Posted on Jul 25, 2022
Tunisia vote marks a death of a dream for some Arab Spring protesters
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Wael and Jewaher locked eyes and ran towards each other. He had just been released from a police cell, and she'd spent the last 20 hours outside, singing protest songs while she waited for his release.
As they hugged tightly, someone in the crowd handed him a fresh T-shirt to replace the torn one he'd been wearing since his arrest at an anti-referendum protest the night before.
Tunisia is no stranger to demonstrations. Back in 2011 the Arab Spring was born here, before spreading across the Middle East.
Mohamed Bouazizi, a young man without a job, was selling vegetables on the street to make ends meet. When the police told him he had to stop, he set himself on fire. It was an image of desperation which resonated so deeply that crowds of people began to gather together. They too were sick of economic hardship, political corruption and their autocratic ruler.
As they hugged tightly, someone in the crowd handed him a fresh T-shirt to replace the torn one he'd been wearing since his arrest at an anti-referendum protest the night before.
Tunisia is no stranger to demonstrations. Back in 2011 the Arab Spring was born here, before spreading across the Middle East.
Mohamed Bouazizi, a young man without a job, was selling vegetables on the street to make ends meet. When the police told him he had to stop, he set himself on fire. It was an image of desperation which resonated so deeply that crowds of people began to gather together. They too were sick of economic hardship, political corruption and their autocratic ruler.
Tunisia vote marks a death of a dream for some Arab Spring protesters
Posted from bbc.com
Protest
Corruption
Posted 2 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Mohamed al Kenzari and two of his colleagues are among them, and now they're on a hunger strike to protest at the way they've been treated. I meet them at the judges' club in Tunis, where they're now living in a darkened room filled with posters promoting their cause.
Mohamed hasn't eaten for 33 days, and is now so weak he can't stand up. He lies on a mattress on the floor, covered by a thin pink floral sheet.
"I'm so exhausted. You try to resist as much as you can, but nobody feels you. You call for your rights, but nobody feels you," he tells me, and starts to cry. He says he won't end his strike until the decree which led to the judges' dismissal is reversed.
More than 80% of Tunisians have registered to vote in the referendum on Monday 25 July. In many ways, this is a ballot on democracy, rights and freedoms, and whether they continue to have oxygen here.
And for the people who demonstrated a decade ago - sparking a movement that enveloped a region - it simply signals the death of a dream."
..."Mohamed al Kenzari and two of his colleagues are among them, and now they're on a hunger strike to protest at the way they've been treated. I meet them at the judges' club in Tunis, where they're now living in a darkened room filled with posters promoting their cause.
Mohamed hasn't eaten for 33 days, and is now so weak he can't stand up. He lies on a mattress on the floor, covered by a thin pink floral sheet.
"I'm so exhausted. You try to resist as much as you can, but nobody feels you. You call for your rights, but nobody feels you," he tells me, and starts to cry. He says he won't end his strike until the decree which led to the judges' dismissal is reversed.
More than 80% of Tunisians have registered to vote in the referendum on Monday 25 July. In many ways, this is a ballot on democracy, rights and freedoms, and whether they continue to have oxygen here.
And for the people who demonstrated a decade ago - sparking a movement that enveloped a region - it simply signals the death of a dream."
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