This article was inspired by graffiti. On 7 October Barack Obama welcomed Beji Caid el Sebsi, interim Tunisian Prime Minister, in the Oval Office. During the meeting Obama commented, “The United States has enormous stake in seeing success in Tunisia and the creation of greater opportunity and more business investment in Tunisia.” This focused language … More Two Significations of ‘Sebsi’
Following a scrawled address in my notebook, a reference from a couchsurfer for a small art space with an exhibition–that we just missed–of photographs from the revolution, we begin the labyrinthine task of searching El Medina. Our little crew of three American men and a Palestinian woman elicit a few odd glances and sotto voce … More Tunisia’s Jackson Pollack
We were sitting at the Espérance Sportive de Tunis Cafe Bab Souika, verbally composing a list of groceries to buy at the souk, sipping our café filtre. I had tried to order our three cups of coffee in my fledgling Tunisian Arabic, “ah-tee-nee lay-tha case kava.” The waiter smiled and repeated the order with the … More Coffee Observations and LabLabi Contemplations on The Constituent Assembly Elections
Israel nominated Mubarak for the Israeli personality of the year award. According to Al Arabiya, Israel’s Channel Two said that Mubarak was nominated for “his commitment to peace.” The article then points out that Mubarak had ruled Egypt since 1981. This notion of peace is built on shallow political stability. It disregards actual quality of … More Israel Nominates Mubarak for Peace Award
On day one of the 3rd Arab Arab Bloggers Meeting, Moez Chakchouk the new chairman and CEO of the Tunisian Internet Agency (ATI) revealed that Ben Ali’s Tunisia was used as a testing ground for censorship software developed in Western countries. Also see Al JAzeera English Yasmine Ryan’s recent interview. Now that one stage in … More Tunisia: Testing ground for Western companies’ censorship software
The 3rd Arab Bloggers Meeting, being held in Tunis from 3 October until 6 October, is a chance for activists from around the world to join together for a chance to share ideas, stories, successes, troubles, and build a solidarity network. The uprisings that have swept across the Arab world were propelled by social media … More Interim Tunisian Gov to Palestinian bloggers, “Not welcome.”
ZERO SILENCE – Trailer on Vimeo “Zero Silence is a documentary about young people in the Middle East who have grown angry over the authoritarian regimes they live in. These young people are using the Web to bring about change in their societies where free speech is controlled or censored. Among other topics, the production … More ZERO SILENCE – Trailer on Vimeo
Bachmann blames Obama for Arab Spring | Strange Bedfellows — Politics News – seattlepi.com. Apparently Michele Bachmann’s conception of democratic freedoms is predicated on the notion that despotic regimes are good as long as they are unquestioning allies of US interests. Labeling the perceived weakness of an American president as the primary cause of a … More Bachmann blames Obama for Arab Spring | Strange Bedfellows — Politics News – seattlepi.com
According to the Stockholm based International Peace Research Institute the “Arab Spring” is the focus of speculation over the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel Committee’s awarding of the prize to the “Arab Spring” would, “be consistent with their effort to give attention to high-profile and extremely important, potentially breakthrough developments by movements and by … More Arab Spring, Nobel Winter?
In Robert J.C. Young’s introduction to Postcolonialism: A Very Short Introduction he writes: Have you ever been the only person of your own colour or ethnicity in a large group or gathering? It has been said that there are two kinds of white people: those who have never found themselves in a situation where the … More Postcolonial Thoughts from Tunisia: An Introduction
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