More Unrest in Tunisia

New unrest over unemployment breaks out in Tunisia

TUNIS, Tunisia - Police and high school students have clashed for two days in a small city of Tunisia, with protesters setting fire to the local headquarters of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's ruling party, a union representative said Tuesday.

The North African nation has been gripped by more than two weeks of protests over unemployment that were sparked when a young man set himself on fire, in despair after police confiscated the fruits and vegetables he sold without a permit. The unrest has led to three deaths.

The latest protests broke out in Thala, 250 kilometres (150 miles) southwest of the capital.

As classes resumed after winter vacation Monday, hundreds of high school students and other protesters clashed with police, who used tear gas, said a union official who was present. The man spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing problems in a country where the media is heavily controlled by the state.

Amid the clashes, demonstrators set fire to tires and to the local ruling party headquarters on Monday, the official said. The unrest continued on Tuesday. Several people were arrested, and others were hospitalized with injuries, the union official said. The protests shuttered local schools.

France's LCI television broadcast video of Thala that showed packs of shouting young men roaming the streets and clouds of smoke in the air.

Such overt clashes are rare in Tunisia, a popular tourist destination on the Mediterranean where the government brooks little dissent and is routinely criticized for its human rights record. Tunisia's unemployment rate is around 14 per cent, a figure believed much higher in rural areas.

The protests started on Dec. 17 after 26-year-old Mohamed Bouazizi doused himself with gasoline and set himself on fire in public. Bouazizi had a university degree but no steady work and sold produce in the street to earn money for his family — a story that resonated with many. Bouazizi is still hospitalized.

In one protest, police opened fire, killing two people. In another, an unemployed youth electrocuted himself on an electricity pylon.

Reacting to the unrest, the president has ordered a 6.5 billion dinar ($4.5 billion) plan to create jobs for Tunisians with university diplomas.

The opposition says the government's response has been inadequate and that the protests are fueled not only by unemployment but by a lack of personal freedoms.

Source: AP

al-Bab

Cyber war breaks out in Tunisia

As the Tunisian uprising continues on the ground with no sign of abating, the battle over information is intensifying on the internet.

Yesterday there were numerous reports of Tunisians' Facebook pages and email accounts being hacked – presumably by the regime – with Yahoo users apparently the most vulnerable.

The nawaat website responded with technical guidance for protecting against attacks. The Tunisian Pirate Party was also reported to be distributing USB sticks containing Tor (anonymity software) to students.

The Tunisian government is regarded as a world leader in the field of internet censorship and it could easily block access to the whole of Facebook if it chose to do so. However, it seems to have recognised that this would be extremely unpopular and could further inflame the protests – so it has opted for targeting individuals who oppose the regime.

The authorities also routinely block access to anything remotely critical which appears on websites outside the country. According to a Twitter user, this article was blocked within 10 minutes of appearing on a Swiss website.

Parallel with the government's assault on internet users, the group known as Anonymous has been attacking government-related websites (as reported here yesterday). Al-Jazeera has more details.

When checked this morning, the following websites were still unavailable:

www.bmvt.com.tn (Tunisian Stock Exchange)

www.sicad.gov.tn (Tunisian Foreign Relations)

www.industrie.gov.tn (Ministry of Industry)

www.commerce.gov.tn (Tunisian Government Commerce)

www.carthage.tn (The Carthage Palace – presidential website)

benali.tn (Presidential elections site)

www.ministeres.tn (Tunisian government site listing various ministries)

Al-Jazeera appears to be the only major news organisation trying to cover the uprising on a day-to-day basis and, predictably, it has come under fire from the Tunisian regime and its supporters. The accusations of "unprofessionalism" and using "unreliable" (ie non-governmental) sources are a bit rich considering that the authorities are doing their utmost to prevent it from reporting. It is having to make extensive use of amateur videos and social networking websites in order to get information.

Twitter users reported demonstrations in several Tunsian cities yesterday, though details are scarce. The nawaat website posted videos of two student protests, one at the Institut de Presse et des Sciences de l'Information and the other at Gronbalya Lycée. It also reports a hunger strike by trade unionists in Redeyef.

Lawyers have reportedly called a strike for Thursday, January 6.

The Egyptian foreign minister arrived in Tunisia yesterday for two days of discussions on "key issues of mutual interest". The Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, also began an official visit.



Posted by Brian Whitaker

Inside Iraq

As if Saddam never was

Our schools are different from schools in the U.S. in that the teachers are required to stick to the material in the text books that the Ministry of Education prints, and are not permitted to deviate from the curriculum in any way. This is how it was during Saddam's time – and has – conveniently, remained the same since, in spite of "democracy", "human rights" and "freedom of speech". In maths and chemistry this may not be such an issue. But when it comes to history ..

Contemporary Iraq history is taught in sixth, ninth and 12th grades, the grades that take ministry board examinations. Now, in all three text books history suddenly comes to an end after the 1958 revolution. No mention is made of later revolutions: in 1963 in which Baathists participated, though they did not come to power, and the 1968 revolution that they led and through which they arose to power. Not once is "Baath" mentioned – Not once is Saddam Hussein" mentioned in all the history text books now being taught in Iraqi schools.

I spoke to Ms Nadia (38 years - very beautiful! – married, three children), who teaches ninth grade history in a boy's intermediate school in west Baghdad, and who had previously taught 12th grade in a secondary school.

"I cannot deny that a big effort is being made to erase that era from the history (text) books. It seems that our governments cannot draw a moderate path to teach our pupils. Before 2003, there used to be too much detail about the Baath party rising to power – its struggle - its achievements and future goals – And now there is nothing at all.

"Thirty years cannot be erased from our memories. They are what made us who we are – for good or bad. As a history teacher I believe that it is not just identity that we gain from studying our history – but also the lessons and examples that history gives – the examples that should make us wiser in the future. These should not be erased. They should be highlighted and shouted from roof tops so that the politicians sit up and pay attention".

(I asked her whether she thought the politicians intend to keep this silence in history text books – or whether they were just pondering what should be written??) "History is always affected by politics – and the winner gets his version into the text books. Like you, I am wondering what they will write – how they will describe that era, its ups and downs. May be it is still too recent for them to be able to make all the changes. Will they be fair? Or will it be just revenge? I feel like I am a witness and need to see the outcome of this struggle".

(I asked her what other changes were made in history text books that she would like to comment upon) "The change that caught my attention was in seventh grade history text books. Seventh graders study ancient civilizations, focusing on Mesopotamia. It was a rich study that caught the imagination of the pupils and inspired them. Now the focus on Mesopotamia is very little – Hamurabi is just another king who wrote the law on an obelisk – and greater focus is given to neighbouring civilizations".


Posted by Sahar IIS on Inside Iraq

Collective Amnesia

Reading the latest book (Chicago) by the Egyptian novelist Alaa al-Aswany recently one section stood out from the rest: a conversation between an Egyptian academic, Muhammad Salah, and his first love Zeinab. Dr Salah had left Egypt at an early age to pursue a PhD in America and went on to carve out a successful career for himself at the University of Illinois, leaving Zeinab behind in Egypt to idle away her days at the ministry of planning.

However, several decades later and driven by a failed marriage to his American wife, acute homesickness and a deep sense of nostalgia for his homeland, Salah plucks up the courage to contact Zeinab, whereupon his nostalgic view of the Egypt he left behind in the 1950s comes face-to-face with the harsh realities of modern life in many Arab countries.

“Egypt is living its worst days” Zeinab tells him. “Everything has changed for the worst. Reactionary ideas are spreading like the plague. Can you imagine that I am the only female Muslim in the department of planning, out of fifty employees, who is not wearing the veil? … Egyptians have given up on justice in this world, so they are they are waiting for it in the next.”

The growth in religious symbolism here in Jordan is a subject that has caught my attention for some time now. The most obvious expression of this is a perceived increase in the number of girls wearing the Hijab (headscarf), particularly the younger generation. In the absence of any hard statistical data, a fairly rough way of gauging the situation is to talk to university lecturers, most of whom agree there has been an increase. The decision of Muslim women to wear the Hijab is a personal choice and I’m all for that. However, I believe this phenomenon reflects much deeper societal fault lines.

For example, the growing religiosity appears to have little to do with religion in any meaningful sense of the word, i.e. an inward journey to improve the self. Neither does it appear to be driven by Qu’ranic injunctions on modesty. Many women who wear the Hijab do so in combination with skin tight jeans and tops, not to mention layers of make-up. And it’s not just an issue of the Hijab. In a recent column for the Independent, Robert Fisk noted that “civil "servants" and government officials are often scrupulous in their religious observances – yet they tolerate and connive in rigged elections, violations of the law and prison torture.” The same article also recalled how doctors abandoned their patients at a Cairo hospital to attend prayers during Ramadan. The same phenomena can be found throughout the region, a kind of mass religious façade in which the meaning of Islam has become associated with its physical representation, however threadbare that may be.

The character in al-Aswany’s novel, Zeinab, puts this phenomena down to repression, poverty and having no hope in the future, describing as a “ collective depression accompanied by religious symptoms.” Driving this sense of collective amnesia has been the failure of Arab regimes to introduce democratic institutions, good governance, a thriving civil society and clear national goals. In the absence of effective governance, including a lack of checks and balances on power, the whole concept of citizenship, as a person enjoying equal rights and obligations to co-citizens under the law, has been undermined. Under these circumstances the retreat into religious symbolism is perhaps a way of rationalizing both the present and the future in repressive societies where cronyism and corruption rein supreme and where patronage and connections, rather than merit, are the key factors which determine social mobility.

Nevertheless, it can hardly be a sign of healthy and advancing societies but more a descent into mass schizophrenia.

lighting up Jerusalem

Photo: Pavel Wolberg/EPA

No politics here, just a magical picture of Palestinian children lining the streets in Ramadan as worshipers make their way to the al-Aqsa Mosque. Light upon Light!

Slavery by another name

The Jordanian press reported today that the Cabinet has introduced new regulations governing domestic workers. Under the new measures, the workers will be entitled to: a 14 day annual leave and 14days of paid ‘sick leave’, be allowed to contact home once a month at their employer’s expense, and work no more than ‘10 hours’ per day – 10 hours per day! Very generous that in a country where the public sector shuts down at three and even earlier during Ramadan. The new benefits also include a clause guaranteeing religious freedom.

And in return for these generous benefits, the employees will be expected to – and I quote: “...do their job with utmost integrity and faithfulness respect the privacy of their workplace and maintain its contents, not reveal the secrets of the house, respect the employer's traditions and culture, and not leave the house without the employer's permission”.

And:

“If a domestic helper runs away from her workplace, the employer will not be obligated to fulfill any financial obligations to the worker, nor will the employer bear the expense of sending the domestic helper back to her country.”

Yes, and we all know what that means: the worker will be locked up in a police station until someone coffs up the repatriation fees.

The new regulations come in the wake of a string of allegations regarding the plight of domestic workers in Jordan. The case of 150 Filipino workers who took refuge in their embassy in Amman in 2008 from abusive employers drew international media attention after the Philippine government placed a temporary ban on its citizens travelling to work in Jordan. The crimes committed against them included non-payment of wages, physical abuse and even rape, not to mention overwork, the restriction on mobility, communication and isolation.

The media attention was no doubt embarrassing for the government – which had never showed any real initiative to address the concerns before – and I guess placed some pressure on it to finally act. After all, human rights are supposed to be key issues under the terms of the FTAs with the EU and the US – but regardless do not have appeared to have had much leverage in Jordan’s case.

Although the new regulations are to be welcomed and follow changes in the Labour Law that protect the rights of foreign workers, in reality, like most things in Jordan, they will fall down on implementation. We are told that a new committee will be formed to enforce the regulations, comprising labour ministry officials and representatives from the police and the Non-Jordanian Domestic Helpers Affairs Committee. But what mechanisms will be put in place to enforce such regulations? None have been announced to date. Or is it just a straw man to stave off the attention of the media and international donors?

Human Rights Watch has recommended a couple of proposals. First, that all domestic workers appear at the labour ministry “in the presence of the home owner within the first month of work to ensure she is aware of her rights and duties under her employment contract and under this regulation, of which she should receive a copy in a language she understands.” Secondly, that the police and others investigate cases “where there is credible evidence of abuse, and not only where there is an official complaint.”

This is highly unlikely for a number factors: lack of institutional capacity, lack of will, and lingering cultural norms which view this form of servitude as acceptable (just look at the Gulf slave economies). Also, by the very nature of their work, domestic servants are employed in private households concealed from prying eyes. The typical experience of a domestic worker arriving in Jordan goes something like this: they are collected from the agencies and whisked off to houses, rarely to be seen again, unless carrying shopping in a supermarket, pushing prams in the shopping malls or minding the children in the Nadi while the mothers drink coffee. Once in the houses they are at the full mercy of their employers and despite the new 'protections' this is the way things will remain as long as a culture persists in which a modern day form slavery is widley seen as acceptable.

Is a new press law in the pipeline ?

Just a week or so ago the Jordanian interior minister, Nayef al-Qadi, launched an attack on segments of the Jordanian media for “unbalanced reporting” and accused some of being agents on the payroll of foreign powers (see post below).

The media has come under official scrutiny lately for a number of issues, including its coverage of the Aqaba port strike, the government’s alleged revoking of Palestinian citizenship, and its sharp criticism of the performance of the current parliament, among others. But although the minister lambasted some segments of the media, he nevertheless qualified his comments by stating that the government had no intention of restricting freedom of expression.

But it seems the media doesn’t believe him. This week the press has been rife with speculation that the government is seeking to once again redraft articles of the press and publications law. And judging by the reaction of the Jordan Press Association’s president (though not regarded for being a fierce proponent of press freedom), it does not appear that any future amendments are aimed at easing restrictions. It is difficult to say exactly what’s going on here. It could be that the minister's comments and the subsequent ‘leaks’ concerning a possible revisit of the press laws are merely a tactic to keep the media in line. Who knows?

The press and publications law itself has been the subject of heated debate for many years as activists have lobbied to repeal clauses in the 1998 law allowing for the imprisonment of journalists. Finally in March 2007, the clauses were abolished but only after a fierce battle with the lower house which wanted to retain them and instead settled for an increase in fines of up to $40,000 for violations relating to defaming religion, offending religious prophets, inciting sectarian strife or racism, slandering individuals, and spreading false information or rumours.

The changes signified a positive step forward but were hardly ground breaking. The law still provides the government with wide discretionary powers to withdraw licenses and close down publications/broadcast media, while journalists and writers can still face imprisonment under the penal code. All of these factors serve to keep editors in line and engender self-censorship among journalists.

Recent incidents documented by Reporters Without Borders (Jordan ranks 128 out of 173 countries in the press freedom index) include:



6 July 2009 - Government closes Amman bureaux of two Iranian satellite TV stations
3 November 2008 - Newspaper editor freed on bail after being held for five days by state security court
11 October 2007 - Ex-legislator gets two years in prison for online criticism of government corruption


Also, in June this year a court sentenced poet Islam Salhan to one year in prison and a $15,000 fine on charges of defaming Islam.


So what possible changes to the law could be on the government’s agenda? We’ll have to wait and see …