witnessed a black day on Tuesday 27th, 2010. Indeed, the Internet police launched a war against bloggers where more than 11 blogs were censored. It is an arbitrary censorship which has even attacked blogs that have been inactive for months. The list of blogs which have been censored are:
Amcha fi bled Al Imyan (ar)
Trap Boy (ar)
AntiKor (fr)
Arabista (fr)
Ya Tounes (ar)
Abidklifi
OuNormal (ar)
Carpe Diem (fr)
Bent 3ayla (ar)
Artartticuler
Stupeur (fr)

The following day, some more blogs were censored:
Le blog de Houssein
Le blog de Lina Benmhenni (mine)
Le blog de Achour Enneji
Le blog de Boudourou
Le blog de Metallic Naddou

But it is necessary to note that for more than two weeks, the Internet police has been blocking different kinds of websites, including news websites like: le Nouvel Observateur and Rue89, as well as video platforms like: www.wat.tv and www.metacafe.com/.

Some Facebook profiles have been blocked too, including mine. Global Voices Online has been totally blocked three days ago after a a partial blocking for months now.

Tunisians online users, especially bloggers, refused this arbitrary blocking and created videos, pictures and blogged against this censorship :

Kissa Online wrote:

La censure du Net par le blocage des blogs et des sites est une atteinte grave au droit des gens à un libre exercice du droit d’expression. La Censure ,pour la enieme fois, a encore frappé et bloqué en Tunisie les blogs .

Censorship through the blocking of blogs and websites is a serious violation to people’s right to a free exercise of free expression. Censorship has again hit and blocked blogs in Tunisia.

Under the title An intellectual Genocide, Free Thoughts wrote:

البارح في الليل , و بعد غياب وقتي بسبب الفروض , قلت نعمل طلة عل فايسبوك و جو البلوغسفار ..
ياخي مع الأسف تصدمت , نلقا لي عمار عاث فيها فسادا لا خلى لا أخضر لا يابس .. الحجب ولى لعبة قذرة تواجهنا كل يوم , اضافة الى انو مجهول الاسباب
وليت نحس لي احنا عايشين في القرن ال14 منين الكنيسة كانت تحرق في الكتب

Last night, and after a long absence, the time necessary to revise for my exams, I said to myself let me have a look at my Facebook and the Tunisian blogosphere.
Unfortunately, I was shocked. I found out that Ammar (the nickname given by the Tunisian online community to the censor) destroyed everything without exception.
Censorship has become a dirty game that we face everyday. Moreover, censorship has no clear reasons. I feel as if we are living in the 14th century, when churches used to burn books.

Meanwhile, Tunisian bloggers are protesting against the censorship by placing screens on their blogs denouncing such blockades. The photograph above is a screen shot from one of the blocked blogs.

Tunisia: Bourguiba 10th Death Anniversary Remembered

Lina Ben Mhenni — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 15:36:47 +0000

Tunisians remembered the 10th anniversary of the death of their country's first president - Habib Bourguiba. He was a Tunisian lawyer, statesman and the founder of the Tunisian Republic, which he ruled from July 25, 1957 until November 7, 1987.

After the proclamation of the Tunisian Republic in July 25, 1957, Bourguiba introduced many laws related to education, women rights and family planning, among a few, that have played a crucial role in creating changes in the Tunisian society. Bourguiba remained a president until November 7, 1987 when his prime minister impeached him, on the grounds of his old age and his health problems. Bourguiba died on April 6, 2000, and Tunisian Internet users remembered his anniversary.

On Facebook, an event with 10,425 confirmed guests has been created and bloggers wrote some posts on the occasion.

Illusions remarked:

اليوم 6 افريل 2010، يصادف مرور 10 سنوات عن وفاة شخصية دخلت تاريخ تونس و العالم من الباب الكبير. شخصية، و إن لم تكن معصومة من بعض الأخطاء، كغيرها من البشر، إلا أنها و منذ بداياتها كان لها ثقل على مسار البلاد التي اعشقها، بداية في مسيرة الحركة الوطنية ثم في بناء أسس الدولة المستقلة.

Today, April 6, marks the 10th anniversary of the death of a person who marked both the history of Tunisia and that of the world. A person, who like any human being, committed some errors but who had, since his beginnings had a great weight in the evolution of the country that I love so much, starting from his role in the National Movement then in the establishment of the foundation of an independent country .

Arabasta talked about the influence of Bourguiba's thoughts and achievements. In fact , he talked about a doctrine he entitled “Bourguibisme”:

Si j'ai parlé de Bourguibisme, c'est d'abord parce que je crois que ce qu'a fait Bourguiba (malgré ses nombreuses erreurs) peut être qualifié de “doctrine” ou de mode de pensée, on ne peut pas en dire autant pour tout les leaders du monde entier.

If I am talking about Bourguibism, it is first of all because I believe that what Bourguiba had done (despite his numerous mistakes) what can be described as ”doctrine” or a thinking mode. In fact we cannot say the same for all the leaders of the world.

The majority of Tunisians agree that Habib Bourguiba had made some mistakes, but they also agree that he had been a great man who left a mark on the Tunisian history.

Tunisia: Tunisian Bloggers Speak in English

Lina Ben Mhenni — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 07:29:29 +0000

Tunisian bloggers used to avoid expressing themselves in English (the third language in the country), writing in Arabic (sometimes in Tunisian dialect) or French instead. This has, in some way, limited their foreign audience and hindered the access to their thoughts and opinions to non-Arabic and non-French speakers. But lately some bloggers are using English in their posts. Here's a look at some of the blogs in English.

In his post entitled:AlJazeera.net inaccessible in Tunisia , Amin Zayani exposes the controversial censorship of AlJazeera.net: Tunisians can watch Al Jazeera freely whereas the website is censored. He writes:

You switch on your TV and satellite receiver in Tunisia and you can watch Aljazeera, Aljazeera English, Aljazeera Children, Aljazeera Documentary, Aljazeera Live, Aljazeera Sport all day.

But you type the web address in your browser and you can not access it. Strange, isn't it?

Under the title: Tilikum The Killer Whale, Foetus.me jotted down a small story about freedom:

Remind ‘em who you are. Remind ‘em how free and wild you really are. These people forgot you’re the apex predator of the oceans. Don’t bear with them, they dreamed of power, wicked as they see it, food related and cruel. Tell them that true power is to respect others freedom and build up on that. Show them that they are responsible and accountable. Nature will prevail my friend.

Amor blogging his world wrote a post about China's new rules concerning the media coverage of the conflict with Google:

A new set of rules and instructions from the Chinese government itself suppresses China media outlets from reporting almost anything about Google’s recent pull out from China.
The instructions, nabbed by China Digital Times, outline a series of rather disturbing edicts to media outlets that are covering the Google story. While this is nothing new, the Chinese government’s broad and suppressive mandates are still striking.

Sam' s World gives us his take on the First Arab Internet Conference, held in Beirut recently. He says:

For the first time, the Arab web industry has its conference bringing together leaders from across the MENA, Europe and Silicon Valley to discuss cutting-edge trends and emerging opportunities.

How to settle up your e-business or manage/promote your e-commerce? Online advertising, social media, entrepreneurship, startups, emerging opportunities … These and more will be discussed during the 2 days Arabnet 2010 event (March 25 & 26)

Sula7fet, an English language student and a newcomer to the Tunisian blogosphere shared with us extracts from a book he read :

The Paranoid Style in American Politics by Richard Hoftasadter , when reading the title I first thought that the issue s discussed in the book will be mainly addressed to the American reader , I remember taht i took a moment , hesitated for a while , and then asked how much ?

Hopefully, this new linguistic orientation towards the use of the English language, will give the Tunisian blogosphere a new fresh breath and will introduce it to readers from all over the world.

Tunisia: Censorship Again and Again!

Lina Ben Mhenni — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:57:17 +0000

More than ever before, censorship seems to become the rule in Tunisia. The last two weeks in the Tunisian blogosphere witnessed a war launched by Ammar (the nickname given to the Tunisian censorship apparatus), who has been censoring blogs arbitrarily.

Following the censorship of Fatma Arabicca and Sofiene Chourabi's blogs, two other blogs had been censored. One of them is the Free Jailed Tunisian students , seen in the following screen shot:

The second blog blocked is Nocturnal Thoughts . The censorship of the latter created a wave of protests on the Tunisian blogosphere.

Ghodwa Nahrek(Tomorrow I will illegally immigrate) wrote:

عمار قالك ماعادش يحب أفكار ليلية.. يحب على افكار في القايلة
مدونة “أفكار ليلية” متاع خونا و صديقنا طارق الكحلاوي تعرضت اليوم للحجب بعد اكثر من الـ3 سنوات من التدوين المتواصل في المواضيع الهامة و الحساسة . مقصّ الرقابة في تونس ولات عندو دلالات اخرى و تجاوز كونه شكل من اشكال القمع و الحد من حرية التعبير بقدر ماهو وسام للمدوّن و شهادة من الرقيب نفسه في قيمة المدونة و اهمية المواضيع المطروحة فيها.
مبروك للصديق طارق و مرحبا به مجددا في نادي المدونات المحجوبة

Ammar said that he doesn’t like Nocturnal Thoughts anymore. He prefers afternoon thoughts. Nocturnal Thoughts, the blog of our friend and brother Tarek Kahlaoui, had been censored after more than three years of continuous blogging about interesting and sensitive subjects. In Tunisia, the scissors of censorship acquired new significance. It is no onger a form of oppression and a limit to freedom of expression as it is a medal for the blogger and a certificate from the censor showing the value of a blog and the importance of the subjects it deals with. Congratulations to our friend Tarek and welcome again in the club of censored blogs.

Matrka(Hammer) blogged saying:

المدونات تصل الجميع والامكانيات تتطور كل يوم
افكار ليلية، مدونة طارق الكحلاوي، مدونة ممتازة تستحق المطالعة والقراءة ويمكن ان يكون الفرد مختلف مع طارق في هذا الموضوع او ذاك، كما يمكن ان يختلف طارق في الرأي مع هذا او ذاك، ولكن حجبها خسارة، بالطبيعة خسارة للناس الي تقرا وتهتم بالقراءة، وحجبها هو عمل متخلف مكانو الطبيعي في بداية القرن العشرين على اكثر تقدير…

Blogs connect people and their potential is evolving every day. Nocturnal Thoughts, the blog of Tarek Kahlaoui, is a good blog which deserves reading. Individuals might not be in total agreement with Tarek about one subject or another. Tarek might have a different opinion from a person or another. But the censorship of his blog is a loss. Of course, it is a loss for those who read and are interested in reading, and its censorship is a retarded action and its normal place is in the beginning of the 20th century…

Samsoum blogged under the title Ammar does not like thoughts and thinkers especially those who blog about their nocturnal thoughts saying:

واللَه مانيش مصدَق اللي مدونة طارق الكحلاوي تصنصرت خاطر نسيت اللي عمار مقص ما عندوش لوجيك يمشي بيها في ميدان التصنصير و ممكن كي فطن اللي الموضوع فيه تفكير و كلام صعيب شوية قال مانخوش الريسك و اللي خاف نجي يعني صنصر طوَا و لوَج عي سبب من بعد
الحاصل مرحبا بطارق في نادي المصنصرين و انشالله العمليَة الارهابية متاع عمار تزيد تشجعك بش تزيد تنورنا بافكارك اكثر من قبل و مدونتي مفتوحة طالما عمار موش رادد بالو
والله الواحد يحشم علي روحو كيعرف انو استاذ يكتب في صحف اجنبية و يقري في الاجانب في تاريخ الفن يتم صنصرته في بلاده لأنو تجرَء و فكَر…

I can’t believe that the blog of Tarek Kahlaoui had been censored because I forgot that ”Ammar the Scissors“ does not have a logic to follow in the field of censorship. Maybe he discovered that the subject includes thinking and difficult discourse and decided to avoid risks so he decided to censor the blog immediately and to find an argument for this censorship later on.
Welcome Tarek in the club of the censored bloggers and I hope that the terrorist actions of Ammar, will give you courage to enlighten us with your thoughts more than before. And my blog is open to you as long as Ammar did not pay attention to it.
One is really ashamed when he knows that a professor writing in foreign newspapers and teaching the history of art abroad is censored in his own country because he dared to think.

Tunisia: Language Choices

Lina Ben Mhenni — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 06:28:33 +0000

In this post entitled Arabic, French or English: for “whom” the bell tolls? the Third Ijtihad talks about the use of languages in speaking with others.

Tunisia: And They Censored Arabicca!

Lina Ben Mhenni — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 06:33:41 +0000

The Tunisian blogger Fatma Arabicca, who was arrested two months ago, resumed blogging a few days ago, and more specifically on Sunday, January 17, 2010 . But she was surprised to discover that her blog was censored by the authorities on Friday, January 22, 2010. So, the blog, with a single post, has been censored in less than a week as this link shows.

Bloggers were quick to express their opposition to this censorship. Khannouf wrote:

Le nez bouché, le regard embué par un rhume et la tête fiévreuse, par une colère, entre autres : Fatma vient d’être censurée. Après ses tracas, avec courage son blog est ressuscité par un billet « unique » posté le 17 janvier, et 53 commentaires furent reçus pleins d’enthousiasme de retrouver cette jeune femme au verbe franc.

A stuffy nose, eyes clouded by a cold and a feverish head from anger. Indeed, Fatma has been censored. After the troubles she experienced, with courage her blog is resurrected by a lone note posted on January 17, and 53 enthusiastic comments welcoming a sincere and brave young woman.

La7mer commenting on the block notes:

بربي آش فمة ؟ علاش عاودو سكرولك مدونتك .. آش صار ؟ حسب ما قاعد نشوف على الصفحة ما فما حتى ربع سبب !؟

By God I don't understand. Why did they shut your blog again? What happened? As far as I can see, I don't see anything on the page that would give them even a quarter of an excuse to censor it.

News was quick to move to Twitter, where users informed one another of the block. Here are some tweet shots about the matter :

But Fatma Arabicca is not the only victim of censorship today as journalist Sofiene Chourabi has seen his blog For a Democratic, Social, and Solidarity Tunisia being censored for the fourth time in two months.

So US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton was not wrong when she mentioned Tunisia among the countries controlling and limiting the access to internet in her speech about internet freedom delivered at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.

Tunisia: Bloggers Against Student Imprisonment

Lina Ben Mhenni — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 23:21:35 +0000

The recent trials of a group of Tunisian students and their sentencing to prison terms ranging from six months of three years after organizing a sit-in in a university accommodation to claim the right of girl students in housing prompted bloggers to launch a support campaign calling for their freedom.

A Facebook group, entitled No to Students Imprisonment and a blog: Free Jailed Tunisian Students were created. Tunisian bloggers wrote about this story.

Foetus explains :

Tunisian Students were jailed from 6 months to 3 years for protesting against the housing problem they are facing. I completely disagree with this sentence, the trial is a political trial that was disguised. Please spread the word and protest against the tunisian dictatorship.

Carpediem blogged about the issue and said:

Quoi de plus légitime et normal quand on est jeune, étudiant et doté d'un minimum de conscience que de se sentir concerné par l'amélioration des conditions de logement et d'études des dizaines de milliers de jeunes tunisiens inscrits à l'université. Et quoi de plus pacifique comme action de protestation que d'organiser des sit-in dans une résidence universitaire pour faire entendre ces revendications?

Et pourtant…Ce qui est considéré sous d'autres cieux moins répressifs comme une demande légitime et un engagement plutôt sain est systématiquement puni par de lourdes peines de prison en Tunisie, ce pays qui continue de se targuer d'être à l'initiative du programme onusien “2010, année internationale de la jeunesse”…Quelle hypocrisie!

What is more legitimate and normal when you are a young student with the minimum of conscience than to feel concerned for the improvement of housing conditions and education for tens of thousands of young Tunisians attending university. And what could be more peaceful as a protest action than organizing sit-ins in a residence hall to make these claims?

And yet … What is seen in other places less repressive as a legitimate request and a rather healthy commitment is systematically punished by heavy imprisonment in Tunisia, a country which continues to claim to be at the origin of the initiative, the UN's 2010 International Year of Youth “… What hypocrisy!

Au Quotidien adds:

Parce que leur place n'est pas en prison, parce que leurs activités syndicales sont un droit absolu, parce que nous refusons l'emprisonnement pour les opinions politiques,les blogueurs Tunisiens se mobilisent pour soutenir et venir en aide aux étudiants détenus!!
Un groupe de soutien aux étudiants détenus a été crée sur Facebook, rejoignez-le!!

Because their place is not in jail, because their union activities are an absolute right, because we refuse imprisonment for political opinions, Tunisian bloggers are mobilizing themselves to support and help detained students.
A support group for the students has been created on Facebook. Please join it!!

Tunisian Diplomat Dies in Haiti Earthquake

Lina Ben Mhenni — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 13:19:12 +0000

Tunisians were absorbed in the Tunisian National Football Team match against Zambia last night and so were bloggers. Football fans were cheering their country, which is taking part in the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations Group D encounter in Lubango.

The number of posts published yesterday was also smaller than usual and very few people wrote about the Haiti earthquake. Those who wrote about it did to talk about the death of Hedi Annabi, a 66-year-old Tunisian diplomat and the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General for Haiti (Minustah).

Adibs1 wrote a post entitled: Earthquake in Haiti: The Tunisian Hedi Annabi Head of the MINUSTAH Reported Missing. He said:

Hier à 23h heure locale, 17h heure a Haïti, un violent tremblement de terre de magnitude 7 sur l'échelle ouverte de richter a frappé de plein fouet l'île de Haïti faisant des centaines de morts et des dégats matériels énormes.
Le siége de l'ONU à Port Prince à été completement déteruit, des centaines de casques bleues sont portés disparus dont le chef de la Minsutah le diplomate Tunisien Hédi Annabi.
Agé de 63 ans, Annabi est un diplomate tunisiende carrière qui dirigeait depuis le 28 janvier 1997 le département des opérations de maintien de la paix aux côtés du français Jean-Marie Guéhenno.

Yesterday at 11pm local time, 5pm Haiti time, a violent earthquake - 7.0 in magnitude – struck the Haiti island causing hundreds of deaths and enormous property damages.The UN headquarters had been totally destroyed, hundreds of blue helmets have been reported missing, among them the Head of the Minustah the Tunisian diplomat: Hedi Annabi.
Aged 63, Annabi is a Tunisian diplomat with an important career . He has been running Peacekeeping Operations under French Jean-Marie Guéhenno since January 28th, 1997.

Stupid ideas wrote a post entitled Tunisian Representative of the UN ion Haiti probably Dead . In it the blogger said:

D'apres le yahoo, le représentant de l'ONU qui est un tunisien est décédé. J'espère que l'information soit fausse mais selon l'articleMr Hedi Annabi -ancien sous-secrétaire général adjoint aux opérations de maintien de la paix de l'ONU de 1997 à 2007, et chef de la Mission des Nations unies pour la stabilisation en Haïti (MINUSTAH) depuis le 1er septembre 2007- était parmi les personnes qu'abritaient le bâtiment de l'ONU lors du tremblement de terre qui a frappé la ville. Tous ceux qui étaient dans le bâtiment ont péri.
Mes pensées pour sa famille.

According to Yahoo , a Tunisian UN representative died. I hope that this information is false but according to the article Mr Hedi Ananbi previous Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations from 1997 to 2007 and Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Haiti (MINUSTAH) since September 1, 2007, was among the persons sheltered in the UN buildings during the earthquake which struck the city. All the people in the building had been killed.
My thoughts go to his family.