Here's a great article from a great website:
http://nawaat.org/portail/2011/01/23/tunisias-transitional-government-a-page-from-the-ben-ali-playbook/
[Unfortunately most of the material at Nawaat is in French, a language I can read fairly well but in which I lack fluency. If anybody can translate something from that website ( or any other for that matter ) I will be only too happy to post it here. Also, if anybody can translate "nawaat" from the Arabic for me I'd be grateful.]
Thus far I've been watching the rebellion in Tunisia with guarded optimism. Quite often these uprisings are the work of misanthopes at the IMF or World Bank who wish to dislodge a government because they disapprove of its policies, or they wish to gain control over some industry or resource. If this is the case, then it's much more likely the latter as the deposed lackey, Ben Ali, was most amenable to the merciless "free market" policies crafted by the international banking mafia. However, if there is something in Tunisia which the Lords of Capital covet, I have been unable to identify it. I've scoured the trade/industry sites for any mention of Tunisia and have found none. As far as I can tell, the revolt is autochthonous, that is to say a genuine, uncontrived, uninduced event. But whether it is autochthonous or the predatory machinations of capital, The people of Tunisia are winning, and that's worth celebrating.
Please do not believe what you are reading/hearing in the Western press. Here's a handful of their lies:
First, they are trying to convince the public that it was a release by Wikileaks that caused the rebellion, this despite the fact that it was over a month old before the "leak." In fact, the leak occurred two days after Ben Ali fled the country. This is a fairly desperate attempt at damage control.
Second, our media is telling us that the opposition leader, Moncef Marzouki, is a popular figure among Tunisians whom they wish to head the new government. CNN ( CEE No News ) aired video of Marzouki landing in Tunis and being mobbed by the adoring crowd. When one reads the Tunisian press one gets a very different picture. Here's a video ( scroll down ) in which Marzouki tries to participate in a street demonstration and is attacked by by-standers. I don't know what's being said as the exchange is in Arabic ( presumably ), but the caption says that he was subjected to insults and accused of being an agent of the West:
http://24sur24.posterous.com/tag/sidibouzid
Third, we are told that the people of Tunisia support the so-called unity government. It is difficult to find any support, even mainstream, for this idea. Everybody in Tunisia is calling for an entirely new government. In fact, not only are most opposed to the "unity" government, many are calling for these hangers-on from the Ben Ali Regime to be prosecuted. Here's an excellent article typical of what one finds perusing the local press. It's in French, the title says something like "RCD ( Ben Ali's ruling party ) out? All the parties have to go!" This one is more radical than most, but the contempt for the unity idea is representative:
http://nawaat.org/portail/2011/01/26/rcd-degage-tous-les-partis-politiques-degagent/
Fourth, our subverted media is insisting that the rebellion is subsiding. It's escalating. The largest union in Tunisia has called for a new round of strikes and the number of demonstrators clogging city streets is increasing now that the police have been thoroughly tamed.
I would love to tell you that the revolution in Tunisia is an anti-capitalist one, but it doesn't appear that a majority of the populace yet see the need for direct democratic control over those institutions which affect their lives. I'm not optimistic that that will change. Nevertheless, the people have rid themselves of the wretched, soulless little man who betrayed them to capital, and now have their oppressors running scared. So I say vive la revolution! Le pouvoir au peuple Tunisien!
