Links for 11/11/07

For a lazy Sunday:

Christopher Hitchens, hammer of Islamism, rationalist supernova, has just had a “back, sack and crack wax”. Here he is in December’s Vanity Fair, pudgy hands clasped in unlikely prayer pose, while a cadre of beauticians yank swatches of what seems to be shag-pile from the nethermost Pelt of the Hitch. Antiwar types might relish his agonised depilation diary — “like being tortured for information that you do not possess, with intervals for a (incidentally very costly) sandpaper handjob” — and wonder if it might afford him some deeper insight into activities inside Guantanamo.

Yet, strangely, in submitting to this ritual for a feature on self-improvement to celebrate his recently acquired US citizenship (he also traded fag-stained British hat-pegs for twinkly Hollywood gnashers) Hitchens has stepped into a rare place where Islam and Western consumerism concurs. For both agree that body hair, in its lush, natural form, is gross and repellent, a problem that must be eradicated at all costs.

A few more details on the Souha Arafat affair

From Tunisian magazine L’Audace:

Souha Arafat n’a cessé de se plaindre ces derniers mois d’avoir été trompée par Leïla en opérant divers placements à la Bourse de Tunis qui se sont avérés infructueux. De son côté, Leïla reprochait à sa partenaire en affaires de lui avoir mal conseillé certains placements à l’étranger. Leur idylle avait pourtant bien commencé par l’acquisition de 20% dans Tunisiana (téléphonie mobile), filiale d’Orascom qui est la propriété d’un copte égyptien. Pour cela, elles ont dû compter sur le coup de pouce de Mme Jihane Sadate, veuve du Raïs égyptien qui avait su convaincre l’homme d’affaires et intercéder en leur faveur.

Après l’union avortée entre Belhassen, frère de Leïla et chef de gang des Trabelsi, et Souha Arafat, rien n’allait plus entre Leïla et sa protégée. C’est que l’épouse du chef de l’Etat tunisien est d’une cupidité légendaire et fort connue pour ses talents dans l’escroquerie.

En effet, en décidant de la fermeture d’un lyçée français ayant pignon sur rue, le lyçée privé Louis Pasteur, appartenant au couple Bouebdelli, il était question pour les deux femmes “d’affaires” d’investir quelques 8 millions d’euros pour l’ouverture d’un autre lyçée privé dont elles seraient les propriétaires (d’ailleurs les travaux sont avancés, nous a-t-on précisé). Souha Arafat s’acquitta de sa part, environ 2,5 millions d’euros. Quant à Leïla, elle se défila à l’heure du versement arguant du fait que les démarches administratives accomplies combleraient ses 50% de parts dans le projet. Ce fut la goutte qui a fait déborder le vase.

More on this pathetic story after the jump.
Continue reading A few more details on the Souha Arafat affair

Tunisian democracy: To hope or despair?

Kamel Labidi calls for Western states to walk the walk and urge Ben Ali not to run again in 2009:

Tunisian democracy: To hope or despair?

The policy of repression, compounded by confiscation of public property and murky privatization deals by Ben Ali’s relatives and cronies, has prompted many Tunisians to take steps publicly to help stop the degradation of what used to be a well-managed economy and educational system. “Tunisia needs us,” says Mahmoud bin Romdhane, an economist and former chair of Amnesty International Tunisia. His diagnosis of the Tunisian economy is alarming, but seems to reflect that there is still hope to push Tunisia forward on the road to democracy.

Thousands of competent professionals and committed human rights and political activists of different leanings are eager and able to help lead reform Tunisia. Tunisians and foreign observers who believe that the country is one of the best candidates to become democratic argue that it is the responsibility of Ben Ali’s friends in the European Union and the United States to advise him not to run for the presidency in 2009 and to start paving the way for a democratic transition.

But this would mean Western states will have to believe that Tunisians and Arabs in general deserve to live in democratic societies. The Westerners must also be able to address, and to accept, the sometimes dangerous consequences of compelling dictators like Ben Ali to take the healthy initiative of ceding power. Will they go through with it?

The odd thing is that it’s not like Tunisia provides a strategic service to Western powers — aside from intelligence on radical Islamists and torture services — so what’s the cost of providing a little push? Ben Ali is as deserving of Western pressure as any of the dictators whose names are well-known in European countries. Just because Tunisia is a small country does not mean it’s not worth the effort.

More repression of journalists in Tunisia

Tunisian Internet editor to stand trial:

New York, August 1, 2007— The managing editor of a Tunisian online magazine is due to appear in court in Tunis on August 2 on charges of defamation that could lead to his imprisonment for up to three-and-a-half years, according to one of his lawyers.

The charges against Tunisian rights activist Omar Mestiri stem from an article in French posted on the Web site Kalima on September 5, 2006, in which he criticized the Tunisian Bar Association for reversing a decision to disbar a lawyer close to the government who was convicted on several counts of perjury and fraud. Access to Kalima is blocked in the country.

Ayachi Hammami, one of Mestiri’s lawyers, told CPJ that the trial has, for unclear reasons, been scheduled for a time when the ordinary judicial year is in recess, which might afford it less scrutiny than it could receive otherwise. “There is no reason not to examine this case during the ordinary judicial year due to begin in mid-September,” he said.

Qui écrit encore à Tunis ?

Tunisian intellectual Taoufik ben Brik writes on how the Ben Ali regime has emptied Tunis of its very soul and verve. A deeply sad recollection of better times for someone like me that has only known the current, dreadfully mournful and oppressive Tunis. Tunisians might inform me whether it is, as it appears, a barely disguised ode to Bourguiba.

(Text pasted below, in French, from Le Monde.)
Continue reading Qui écrit encore à Tunis ?

Tunisia in Le Journal

The great Moroccan magazine Le Journal Hebdomadaire (which recently lost its editor-in-chief, Abou Bakr Jamai, a fact that saddens me deeply and on which I will write about at a later point) is one of the few publications on the planet — that’s no exaggeration — that will publish long, critical pieces on the Tunisian regime. Here Catherine Graciet does an interesting political-economic analysis of a regime that is heading for self-destruction, a small bio of “General-President” Ben Ali, and an interview with the leading dissident Moncef Marzouki, who recently returned to Tunisia after a long exile in Paris (he had made the announcement on al-Jazeera, as we had mentioned here) and was attacked, put under house arrest:

Vous êtes rentré en Tunisie le 21 octobre 2006 après cinq ans d’exil en France. Pourquoi?

Moncef Marzouki : J’ai quitté la Tunisie en 2001 pour des raisons alimentaires. J’avais accepté la prison, une tentative de meurtre et la diffamation mais quand on m’a chassé de l’université et de l’hôpital où je travaillais, je me suis retrouvé sans ressources. Je suis venu en France car on m’avait proposé un poste de professeur en médecine à la faculté de Bobigny. En octobre 2006, j’ai lancé un appel à la désobéissance civile en Tunisie sur Al Jazeera. Je ne pouvais donc plus laisser les autres affronter seuls le régime de Ben Ali et me devais de donner l’exemple en rentrant.

Comment s’est passé votre retour ?

J’ai été de facto mis en résidence surveillée pendant deux mois et le régime a usé de nouvelles techniques de répression à mon égard. J’ai été agressé dans la rue à quatre reprises par des voyous qui m’ont craché dessus et insulté. A deux reprises, en pleine rue, des femmes se sont jetées sur moi en hurlant que j’avais tenté de les violer. Pour éviter d’être agressé, je sortais en permanence accompagné d’amis. Une fois, j’ai voulu soutenir un prisonnier politique en lui rendant visite en compagnie de trois autres personnes. Notre voiture a été prise d’assaut par une centaine de voyous qui m’ont encore insulté et craché dessus. L’attaque a été si violente que le véhicule dans lequel nous étions tanguait. Pendant ce temps, la police politique filmait la scène. Une autre fois, je me suis rendu à un enterrement et l’on a jeté des œufs pourris sur la voiture dans laquelle j’étais.

I find the Tunisian regime an interesting one for some of the parallels it has with Egypt — I often think of the current situation in Egypt as analogous in some respects to Tunisia in the mid-1980s.

Update: This is really not a cheap shot, I just came across it soon after putting up this post — an interview with the new US Ambassador in Tunis that appeared in the Tunisian magazine Réalités, which is legal and therefore completely under security control:

Quelles sont vos premières impressions sur la Tunisie ?

Elles sont très positives. Le peuple tunisien est très chaleureux. Le pays est très beau, son histoire est magnifique, je trouve que la Tunisie est un modèle pour les autres pays de la région

And a bit later in the interview:

Je voudrais ici insister sur l’idéal humaniste de notre politique étrangère pour aider d’autres à réaliser les valeurs universelles auxquelles nous aspirons tous : la liberté, la prospérité et la sécurité.

Labidi on Tunisia’s Islamist problem

Our friend Kamel Labidi had an op-ed a few days ago in the Daily Star about the clashes last took place in December between Tunisian security forces and Islamists probably associated with the Groupe Salafiste pour le Combat et la Predication of Algeria. If you’ve followed this story you will remember that there was a total media blackout during which the Tunisian media pretended that those involved were a criminal gang rather than an Islamist group. The PR man for the government was later fired. Rumors abound on the Tunisian online opposition media and blogs that this might have been part of an assassination attempt, that French security services are currently in Tunis investigating, and that it’s possible that the brother of First Lady Leila al-Trabelsi (the biggest mafia in Tunisia and, many complain, the real power behind Ben Ali) used his clout to sneak in a weapon shipment that was delivered to the Islamists. Of course none of this is confirmed.

Kamel’s op-ed highlights the failure of the Ben Ali regime’s “tough stance” towards Islamists and the damage he has wrecked on political plurality and free speech in Tunisia.

Friday, January 26, 2007
Ben Ali’s dictatorship is creating more Islamists
By Kamel Labidi

Tunisian President Zein al-Abedin Ben Ali has on official occasions often referred to the legacy of the great Arab writer Ibn Khaldoun, born in Tunis in 1332. The last time he did so was nearly two months ago on the 19th anniversary of his coup against President Habib Bourguiba.

This frequent mention of Ibn Khaldoun is somehow designed to show that Ben Ali is committed to the writer’s legacy. This led Amnesty International to remind the Tunisian president in 2003 of one of Ibn Khaldoun’s most important sayings: “Since injustice calls for the eradication of the species leading to the ruin of civilization, it contains in itself a good reason for being prohibited.”

The deadly clashes in the suburbs of the Tunisian capital between security forces and Islamist gunmen at the end of December and in early January took by surprise those who were under the illusion that an Arab autocrat of Ben Ali’s ilk could learn anything from Ibn Khaldoun. According to official sources, the clashes left 12 gunmen dead and 15 under arrest, as well as two security officers killed and two others wounded. The episode dealt an unprecedented blow to the reputation of a state often publicized as one of the most effective in fighting Islamists and maintaining stability.

Continue reading Labidi on Tunisia’s Islamist problem

Tunisia threatens Moncef Marzouki

The following is a translation of a message by Tunisian rights activist Moncef Marzouki, sent to me by my friend (exiled Tunisian activist) Kamel Labidi:

Communiqué

On 14 October, I appeared on Al Jazeera to discuss the situation of complete deadlock in which Tunisia has been for years, under the ruthless grip of an ever-worsening police state. I said that the only possible answer for a population tired of repression and corruption is to begin a civil resistance movement using all peaceful means available to demand its rights and its freedom.

I also also announced that I would return to my country on 21 October to be with my fellow Tunisians in their struggle for democracy.

Yesterday the Tunisian authorities delivered to my (empty) home in Sousse, and to my brother, a subpoena to present myself in front of a judge on 21 October to face a grotesque accusation: incitation to violence.

It is clear that this subpoena (the latest of many) seeks to punish me for the position I have taken and especially to intimidate me so that I will return home.

After much thought and consulting with friends, I have decided to return to Tunisia on 21 October as planned, to take all risks, to continue my call to Tunisians to refuse to submit to a regime that has deprived them of their liberties and their fundamental rights.

Dr. Moncef Marzouki
President of the Congress for the Republic (banned party)

I will be out of internet reach on 21 October, but will post a follow-up as soon as I can.
Continue reading Tunisia threatens Moncef Marzouki

Map of Tunisian political prisons

There’s a fascinating post over at Global Voices on the Tunisian blogosphere. As many of you know, Tunisia is one of the most information-repressive countries in the Arab world. It has what’s probably the most advanced censorship authorities in the region, and very actively monitors the internet, taps phones, follows dissidents and threatens them. The very nature of the regime is that it is a police state, run by the police for the police — this is not a military regime or ruling family type regime.

One exiled Tunisian blogger, Sami Ben Gharbia, has put together with some Google Maps magic a map of Tunisian political prisoners. This kind of information is rarely available publicly, and banned in Tunisia (and not discussed in the Arab and international media, in which the Tunisian regime buys positive coverage every time it can). A few months ago I attended a meeting of North African human rights activists. There were some Tunisians there who told horrible stories of detention and attacks against the families of political detainees. In the case of one of Tunisia’s most prominent activists, Siham ben Sedrine (whose husband is still in jail), the Tunisian media waged an extremely nasty campaign accusing her of prostitution and published doctored porn pictures of her. While other countries, such as Egypt, have more political prisoners Tunisia has one of the nastiest attitudes to dissidents in the region.

Commenting on the map at nawaat.org, the site Sami runs, astrubal is pretty scathing about Tunisian bloggers’ reaction to the new site – he says there has not been one mention of the site since it was launched a few days ago, and calls the Tunisian blogosphere the ‘lobotomisphere’. Bear in mind that, according to some sources, the Tunisian government is currently holding an estimated 350 political prisoners in prisons around the country, and there are regular human rights reports focusing on the treatment and welfare of the prisoners. Something you’d think was a really major topic of interest for Tunisian bloggers, but astrubal seems to be right – when I checked just now, not one of the French or English blogs aggregated at the Tunisian Blogs aggregator mentioned or linked to Sami’s site. I asked Sami by email why he thought this was the case:
I really do not expect to see the so-called “Tunisian bloggers” or Blogosphere talking about this issue. Most of them have chosen the self censorship and have decided to avoid discussing and writing about political content that may hurt the Tunisian regime. They talk about everything except Tunisians’ interior affaires. It is The Taboo of the Tunisian blogosphere. Besides, I’m part of the banned bloggers who do not save the Tunisian regime and who are not recognized as “member” of the Tunisian blogosphere. As the blogger and journalist Wael Abass wrote last week on the Deutsche Presse Agentur: “Sami Bin Gharbia, the Tunisian owner of Kitab.nl, is destined to become a refugee both physically and virtually. He lives in Holland as a political refugee and he is banned from the Tunisian blog aggregator (…) so he took refuge in the Egyptian blog aggregator hosted by Manalaa.net.”
Not only we are censored in Tunisia, we have also been censored on the Tunisian blogger aggregator and even on the periodic “Echoes from the Tunisian blogosphere” which is published on Global Voices. They do not hear our “Echoes” only because we write politics! We do understand their fear to talk about those issues, especially those living in Tunisia. Hopefully, they understand our concern to defend our citizenship and rights? Remember, this is the Web! And we are committed to defend this extraordinary tool against the censorship and its passive ally: the self censorship.
As Sami says, those within Tunisia who speak out on human rights live in a climate of fear. During the World Summit on the Information Society, Ethan Zuckerman gave a vivid account of meeting with the Tunisian Human Rights League. Tunisian bloggers may not yet be in a position to create or discuss a site like Sami’s, but according to one site that linked to Tunisian Prisoners Map, users from Tunisian ISPs are clicking through.

It’s a very interesting debate, and again do check out the map of Tunisian political prisons — someone needs to do that for every Arab country.

Bakchich

If you read French, go immediately check out Bakchich, an excellent webzine/blog about sub-Saharan Africa, the Maghreb and the Middle East (but it’s especially good on the Maghreb and Muslim Africa.) They have a handsomely designed PDF magazine (a kind of Canard Enchainé or Private Eye for the region) as well as a blog, and some interesting articles on the security shake-up recently carried by King Muhammad VI in Morocco, Tunisia’s latest attacks on press freedom, and more. Very nice cartoons too, including this one on Tunisia:

Picture 1-2

The caption says: “19 years of happiness: corruption, lockdown on civil liberties, poverty… the happy results on Ben-Alism.”