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Christophe Ena / AP
Protesters chant slogans against President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in Tunis, on Friday.
CAIRO – Four months of rioting brought down one of the most authoritarian leaders in the Arab world, Tunisian President Zine al-Abedine Ben Ali, Friday. And many – from Arab analysts to average citizens – believe this may mark a turning point in the Arab World.
After two decades of unaccountable leadership, Tunisians suffered from an increasingly unbearable degree of poverty, unemployment, widespread corruption and injustice at the hands of the powerful state security. On Friday they showed the world they’d had enough. But, unfortunately, their plight is a common one shared by the majority of citizens across the Arab world.
Many in the region stayed glued to satellite channels Friday watching as Tunisian riot police beat and kicked demonstrators and shot tear gas canisters into crowds. They watched as injured demonstrators were carried away by their colleagues, as the prime minister announced that Ben Ali was no longer in power, and as anchors tried to determine exactly where Ben Ali had fled.
And many viewers outside Tunisia pondered what lessons their leaders took away.
“I think it has made governments around the region aware that uprising and revolution can happen in the world. It is a wake-up call for some. Definitely after what happened in Tunisia, things will not be the same as before,” Gamal Abdel Gawad, senior analyst at the al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo. “There are many similar countries among non-oil producers, with a lack of democracy and a lack of civil institutions. After Tunisia, perhaps, we will be seeing a different Arab world on the side of the government and people.”
Gawad pointed out that the coverage of the government’s overthrow was unprecedented.
“The last time this happened was in 1985 when the Sudanese overthrew Numeiri and then there was no satellite TV. This is the first upheaval of that sort watched around the clock instantly by everybody in the region, and its impact will be felt.”
A Cairo University political science professor, Dr. Horeya Megahed, agreed. “This might give a lesson to other governments. They might absorb the problems of the people and respond to them.”
However, Hani Sabah, an Egyptian technician, could not imagine a similar reaction in his own country.
“The oppression the Tunisians faced was so much pressure that it made them explode and do what they did. They suffered from unemployment and high prices,” said Sabah. “But it would be hard for that to happen here with the president and his gang around him…The government’s attitude is: say whatever you want and we will do whatever we want.”
Sabah doesn’t anticipate a people's rebellion in Egypt. “Everybody wants to change the system, but the government right now is completely protected … They will shoot at [protesters] with live ammunition. If they are planning to overthrow the government, they will finish them off.”
Aly Ibrahim, a Cairo plumber, was glued to the TV on Friday and surfed channels to catch the latest developments.
“The Egyptian news broadcast only a fraction of the story for fear people might get the message. Be sure that so many other countries will get the message and will say, ‘These people managed to do that.’ … The message people got is, ‘Enough is enough!’ They see prices rising, problems in society, and nobody is moving a finger.”
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Good for the Tunisians. No government should stand that oppresses its people, including the US and any of its allies.
And how exactly is the US oppressing it's people. By having free and fair elections? By having a representative government? Or is it oppressive because those democratically elected representatives enact policies you personally dislike?
In 1760 we had the Stamp Act and we revolted! You made the leap by assuming present tense.
Time to chill out about US politics. We are all part of an entire planet. we shouldn't pretend that we are the only citizens of this planet.
I would argue that many on the left as well as those on the right feel the US government today is often being less than honest with the citizens, and in fact often working against their best interest. That is why Wikileaks has been so embraced. This notion that anti-government is embraced only by some on the right is absolutely false. Nobody on the right supports Wikileaks, but many on the left do regardless of the damage.
An example of a concerted effort to cover up facts is the erroneous unemployment number released each month. True if you know where to search the truth is available. But it requires connecting the dots, which as a citizens we should haven't to be required to do. The fact that our government continues to use 9.4 as the unemployment number vs nearly 17 which includes all those not working at all plus all those making do with part-time jobs, seasonal jobs, etc., is exactly what makes people more suspicious and increases the anger. The fact that nearly half the country that could vote choose not to because they think their vote won't matter is a bad omen about the health of any country. Information is available, but like the many banking contracts the fine print is hard to read.
@ henryx- - "And the people think they are electing their president." Huh? The Electoral College elects the President of The United States of America, dude. That's 5th grade social studies/civics class. There may be alot of room for improvement in this country's government, but if you don't like it and don't have the will to try and help change things by means of democratic processes, no one is stopping you from leaving. I've been all around the world, and the one thing a cherish is all the luxuries that this country has, given it's large size and large diverse population. Try this - add up the total numbers of nation-states on this planet where criticism of their government puts you in prison. Then add up the number of countries that free speech is permitted. You'll be surprised how small the second list will be when you subtract the free countries that keep up with your standard of living. Then when you have that list, call their embassies and inquire about emigration. Good luck! :)
Look, man, there will always be rich and poor, strong and weak, dumb and intelligent. Capitalism in a democratic system is the best we have found given human nature and the situation which this planet has presented. Cheer up, and be glad you took the red pill!
so, they can "declare themselves free". what an intertesting idea?
And they don't need us to do that for them?
DH, in 1760, we hadn't even declared independence yet! We were revolting against Britain! Would you prefer to mention when the southern states seceeded from the union? That was a revolt against the US government. I would hardly consider that a good thing except that it resulted in the ending of slavery, unfortunately at the cost of many lives and much bloodshed. Those of you who constantly bash the US government need to look abroad, as has been said, and see how many other places allow you freedom of speech like you have here to criticize the govt w/o going to jail as well as a high standard of living. Even our homeless live much better than many of the people in other countries such as Haiti, where some people eat mud to keep from feeling hunger pangs. (Our homeless can at least manage to find some food. Not that I don't think they don't need help-I'm speaking for comparison sake. They don't have to eat mud to fill their stomachs.)
I've recently discovered that each little neighbor in every Neighborhood in America is offered the opportunity to participate in government, through the Neighborhood Assn. Roll up your sleves and check with your City Hall. Make it work ~ plain and simple. It's not up to someone else anymore.
& yes, neighbors are world wide, now. Might be the time to spend our time building government of the people and encouraging our neighbors, as they will us.
YAY for Tunisia
If you are so "oppressed" here, go to any second or third world country, come back alive, and then we can talk!! You obviously don't know just how good you have it here, weird as we are. . .
Henry- Crazy Paranoid much? You just based your entire rank on a fictional movie, quotes and all! Bravo Dude!
If you guys think the US government represent 'we the people's' interests, you obviously have not been keeping up on currents events since the 1920's.
Better get going on google and learn something.
Todd, yes it was a movie, but a movie about what? People basically turned to batteries to power the "Machine". What did you do today? Go to work so you could Pay taxes, so the "Machine" could get bigger. Your nothing more than a tax ID to the govt.
If the US wasnt beholden to the banks, then why did they get the bail-out and the commoners get the shaft? Cause the FED is setup to keep us down.
The new Tunisian government will be just about as 'democratic' as the United States, where already some 46,000,000 American (BLS, 2009, and way higher now) jobless, homeless, part-time, on-call, no salaries, no benefits, no pensions and now no healthcare have been thrown under the Royal Chariot by a Congress of millionaires and whoores who STOLE $9,5 BILLION from ObamaCare after screaming for an entire year 'we can't afford $95 billion a year national healthcare', then turned right around and GRIFTED that $95 BILLION to Defense as a +14% COLA RAISE for 2011!! Then they STOLE $8 billion a year from US Education, even though Johnny Can 't Read and we're at 46th of the industrial nations, then GRIFTED that $8 billion to 'Homeland Security' (sic) for a +14% COLA RAISE, but NOT ONE PENNY FOR SOCIAL SECURITY COLAs, in fact, Mil.Gov/Royals have just cracked our SS Golden Egg for 33%!
America now spends MORE FOR TSA PAT-DOWNS THAN WE DO FOR US EDUCATION! And we've been forced to BUY WITH DEFICITS every one of those 11,000,000 upside down empty house mortgages, but we are PROHIBITED FROM HOUSING OUR 11,000,000 HOMELESS IN THESE HOUSES WE OWN!!!
Do I need to draw you a freaking map? 'Least of the worst' is the best we can hope for! Small comfort!
I hear ya.
So sad that we have let ourselves be treated this way.
" ... And they don't need us to do that for them? ... "
No they don't. And we do not have the "right" to do it "for" them. It is not our place to do it "for" them. It is wrong for us to do it "for" them.
If they ask, IF they ask, we have the obligation to HELP them as we can. We have the obligation to stand with them in "their" struggle. To send what aid that we can. No troops. No weapons. No invasion. It is their country, their freedom, it is their fight. We can only help.
They do not need us to do it "for" them. And thinking that they do is arrogant and ignorant. And dangerous.
" ... what an intertesting idea? ... '
Why yes it is, isn't it. It's called self determination. Quite a concept isn't it.
Those who are complaining much about the democracy in the US, try Pakistan and Saudi Arabia for a change!
Pakistan and Saudi Arabian govts are worse than Tunisia. Top rulers nicely siphon all money into their own pockets and rest have only lectures, lack of freedom even to oppose wrongs, bad state of women, helpless and poor!
In Pakistan, military has cornered 30 percent of GDP! Many with battalions of children have only starvation and Allah!
to everyone who posted something about the US gov being an entity for banks or that the US gov is enslaving the people, shut up! my god how scary is it that there are idiots like you guys out there who are populating our earth! wish the US gov did bring back sterilization for the paranoid and angry idiots who bad mouth our great government, at least we have the FREEDOM to bad mouth our gov or to post conspiracies or complaints, at leastwe have the FREEDOM to go out and make a decent living, yeah capitalism isnt a utopia but it works! look at how good we have it compared to JUST ABOUT EVERYONE ELSE! god bless you guys, god bless this government and god bless our troops!
nice bit of diatribe Herman...but stupid none the less
Tunisians suffered from an increasingly unbearable degree of poverty, unemployment, widespread corruption and injustice at the hands of the powerful state security.
Wow!!,.........I never realized Tunisians had so much in common with Americans.
McLovin McDonalds, what is the employment rate and how much is our national debt.
I never voted for anyone to enact fiscally irresponsible policies. What about when gas hit $4 a gallon ?That was because a laws were changed to encourage futures trading in oil. That is how one foreigner was able to recieve a $100 million dollar bonus for his efforts to spike the gas prices for his American employer.
Who is being represented by such opportunistic policies ? Not the average person who has suffered the most. Could go on, but I think this shows a more realistic view of our leaders in this country.
All that the article really said is that Islamic rule is the problem. Admit the truth.
The problem is mostly a Tunisian problem, but high food costs can be partly blamed on the Federal Reserve Bank and it's policies contributing to food and energy inflation. Debt might also be blamed on the West, but the leaders freely took the money and obligated its' citizens to pay the obligation. I doubt the new government will changes peoples lives much, so it is best to change your life the best you can on your own. Don't wait for outside help, it won't come.
i know people in tunisia and they have a gusto for freedom.some of their people speak 4,5 ,6 languages.highly educated people not wasting time on bull@!$%# like some of you.quit complaining and do something for others or just dry up.conspiracy nuts get over your hallucinations.this is a great country.by the way tunisia was the second country to recognize the u.s after morrocco.yu see england,france.italy in the that group then.stupid americans learn about the world.little paranoid bitches.
so Egypt is in turmoil? Saudia Arabia Kuwait isnt? I mean its all the same type of governments. dictatorships.
Clearly, in this age of the Internet, Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook, this will reverberate throughout the Arab world. Fortunately, for the Tunisians, their internal security forces were not as strong (or as well controlled by the State) as those in some other Arab countries. For that reason, it is hard to think of this happening in Egypt, for example.
There is an error in the article : there have been 4 weeks, not months, of protests & demonstrations.
Also, I dislike this tendency on the media's part to use words like "rioting" so quickly. People were protesting & demonstrating, the police responded on the governement's (read : Ben Ali's) orders by firing live ammunition on demonstrators, sometimes shooting to kill, and even at point blank range. Is it surprising, then, that some might "riot"? But to qualify a whole movement, however spontaneous it has been, as "rioting", is to do the people of Tunisia a disservice.
Wikileaks & Anonymous were the gamechangers. The internet has played an essential role. This revolt has been playing out on twitter since mid-dec. but not on western media. there was a steady flow of protest videos & tweets that made their way onto the web in a variety of languages. The twitter hashtag was #sidibouzid. more then 34% of Tunisia's 10 million people are online. The tunisian authorities tried to build a firewall -nicknamed Amaar404 but info still got thru. Tunisia ranks 164th out of 178 coutries on press freedom according to Reporters without Borders. Operation Tunisia had activists targeting government sites with DDos attacks. The tunisian government attacked the bloggers but in the end the government fell. Major leaders voiced their doubts by downplaying the importance of the cables release, that Cablegate was of no importance or stated things we already knew. Tunisia was a revolution that has shown the world the power of the people
Good point, great post.
I thought wikileaks was dedicated to bringing down the United States government not Tunisia's. I fail to see the connection between wikileaks and Tunisia.
Wikileaks is dedicated to revealing oppressive regimes. The release of the wikileaks cables about Tunisia & Ben Ali helped this revolution. in summary Tunisia is troubled by nepotism, corruption, high unemployment. The government sought to impose even greater control, often using the police. Tunisia is a police state with little freedom of expression & serious human rights problems. Tunisia has been ruled by the same president for 22 years and has no successor. Ben ali did not tolerate advice or criticism. the wikileaks cables helped fan the fire that already started. The final straw was when Mohammed Bouazizi lit himself on fire in front of the police station in protest.
WikiLeaks isn't trying to 'bring down' ANY government. They expose lies regardless of who the perpetrating government is. Surely you've not only been listening to the American media regarding WikiLeaks?
" Tunisia was a revolution that has shown the world the power of the people"
WELL SAID!!
"Wikileaks is dedicated to revealing oppressive regimes"....hahaha
how could you post that with a straight face?...laughable drivle
The Who got it right back in 1972, in "Won't Get Fooled Again":
Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss
Rarely do countries which depose despots suceed in anything other than bringing in a new despot. It's business as usual in the third world.
Exactly, just like it happeed in the US after its independence from the English despot King George. You sure know how to talk out of your behind.
And yet a brief review of history would suggest I am correct. France overthrew King Louis the 16th and replaced him with Napoleon and a long line of other monarchs and dictators before becoming a democracy. Cuba overthrew a dictator and put Castro in power. Haiti has had a lengthy string of dictators and despots since its revolt nearly 200 years ago. Thailand, Kenya, Iran and many more all have lengthy recent histories of deposed dictators and corrupt politicians being replaced by more dictators and corrupt politicians. If you'll note I said rarely not never, the United States is an example in which democracy prevailed however Africa (where Tunisia is located in case you were wondering) and the middle east don't exactly have a stellar track record on democracy even in nominally democratic societies. Whether Tunisia can form a healthy society and democratic government without outside aid is certainly no where near a guarantee.
Egypt and Saudia Arabia are next. Iran is behind this - and that's why the Saudi's bought all the military hardware they did - cause they know it will be a showdown between the two countries sooner or later!
The Arab leaders have sold themselves out to the US and if they are thrown out of power the next target will be Israel. There's no way the Arab world will liberate itself from the US supporterd dictators and not liberate Palestine.
Israel better start implementing UN resolution 242 right away for its own good. I'm telling you, do it now before it's too late. I'm telling you!
The Arab leaders sold themselves out to the US? tell that to the ayatollah he'll whisk you away to a secret prison and execute you after a mock trial 3 years after not charging you for a crime. I only wish the Arab world were in the pocket of the US.
technically, one country is in another's pocket just as much as the next country.
The US is in China's pocket. We are truly a globalized economy, and God Willing, we will hold up with kindness and consideration for humanity, no matter what race, color, or status you may be. God Willing!
Don't forget which country's are within OPEC's pocket(s).
Olias of Sleepyhollow
please list the "Arab" leaders that have sold out...thanks
“This might give a lesson to other governments. They might absorb the problems of the people and respond to them.”
Well said.
Demonstrations without people breaking windows, flipping over cars and burning their own towns. Kudos to the people that finally had enough. There is a huge lesson here, for all of us.
Nothing strengthens the body and soul like the desire and fight for freedom.
it could happen on american soil. or has it started with what happened in arizona. so lets pray washington gets their crap together because it is getting harder and harder everyday. social security could use one hell of a raise before anyone in washington gets one and start controlling the damn gas prices and get this dollar back what it should be worth. you people in washington are just playing games like little kids. he did it, oh christ no he did it. get your crap together because people are getting sick of it already. stop handing out food stamps like everything is free around here. every person that is illegal most likely has them and healthcare and dealing drugs and driving new cars. let a american do it and we would be in jail for fruad. lets put a stop to this unnessary spending on other countries where we should not be. billions in wars we don't need to be. protect us, hell with them.
"has it started with what happened in Arizona?" Newsvine should have you banned and the FBI investigate you, creep.
So, after all, Palin and her ilk did motivate and inspire the assassin in AZ. Stop denying it.
very well said, bout time someone realized we are giving money to ppl who when you think about it would never become american citizens and give up all that free money, nice to be an american when u need help are told sorry we can't help you. But please keep paying your taxes so we can keep all these ppl here.
From THE MATRIX to Sarah Palin's cross-hairs, the distance covered in these posts is awesome. Michael, it could happen here. We are becoming steadily more mired in bad, expensive government which is less and less responsive to what the people really need, which are leaders who do not apologize for America to every foreign dignitary they can find. Leaders who don't force legislation through when the Nation is solidly against it and leaders who are not listening to George Soros' globalist crap. It may take a revolution to get back to the basics that made us a country to be proud of. It may take scrapping the two party political system. It may take leaving the UN to smother in their meaningless resolutions. But, it surely will take all of us to make a united front and do a hell of a lot better than we've done in the recent past.
As long as I am safe from the terrorist menace I don't care. Until we subjugate our liberties for our safety we can never be free.
(sarcasm)
This is what is going to happen when the wealth is too concentrated in any country.
History shows that when all of the wealth and power is held by one person or a small elite group -
inevitably a Revolution will occur. No surprise here. No surprise in Venezuela either. Whenever you get Capitalists who want to exploit and privatize everything instead of sharing the wealth with the populace -
you are asking for trouble.
Share the wealth?Don't you mean TAKE it away?How about you go EARN your wealth?You know,work for it?Taking is stealing.If the government takes,it's taxes.If you take it,it's stealing.How much stealing should I put up with?Come and steal it,I dare you.
I just want to plain old steal it from them. Just because I don't like them and I think they take unfair advantage of us. What of it? DEALwith it. Catch me if you can!
LIBERAL---- Feel free to start in front of my house.
We have castle laws in my state.
The opportunity to defend my self against a libbie, would keep me awake nights, in anticipation.
Stop it with the EARN word. Mr Warren Buffet himself said 99.5 of ALL wealth is not earned, but inherited. So just stop it. Go back to pre Reagan tax rates. 70% on the third million of income. And stop allowing families to pass on their untaxed wealth to their brat law breaking kids.
"Whenever you get Capitalists who want to exploit and privatize everything instead of sharing the wealth with the populace"
hahaha...the "liberal" in the tag explains the lack of understanding of capitalism...laughable
This is what happens when "Islam" controls the government
Yes, but to a good Muslim submission is the key. Shar'ia Law is what keeps Muslims in control. They call it peaceful.
I hope the citizens of Mexico read about politics in Tunisia . U damn right it's time for change!
Hillary Clinton talked about the Arab World should improve their lot in life with democracy and freedom. Why do the Republicans and Democrats practive what they preach and allow free time for Libertarians and Greens in debates? What about human rights in Cuba and Venezuela as well?
We need a world summit on sustainable populations. The world can shine this on but if we keep pumping out children without resources they can all afford, I think we will see more and more of this. They will be left to sort it all out and I don't think it will be pretty.
Mind your own business, to include, continuing to bail the leeches out, the problem will self correct in about 10 years
Population growth is THE problem.
Other suggested reading: Desmond Morris, The Naked Ape and The Human Zoo. Also Paul Erlich The Population Bomb.
Listen to Jerry here....... a min wage hambuger flipper on break no doubt
And the whitehouse barely releasing this statement "we condemn the ongoing violence against civilians in Tunisia and call on the Tunisia authorities to fullfill the important commitments...including respect for basic human rights and a process of much needed political reform" ???? The US knew what was going on (again demonstrated by the cables) but Ben Ali was our ally. no word of condemnation, no word of criticism from our government as tear gas & live ammunition was fired into crowds. only now that Ben ali has left Tunisia has the US made a comment. Too little to late
Or, they could , just mind their own business, we have enough trouble of our own, to be worrying about any one else's
absolutely right...now you understood the game...
"The government’s attitude is: say whatever you want and we will do whatever we want.” I thought that was the USA's government motto. Isn't this a copyright violation?
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has gone on the record telling the Arab governments the best way to do things is not be so repressive. Seems the Tunisians took that message to heart.
I wonder who will be next?
Tiannaman(?) Square is 20 years old. How many countries have freedom in the hearts of the youth?
i'm staying quiet on this one. just watching!
Greece next?
Ben ali has fled to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, another of our so called allies