Those in the Forefront...

Anyone reading Tunisia’s modern history observes the following fact: the national liberation movement had invariably been led by people from that region of Tunisia extending from Soussa to El-Mahdia or Essahel (the coast) as we like to put it.

It’s no wonder that Essahel was home to Tunisia’s most prodigious sons: of course Bourguiba but also Mzali, Nouira, Hedi Chaker, etc. When you own the land and your life is inextricably tied to the olive tree you can’t afford to lose. You can’t just pack and leave. Exodus is out of the equation and your agenda is straightforward: fight and live or fight and die. To live was the rule. To leave was an unknown verb.

But why? After all, the people of the South owned big chunks of land too and the same applied to Djerbians. Here’s a possible explanation: the people of the coast brought in something new. Since they were relatively wealthier than most of the people and more open thanks to the "amalgam" and diversity any coastal area brings, they could afford to send their children to the best schools (the Sadiki college and then to France) and so the new generation developed a sense of diplomacy and realism. Yet they didn’t lose their deep-rooted ties. The sheer force didn’t lose any momentum yet again there were still “feet on the ground”.

It always occurs to my mind the sequence of Slah Msaddak in a Tunisian serial (forgot the title) walking in the house in his Djebba and Chechiya and asking his “Yamma” to get him his lunch (Couscous in the tibsi, Tabouna bread and the ubiquitous olive oil and olives). He was discussing with her the latest news of “El Fallaga” (the fighters). But it also occurs to my mind the position of refusal of Bourguiba to support the Germans during the WWII only to be the only Arab leader not to cut the diplomatic relations with the Republic of West Germany after they recognized Israel during the 60’s: Realism and vision again with no “on-the-spur-of-the-moment” reactions. I like to call it the “Chirchillian approach”: Realpolotik bearing into mind national interests as THE ultimate goal.

I, for one, come from the region of the Cap Bon where we endured horrible carnages committed by the French in the region of Menzel Temim and Haouria. Still, we haven’t been able to deliver as many leaders as our neighbors with whom we share the most vibrant tourist destination in Tunisia, namely “Hammamet Sud”. Maybe that’s why both my uncles are big fans of L’Etoile. A thing I haven’ been able to grasp until recently!

They (people of the coast) might not have been the best businessmen (that credit goes to the Djerbians) but they definitely were the best diplomats around. I do understand this and I reiterate my deepest expressions of love, friendship and respect.

To every Sahli and Sahlia reading these lines, from me, a firm hand shake, a soft look and a big smile!

Why Shouldn’t Tunisia Go Nuclear?

The nuclear option was suggested since the late 60’s. Bechir Turki, a Tunisian nuclear physicist and one of the most prominent scientists in his field at that time, came up with a fully developed plan to Bourguiba who just found it silly. The report ended up in the trash bin on the basis that Tunisia’s strategy was “We don’t need any headaches from the Big Powers”.

Why are we now considering the option again? Well! Obviously for political reasons (again) not having anything to do with an economically/environmentally-driven vision whatsoever! In a word, we're doing it just to make Uncle Sam happy and for the sake of Lella Condie's black eyes. Looks like those I-shoot-the-dog guys at the white house met and thought: “Hmmm! Instead of having a headache every now and then with a trouble making nation like Iran over nuclear weapons, let’s just give the Middle East the pacific nuclear energy (but not the technology) and control the uranium flow without which the whole chain is crippled.” Dependency again and again!

Germany boasts the best brains in atomic energy, yet there is a strong opposition exercised by the Greens. Where has our Green party been when those announcements were made? (yfassessou fil fool lakhdir I guess). We had enough of obsolete decisions going for obsolete strategies when other nations are divesting, packing off and heading for something else somewhere else. The world (the smart and civilized world) is going bio, the world is going green, the world is going sustainability so please enough of this nonsense. Tunisia going atomic? Get out!

I’m not dwarfing our competencies in the field. On the contrary, we have some established scientists and engineers in the field. I even know the very person –a Tunisian- who taught Ahmed Zweil himself and do know that the Nuclear Studies Option has been shut down a couple of years ago in the engineering school of Monastir and that most of the faculty went abroad then. Isn’t it weird for a country planning to harness the atom for its energy needs?

Tunisia should go Renewable! For god’s sake, the solution is staring at us! There’s everything it takes out there! And for just a moment let’s try to do our own research for our own good: we have sand in the desert, wind energy along our coasts, and absolutely no paucity when it comes to solar energy (an average of over 5000 sun-hours yearly). This is not to mention other hidden resources here and there: biomass for instance (Il Fitoura mte3 Izzitoun, wheat/barley waste). I even believe we can extract something out of the waste of processed phosphate in the Metaloui area and from the landfills around the capital.

A series of questions has to be asked to those guys who proudly delivered empty speeches about nuclear energy in Tunisia without understanding a damn thing of the whole affair: Where are you gonna get the Uranium from? How are you gonna transport it to the plant in a small city?!! Can you afford the overall inherent cost? Aren’t you concerned about safety issues in an environment (let’s state it bluntly) notorious for its great attachment to the tea kettle? The tea kettle would kill us ultimately and sincerely, I don't wanna Ben Arous to be another Chernobyl…

After all, we are a small country and our energy demand is not - by any considerations - bigger than that of Denmark so just go renewable (yar7im waldikom), it will cost you less both in upfront cost and maintenance.

The United Nations...of America

They put a Pokemon like they have always done, nothing more than a puppet. They hired ( and they still do ) people who have been filled up to the rim with their so-called "values" in their "best universities' courts".


Thousands of people getting big money and spitting tons of reports no one would read while the fighter jets are bombarding and the submarines are lurking in the seas.

Palestine, Bosnia, Lebanon, Iraq, Sudan and now Somalia and god knows who's next.


Yes! Pee on us Uncle Sam 'cos we're thirsty! It's not your fault..


We're just a pie for you, a bunch of idiots riding camels and enjoying a wealth they don't deserve

These, and their likes, are the ones to blame and to hang

And so are these too for their silence

Where we're heading? to the unknown of course, and if we bump into the bottom, we can still dig in and head even deeper


So next time you tell me UN resolutions, peace process and ceasefire, please spare me 'cos I don't care. Just do what you want, consider me not there or asleep 'cos I am.


Happy New Year Mr. UNA!

You Have to C-O-M-M-U-N-I-C-A-T-E! Ya Dini?!

In the past, we had a president who used to over communicate (he once even talked about his testicles!) now we’re doomed with a government for whom communication is a strange word. Can’t we just get someone in-between?

This is an excerpt of Carlos Ghosn’s biography “Shift” and which may serve as a good lesson for the Tunisian government on honesty and fluent communication .

“The Perrier affair over tainted water is well known. They recognized that they had a problem right away; they said, “We have problem, and we’re dealing with it.” If you’ve made a mistake, say so and start fixing it!

Within forty-eight hours, the firm had identified the sources of the traces of benzene in some of its batches of water, made all information available to the public and ordered the recall of all the batches of Perrier that were then in circulation. It was an expensive operation, but it saved the company from a much more serious disaster, the loss of its customers’ confidence. Ever since, Perrier as been a textbook study in crisis handling and communication.”[1]

Remember the avian flu crisis a year ago in Tunisia? As usual, our dear government waited until the outbreak hit our neighbors only to announce that our chickens are safe and sound. No one believed them and you know why? Because they have been lying to us for over 50 years so why on earth should we believe let alone trust them now?!

With the recent shooting events and the rumor machine at full-throttle, one can expect anything now! My little nice Tunisia! What are they doing to you while I don't even know what the hell is going on?!

If I have one song, just one single song to summarize the whole situation, I won’t find a better one than Mohamed Hassan’s “Lich bita mirsalik 3anni?”

---

[1] Carlos Ghosn, Shift, Ch 14, pp128-129

Between the 31st and the 1st, I just don't care!!

Exactly one year ago, this post was published. I confirm that it still holds true.

C’est magique tous ces mois qui se sont passés si vite, que de mails échangés, que d'essais écrits, que d'ami(e)s trouvé(e)s et retrouvé(e)s, que d'idées, que de rêves, de voyages et encore de rêves et encore des rêves!

Ana je suis content wallah, je savoure la flamme en moi, entre le 31 et le 1er ce n'est qu'un chiffre qui change mais moi je continue ma quête de bonté, d'amour, d'ouverture, d'innocence et de découverte du nouveau!

N'ayez pas peur amigos, nous sommes jeunes et nous le serons pour toujours s'il nous suffit d'un peu pour goûter au bonheur et nous sentir contents : une chanson à la radio, un mail qui fait chaud au coeur, une tasse de café avec un ami, la chaleur sous la couverture entouré de sa famille qui aime, protège et partage ou un voyage à l'autre bout du monde, whatever...

Le miroir ne me fera jamais peur, ni les rides ni les cheveux blancs ne troubleront ma confiance en moi, ma self perception comme jeune ouvert et tolèrent! Ni encore mon compte bancaire ni mon portefeuille, je sais ce que je veux dans cette vie et il est toujours ailleurs... Tel un petit enfant sur la plage je continue mon voyage!

Just let it go amigos!

Eidkom Mabrook, 3amkom mabrook winchallah min 7asan il a7san!

Un coucou tres special plein d'amitie à Hayy :-)