I had a dream! It’s accomplished. Last Friday, Tunisia, a Muslim country in North Africa, became the first Arab country to overthrow its dictator. This is as shocking to the world, who viewed Tunisia as the most stable and peaceful Arab-African country, as it is to Tunisians, who viewed themselves as a perfect illustration of the Romans’ shameful “give them bread and entertain them.” In contemporary words, if a dictator gives families food, a car and a cell phone, and keeps them distracted with sports and hundreds of free TV channels, they wouldn’t care about slowly losing their freedom. But President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali didn’t listen to previous President Habib Bourguiba’s advice, following the coup that replaced him: “Don’t make Tunisians hungry and don’t keep them full; give them just enough, because if they rise, you won’t be able to stop them.”
Today, all Arab leaders are glued to Tunisian news and listening carefully to Bourguiba’s advice. Could Tunisia be planting the seeds of revolution in Africa and the Arab world, modernizing societies that lack many human rights?
As a Tunisian, let me take you through our journey to freedom:
Tunisia earned its independence from France in 1956, thanks to one man more than any other, Bourguiba. Like Mandela, Bourguiba was a political prisoner for decades, and like Gandhi, always preached peaceful revolution, despite the inevitable clashes during the long, bloody occupation. Following our independence, Bourguiba was overwhelmingly voted Tunisia’s first president. He designed a strong constitution that combines the Koran and the French/Napoleon constitution, kept a healthy relationship with France, and implemented the three pillars of Tunisian prosperity: free co-ed education with mandatory K-12, modern irrigation system for efficient and sustainable agriculture, and equality for women, which included the freedom to work, vote and divorce. Tunisia quickly became Africa’s most literate and wealthiest country per capita, and tourism became its leading source of income. After finishing his two terms, Tunisians wanted no other but their hero to continue Tunisia’s golden age. When Tunisia faced Algeria’s Muslim extremists, Bourguiba appointed General Ben Ali as vice president to get rid of the growing threat. When Ben Ali accomplished the task successfully, and it was time for Bourguiba to replace him, Ben Ali forced Bourguiba’s doctors to sign a petition to remove him for incapacity to lead due to old age (84) in a rare bloodless coup. Since then, political opposition was banned, and Ben Ali kept getting re-elected with over 90 percent of the votes. After finishing Bourguiba’s term and his two terms, Ben Ali kept changing the constitution to keep allowing himself to get re-elected. During his 23-year reign, Ben Ali decided everything and appointed a puppet cabinet to execute his plans, while stealing from us to build himself palaces in Tunisia and other countries such as Argentina. The “Seven Families” (Ben Ali and his relatives) owned companies that were top competitors in major Tunisian industries, including telecommunication (cell phone and internet providers), and brought European megastores (like Walmart) that killed thousands of local small businesses. While corruption encouraged some greedy unethical investors, it also turned away others who didn’t wanna split too much of their profits with the greedy “Seven Families.”
While all this was no secret to Tunisians or the world, Tunisians didn’t complain (out loud) by fear of the abusive, intimidating and corrupted new government, whose police force was present in almost every road intersection in the country. Between the rising debt and food prices, Tunisia began to follow Greece’s footsteps. Last month, a college student ended the long silence and dictatorship when he burned himself to death after cops closed his mobile food cart. The riots began in the student’s town, but when Ben Ali responded to protests with snipers, they spread throughout the country. Never before did Tunisians die from Tunisian bullets! Last Friday, after four weeks of riots and dozens of deaths, Ben Ali ran away to Saudi Arabia, leaving Tunisia in search of a new leader. It’s not true that you need armed citizens to overthrow a military regime.
Experts agree that Tunisia won’t end up with a civil war or a bad new leader like Iran (after overthrowing its dictator in the 1970s), because Tunisians are united and not affected by religious divisions like some other Muslim countries. All Tunisians want is to coexist, survive and live free. Don’t we all?
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