People power forces change in Tunisia

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Re: People power forces change in Tunisia

Postby semper occultus » Mon Jan 17, 2011 1:59 pm

AlicetheKurious wrote:@ barracuda: I had to stop reading Pity the Nation again, though this time I got half-way through: I wasn't learning anything new, but Fisk was really pissing me off with his unwittingly racist stereotypes and his use of broad strokes to cover up his lack of understanding and knowledge, and his irritating obsession with himself; also, among other things with his habit of pretentiously using Arabic words that he clearly doesn't understand, or mangling them hilariously (and repeatedly).


ha! interesting - examples ?

did you ever dive into this 1,400 page monster Alice ?

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Re: People power forces change in Tunisia

Postby AlicetheKurious » Mon Jan 17, 2011 2:52 pm

semper occultus wrote:ha! interesting - examples ?


I'd have to dig through it for specific examples and I really don't want to, but one thing comes to mind because he did it so often: using the Arabic word "zaim" as a plural, when it is singular for "leader". Early in the book he does use the correct plural "zuama" once, but then he goes on to using "zaim" over and over as a plural. It's particularly irritating in this context because using suffix "im" to indicate a plural is usual in Hebrew, not Arabic.

did you ever dive into this 1,400 page monster Alice ?


God, no. I rarely even read his articles.
"If you're not careful the newspapers will have you hating the oppressed and loving the people doing the oppressing." - Malcolm X
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Re: People power forces change in Tunisia

Postby lupercal » Mon Jan 17, 2011 4:58 pm

Some illuminating background here:

"APPENDIX B - 'London' Draft of the TPAJAX [Ajax] Operational Plan," http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/mi ... ndix-b.pdf

from: CIA Clandestine Service History, "Overthrow of Premier Mossadeq of Iran, November 1952-August 1953," March 1954, by Dr. Donald Wilber, http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB28/#documents

more on this later but have a look...
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Re: People power forces change in Tunisia

Postby vanlose kid » Tue Jan 18, 2011 9:46 am

Tunisia: The Fascist Regime of Ben Ali

Dear readers, a good Tunisian friend of mine recently sent me an article which lays out in excruciating detail the corruption and abuse of power that led to the fall of the Tunisian government and the flight of former President Ben Ali.

The article was written by respected Tunisian author and journalist Abdelaziz Belkhodja. The original article is in French and what you see below is the Google English translation of the article.

The article shows how entire sectors of the Tunisian economy were co-opted by Ben Ali, his family and friends. The result was a fascist state that collapsed, finally, under its own weight. As this blog has a global audience, I encourage all the readers of this article to look closely at their own countries and the powers that be. Open your eyes, just as the Tunisian people have.

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."


THE TRUE NATURE OF THE PLAN OF BEN ALI
The self-immolation of young Mohamed Bouazizi sparked a revolt in Tunisia ever.
The sacrifice is not suicide, it is an act of courage for the crowd to show the absolute rejection
of the practices of power that prevents you literally live and that is why the people have
decided once and for all put an end to the dictatorship.This document is intended to inform
readers of the true nature of the regime established by Ben Ali, a man who has distributed to
his immediate resources of the country and plays the role of arbiter between the various
holders of wealth, removing giving to each other in a dance of allegiances which completely
removed from the realities of Tunisia. This logic of power has led to serious decay if the
values that society derives quickly and surely to decay or when religious fundamentalism,
seen as the last refuge of dignity.

Besides the crowd movements as spontaneous revolts Redeyef in 2009 and Sidi Bouzid,
which have spread to the entire republic and where the crowd chanted slogans were directed
against the corruption of the family of Ben Ali, a multitude of writings and articles since 1988
have condemned the excesses of the regime, whether political or financial.On political excesses,
just read the statement of 7 November 1987 to be convinced of the total lack of political will
and the absence is confirmed by the fact that Ben Ali accepts and covers the criminal practices
of his immediate entourage, and this , in full sight of everyone and with the complicity of
many members of all branches of the state.

The case we present target actions performed by the immediate surroundings of Ben Ali.
The list is not complete as some close to the government operating through nominees and
monitoring of operations becomes more difficult. Although all sectors of the economy has
been affected by the greed of the relatives of Bin Ali, these are obviously the big markets
and the best in the country were targeted first. Thus, privatization has all been made
illegally and in total contradiction with the law and regulations.

The first major victim of these operations is the Tunisian state, a state that has been
completely gutted by Ben Ali and his entourage, and this, to ensure his grip on the country by
eliminating any dissenting voice and up to create from scratch a puppet opposition.

The Committee of Public Hi

Regarding the "business" which became the main activity of Ben Ali and his entourage, we
present below an initial list of wealth accumulated by Ben Ali and his family, and this, with an
arrogance that sheds light on the mentality those individuals who have no political
consciousness, who are convinced that Tunisia is theirs and which substitute for the state.

As discussed below, the weight of Ben Ali and his relatives in the country's economy is
increasingly important, so that the economic game is heavily affected. The locking of the
economy and prevents any development investment in key sectors, which causes a flattening
of the economy from the bottom. Clearly, the opaque management of the economy and the
phagocytes of economic instruments lead the country towards a disaster unprecedented in the
history of Tunisia, especially since the termination of this state of affairs is impossible because
of locking of the total Information and blocking - organized by Abdelwahab Abdallah - any
emergence of a civil society.

This dynamic contributes very quickly to the disintegration of the Tunisian society and the
emergence of extremes.

THE BANKING SECTOR

Clan Ben Ali began its enrichment through the credits without guarantees provided by national
development banks. These practices, pushed to extremes, have undermined these institutions.
So to have a free hand, the clan decided to appropriate financial institutions.


THE ARAB BANK OF TUNISIA
The takeover of BIAT was operated in a completely opaque by a family close to the
government. Mabrouk brothers drew a forceful takeover of that bank, one of the jewels of the
Tunisian banking sector. Family Mabrouk, who was already wealthy under the former regime,
and even before independence, has always maintained close ties with the ruling regime.
She now has a trading and financial empire that was built from the union with Ben Ali,
on-going rights and nudges "from above".

BANK OF TUNISIA
The Bank of Tunisia, one of the oldest banking institutions in the country, known for his
professionalism and excellent management, has fallen into the hands of Mr. Belhassen
Trabelsi, brother of Mrs. Ben Ali. The takeover of the bank was made in a way that
resembles a real holdup. Several large shareholders have been presented with a fait
accompli and the bank's management was given to Ms. Abdullah's wife Abdelwahab
Abdallah, who, with Abdelaziz Ben Dhia, is one of the two pillars of the regime, which, as
we shall see later, the man who blocked any emergence of a civil society in Tunisia.


TWO NEW BANKS
While the World Bank and IMF in denouncing their reports sent to the Tunisian authorities'
surbanking "of the country (too many banks relative to the needs of the economy) and
mentioned the need to make mergers and mergers of banking institutions The government,
through the governor of the central bank, bank issues two licenses to two sons-President of
the Zaytuna Bank for Mr. Matri and MEDIOBANCA for Mr. Slim Zarrouk.

PRIVATIZATION OF THE BANK OF SOUTH
It is not about taking control of a bank, but an insider who has deprived the state of a
considerable income for the benefit of the family. It should be noted that the sale of the
South Bank to the group Hispano-Moroccan ATTIJARI BANK has made through insider
trading co-opted by the state: Sakhr el Matri, son of Ben Ali had bought a cheap hand
shares of the Bank of the South and sold them with a big capital gain, at the time of the
takeover bid launched by the Hispano-Moroccan group.

CONTROL BOARD TO TRANSFER TO THE CENTRAL BANK
Huge abuse were recorded in the transfer of money overseas, movements of funds from
several hundreds of billions are made in complete contradiction with the Tunisian law on
currency transfers.
A commission of inquiry must be held to stop this scourge leak currencies enjoyed Ben Ali
and his relatives.


THE TRANSPORT SECTOR
SOCIETE ENNAKL:
Volkswagen - Audi - Porsche - Seat - KIA

The national society has been virtually ENNAKL offered to son Ben Ali, Sakhr el Matri, who
without any personal contribution, through loans (no guarantee) by the BNA, found himself
at the head of this company . The latest check of 17 million dinars filed by Sakhr El Matri as
security at the Ministry of Finance would not have been paid to date.

It is also worth mentioning that according to experts, the real value of the company would
be at least 300% greater than the value of the transaction.

Upon taking control of the company by Mr. Matri, import licensing of vehicles, which were
granted in dribs and drabs as the country's needs, were given with a vengeance and we
even got to import Porsche that cost a little less than 500 thousand dinars! This is absolute
nonsense in a country like Tunisia.

Regarding KIA, Korean manufacturers have come up in Tunisia for an industry
manufacturing parts, and again, it is close to Ben Ali, Sakhr El Matri, who took over the
import license and vehicle distribution.


MOTOR COMPANY
Mercedes - Fiat ...
Society ENGINE, one of the jewels of the state, owner of "maps" Mercedes and Fiat, among
others, was privatized under very obscure benefit Cyrine Ben Ali and her husband, Marwan
Mabrouk.

The privatization decision was followed by the shelving of the Secretary of State for
privatization because of the fact that he defended a purchase price much higher.

PEUGEOT
In December 2008, the youngest daughter of Ben Ali has been promised to a young boy in
the family Ben Gaied. The young man was then immediately co-opted as PD-G. Company
STAFIM Peugeot, whose shares were purchased at a discount, if not rated, with BIAT
Mabrouk bank group, allied to Ben Ali.

FORD - Range Rover - Jaguar - Hyundai- MAN
Privatization at a very low price of state-owned company which held the license was made
by Ford Belhassen Trabelsi, brother of Mrs. Ben Ali and his friend Hamadi Touil.
They managed to impose on all public sector buying their vehicles.
Several "maps" of their marks are awarded as Range Rover, Jaguar and Hyundai, excluding
vehicle assembly MAN.

The only fees are those that lower the car!
The automotive market is monopolized by the immediate families of Ben Ali, the only taxes
that fall are those of cars.

These tax cuts are not just popular cars, but also luxury cars that exceed sometimes the
price of a factory.

Tunisair
Tunisair, the flagship of the historic Tunisian airline, has suffered under the Ben Ali era
unprecedented harassment on the part of the family.

The Presidency of the Republic, as if she had no other fish to fry, has crept into all decisions
of the Company and such, designation of the hostesses for the purchase of aircraft, mainly
from On arrival at the head of the notorious Company Rafaa Dekhil who gave body and soul
to the family.

Among the scandals, two are of a legendary dimension. One concerns the purchase by the
company on behalf of the Presidency, a Boeing 737/600 with lounges, bedrooms, offices
(one wonders why).

Notwithstanding the fact that these purchases weigh heavily on the accounts of the company,
one wonders why Ben needs such as a luxury, since Independence, a simple rearrangement
of existing aircraft was sufficient for official travel.

If Mr. Ben Ali had developed an active diplomacy, purchase oversized relative to the size of
the country could be justified on the edge, but the international politics of Tunisia has
completely disintegrated during the reign of Ben Ali, who does is received only by dictators
or, at best, the honorary chairmen.

However, this government aircraft used primarily for private journeys of families who
regularly share their eagerness to appease Rue St Honore and will show off to expense in
St Tropez or elsewhere. As if this were not enough, here's Ben Ali decides to buy a new
plane by Tunisair, which cost an A340, the Airbus catalog prices, 280 million euros, which
must be added the costs of redevelopment that make this aircraft will cost at delivery,
roughly $ 600 billion. What boost the development of several regions of the country and
provide employment to tens of thousands of unemployed.

For comparison, the purchase by the French government used an A320 has caused an outcry
in France. However, the plane of Mr. Ben Ali will cost the price of 8 (eight) A320, and this
for a country whose GDP is hundreds of times less than that of France.

We must also add that after this purchase drowned in a big order of Tunisair, gentlemen
Sakhr El Matri and Belhassen Trabelsi bought two private planes.


Carthago Airlines & Nouvelair
Concerning the licensing of airlines:
Licensed to Slim Chiboub and Aziz Miled for Nouvelair.
Licensed to Belhassen Trabelsi-to Carthago Carthago Airlines and merging and Nouvelair
after the disgrace of Slim Chiboub.


Service Management Tunis airport
The concession of the first private operator to manage the logistics services of OPAT was
granted a full opacity to society MAS. Again, it is a son of Ben Ali, Mr. Slim Zarrouk, who is
the beneficiary. Under what financial conditions and why him?


Tender for the privatization of free shops
The company was chosen for the award of the license-Free Shops is the Sté Weitnauer which
was headed by Ali and Sofia Ben Abderrahmane Tlili. The latter was then taken out of
circuit.


Compagnie Tunisienne de Navigation
CTN, shipping company history, which played since Independence an exceptional role in the
economy, is also described by those close to Ben Ali, especially since the young Sakhr El
Matri opened her village to cruise.

Before the planned privatization of the CTN, the company was ordered to command the
tune of hundreds of billions of new vessels will be delivered once the NTC privatized, and
this for the benefit of future lessees who are already chosen by the government.


Imed Trabelsi and CTN
Imed Trabelsi, known for his escapades with theft and receiving stolen yachts and a host of
suspicious transactions, also single-handedly created a new line for the NTC between Sfax
and Tripoli. He left a slate of several hundred thousand dinars to the CTN.



THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS SECTOR


TUNISIANA
The Tunisian government is stealing hundreds of millions of dinars by the "First Ladies" of
Tunisia and Palestine. Why the second mobile telephony license was it given to El Sawiress,
a friend of Mrs. Arafat? Because Mrs. Arafat has asked her friend, Mrs. Ben Ali to intercede
on his behalf against a staggering sum.

Again, in this case is that the Tunisian government has stolen a sum of about 400 million
dinars.The opening of bids for mobile license revealed that Vivendi was in the best position
to win. But for their own interest, relatives of Mr. Ben Ali warned ORASCOM for him to
make a higher bid-cons than VIVENDI.

Six months after obtaining the license, Orascom had still not solved the Tunisian
government. After several threats from the Department of Telecom to cancel the
transaction, close to Ben Ali and headed Mongi Safra concocted a magic bullet that
will remain in the annals of the history of misappropriation of public property in the world:
a group of financiers met to grant a credit Orascom with a 100% Tunisian banking pool.
And the license granted to a foreign company, has ended up being paid with a check in
Tunisian dinars! It is therefore the Tunisian banks that have offered to Orascom Tunisiana!

This case has caused a stir until the World Bank which, noting the glaring irregularities,
decided to cancel a long-term bank credit of $ 250 million in profit from Tunisia.
This international financial institution since Independence has always supported the
development of Tunisia, now wary of any transaction involving our country.
The case is an episode of TUNISIANA escapades of two "First Ladies" which also hit the
headlines by creating the SAI.


CASE-Watania QTEL / SAKHR EL MATRI
Mobile telephony is a tricky business for the security of the country, Tunisia has not failed,
as is done elsewhere, to condition the sale of shares in telephone companies prior approval.
Watania-Qtel, which owns 50% of Tunisiana, decided to acquire the remaining 50%.
However, to obtain the approval of the Tunisian government, Watania Qtel has "offered" to
Skhar el Matri 25% of the affair in exchange for government approval and the promise of
obtaining a 3G license. While the financial package that is mentioned in the Tunisian media
is pure lies, we will publish later documents proving wrongdoing.


ORANGE
Transactions and are very similar, the third mobile operator license was granted to the
president's daughter, Cyrine Ben Ali, who is also, through Planet Tunisia, the largest ISP in
the country.

The contract signed between Orange and the Tunisian government included a non-compete
clause of one year for the 3G license.The contract stipulated that if the 3G license was
granted in the year to another operator, the State would be forced to pay 70 million dinars
in the amount of the license. It is surprising that the State had failed to wait a year before
allowing another operator with a 3G license. Tunisia has lost 70 million dinars.



THE MEDIA SECTOR


Ben Ali's family is now head of a media empire without precedent in history. This empire
covers all media sectors, the print media to television.


Radio Mosaique FM
It was clear that the media would also suffer the raid of the family of Ben Ali. Not only for
economic reasons but for reasons of political influence. Indeed, in their megalomania,
relatives of Ben Ali has felt able to take power, so they have invested with a vengeance in
the media. Radio, newspapers, advertising agencies. We will stick to the mainstream media
here.

Thus the license of the first private radio station has been given to a group of businessmen
whose Belhassen Trabelsi is coincidentally the brother of Mrs. Ben Ali.
To cut short the rumors, the license was granted for Mr Boutar, nominee and PD-G. of that
radio.


CHAMS FM
Other private radio station, but the same system: FM CHAMS license was granted to the girl
Ben Ali Mabrouk wife. The nominee is Bhouri Fathi, former CEO of Planet Tunisia, which it
also owns.


ZITOUNA FM
Imagination is not part of the close of the scheme: ZITOUNA FM license was awarded to
Sakhr El Matri, son of the president who, through this radio "Islamization," wants to
impersonate a "true Muslim" and acquire favor of the people.


Jawhara FM
Not to be outdone, talk about the FM radio of the Sahel. The license was given to Mr. Neji
Mhiri, a personal friend of Ben Ali and director at the Central Bank of Tunisia when he owes
about 600 million Tunisian dinars to banks!


CARTHAGE TV
Not content with having, with their production company Cactus, completely engulfed with
the national television program sales and purchased a turnkey production series sold in
advance with the ownership of commercial breaks, Belhassen Trabelsi and Sami Fehri
decided to create their own television channel.

Note that Cactus production has appropriated in recent years, 60% of revenues from the
national broadcaster TV7. The directors of the chain have contributed to the erasure of an
entire generation of producers by buying the Cactus one the overwhelming majority of
programs.


Hannibal TV
Same process completely illegal license agreement for the radios.
Mr. Mohamed Nasra, husband of a close to Mrs. Ben Ali received the first license for private
television. Moreover, he made an outstanding contribution to the dumbing down of the
Tunisian society by presenting debates nervous never concern the central issues facing all
Tunisians.

It is also worth mentioning that Hannibal TV needs to tax more than 5 million Tunisian
dinars and that orders to leave to go directly to the President of the Republic!

On the other hand, as if all this were not enough, the boss of Hannibal TV enjoys a de facto
immunity in the courts. It does not pay its supplier chain and pays no right of
retransmission to the Tunisian Football Federation, thus depriving the football clubs of a
very important source of income.


Group Dar Assabah
Following a dispute within the family that owns the Dar Assabah media group, Sakhr El Matri
took over the case.The group Assabah publishes, among other titles, the newspaper
Assabah and Time.


Control of the media in Tunisia is completed by the system set up by one of the pillars of
the regime, Mr Abdelwahab Abdallah, who control the rest of the media through a state
agency:


The ATCE
The Tunisian External Communication Agency is the body set up by Abdelwahab Abdallah
to rein in the media who would aspire to any freedom of expression and thus control any
emergence of a civil society.

The ATCE manages the advertising budget of all state enterprises and the media use to
submit to the authority of Mr Abdelwahab Abdallah.

Example: A Tunisian media is expressed in a way that does not please the regime.
Immediately the order department of the advertising ATCE is notified and removed this
medium all-state advertisements that are assigned. This leaves only one choice to head the
media in question: to restrict the insertion of the private sector. However, Abdelwahab
Abdallah and his minions are up to influence the choices of private companies advertising
by calling officials to advise them to withdraw their budget to the media in question.
But do not believe that the bulk of this money goes to the media friends. Several million of
ATCE (ie public companies) are intended to finance the external communication of
Mr Abdelwahab Abdallah, paying with a vengeance:
• supposedly independent media (Young Africa, Arabia, Tunisia MORE ...)
• foreign policy makers.
• book authors who are apologists of the regime, like those of journalist-mercenary
Salvatore Lombardo presents Ben Ali as a great personality in international politics, carries
a great humanitarian message.

At the same time, ATCE account anywhere in the world, protected, agents, at the first alarm
policy, write articles and produce reports highlighting the excellent governance of Tunisia.
It is worth noting that these are only the national media that capture the essence of these
articles and reports, and this, in order to deceive the Tunisians wanting to make them
believe that the international media talk about "success in Tunisia Ben Ali "as he is only paid
journalists.

The communication policy of Mr. Abdullah strives also to foreign public opinion, to present
Ben Ali as a shield against radical Islam. Each crisette or crisis, its rogue-agent journalists
cry wolf: "The Islamists want to seize power! Yet the Tunisian population in its
overwhelming majority is always repudiated radical Islamism. Only the behavior
unbecoming and irresponsible of the relatives of the Tunisian regime tries to extremism.

Moreover, we learned that given the current uprising, the political advisers of Ben Ali
discussed the need for greater manipulation to divert the people's legitimate claims.
Indeed, a terrorist act sponsored by the Islamic power would be in the making. That's all
these advisers Ben Ali would have found this to smear legitimate non-violent and revolt.
This recipe is brandishing the specter of radical Islam is an old-fashioned recipe that is not
fooling anyone and that returns each time indefinitely necessary reforms in the country.

The maneuvers are disinformation widely experienced by Tunisia since the early years of the
regime of Ben Ali. But the nullity of the Tunisian political communication has turned the
entire population into foreign channels, Al Jazera first.

In fact, communication policy, headed by Mr. Abdallah is a true national disaster: the total
population does no longer trust the national media have also been badly affected by the
slogans of demonstrators in the winter 2010 / 2011 that are apologists for Al Jazeera.
We must also add to the assets of Mr Abdelwahab Abdallah one of the most stupid of
censorship throughout the world. Indeed, in the late 90s, a book denouncing the excesses
of Ben Ali was published in Paris, Mr Abdullah gave an order to buy all the copies. Thus he
propelled the top-selling book, giving a success and an unexpected notoriety.

This lesson has not even served to Mr Abdullah, because another version of the same
mistake was repeated a decade later on the book "The Regent of Carthage." The complaint
filed without legal basis in the court of First Instance in Paris by Mr. Samia Maktouf, whose
skill was limited to obtaining the favor of Mrs. Ben Ali gave the book a boost advertising
unprecedented since all newspapers have spoken. Another consequence of the intellectual
limitations of these two political advisers Ben Ali: the excavations carried out for months to
Tunisian airports following the publication of "The Regent of Carthage" will be remembered:
the customs and police officers had received order to apply to all entrants in Tunisia:
"Do you have books in your luggage?".Many had believed that books, such as drugs or
explosives were banned in Tunisia.

Sad result for one of the few countries in the world with 3000 years of civilization.

THE REAL ESTATE SECTOR

Make a list of properties and real estate operations on the extended family of Ben Ali is a
lengthy process.

We mention, in the heap, the raid made by Belhassen Trabelsi on houses of Sidi Bou Said
and the acquisition of symbolic dinar tourist village built around the port of Sidi Bou Said
and the hotel group Carthago sold recently in Libya Leico.

A Gammarth, Slim Chiboub and Aziz Miled built a marina.

Zone "Côtes de Carthage" was distributed almost entirely by the Agency for Tourism Real
Ben Ali Trabelsi, Mabrouk, etc. ...
Most real estate transactions in the country are owned by the family. Ben Ali distributes their
entire areas. He has done for Montassar Maherzi (married to the sister of Mrs. Ben Ali) in
Gabes, for himself at the Bay of Angels in Kantaoui, he distributed arms to turn tens of
thousands of hectares of farmland his family (Utica, Zagouan etc. ...).

RESIDENTIAL LAND AGENCY
AFH, state agency which has guaranteed for decades, the Tunisian households of low and
moderate income homeownership has become a real pump money to the benefit of close to
power who use it to bribe those who support.

That is how close to the government are endangering one of the best achievements of the
social history of Tunisia: Homeownership.


THE LAND OF THE SATPEC in Gammarth
The SATPEC, an organization founded for the promotion of Tunisian cinema, has been
granted to a company owned by Tarak Ben Ammar. But where the rub is that before this
operation, all land included in the plot have been removed and sold for real estate
development, always in favor of the family.


THE LAND OF THE STEG
Following the privatization of Ennakl, it has illegally appropriated public land by acres made
available following the closure of the power plant of La Goulette. On the same ground that
has a bank on the banks of the Canal de Tunis, a few hundred meters from the port,
Mr. Matri has built a tourist village includes a dock designed for cruise ships and commercial
center of dozens of shops , all built on land owned and licensed to Holding PRINCESS
(owned 90% to Ben Ali and Matri 10%) without any consultation or bidding.

This real raid on the cruise, which previously benefited the state through the OPAT, also
affects all traders who see tourism slowly cruise lines limit their visit to the tourist port of
Mr. Matri.

Funny way to promote Tunisian tourism by limiting the access of tourists to the canal banks
of Tunis, while the stock of Carthage, one of the most prestigious of the Mediterranean, is
right next door.

THE LAND OF THE SONEDE
The same has not found Mr. Matri best to raise a palace from 1001 nights to build in Sidi
Bou Said, on land belonging to the Tunisian Company of Water: SONEDE.
How is it that land out of the heritage of SONEDE to arrive in Mr. and Mrs. Matri, Tunisians
would like to know. But the flight manifests of state assets is not enough, because the
construction of this palace, the family of Mr. Ben Ali, certainly frustrated by the wealth of the
Gulf royal families, exposed to all eyes of madness sizes because this accommodation of
8 000m2 constructed contains - besides a mosque and a garage several thousand m2 - a
bedroom 700m2, not including the big cats in the garden. The U.S. ambassador has not
failed to qualify it with a mocking humor in a cable revealed by Wikileaks.

In short, stupidity and greed are such that the family of Mr. Matri - a worthy Tunisian family
whose ancestor was a hero of the independence of the country - denying the escapades of
the offspring who went to bed with a power whose practices must be turning in his grave
the great and worthy Mahmoud El Matri.


garden for the benefit of the family
Tunisia has few mythical places of entertainment. He had shaved the last of them, a
nightclub that has made the international reputation of the nightlife in Tunisia. It has
destroyed this place to build a garden dotted with places of entertainment entirely private.
Indeed, a private club and a Thalassotherapy Centre managed by Mrs. Ben Ali and his sister
were built on public land. The investment was funded by the brother of Mrs. Ben Ali,
Belhassen Trabelsi and his partner Hamadi Touil.

One wonders again how local councils - which are so often fussy about their privileges - shall
pass with equal rights of concessions and permits to build on their own areas without any
consultation or bidding.

In fact, it is still the phenomenon of double measures. " The property of the community are
fully devolved to the relatives of Bin Ali for whom no law applies, except that of the strongest.

SECTOR RETAILING


Carrefour
License obtained through Slim Chiboub which has conditioned its intervention against an
incredible sum.


Giant
License obtained by the family with Mrs. Mabrouk Mabrouk, daughter of Ben Ali.


Monoprix
Also entered in the heritage of Mabrouk.


Bricorama
Case completely made by Mr. Mahbouli then confiscated outright by Imed Trabelsi.



INDUSTRY SECTOR


Besides the brickworks which were the subject of a concentration in the hands of discreet
but nevertheless active Slim Zarrouk Ghazoua husband Ben Ali, it is useful to mention the
biggest scandal in financial history of Tunisia:


Carthage Cement
In terms of misuse of public property, Carthage Cement Case is where the most incredible
excesses have been achieved.

An international industrial pool led by Italians proposed to the Tunisian state purchase of
cement from Tunis. After several months of work and after getting most of the necessary
authorizations, when signing the final contract with the Tunisian government,
manufacturers are contacted by Belhassen Trabelsi conditioning the consent of the State to
20% of Case (80 million dinars).

Shocked by these practices, the industry withdrew, leaving Belhassen Trabelsi case they rise.
It then proceeds to the appropriation of more than 400ha of land (acquired symbolic dinar)
owned and flagrant foul with all rules, is going public Carthage Cement, which has no
balance, and this thanks to irresponsible bankers. To top it all, the Tunisian Company of
Railways ventures to finance, for Carthage Cement, 15 kms from railway tracks. The
Department of Transportation and the National Assembly there are no disadvantages. Do
not include the Court of Auditors, the Audit Committee of the Securities Exchange or any of
the control bodies set up by the scheme to deceive the world and harass all Tunisians than
those who put their country under the scalpel.

Carthage Cement is certainly the biggest scandal of the Ben Ali era, and this, with the active
complicity of several senior officials.



OTHER BUSINESS


The International School of Carthage.

Land and a subsidy of about 2 million dinars, the Ministry of Education granted
complimentary to Mrs. Ben Ali and Arafat for the creation of a private school!

While Tunisian schools suffer a serious lack of operating budget, while classes are in a state
of disrepair, a national budget is allocated to an elite private school!

As if all this were not enough to compel the Tunisians to enroll their children in school,
Mrs. Ben Ali has used everything in his power to close the main competing institution. The
founder of this institution, Mr. Bouabdella was forced to lead a real international press
campaign, punctuated by the publication of a book, to be able to recover its rights.
Without success.

As revealed by Wikileaks, Mrs. Ben Ali has even rubbed the American School of Tunis by
ordering the Ministry of Finance to cancel the preferential tax regime enjoyed by the U.S.
institution. It should be noted that due to the smallness of these practices, the U.S.
government has revised downward its economic aid to Tunisia.


The banana republic
As was to be become a republic banana banana import was withdrawn at one of the most
prestigious development companies of Tunisia, the STIL, which was launched at the
beginning of independent Tunisia, an exceptional development plan South and enjoyed
several state monopolies. One of these monopolies on the import of bananas was removed
from the national society for development be granted to family members Trabelsi, Moncef,
a former street photographer and Mr. Jarai, his sidekick.

It should be noted that trade ministers flocked to sign their import licenses and obtain
favors from the government.


Candy Bizerte
The import of sugar was a state monopoly, but to better satisfy your sweet, Mr. Belhassen
Trabelsi, brother of Mrs. Ben Ali, decided to replace the state monopoly by creating its own
plant in Bizerte. He even appropriated a part of the port of Bizerte to install its silos. And
this, with the businessman nominee Lotfi Abdenadher.


SPIRITS
Like any developing State, lucrative monopolies were granted, as we have seen above, to
companies for development to upgrade the Tunisian economy. Thus the monopoly of
importing and distributing liquor belonged, too, to STIL. But the liquidation of this
company was not particularly juicy waiting Trabelsi and immediately put his hand over his
various monopolies and even on the black market alcohol, whose distribution must pass by
Imed Trabelsi.

And so the work of Tunisia's development has been abandoned for some people without
scale, for their own benefit.

Whole regions are thus obsolete, abandoned by a fully conscious state became the only
enrichment of Ben Ali and his relatives who in turn reward the corrupt officers of the state
by giving them positions in high places. The explanation for the disqualification of an entire
country appears in all its simple truth.


Trabelsi and the Ben Ali's substitute for customs
A multitude of companies officiate for years with the full knowledge of all the world to
allow some Tunisian merchants from importing goods without tariffs with a fixed price per
cubic meter imported.

Containers pass through customs without any control. This practice had created a scandal
in December 2006 following an attack on fundamentalist Soliman. Everyone wondered if
the fundamentalists had not brought these weapons in containers not inspected.

This practice of importing wild helps to impoverish the whole Tunisian Industry, the
parallel market supplies of goods and stolen objects, causing the bankruptcy of honest
traders.

The main beneficiaries of this trade are Jalila Trabelsi, sister of Mrs. Ben Ali, and Hayet and
Kaies Ben Ali, sister and nephew of the president and other members of the family that we
will quote the next time.


TUNISIAN TUNA, MONOPOLY Mr. Mourad Trabelsi, brother of Mrs. Ben Ali
The export of tuna in recent years become monopoly staff Mourad Trabelsi who is also the
only individual authorized in Tunisia to make the breeding and export.


Fishing Lake of Tunis
The same Mourad Trabelsi has obtained, through an Italian nominee, the monopoly of
fishing in Lake of Tunis. His sole consideration: cleaning algae from the lake.
What is the price of the concession, how has it been granted? Mourad Trabelsi he pays
taxes in return for these enormous privileges?


Tatters
Same system, same beneficiaries. Tatters has not escaped the family of Ben Ali, which
became the preserve!


Conclusion

This list is so off-putting lack of imagination relatives of Ben Ali is experiencing in the
diversion of public goods and other illegal enrichment.

We are preparing a second case where we continue the enumeration of these scandals,
which must never be forgotten that these people who have brought the country to its knees
one day can pay all their misdeeds.

We also warn of scams Tunisians who are already under preparation, as the
decommissioning of the land of IHEC in Carthage. Indeed, relatives of the President
consider that this land, beautifully situated on the slopes of the historic Carthage, be much
more suitable for the construction of dozens of villas on their behalf. The same logic has
been adopted for the stage Zouiten, located in the hills of Belvedere and Mutuelleville. The
same logic has been adopted for the southern slope of the hill of Gammarth, where
construction will soon be initiated by Imed a clone of his namesake trabelsien nominee and
certain family members and has already subdivided land Archaeological between Carthage
and La Marsa, land downgraded by a former leader of the Heritage Institute and complicity
in the Ministry of Culture, we will come back too.

We will also discuss the nephew of Ben Ali, Mr. Mehdi Mlika, and its policy of beautification
of the environment that resulted in the execution of a simple "Avenue of the environment"
in each city in Tunisia. The embellishment of these arteries, which consisted of a few
planters and grass medians and some horror art, cost a fortune whose main beneficiaries
are Mlika and Mehdi Ben Ali, through shady contractors who n have picked up the crumbs.
In short these are the budgets of municipalities and the Ministry of the Environment who
have suffered.

We discuss also the hold-up made for the benefit of Sakhr El Matri and son of Ben Ali in
buying the stock split of the Nestlé Group held by the Banque Nationale Agricole last fifty
years. Nestlé International has reacted violently to these practices worthy of the worst
banana republics.

We discuss also the tenacity with which the family of Ben Ali reserves all procurement in the
country, thereby impoverishing the state by imposing prices that have nothing to do with
the actual bids.

We talk about the monopoly granted to Moncef Trabelsi in the transportation of petroleum
products throughout the country, we will discuss the embezzlement that took place around
the giant real estate projects of Sama Dubai and Boukhater and have garnered such
commissions they eventually flow despite land acquired symbolic and sometimes the dinar
as our own contractors are excluded from these lucrative projects.

Not forgetting the home of St Tropez, which was acquired by Ben Ali and his wife under
the mediation of Sakhr El Matri Benaceur and Francis.

We will not discuss the saga Imed Trabelsi / Faouzi Mahbouli Bricorama concerning because
it is spread wide across the Internet.

By cons, we will return the case to the airport for pilgrims, built without tender or
consultation and costing 10 times its price.

We will also discuss international airport Enfida and concession won by the Turkish Society
TAV. This company, represented by Belhassen Trabelsi and Youssef Zarrouk, was unable to
pay the concession. Belhassen Trabelsi concocted them, with the intervention of Ben Ali, a
bank loan in dinars, while the payment was provided for in dollars. How this credit will be
repaid while the airport remains desperately desert?

We also unveil the next record of other diversions billion dinars at the OACA that the Post
Office in Tunisie Telecom, the chemical group at the Department of Environment, etc..

We call on honest, if it continues to react as quickly as possible by appointing an
independent commission of inquiry which will shed light on all these matters.

We also urge all political leaders to grasp the gravity of the situation and to agree to drop
Ben Ali and the arrest of the whole clique that has made a real dismemberment of the
country.

We must bear in mind that these unscrupulous people are willing to put the country with
fire and blood to glean a few more months in office, what they can finalize their operations.

We must awaken consciences, that politicians and those of national security, including
military, cease to swear allegiance to the lawless individuals who use the prestige of power
to do whatever they want without any sense of responsibility or even the measurement.

All leaders know that whatever is written here is true and we want to warn them that if they
continue to turn a deaf ear, they will in the final position of the accomplices ransacked the
country.

We also call on those responsible for the security of the country to refuse to engage in
conspiracies that aim to change the opinion of the Tunisians and keeping them under a
regime that can only lead to national disintegration.

We thank all my heart all those who have made this record, they did so without any
calculation, simply by nationalism, to defend this country who does not deserve its current
leaders.

We wish again to mention those who sacrificed themselves so that Tunisia would never
again be beholden to people sad. Those marching, fighting, speak and write are the
backbone of our country because they do knowing they are fighting against one of the
worst dictatorships of our time.

We appeal to all Tunisians continue to peacefully express their pissed off, not to touch the
common property.

Finally, we call once again officials to behave with honor and strength and to react to the
sacking of countries by filing Ben Ali, the first responsible for this situation.

We propose an alternative policy of raising the current Prime Minister, Mr Mohamed
Ghannouchi, the post of President of the Republic for a period of one year that will be the
consolidation of civil society born of current events and the organization of a special tribunal.

We urge the convening of a Constituent Assembly for a constitutional change on the role
and mandate of the Head of State in the direction of reducing them so that never again no
individual Tunisians confiscates their country.

More than half a century of dictatorship and cult of personality is enough. We propose that
each future leader of Tunisia has a chance to govern than during a single short term, to
allow the Tunisian civil society, which in recent weeks has beautifully withstood the terrible
system of Ben Ali, the possibility of emerge definitively.

On behalf of all Tunisians worthy.
FLBLQAY

http://fedupmontrealer.blogspot.com/201 ... n-ali.html

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Re: People power forces change in Tunisia

Postby vanlose kid » Tue Jan 18, 2011 9:53 am

Arabeyes: Who is Using the Tunisian Presidential Airplane?
Posted 30 August 2007

Written by Amira Al Hussaini
Countries Tunisia
Topics Finance, Governance, Travel, Politics
Languages Arabic, French

The Tunisian presidential airplane and the ‘unofficial' trips it takes to Europe and the fashion capitals of the world has attracted the scrutiny of the country's most outspoken bloggers. Who is using the president's plane? Who approves the trips abroad and how much is it used for official business?

Astrubal opened a can of worms when he posted those questions on his blog(fr), along with the following video:


Tunisie : Avion présidentiel, à quoi et à qui sert-il ?
Uploaded by Astrubal
Les Tunisiens savent que leur président n'effectue pas beaucoup de voyages officiels. Les destinations, entre autres, vers Malaga, Malte, Genève ou Madrid (parfois pour une période qui ressemble fort à un shoping du week-end) l'ont-t-elles été alors dans un cadre privé ? Dans ce cas, l'utilisation de l'avion présidentiel ne relève-t-elle pas de l'abus ?


“Tunisians know that their president does not make many official trips. However, the destinations of the presidential plane include, but are not limited to, Malaga, Malta, Geneva, and Madrid (sometimes for a period that strongly resembles that of a weekend shopping trip). Were these trips for private purposes? In that case, isn't the use of the presidential plane an abuse of power?” he asks.

Outre l'aspect troublant de ces destinations de l'avion en question, aussi longtemps que durera le silence médiatique relatif à l'évocation du train de vie (et pas seulement) de la présidence, la présomption de culpabilité, quoique l'on dise et quoique l'on fasse, sera la norme (comme dans toute République plus proche des champs des bananiers que du terreau sur lequel s'enracine l'Etat intègre).


“In addition to the disturbing destinations of the airplane, as long as the media silence lasts on the topic (among others) of the lifestyle of the president, a presumption of guilt will be the norm (as it is in every Republic which more closely resembles a banana plantation than the fertile fields on which a legitimate state is rooted).”

Je n'en sais rien, car ces questions relèvent en Tunisie du tabou. Je constate simplement, et pour ne citer que le cas des deux photographies du vendredi 9 février et dimanche 11 février 2007, qu'il n'y a rien dans les médias tunisiens (sauf myopie de ma part) qui pourrait expliquer ce week-end à Genève de l'avion de la présidence de la République.


“I really don't know. Those are taboo questions in Tunisia, and we do not ask them. To mention only the case of the two photos of Friday February 9 and Sunday February 11, 2007, I simply notice that there is nothing, not a single word in the Tunisian media (if I'm not wrong) that could explain the presence of the Tunisian presidential plane in Geneva's airport,” he explains.

Pour éviter la démagogie, on peut envisager de nombreux usages de cet avion qui ne soient pas pour le seul agrément du prince : telle sa mise à disposition pour certaines missions du gouvernement, missions humanitaires ou, pourquoi pas, certains déplacements exceptionnels de l’équipe de Tunisie, etc. Les déplacements de l’avion, observés au sein des photos, relevaient-ils de ces cas de figure (quand bien même je les trouve, pour ma part, aberrants étant donné le coût) ?


“To avoid any kind of demagogy, one could imagine several uses of this plane outside the obvious: like for certain governmental and humanitarian missions or, why not, for the few and exceptional trips of the national team of Tunisia, etc. However was the Tunisian presidential plane carrying out these missions (even if it is quite absurd considering the expenses)?”

Countryman Sami Ben Gharbia soon joined the crusade with a post in Arabic, which also seeks answers.

من يستعمل طائرة الرئاسة التونسية ؟ الرئيس التونسي بن علي، سيدة تونس الاولى ليلى الطرابلسي، ذويها؟ و هل يحق لأعضاء الحكومة التونسية و السلك الديبلوماسي استعمال هذه الطائرة ؟ ثم ما هي تلك المهام التي تـُقلع بإمرتها طائرة الرئاسة ؟ هل هي مهام سياسية و دبلماسية أم هي تشمل أيضا الخرجات الترفيهية و السياحية لقضاء عطلة آخر الأسبوع في ملاقا الإسبانية أو حتى للقيام ببعض “الحملات” التسويقية في محلات الموضة بجنيف و ميلانو؟
بنائا على الكم الهائل من الشائعات التي تغذي الشارع التونسي و التي تتحدث عن سيطرة عائلة حرم الرئيس التونسي على الرئاسة الفعلية و شؤون البلاد، يمكننا التكهن بطبيعة مهمات و طاقم هذه الرحلات المشبوهة. إلا أنه ليس باستطاعة أحد في تونس أن يجيب على مثل هذه الأسئلة الشرعية بشكل قطعي. بل أن طرحها يـُعد جريمة أو حتى إرهابا يُعاقب عليهما قانون الغاب و قانون الصمت الذان أحكما قبضتهما على وطننا. بل إنه ليس من الغريب أيضا أن يكون الرئيس التونسي ذاته جاهلا بتحليقات طائرته في سماء أوربا و بطاقمها و شحناتها.


“Who uses the Tunisian presidential plane? Is it the Tunisian president Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali or his wife, the first lady of Tunisia Leila Trabelsi and her family? Can members of the Cabinet and diplomats use that aircrafts? Why does this aircraft take off and following whose directives? Is it used for political and diplomatic purposes or to ferry people on excursions, tourism and spending the weekend in Spanish Malaga and shopping trips to the leading fashion boutiques in Geneva and Milan? Based on the amount of rumours being spread in Tunisia about the level of control the president's wife's family has on the actual presidency, we can predict some of the missions and suspicious trips this plane and its crew make. But there isn't anyone in Tunisia who is able to answers such legitimate questions. Asking such questions is a crime to begin with and is punishable by the Law of the Jungle and the Law of Silence, which have since reigned control over our nation. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the Tunisian President himself is unaware of of the planes voyages to Europe or its crew or cargo,” he writes.

لقد قام صديقي صدربعل بتقصي صور طائرة الرئاسة التونسية (انظر مجموع الصور أسفل) التي التقطتها عدسة هواة الطائرات في عدد من مطارات أوربا ما بين سنة 2001 و 2007.
كلنا نعلم أن وتيرة سفر الرئيس التونسي بن علي .. قد انخفضت منذ سنة 2005، إذ نادرا ما غادر حصونه الأمنية في تونس. و تجدر الإشارة هنا إلى أن رحلات الرئيس بن علي إلى أوربا ما بين سنة 2001 و 2007، أي خلال الفترة الزمنية التي تمُ فيها التقاط هذه الصور،.لم تتجارز الثلاث رحلات، زار خلالها جنييف في ديسمبر 2003، روما في ماي 2004، و مالطا في جوان 2005.


“My friend Astrubal investigated photographs of the plane (see pictures below), taken by photographers in Europe's airports between 2001 and 2007. As we all know, Tunisian President Ben Ali has cut down on his travels since 2005, as he rarely leaves his safe fortifications in Tunisia. Records also show that his trips to Europe during the time those pictures were taken did not exceed three. He visited Geneva in December 2003, Rome in May 2004 and Malta in June 2005,” continues Ben Gharbia.

ياستثناء صورتين لطائرة الرئاسة في مطار مالطا الدولي في بداية شهر جوان 2005 و التي تتزامن مع زيارة الدولة التي قام بها بن علي لمالطا، فإن بقية الصور التي تم التقاطها في مطارات أروبا كانت كلها خارج المدة الزمنية المذكورة و خارج الوجهات التي قصدها الرئيس بن علي رسميا، مما يعني أنها إما كانت زيارات سرية خاصة لبن علي (مثل تنقلاته لأجل العلاج) أو أن طائرة الرئاسة التونسية استعملت لنقل أشخاص أو لشحن بضائع لا يمكن التكهن بها


“With the exception of two pictures taken of the airplane at Malta's International Airport at the beginning of June 2005, which coincided with the president's visit to Malta, the rest of the pictures were taken at European airports at times when Ben Ali was not there officially. This could mean that he was there on secret trips (like for medical treatment) or that it was used to ferry people and goods we have no idea about,” he explains.

صور طائرة الرئاسة التونسية التي التقطتها عدسة هواة الطائرات في عدد من مطارات أوربا ما بين سنة 2001 و 2007.


Following are a number of photographs taken by photographers at European airports of the Tunisian Presidential Airplane between 2001 and 2007:

[video and images at link (if they work, i couldn't get them to).]

At the forum section of Nawaat, Ihsan_Aafi picks the thread and notes:

أسئلة مهمة نتمنى أن نصل إلى اليوم الذي يتطلع فيه جل التونسيون لمعرفة الأجوبة. قضية التصرف في الأموال العمومية قضية مهمة جدا في تونس. بالإضافة إلى شفافية مصاريف رئاسة الدولة، هناك العديد من الأساليب الأخرى لإهدار المال العام في العديد من مؤسسات الدولة وخاصة الوزارات. كمثال، خذ السيارات العمومية التي تعطى للإطارات الكبرى بالوزارات مع مجانية الوقود… هذه السيارات تجدها تجوب كامل تراب الجمهورية خلال العطل و نهاية الأسبوع… والغريب في الأمر أن الشرطة تحيي مستعملي هذه السيارات عندما يمرون عليها!


“These are important questions and we are looking forward for the day the majority of Tunisians will be seeking answers for. In addition, they should be questioning the transparency in which the presidential expenses are being dispersed. There are other ways in which the state's budget is being squandered in a number of government agencies, especially ministries. Take as an example public cars which are given to top officials at ministries with free fuel. Those cars are seen all over the republic's roads during holidays and weekends… and what is strange is that policemen salute those who use them when they see them,” he writes.

http://globalvoicesonline.org/2007/08/3 ... -airplane/

*

[left the arabic 'cause i like the look of it.]

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Re: People power forces change in Tunisia

Postby JackRiddler » Tue Jan 18, 2011 7:33 pm

.

Full hour today on Democracy Now, January 18.

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.democracynow.org/embed_show_v1/300/2011/1/18"></script>

Don't know if that will embed here.

On Edit: It did not, so here is a real link.

http://www.democracynow.org/shows/2011/1/18


Tunisian Opposition Activist: "Is Democracy Possible in the Arab World? Tunisians from All Around Tunisia are Saying 'Yes'"

Tunisia has announced an interim national unity government days after a popular revolt ousted the president from power in the first Middle East revolution in a generation. President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled Tunisia on Friday after a month of unprecedented protests gripped the country. Thousands took to the streets to demonstrate against unemployment, high food prices, corruption and government repression. At least 80 people were killed in a crackdown by government security forces. We go to the capital city Tunis to speak with opposition activist, Fares Mabrouk. [includes rush transcript]

Egypt-Based Political Analyst: "The First Lesson from Tunisia is that Revolution is Possible"

We speak to Issandr El Amrani, an independent political analyst and writer based in Cairo who writes the popular blog Arabist.net. He says the revolution in Tunisia is having an electrifying effect throughout the Arab world. "The first lesson from Tunisia is that revolution is possible," says El Amrani. "You have to remember that there hasn’t been anything like this in the Arab world for decades." [includes rush transcript]

Juan Cole: Tunisia Uprising "Spearheaded by Labor Movements, by Internet Activists, by Rural Workers; It’s a Populist Revolution"

In the wake of the ouster of Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, we speak with University of Michigan History Professor Juan Cole. "This is the first popular revolution since 1979," Cole says. "This revolution so far has been spearheaded by labor movements, by internet activists, by rural workers. It’s a populist revolution, and not particularly dominated in any way by Islamic themes, it seems to be a largely secular development." [includes rush transcript]

Anthony Shadid in Beirut: Tunisia Has "Electrified People Across the Arab World"

We speak with journalist Anthony Shadid, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, who is in Beirut where the government collapsed last week. Tunisia has "electrified people across the Arab world," Shadid says, "mainly for that prospect of change, that change can actually occur in a lot of countries that seem almost ossified at this point." [includes rush transcript]
Last edited by JackRiddler on Wed Jan 19, 2011 2:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: People power forces change in Tunisia

Postby AlicetheKurious » Wed Jan 19, 2011 4:36 am

It's fascinating how most of the Western media and Western officials such as Hillary Clinton insist on referring to the events in Tunis as the "Jasmine Revolution" when Tunisians themselves angrily reject this term; they call it the "Tunisian Intifada."

In this way, the Tunisians express what many of us already know: that people's struggle for freedom cannot and must not be boxed into artificial pigeon-holes, while the individual dictators are little more than wardens or overseers who survive only at the pleasure of the international network to whom they owe what power they have. Ben Ali, for example, did not have the support of his people; what then, kept him in power for 23 years against the will of his subjects?

Almost all of his vast fortune was accumulated via the privatisation system imposed by the World Bank and the IMF, who in turn promoted Ben Ali's Tunisia as a model for other nations to emulate, and showered it with loans that he and his cronies used to enrich themselves and entrench their power. The international media (with the perhaps sole exception of Britain's Guardian) maintained a stony wall of silence about the regime's oppressive nature and human rights violations and when it wasn't lauding Tunisia's "democratic evolution", portrayed it as little more an idyllic tourist destination. Foreign leaders accorded his regime legitimacy and conspired with it to suppress dissent under the guise of "promoting stability" and "fighting terrorism". Finally, the Americans supplied the regime with arms and intelligence, not to defend the Tunisian people, but to defend the regime against its opposition and to use the regime to promote its other objectives in the region.

The key to understanding what needs to be done is not to look at Ben Ali or the individuals with whom he shared his power within his limited domain, but to shift our focus onto where he got that power in the first place, because it is the same source where other oppressors derive their power, and it is not within Tunisia.

Beside ignoring the Tunisans' uncomfortable name for their uprising, the Western media has tried to subtly manipulate perceptions in another way: having ignored the reality in Tunisia for decades and now forced to acknowledge the vast gap between it and the image they had been projecting until only a few days ago, they are now engaging in damage control by implying (or stating outright) that the Tunisian Intifada's relevance is limited to Arab dictatorships. Unable to deny the electrifying (and dangerous) resonance of the Tunisian Intifada for other oppressed people in the region, they are now acknowledging the obvious, but using subtle racism to imply that the absence of democracy in Arab countries is attributable, not to a systematic conspiracy by powerful international actors, but to an inherent weakness in the nature of Arabs themselves, the lack of a "culture of democracy" as it were. The purpose is to avoid at all costs comparing the dictatorships in the Arab countries to their nearly identical (and often far worse) counterparts in Western-supported dictatorships around the world, from Africa to Asia to Latin America, created and maintained in power by the very same transnational networks.

Luckily for the powers-that-be, that subtle (or not-so-subtle) racism is well-entrenched in their Western audiences, but there are glimmers of light here and there. I've been following with great interest the up-to-the-minute coverage of Tunisia in the British Guardian and have been pleasantly surprised by some of the readers' comments, especially this one, by a "MmeChatyle":

It is amazing that the little developing country like Tunisia is setting an example to the western democratic world. The relatively smaller demonstrations in Tunisia made Zain El Abidine Bin Ali flee the country while the two million demonstrators against the Iraq war in February 2003 has no effect on Blairs 'democratic' regime!!!

Also the four Tunisian MPs put most of the British MPs to shame who gave Mr Blair their support for for the Iraq illegal war at the cost of hundreds of thousands of British and American soldiers as well as innocent Iraqis. The cost of this immoral war is still incalculable as blood in still spilling in the killing fields of Blair and Bush (50 Iraqis died today in an explosion in Tikrit). Bin Ali fled Tunisia although he does not have as much blood on his hands while Mr Blair is still lecturing us about morality, has his memoires proudly published and, believe it or not, is the peace envoy to the Middle East.


I wonder how many catastrophic wars, how many totalitarian "security" measures, how many unemployed and hungry and deprived of adequate education and health services it will take to spark in Western democraciesTM the kind of rebellion that we are seeing from the brave people of Tunisia, from the brave people of Palestine, and from all the heroic rebels across the "Arab world" who hunger, not for a toxic democracy-substitute ("I Can't Believe It's Not Freedom!"), but for the real thing? The enemy is one, though it has many heads; it can't be vanquished unless the people of the world recognize it and become one, as well.
"If you're not careful the newspapers will have you hating the oppressed and loving the people doing the oppressing." - Malcolm X
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Re: People power forces change in Tunisia

Postby Nordic » Wed Jan 19, 2011 5:31 am

Here's another one for you, Alice. :)

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/01/elec ... olt-egypt/

After Tunisia, ‘electrified’ Arab world sets sights on brewing revolt in Egypt

By Daniel Tencer
Tuesday, January 18th, 2011 -- 6:44 pm

Teen sets self on fire in France

Member of Pirate Party given position in Tunisian government

In a sign that an "electrified" Arab world has been inspired by the events in Tunisia to rise up against their governments, opposition leaders in Egypt have called for an open revolt in the country on January 25.

The US branch of the National Association for Change, an umbrella group of activists led by former IAEA chief Mohamed El-Baradei, issued a statement on Tuesday "urging all Egyptians to take to the streets on January 25th to protest the deteriorating conditions caused by the dictatorial Mubarak regime."

The message places El-Baradei -- a prominent figure in the international community since his role in Iraqi weapons inspections in 2002 and 2003 -- in virtually direct conflict with President Hosni Mubarak, who is generally considered an ally of Washington and whose government receives billions in US aid yearly.

The call for a revolt comes as several Egyptians set themselves on fire in protest this week, apparently inspired by the Tunisian uprising last week that started the same way.

A man set himself ablaze on Tuesday in Cairo and another in Alexandria, Egyptian officials said. The incidents follow a similar one in Cairo on Monday in which a man poured fuel on himself and set himself on fire on a busy street in front of the People's Assembly (see video below).

In its statement, the Association for Change said it hopes "to capitalize on the overwhelming sense of hope and optimism filling the Egyptian street. The plan is to continue the protests until the regime takes material steps towards democratization which is Egypt’s only way out of the dire situation it is currently facing."

That "sense of hope and optimism" was also detected by New York Times correspondent Anthony Shadid, who told Democracy Now! that the revolt in Tunisia "has electrified people across the Arab world ... mainly for that prospect of change, that change can actually occur in a lot of countries that seem almost ossified at this point."

Speaking from Lebanon, Shadid warned that the revolts could turn ugly.

"Everyone is pretty much bracing for a few grim weeks, even months, ahead," Shadid said. "What makes it so combustible is that it cuts across questions of sect, of ideology, of the conflict with Israel."

In Jordan earlier this week, Twitterers showed a surprising amount of nerve when they openly criticized Queen Rania over her Tweet that she was "watching developments in Tunisia and praying for stability and calm for its people."

Responses included "lol Jordan is next!" and "start palace hunting in Jedda [Saudi Arabia, where Tunisia's ruler Zine Abidine Ben Ali fled]." The LA Times described the Tweets as "ominous."

The protests have also spread to Algeria, where a father-of-six became the fifth Algerian to turn himself into a human fireball this week, in a replica of the immolation protest that triggered the events in Tunisia, according to local reports.

The unemployed 36-year-old soaked himself in petrol before setting light to himself outside a departmental assembly in the El Oued region, after demanding a job and housing, the Arabic language El Khabar daily said.

The president of the assembly, which is close to the border with Tunisia, managed to put out the flames with a fire extinguisher, the paper added.

Four other Algerians have carried out similar protests since January 12.

They were all following the example set by 26-year-old Mohamed Bouazizi who died after setting himself ablaze at a protest in Tunisia in mid-December. His death sparked an uprising and led to Tunisian President Ben Ali fleeing the country after 23 years in power.

YOUTH UPRISING? TEEN SETS SELF ON FIRE IN FRANCE

A 16-year-old French boy was rushed to hospital Tuesday in a critical condition after setting himself on fire at his school, officials in Marseille said.

The boy doused himself in a flammable liquid in the toilets of his private school in the southern city and then set himself alight, rescue service officials said.

He has second and third degrees burns over 70 percent of his body, they said. Hospital officials said the boy was in a critical condition.

It's may be a sign that the revolt in Tunisia and brewing unrest across the Arab world may also be part of a "youth uprising" that trends analyst Gerald Celente said last week would come to fruition in 2011.

Young people from industrial societies around the world will unite on the Internet to overthrow increasingly ineffective elements of globalism that have driven their economies into depression, Celente said.

"[The Internet is] exposing the corruptness, the ineptitude and the double dealing going on that [governments] don't want the public to know about," he told RT. "The more freedom of information that goes out, they're going to start using cyber war and the war on terror to take that Internet freedom away from America."

"But in 2011, the game's gonna run out," Celente added. "...On one end, it's a wake-up call and on the other hand it's [an effort to] screw the people."

PIRATE PARTY MEMBER GIVEN POSITION IN TUNISIAN GOVERNMENT

Many observers have commented that the Tunisian revolt could not have happened without the aid of such new-media phenomena as WikiLeaks and Twitter. Adding to that perception is the news that a formerly imprisoned member of the Pirate Party has been given a seat in the newly-formed Tunisian unity government.

The Pirate Party, which has been opening up branches across the world, is seen as the scourge of governmental efforts to reign in illegal downloading of online content. Ars Technica reported Tuesday:

From imprisoned Pirate Party member to government leader, it's been an eventful week for Tunisian blogger and software developer Slim Amamou. Arrested by security forces a week ago, Amamou emerged from jail a few days later only to watch as president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali fled the country and the new "unity" government asked Amamou to join.

Amamou is a well-known digital activist in Tunisia; his Twitter account outlines in brief his positions: "Against censorship, against IPR, for net neutrality." He's a member of the Pirate Party of Tunisia and head of a small software company called Alixsys that develops Web apps for pharmaceutical companies and online startups.

He was arrested a week ago, as Tunisian demonstrations against the Ben Ali regime reached a peak; security forces apparently wanted to know about any involvement Amamou had with a series of denial of service attacks on Tunisian government websites.

On January 13, Amamou was released. He commemorated the moment with the briefest of tweets: "Je suis libre." In response to a question, he said that he "was not physically tortured (or very little). Only psychologically."

-- With reports from AFP and an earlier report by Stephen C. Webster
"He who wounds the ecosphere literally wounds God" -- Philip K. Dick
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Re: People power forces change in Tunisia

Postby AlicetheKurious » Thu Jan 20, 2011 1:18 pm

...Yet, ever since he seized power in 1987, Ben Ali counted on the support of the West to maintain his grip on the country. Indeed, Gen. Ben Ali was the product of the French Military Academy and the U.S. Army School at Ft. Bliss, TX. He also completed his intelligence and military security training at Ft. Holabird, MD.

Since he had spent most of his career as a military intelligence and security officer, he developed, over the years, close relationships with western intelligence agencies, especially the CIA, as well as the French and other NATO intelligence services.

Based on a European intelligence source, Al-Jazeera recently reported that when Ben Ali served as his country's ambassador to Poland between 1980-1984 (a strange post for a military and intelligence officer), he was actually serving NATO's interests by acting as the main contact between the CIA and NATO's intelligence services and the Polish opposition in order to undermine the Soviet-backed regime.

In 1999 Fulvio Martini, former head of Italian military secret service SISMI, declared to a parliamentary committee that "In 1985-1987, we (in NATO) organized a kind of golpe (i.e. coup d'etat) in Tunisia, putting president Ben Ali as head of state, replacing Burghuiba," in reference to the first president of Tunisia.

During his confirmation hearing in July 2009 as U.S. Ambassador to Tunisia, Gordon Gray reiterated the West's support for the regime as he told the Senate Foreign Relations committee, "We've had a long-standing military relationship with the government and with the military. It's very positive. Tunisian military equipment is of U.S. origin, so we have a long-standing assistance program there."

Tunisia's strategic importance to the U.S. is also recognized by the fact that its policy is determined by the National Security Council rather than the State Department. Furthermore, since Ben Ali became president, the U.S. military delivered $350 million in military hardware to his regime.

As recently as last year, the Obama administration asked Congress to approve a $282 million sale of more military equipment to help the security agencies maintain control over the population. In his letter to Congress, the President said: "This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a friendly country."

During the Bush administration the U.S. defined its relationship with other countries not based on its grandiose rhetoric on freedom and democracy, but rather on how each country would embrace its counter-terrorism campaign and pro-Israel policies in the region. On both accounts Tunisia scored highly.

For instance, a Wikileaks cable from Tunis, dated Feb. 28, 2008, reported a meeting between Assistant Secretary of State David Welch and Ben Ali in which the Tunisian president offered his country's intelligence cooperation "without reservation" including FBI access to "Tunisian detainees" inside Tunisian prisons.

In his first trip to the region in April 2009, President Obama's special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, stopped first in Tunisia and declared that his talks with its officials "were excellent." He hailed the "strong ties" between both governments, as well as Tunisia's support of U.S. efforts in the Middle East. He stressed President Obama's "high consideration" of Ben Ali.

Throughout his 23 year rule, hundreds of Tunisian human rights activists and critics such as opposition leaders Sihem Ben Sedrine and Moncef Marzouki, were arrested, detained, and sometimes tortured after they spoke out against the human rights abuses and massive corruption sanctioned by his regime. Meanwhile, thousands of members of the Islamic movement were arrested, tortured and tried in sham trials.

In its Aug. 2009 report, titled: "Tunisia, Continuing Abuses in the Name of Security," Amnesty International said: "The Tunisian authorities continue to carry out arbitrary arrests and detentions, allow torture and use unfair trials, all in the name of the fight against terrorism. This is the harsh reality behind the official rhetoric."... Link
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Re: People power forces change in Tunisia

Postby JackRiddler » Thu Jan 20, 2011 2:31 pm

.

It's interesting that this toppling of a probable CIA-installed dictator, a buyer of US arms who had the backing of Western military-intel and corporate interests but who lacked high profile as an "ally," happened so suddenly that the Western state-influenced propaganda didn't have a chance to demonize the revolution. The US corporate media doesn't seem to know what line they should have or will now take. Perhaps this explains the blind casting about for some brand (by "creative" types who probably don't know the geography let alone speak Arabic) that has nothing to do with what Tunisians actually did or think, like "Jasmine" or "Wikileaks" or claims that Twitter must have been important. I'll bet it played a role, and that the telephone was even more important! I'll also bet a lot of those flapping their gums about these events in the English language don't even know that to Tunisians, this is the Intifada.

.
Last edited by JackRiddler on Thu Jan 20, 2011 7:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: People power forces change in Tunisia

Postby AlicetheKurious » Thu Jan 20, 2011 2:52 pm

Something big is being planned for next Tuesday: so far, according to members of the April 6 youth movement in Egypt, nearly 50,000 members have pledged on Facebook alone to attend peaceful street demonstration starting at 11:30 am. They will be joined by the Kifaya (Enough!) opposition movement and many others, but the Muslim Brotherhood has announced that it will not participate. It remains to be seen what, if anything, will come of this.
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Re: People power forces change in Tunisia

Postby vanlose kid » Fri Jan 21, 2011 4:53 am

complete coincidence. obviously.

*

Tunisia Central Bank Admits It Is Missing 1.5 Tons Of Gold
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/20/2011 15:41 -0500

When we first reported on the rumored "confiscation" of 1.5 tons (or is that tonnes?) of gold by deposed Tunisian surging food inflation beneficiary Ben Ali we joked that the next WGC update of Tunisian gold assets would be strangely lower by 23%. Once again, the Onion reality sets in as we uncover we were right. Dow Jones reports that "Tunisia's central bank this week said it held about 5.3 tons, but dismissed reports that the family of ex-leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali had withdrawn the gold, saying the bank vaults were "under draconian security measures." Um, yeah, that's just off by the amount that Ben Ali is now desperately trying to eat...

From Dow Jones:

Tunisia had 6.8 tons of gold in December, a level unchanged for at least a decade, according to a December online report issued by the World Gold Council, which is also in line with estimates issued by the International Monetary Fund in October.

The WGC regularly publishes global statistics on gold and is considered an authority on the sector.
...
According to French intelligence cited by French daily Le Monde, Ben Ali's wife Leila Trabelsi had gone to the bank to withdraw the gold. The governor initially resisted, but backed down under pressure from Ben Ali himself

French TV TF1 also reported that the gold was withdrawn in late December.

Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia last week amid an unprecedented wave of street protests against rising unemployment as well as his 23 years of iron-fisted rule and allegations of corruption against his family.


That's funny: also just as funny is that according to the WGC the US has 8,133.5 tonnes of gold. We wonder if we should apply the same 22% pro forma haircut on that number when adjusting for physical gold holdings long since moved to various armored safes in Wall Street's offshore villas located in non-extradition countries. But we jest. We would be satisfied with just learning how much Tungsten is currently located in Fort Knox.

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/tunisi ... -tons-gold

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Re: People power forces change in Tunisia

Postby lupercal » Fri Jan 21, 2011 4:13 pm

JackRiddler wrote:.

It's interesting that this toppling of a probable CIA-installed dictator, a buyer of US arms who had the backing of Western military-intel and corporate interests but who lacked high profile as an "ally," happened so suddenly that the Western state-influenced propaganda didn't have a chance to demonize the revolution. The US corporate media doesn't seem to know what line they should have or will now take. Perhaps this explains the blind casting about for some brand (by "creative" types who probably don't know the geography let alone speak Arabic) that has nothing to do with what Tunisians actually did or think, like "Jasmine" or "Wikileaks" or claims that Twitter must have been important. I'll bet it played a role, and that the telephone was even more important! I'll also bet a lot of those flapping their gums about these events in the English language don't even know that to Tunisians, this is the Intifada.

.

more laffs from the catapulter extraordinaire. Go back to your wiki chapel and light another candle Scooter, you're out of your league.
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Re: People power forces change in Tunisia

Postby Sounder » Fri Jan 21, 2011 6:57 pm

I don't know lupercal, Jack made some commonsense observations as to how these events don't show the typical marks of western operations.

Now your response is some boisterous blather about being in another league?

Hell that bit about green wearing Iranians having any relevance to the Tunisian events is laughable, -not even bush league quality propaganda.

Get a grip.
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Re: People power forces change in Tunisia

Postby JackRiddler » Fri Jan 21, 2011 7:05 pm

Sounder wrote:I don't know lupercal, Jack made some commonsense observations as to how these events don't show the typical marks of western operations.

Now your response is some boisterous blather about being in another league?

Hell that bit about green wearing Iranians having any relevance to the Tunisian events is laughable, -not even bush league quality propaganda.

Get a grip.


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