Ramadan this year has been sugar-coated, a cover for various bills that are supposed to make the lives of Tunisians better, but which are not doing so.
The language of constitutional revision and civic values based on human rights has become the baseline of political discourse, but only by submerging crucial ideological differences.
There was an attempt to set fire to the government building in Sidi Bouzid. They are furious that their town has remained impoverished and their youth have remained unemployed and the promises of development projects have remained ink on paper.
Shortly
prior to the national elections for a constituent assembly, the national
narrative shifted sharply from the socio-economic crisis which fuelled the
revolt in the first place to matters of religion.
Turmoil surrounding the destruction of artworks in Tunisia has suddenly illumined contemporary art as a site for resistance. Yet the international art world is far from understanding the true nature of such rebellion.
Arab Awakening's columnists offer their weekly perspective on what is
happening on the ground in the Middle East. Leading the week: Rita from Syria tells a harrowing tale of narrowly escaping death and the lesson she learned in the process.
The aspirations of the Jordanian people do not differ much from those of the Tunisians and Libyans and all those individuals who decided at some point to break down the wall of fear.
Some people think they’re entitled to more money just because Ben Ali is gone, when ironically, the country has only got poorer since then, and therefore it just can’t happen.
With Egypt’s first elected leader, Mohamed Morsi, SCAF is no longer going to be grooming a fourth military dynasty and will enter various degrees of power struggles only to discover that raw power can only take you so far.