My personal ties to Tunisia may be over 2000 years old, they still are quite loose. My family willy nilly had to leave this country half a century ago while their formers neighbours were singing Yah’yia Bourguiba, something I remember singing with my cousins too when I was a little girl born and brought up in Paris!

A few months ago, I became very friendly with a tunisian scholar who happens to come from the same town as my parents, Sfax. Our nostalgic memories and strange similar itinerary, same age, same english sociolinguistics academic background, same age, same confidence in the virtues of universality and cosmopolitanism, same rejection of religious fanaticism…

• I prefer to hide her name until it’s safe enough to publish it, so for the time being, let’s call her Mona Zitouna. The first message she sent me about the tunisian riots was actually rather funny since  she mentioned the vandalizing of a beer  warehouse by  people in Kairaouan screaming ” 2011 birra blech” (in 2011, free beer).  Just a reminder that all this started in September with the suicide of a student who couldn’t, like 30,000 of his colleagues, find a job and had become a black-market vegetables salesman…
• She had also mentioned that since people were committing suicide with electric wires, the government had decided to turn off…the electricity…

Then she shared with me this link about a Tunisian passionaria (click on the link).

then all this happened in a day:

1. She sent me on January 14th the interview of Souhayr Belhassen on a French radio, clearly asking Ben Ali to leave the Government and the UN to send an enquiry. There are lots of vandalized shops which are being attributed by the pro-Ben Ali militia.
2. then another video of the crowds celebrating their victory after Ben Ali left the country.

   

3. I congratulated her and although relieved that this dictator had left power, she wasn’t that happy either, stating that there was a curfew in the whole country and that people feared that the army was going to take over the power. There seem to be contradictory rumors. At that stage, the former president had asked the prime minister to change the governement and called for earlier elections….I remind you that this is someone who was allegedly elected with 99% of the votes by the very people who were in the streets calling for his departure yesterday. The airport, said Mona at 5.30 pm,  is being surrouned by the army and no plane can leave. So the former president’s relatives and close relations are trying to save their lives by going to Lyon in France. A pilot allegedly refused to take off once he knew who was on board.
4. More important, it’s now been four days that all shops are closed and Sarah has almost no food left apart from pasta and rice:: j’ai presque plus rien à la maison comme bouffe, ça fait trois jours que les magasins sont fermés et la plupart pillés….and olive oil, Tunisia’s real petrol;-)
5. at 6:00 Mona wrote “on va annoncer une nouvelle de la plus haute importance on annonce à la télé tunisienne! tu crois que le président a quitté le pays? ou plutot a fuit lepays avec toute sa famile? Khhhhhhhhhhhhhhit la honte! il ont les mains sales et crasseuses on ne peut plus!
   ça me permettra de maigrir mais c’est mes momes qui ont besoin de bouffer moi je m’en fous!” (they are about to give a major piece of news on Tunisian TV. Can you believe it, the president has left the country with all his family. Shame on him, Yuuuukkkkk!!! They have filty dirty  hands, we can’t stand this any more. As for the lack of food, it will be good for my figure, I don’t care about myself but my kids need to eat!)
6. I normally turn off my internet connections on Saturdays, just because I feel after 20 years of internet, that one needs to hook off…however, I couldn’t help turning it on to read her mails, and this is what I found: “C’est l’incertitute de la plus totale! l’effervescence sociale à son plus haut niveau! la nuit d’hier était pénible! les policiers de l’ancien régime ont voulu fuir et il y a eu chasse aux sorcières et un pillage de masse; Comme tout était la propritété des Trabelsi et des Ben ali, tout a été saccagé et brulé y compris les postes de police, lesinstiuttions politiques! etc.. les hélicoptères étaient par centaines dans Tunis hier soir et les ambulances n’ont pas arreté leurs sirènes et beaucoup de personnages étaient mortes de peur parce qu’il y a ey des gangs de voleurs qui ont attaqué des maisons et terrorisé les gens et il y a eu beaucoup de morts car les gens n’ont pas respecté le couvre-feu” (We are in a state of total uncertainty! An utmost social turmoil! Last night was a real pain! The policemen from the Ancien Regime have been prosecuted and vandalizations took place everywhere. Everything that used to belong to the Ben Ali and Trabelsi families have been burnt down or vandalized, including police stations and governement institutions…There were hundreds of helicopters in Tunis last night and ambulances and sirens could be heard whole night. Lots of upper class people were terrorized as gangs of thieves vandalized houses and terrorized people. There have been lots of casualties due to the fact people didn’t respect curfew.
7. As I was criticising the french governement for its cowardness in not accepting Ben Ali, their yesterday’s best friend, Sarah wrote: ” Je suis fatiguée , vivement le bout du tunnel! quel saleté de pouvoir le con a 75 ans et n’a pas pris le temps de demander le droit de refuge avant de fuir! quelle arrogance, il croyait que la France, C’était acquis. Sa femme est à Dubai et comme ils sont en mauvais terme, il a été accueilli en Arabic, chez ceux qui lui ressemblent! les despotes et les pilleurs de richesse nationale.Ben Ali (credits Souad Labbize)
   C’est vrai que c’est un tournant dans l’histoire de la Tunisie mais je souhaite de tout mon coeur que la transition se passe dans le calme et la réconiciliation sociale parce qu’il existe beaucoup de vieilles rancoeurs et on s’atend à des vendettas.
   Parait qu’il y avait un nombre incroyable de gens qui l’attendaient au bourget et qu’ils avaient déjà laissé atterrir un avion des ses enfants plus tot qu’ils avaient refusé. Plein de tunisiens et de francàtunisiens l’attendaient pour le lycncher! en plus ils se devaient d’assurer sa sécurité et quel casse-tete!” (I’m exhausted, I can’t wait for the end of all this! Bloody governement, this asshole is 75 years old and he never bothered seeking asylum prior to fleeing! What an arrogance! He thought that France was granted! His wife is in Dubai and as the are not in good terms, he’s been welcomed in Arabic in the country of people like himself, despots and thieves of the national wealth. “
8. Mona has pasta, rice and some tomato sauce…she can hold fort for a couple more days. We all wish her the best.  This is the note she posted as well and asked her friends to share on FB: Pour assister les forces de l’ordre dans leur mission de maintien de l’ordre , il est recommandé à tous les tunisiens d’organiser des comités de vigilances de quartier. Groupes de surveillances de 5 à 6 personnes armées de bâtons ou barres de fer… La surveillance ne doit pas dépasser 3 à 4 pâtés de maison. Il faut des chefs de groupes qui seront en contact téléphonique avec les groupes voisins. il faut des rondes de 2 à 3 heures en rotation pour permettre à tous de se reposer.A la levée du couvre feu le matin, merci de ravitailler nos forces armées qui stationnent près de chez vous avec de la nourriture chaude. Faites circuler SVP (In order to support the police forces in their mandate to protect law and order,  we ask all the tunisian to organize district vigilance committees of 5 to 6 people armed with sticks or iron bars…The surveillance shouldn’t exceed three to four blocks. We need group leaders who should be in contact with neighbouring group leaders. It will be required to do rounds from 2 to 3 in order to allow everyone to rest. At the end of curfew in the morning, we thank you in advance for providing some warm food to the armed forces which are located in your neighbourhood. Please share this message).

I will keep posting whatever Mona shares. This is a historical moment and the first totally internet supported revolution led by intellectuals…I can only hope that this virus spreads to Iran, North Korea and any country suffering from strong or mild dictatorship throughout the world.

January 15, 14:15.

Further  news

January 16, 15:15

Mona wrote me:

“Moi je vais a peu près bien à part cette boule dans l’estomac dûe à l’anxiété. on sent un léger mieux dehors mais très lentement. Le couvre-feu s’allège un peu, les boutiques commencent à ouvrir, 3h de queue pour deux baguettes! les hélicos sillonnent le pays.
Je crois qu’on va faire un avenir meilleur! je suis un peu fatiguée car meme (le somnifère) n’a pas fonctionné, j”ai pas fermé l’oeil car il y a des tirs dans la nuit et l’armée jour le role de la police aussi et donc est complètement dépassée, il a fallu organiser des comités de quartier pour la protection des maisons et des quartiers, Mon fils a arraché le baton du balai et est descendu avec ses potes devant l’immeuble pour soi-disant se battre ! il m’a fait rire parce qu’il n’est pas du genre balaise ou du genre à se battre mais plutot du genre à avoir vécu dans le coton!
je suis contente qu’il vive cette expérience parce que c’est arrivé si vite et ça a pris de court tout le monde, ça c’est passé en moins de 24 heures, c’est invraisemblable, quand le peuple veut quelque chose, il a le dernier mot, je ne sais pas si tu connais le célébre poète tunisien qui est mort à 25 ans Aboulkacem Chebbi, qui a un vers très célébre: si le peuple un jour a choisi de vivre, le destin se doit de se plier à sa volonté et c’est un vers que les islamistes n’aiment pas mais que le peuple tunisien a scandé continuellement ces derniers temps!
j’ai un sentiment d’euphorie mais je ne réalise pas encore que ce soit arrivé , d’ailleurs personne n’y croit encore mais le régime ce n’est pas un individu , c’est un système et une machine lourde et géante et qui a d’énormes ramifications qu’il faudra éradiquer et déraciner.
voilà je vais manger un bout car j’ai tout vomis depuis hier mais je croise les doigts pour que la transition se fasse. les gens sont pressés et sont assoiffés de démocratie mais il y a trop de vieux réflexes et il faudra peut-etre attendre quelques années et peut-etre pas les prochaines élections mais celles d’après car l’ancien prérsident à concocté une consitution sur mesure .
je te parlerai de la constituion si tu veux plus de détails mais si tu n’as pas une corde politique particulièrement développée, il y a pas de soucis,
Je t’embrasse bien fort!
boussa ! (I’m OK apart from stomach cramps caused by anxiety. The curfew is slowly recessing and shops are reopening. Three hours of queuing for two french baguettes! The helicopters cover the country. I believe we are heading to a brighter future! I’m a bit tired as despite the  sleeping pills, I wasnt able to sleep since there were shootings all night and that the army is replacing the police and is thus totally overwhelmed. District vigilance committees had to be organised to protect houses and districts. My son took the broomstick and went downstairs with his friends in front of the appartment building in order to combat, he said. This made me laugh as he is far from having the physical strength and has been brought up in a sheltered environment! I am glad that he can experiment this as this happened so fast and everyone is so surprised. Can you believe it that this all happened in less than 24 hours. It’s unbelievable, when the people really wants something, they win. Do you know the famous tunisian poet who died at the age of 25 Aboulkacem Chebbi, who wrote a very famous verse: “if the people once choses to live, destiny will have to comply to this will” this is a verse the Islamists do not like but that the tunisian people have kept singing lately”‘

I feel this kind of euphoric state but I haven’t fully realized what happened and by the way no one still believes it. But a regime isn’t one person, it’s a gigantic and heavy machine which has enormous ramification we will now have to uproot and eradicate! Here we are, I’m going to eat a bit as I’ve been sick since yesterday but I keep my fingers crossed for a smooth trnsition. People are in such a hurry and are in such demand for democracy, but there are also the old biases and it might take a couple of years and maybe not at the next elections but the following ones because the former president had a tailor-made constitution. I’ll tell you more about it later. Big hugs,

Another Tunisian Friend joined a FB Group against Islamic recuperation and a colleague member of Academie Sans Frontières just offered to create a team to empower democratic leaders: “I suggest a task force be quickly organized to support Tunisia as it builds its government. There is a need to bolster security, initiate democratic notions and structures, and foster a free society, I believe.” (Robert Arthur Crane)

Meanwhile a candidate is being supported by Tunisian intellectuals, Ahmed Negib Chebbi. These intellectuals don’t seem ready to forgive the attitude of France as depicted in this video (click on the link))

You will find a summary of this week’s events at Le Monde Diplomatique‘s paper signed by Olivier Piot. It includes several interesting links on this topic and some useful comments from readers.

POST SCRIPTUM (January 31st, 2011)

A description of the raw facts occurring in Tunisia was, I thought, the only thing I could do from where I am…an ignorant of the situation and a simple back-seat witness of a marvelous victory of the People for the People of Tunisia.

Some Ministers have been appointed in 10 minutes as depicted in La Tribune de Genève’s paper “J’ai eu 10 minutes pour accepter d’être Ministre” by Thierry Meyer. Zitouna commented the paper: “