Fresh but peaceful protests in Tunisia's capital

[Joanne98]

Source: CNN

Tunis, Tunisia -- Another day of demonstrations in Tunisia's capital city commenced Wednesday, a peaceful rally in a city wracked by violent protests.

A crowd that grew to about 1,000 people tramped down Avenue Habib Bourguiba, singing the country's national anthem and chanting against the former ruling party and the former president, who fled the country last week amid the country-wide grass-roots uprising.

The people strode to a police line and met the officers eyeball to eyeball, but there was no conflict. Witnesses said the police demeanor appeared more relaxed than in previous days with the officers holding their ground but not acting aggressively.

This is in contrast to other days in Tunis, when police lobbed tear gas and dispersed peaceful throngs of marchers with batons.



Read more: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/01/19/tunisia.protests/

[Robbien]

1. If anyone is confused as to what is going on in Tunisia

from a Tunisian in the US
http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-541894?ref=feeds%2Foncnn

<snip>

My name is Meriem Ben Salah. I am 27 years old. A Tunisian citizen who has lived under the dictator regime for 18 years, and did seek for education abroad since the age of 18 in Europe and the US. I left Tunisia because I am not the daughter of a minister or of Ben Ali's family. No matter how talented I am , I would not have been able to pursue a higher education or to get a financial support from the goverment or to get a good job, because I am not again the daughter of a minister. This was the destiny of many Tunisians over the past decades. When I was in Tunisia, we had to applaud whenever and wherever we hear the name Ben Ali. We can oppose and we talk with eyes, me and my friends. We are afraid that someone between us could be reporting for him, despite the naivety of youth.

I have been following the news since the day when Mohamed Bouzizi has burned himself as a protest to the corrupted system in Tunisian and to unemployment. My family (my parents and my extended family) are in Tunisia, living in the middle of the revolution, shootings by the ex-president's regime, lack of food, and fear.

I am talking to my friends who are in Tunisia, exchanging videos and pictures of what is happening. Many of my neighbors were shot dead. My guy friends are not sleeping over night to protect their streets, while moms are preparing food.

Ben Ali's regime I would describe as a plant. The head of the plant has escaped but the roots are so wide and deep in the Tunisian system. For all Tunisians, we want the entire plant to be pulled out, and not only the head. The president escaped without any pre-announcement. We are anyways happy that he escaped. We thought this is the end. But it is a big plan happening that does not need the presence of Ben Ali. The Tunisian media is still controlled by Ben Ali's regime. In fact, Ben Ali has cloned himself over the past 23 years. The military is trying to arrest them but they seem to be everywhere. They are giving fake news over radio and tv. They are faking the reaction of the people. They are faking the criminals' identity. Yesterday, they were accusing innocent swedish tourists for looting and killing. All Tunisians knew immediately that this is another theatre piece made by Ben Ali's clones. We feel very sorry for what happened to them.

I call my parents 3 to 4 times a day to check on them. They are locked at home until yesterday. They have only the basics of food. All grocery stores are closed. There is no access to food and medications. My neighbors are protecting the streets helping the army against the Tunisian police who is supporting Ben Ali's party. Tunisians are feeding the army, making hunderds of sandwiches, so Army can resist to the big plan of Ben Ali.

more at above link

There is also an American in Tunisia right now whose blog
http://methalif.blogspot.com/
is saying about the same thing that Meriem Ben Salah's said in the above CNN article.