Once Again Tunisia Stands Out of the Crowd!

عند الحجام

El_Manchou__Halfaouine_Politique
envoyé par el_manchou

Like Ravi Like Anoushka

WTF!

Driving From the Back Seat

Another Talk @ MIT

الجبانة

When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains
And the women come out to cut up what remains
Just roll to your rifle and blow out your brains
An' go to your Gawd like a soldier."

--Rudyard Kipling

Watch Out! Beauty is Only Skin-Deep

Will Never Forgive Nor Forget

C'est le dernier qui a parlé qui a raison
Dans ta maison
C'est celle qui m'a donné un nom qui a raison
De toute façon
Fille ou garçon, tout ces dictons sont des leçons
Ne dis pas non
Le monde n'est ni mauvais ni bon, tu tournes pas rond
C'est sans raison
Dis moi, au nom de quelle nation tu lèves le ton
Dans ma maison?
Ne gémis pas comme un violon sans partition
C'est une leçon
La verité se cache le front comme un silence
Qui en dit long
C'est le plus fort qui a parlé qui a raison
De toute façon
C'est le dernier qui a parlé qui a raison
Dans ta maison
C'est le dernier qui a parlé qui a raison
De toute façon
Toutes les saisons font et défont belles les passions -
Quelle dérision
C'est le dernier qui a parlé qui a raison
Sans condition
Comme ci ou comme ça
Ici ou là-bas

C'est le dernier qui a parlé qui a raison
Amina Annabi
Album: Nomad (Best Of)

كل واحد يقول خبزي سخون

Everyone claims that his/her bread is hot and I'm no exception. Winston Churchill said once "When I am abroad, I always make it a rule never to criticize or attack the government of my own country. I make up for lost time when I come home."

I'm no Churchill but every time I'm asked about Tunisia here, I smile and tell that the bread has just gotten out of the oven "ylachlech"!

I'm no follower of the bread party either i.e I'm not a "khubzist". I know the same applies for a vast majority of the Tunisian people (i.e they are not khubzists) and that it's not "all-cake" out there. All we need is some housework, a good clean up of our internal kitchen under one leadership because otherwise, and it's well known, too many cooks spoil the broudhou (it's actually broth but I'm Tunisifying everything right now).

When I compare Tunisia to the rest of the Arab world, the same image always percolates in my mind. It always occurs to me that Tunisia is a loaf of Tabouna amongst a set of "baguettes". We Tunisians hate right angles and sharp turns. We like ambiguous semi-circles and fuzzy logic. If you look at the history of Tunisia, even way before President Bourguiba, the people have always been very good at coming up with ways to cushion invasions both with rhetoric and a natural quest for friendship. The worst enemy couldn't help but sit and have coffee with the local people and maybe stay for lunch and dinner. If not, why do you think the military leaders sent from the Arab peninsula had a very hard time taking full control over Ifriqiya (today's Tunisia)? Local people would play the smoke and mirror game all the time: they would claim themselves believers in the morning but would rebel the following day! The Islamic army had to go back and forth from Algeria and Morocco to Tunisia several times until the population really settled and was convinced about the new beliefs. But boy that was a war of attrition for the Islamic troops and its leaders often needed more resources to take over. In comparison, the Algerians resisted and fought teeth and nails but once they were beaten, that's it, they never rebelled again.

Forget about what is taught at the International Relations schools at John Hopkins or Harvard: the policy of containment was made in Tunisia. You can forget about finding the "ga3moora" with us and that what makes this country elusive, mercury and diplomatic. After all, didn't our grandmother manage to lay her hand on a whole city out of a bull's skin? ;)

Sorry for keep talking about bread and food but aren't we the people who made an uprising only for the sake of bread? wasn't one of our military leaders named Ali Bor3'ol because he fed his troops bor'3ol all the time? (if you ask me now, I'd have loved to be one of his men :)) Didn't you notice that our political lexicon is all about bread and kitchen? here are some examples if you're still confused: khubzist, 7ar9an, 9offa, t3'arbeel, 9hiwa (and of course that bad word for flour in the Tunisian dialect).

Not that there's a problem with our love story with food and politics. On the contrary I find it quite exciting and I'm pretty sure it would be a consistent topic for a PhD thesis. I'd even suggest "The Tunisian Cauldron" as an excellent title for a Weekly in English in Tunisia :)

I said there's no problem being "bread-ish" so to speak. I only wish we used all these skills in our foreign policy not in our internal affairs. Isn't diplomacy all about sticks and carrots after all?

Now if you'll excuse me, I just got a bit hungry and am right off to kitchen :)

Tounes ya 5adhra wsamra,
Nejma dhawia kif el gamra

http://slaim.podemus.net/Audio/116_amina__lirrili.mp3

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

الى الغيداء السمراء ذات الوشاح الاخضر

قلو الفايدة فاللعب موش في النتيجة

El Match
envoyé par anisb

توقعات سياسية مزدوجة

AP: October 2009

The US President McCain sent a letter of Congratulations to incumbent Tunisian President Ben Ali after the latter won the elections (for the fourth time in a row) held earlier this month. The US president stressed the need to work more on the human rights' issue and freedom of speech in Tunisia while highlighting the long history of friendship and cooperation between the two countries and peoples.