Avalanche - The Anarchist correspondence zine Avalanche-EN-13 | Page 11

What are we waiting for?
Days and nights of revolt
against misery
January 2018 - Tunisia
“They stole our revolution!” This was the first thing H.
said to me after a phone conversation about the un-
rest and explosions of anger that rippled through Tu-
nisia during the second week of January 2018. At first
I didn’t understand what this statement implied. Then
I started noticing articles on mainstream press about
the approach of the anniversary of the 2011 revolution.
Through the very dark and manipulative logic of com-
parison, mainly fuelled by western outlets and politi-
cians, Tunisia continues to be regarded, as a successful
outcome of the “Arab Spring”. terrorism. These main interests not only kept putting
the people’s needs in the background, but also gave the
reasons and tools to potentially crush any act of popular
unrest and anger.
In this context of recuperation I now understand the
words of my friend. The state and the media consider
the anniversary of the revolution as January 14 th , the
day the Ben Ali regime fell. This is a political date. A
date when a precise political goal was achieved, that
certainly served any Power that followed the overthrow.
But for H. the anniversary is the 17 th of December, the
day when in Sidi Bouzid a fruit vendor self-immolized
after being harassed by the police, the day of rupture
when for many the unknown started. A shedding of the
shackles, when unpredictable and wild revolts spread
all over Tunisia, an intersection of hopes, desires, rea-
sons and feelings that fiercely refused their imposed
conditions. Prisons were burned, police were attacked,
goods were looted, neighbourhoods self-organized,
people of any age and gender took to the streets, took
what they needed. However this power vacuum was
soon filled by new power-thirsty contenders. Although
the riots, looting and some forms of self organization
did not stop after the 14 th , the character of the street
presence rather transformed when the battle for the
throne started. This manifested in protectionism of
property and a the appearance of militias, who fought
police and security forces. The anniversary of the revolution is on the 17 th of De-
cember. Politicians are taking this position [of using the
January 14 th date] especially in the capital and the bas-
tards are really fixed on this. They won’t change it.
Although after the fall of the Ben Ali regime there was
a succession of several opposing governments, they all
maintained an allegiance to multinational interests that
country has been embedded in since colonial times and
strengthened a police state focused on fighting Islamic
Over the weeks of unrest in January 2018, I had the oc-
casion of talking to comrade H. about the situation in his
city from his perspective. An attempt to understand the
context, demystify the lies and try to find a perspective.
What do you mean “they stole your revolution”?
They are recuperating this revolution. On the western
media they talk about Tunisia as the success story of the
“Arab Spring”. The one that is on the path to democracy,
international collaboration, praised for not falling into a
civil war.
It’s true that Tunisia did not descend to the level of civil
war that other countries did. Tunisia is not on the right
path, but perhaps you can say that it’s better off than
other countries, like Libya and Syria. I don’t like this
comparison, it’s just used to hide other problematics
and oppression.
Tunisia’s government seems very afraid to fall into new
social unrest. I mean they have a huge budget for secu-
rity services, largely playing on the threat of terrorism.
This is still a police state. This has never changed. Now
they can do it more openly because of the accepted fight
on terrorism. They passed so many new laws, finding a
new reason and way to repress the people. 1% of the Tu-
nisian population is in prison. The prisons are overflow-
ing, many prisoners are still waiting without a trial date
in sight, with many people who got arbitrarily picked up
by the police and locked up. Only because they don’t
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