Re: [Marxism] Tunisia
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == More protests in Tunisia against the caretaker government. A private TV-channel has been taken off the air for inciting violence. We all know, and many Tunisian workers know, that any so-called progressive government that will emerge in Tunisia will continue to serve the interests of the ruling class. The only way forward is of course for Tunisian workers to take back the management of their lives and form Workers' Councils to take over the running of the country. This piece of advice comes, as is always the case, from people far removed from the day-to-day going ons, and is not especially helpful. Just like three months ago, when French workers were on the offensive. Rallies and demonstrations take us on a roller-coaster ride of emotions and feverish activity, that leaves us feeling elated and in tune with the equally feverish popular mood. It is fostering a long-term sense that WE are in charge FOR GOOD, let's not return to business as usual until our demands are met that is so very difficult and why long-term organizing is the key. And by long-term organizing, I mean massive Unions and tens of thousands of stubborn workers who are conscious of the task ahead and are experienced in dealing with the tricks of the bourgeoisie through dozens of bitter strikes. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Tunisia
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == General Rashid Ammar, chief of Staff of the Tunisian Army, spoke to the crowd gathered in front of the Parliament building The army has protected and will continue to protect the people. We will uphold the Constitution. We will not overstep this boundary of protecting the Constitution. Some forces are calling for a vacancy at the head of the state. The absence of a government will only lead to chaos and to a dictatorship. Your grievances are legitimate. But I would like to see you all go home. Please disperse so that this government, or another government, can do its job. In this building there are ministers, but there are also civil servants who are working to enable our country to function. Let them do their job ! General Ammar's speech was greeted with cries of long live the army!' and by singing of the Tunisian national anthem. Many claim that the army played a crucial role in the ousting of Ben Ali by refusing to carry out orders to open fire on pro-democracy demonstrations. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Tunisia: Video captures workers expelling CEO over regime ties
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D5T7wHHHaIT0%26feature%3Dplayer_embedded%23!h=81229 On Tuesday, January 18, UGTT workers at STAR, one of the country’s main insurance companies, went on strike and expelled the company’s CEO, Abdelkarim Merdassi, in protest at his links with the Trabelsi clan. This video captured the extraordinary moment in which the workers physically expelled him from his office while singing the national anthem. (from Marxism.com) -- “Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is humanity’s original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion.” — Oscar Wilde, Soul of Man Under Socialism “The free market is perfectly natural... do you think I am some kind of dummy?” — Jarvis Cocker Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Tunisia Has Electrified People Across the Arab World
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == http://www.democracynow.org/2011/1/18/anthony_shadid_in_beirut_tunisia_has Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Tunisia
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == I certainly hope that workers' councils will evolve in Tunisia, but I don't know if they will/can come out of neighborhood watches. The mass movement of unemployed workers must continue to push - through both daily rallies and through conscious efforts at self-organization. Wild cat strikes have long been a favourite of Tunisian workers, who would occupy the buildings of the main UGTT buildings to force the union to take up their grievances. In the last two decades, many wild cat strikes prompted prolonged confrontation with riot police and the mukhabarat, who always managed to cordon off and contain the unrest (kids throwing stones, workers on indefinite strike, women camping in front of ministries) to certain sectors (the hydrocarbon industries, the fishing industry, the textile industry...). To escape from the terrible repression that inevitably followed such uprisings, many Tunisians workers were then forced to flee abroad and to try to make their way to fortress Europe. Those who were deported back to Tunisia were tortured by the regime. Those who managed to remain in Europe joined the many Tunisian Socialist organizations in exile. So there is a very strong tradition of workers' solidarity and a culture of voicing grievances in Tunisia. That's why the Ben Ali regime was so determined to stamp out any dissidence and that's why it was an extremely repressive police state. The Mukhabarat, the sinister Tunisian secret police, was/is very skilled at containing dissidence and instilling fear. No wonder the slogan on the streets yesterday was :No More Fear ! The tourism industry is/was a constant concern for Tunisian leaders. It is thought that 80% of Tunisian taxi drivers were/are Mukhabarat informers and a similar percentage of Hotel owners. The Mukhabarat also maintains/maintained an impressive network of informants throughout Tunisia and extensively monitored all cell phone and internet-based communications. The regime and the private interests that are closely intertwined with its very existence will now try to appease the crowds with promises of FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS, and by coopting a few moderate left-wing opposition figures from the many political leaders in exile. France supported Ben Ali to the bitter end, and will now put its weight behind an interim government, providing Tunisian troops with weaponry and funding. France previously announced it was ready to send military advisors and special units to help any new Tunisian government cope. The old CDR regime will probably have to change its name, despite the presence of a few hard-core loyalists, but the same nexus of corrupt politicians and financial interests intends to continue dominating the country, with French help. France's role in Tunisian history has always been pivotal and will unfortunately remain so (the entire Tunisian elite was and is still being educated in Paris). I really hope Tunisian workers (either employed or unemployed) continue to push hard and manage to overthrow the whole establishment. So far the homes of corrupt businessmen have been set alight, those notoriously connected to the Ben Ali family. The Army now seems to have stopped such outbursts. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Tunisia
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Hi Nestor, I can't really give you any sources, I'm afraid. My sources on the events in Tunisia are the same as yours : i.e. messsages in various left-wing lists, in French of course. I think the great majority of Tunisian dissidents are more comfortable with French than English, given that French is still the medium of higher education in many parts of the former French North African colonies. As I said previously, there are a lot of Tunisian Communist Parties in exile, and they sometimes split, making the overall picture a bit complex for the non-initiated (to which I belong). Some of these organizations maintain websites. However, for an in-depth look into the recent happenings in Tunis, I think individual Tunisian bloggers are more reliable. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Tunisia - This is what victory looks like
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == http://pulsemedia.org/2011/01/15/this-is-what-victory-looks-like/?utm_source=Mondoweiss+Listutm_campaign=3dbe51a332-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGNutm_medium=email Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Tunisia as the African revolution commencing... the global anti-capitalist revolution.
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Let's hope: http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/01/2067156465567.html Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Tunisia:`All Arab dictators are shaking on their thrones' -- Left and Arab voices on the insurrection | Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == By *Dyab Abou Jahjah* January 16, 2011 -- The Tunisian revolution continues to dictate its own logic on all levels. After attempts by regime leftovers to spread chaos by several techniques (cars driving through the streets shooting at people and houses, randomly destroying infrastructure, etc.), the Tunisian people have organised themselves in committees that have spread all across the country in every neighbourhood and in every city and started patrolling the streets and protecting the people. Popular committees even chased the militias of the old regime and in one case in a shoot out a martyr fell and two militiamen were executed by the people. Articles and statements at http://links.org.au/node/2101 * Subscribe free to Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal at http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub=343373 You can also follow Links on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LinksSocialism Or join the Links Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10865397643 Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Tunisia, A Restless Winter Walk, Victor Serge
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == New Post: Tunisia, A Restless Winter Walk, Victor Serge http://rustbeltradical.wordpress.com/2011/01/15/tunisia-a-restless-winter-walk-victor-serge/ Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Tunisia - the colorless revolution...
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == On his blog the Angry Arab has mockingly challenged the Americans to give the Tunisian revolution a colour. But the fact that it is colourless is proof that it is a genuine movement from below and not something cooked up in an American Embassy. What happens now? Well the Angry Arab is certainly getting excited. I hope he is right and that the domino applies. It is interesting to read the coverage on the Debka.com site of the Tunisian revolt. they could not stop themselves talking about how the Egyptian and Jordanian leaders are now worried. Of course that is only a kind of reflexive schadenfreude. It is part of the propaganda which has Israel as the only democracy surrounded by Arab dictatorships. In reality more than anything else the same right wing Arab dictators act as a buffer around Israel. They and the Israelis must now be truly fearing that their own people will rise up and follow the example of the heroic Tunisians. Some time ago Wallerstein predicted that a fire storm would sweep through the Arab world. Let us hope that it begins now. comradely Gary Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
