The Jasmine revolution |
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Collection title
19 20. National Edition
First broadcast date
01/15/2011
Abstract
On Friday, December 17, 2010, a young man died by setting fire on himself in Sidi Bouzid.
This was the start of demonstrations against unemployment and the cost of living in Tunisia. After several weeks of confrontations with the police and many victims, President Ben Ali flees to Saudi Arabia. Back to the Jasmine revolution.
The report alternates factual images and interview with a Tunisian architect.
(Source: France 3 documents).
Primary theme
Contemporary historical challenges 19th-20th c.
Credits / Cast
- Aloulou Sami - Participant
- Sabourault Isabelle - Journalist
Map locations
- Tunisia - Chotts and desert - Sidi Bouzid
- Tunisia - North - Tunis
Context
The Jasmine Revolution
François Siino
On January 14th 2011, less than a month after the start of the protests in Tunisia, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled the country in an aeroplane, heading towards Saudi Arabia. The first of the Arab revolutions which made such an impact that year had taken most observers and heads of state by surprise, particularly in France. News of what was going on was not really broadcast until the end of December 2010, two weeks after the start of the demonstrations. Just over 23 years after the "medical coup" had brought him to power, Habib Bourguiba's former minister of the interior seemed impossible to budge. Within the country, brutal repression of all opposition plus giving large sums of money to those faithful to him let him imagine he could stay in power as long as he wished. Outside the country, the carefully tailored reputation of being the good pupil as far as economic liberalism was concerned and as buttress against Islamic extremism earned him the almost unanimous support of the western heads of state, who agreed to close their eyes to the violations of human rights and the rapacious economic practises of the president's family and close friends.
The news film looks back at certain key moments of this brief but decisive sequence of Tunisian history. The starting point of the revolt was at Sidi Bouzid, a small town in the centre of the country where, on December 17th 2010, a young street vendor set himself on fire in front of the administration buildings. The first demonstrations at his funeral rapidly spread to other towns, mixing social and political demands. The brutal backlash by the police and security forces, shooting real bullets into the crowd, caused many victims. But that did not stop the demonstrations from growing to previously unthinkable proportions, as the lawyer Radhia Nasraoui describes on the telephone, interviewed on January 6th 2011. The role of the internet and social networks, a favoured place for circulating information was also mentioned by the young Tunisian lawyer living in Paris and committed to supporting the revolution. The images of repression circulated inside and outside the country, strengthening the determination of the protesters and forcing the international media to take notice of a movement until then undreamt of in the Arab world. Faced with a mobilisation which reached the capital itself, President Ben Ali made one last speech on January 13th 2011, combining promises for economic measures and greater political freedom. But as the continuing demonstrations and slogans show, he had lost all credibility. Since his national army refused to take part in the repression, the president decided to flee the country with part of his family.
Bibliography
Bendana Kmar, 2011, Chronique d’une transition, Paris, Editions du Script.
Camau Michel, Geisser Vincent, 2003, Le syndrome autoritaire. Politique en Tunisie de Bourguiba à Ben Ali, Paris, Presses de Sciences Po.
Marzouki Moncef, Geisser Vincent, 2009, Dictateurs en sursis. Une voie démocratique pour le monde arabe, Paris, Editions de l’Atelier.
Graciet Catherine, Beau Nicolas, 2009, La régente de Carthage. Main basse sur la Tunisie, Paris, La Découverte.
