Terrorism and jail terms for student demonstrators ranked high among the concerns of Tunisian bloggers in recent weeks, as did the Ibla Library fire.
By Mona Yahia for Magharebia in Tunis – 19/01/10
The fire that raged through the Ibla Library, an institution revered by generations of readers, captured the attention of Tunisian bloggers in recent weeks. Concerns about jail terms for protesting students, terrorism and freedom of expression also hit the Tunisian blogosphere in a flurry of posts.
In the blog Khayl wa Layl, Ali Saidane posts about "The Ibla Fire: Part of Our Memory Turned to Ashes," in which he expresses his sorrow at the fire that ate up nearly half of the rare books and documents in the library where so many men and women "worked so hard".
"Today, I'm overwhelmed with grief because the library has been turned to ashes," writes the blogger. "Books, folders, decorations, labels, walls and tables caught fire, demolishing traces of visitors who have avidly and regularly been frequenting the library since 1929, eager to quench their thirst for knowledge and information."
In a post titled "Terrorism Engineering," blogger RevolutionTunisie analyzes the relationship between terrorist acts and the science of building, illustrating his thoughts with a few examples.
"It's rare for engineering and religion to join hands. Erecting buildings and bridges are concrete activities deeply rooted in secular sciences," writes the blogger. "However, the failed terrorist attack perpetrated by mechanical engineer Farouk Abdel Motaleb during the Christmas celebrations reminds us that a large number of violent extremists belong to that profession."
December 25th marked the annual occasion for Tunisian bloggers to offer readers blank posts to protest authorities' efforts to block blogs. In "A Semi-Blank Post for Our Freedom (Us, Bloggers)," Progressive Libre writes, "As we are about to bid 2009 goodbye, we continue to pursue our virtual protests, some of which were a success (in my opinion) such as '404,' and the solidarity campaign with our fellow blogger 'Fatma Arabicca'."
"Surely, this is no occasion to start telling stories," adds the blogger. "After all, the blog needs to be semi-blank as the title indicates (may the blogger keep it alive for as long as possible). So, by the word of Progressive Libre, this semi-blank post promotes freedom of expression and blogging. We are thus seizing this opportunity to protest the conditions of Tunisian bloggers through our virtual community."
Boukornine, another blogger, writes, "Try to squash a blogger, and you'll see a thousand others spring up overnight. Try to silence the voice of truth, and you'll see that your efforts are to no avail." In the same vein, several other blank blogs present readers with posts in protest against efforts to block their colleagues' work.
The issue of arrested students found its way to one of the blogs that reads, "On December 21st, a verdict was issued against Tunisian students in what came to be known as the 'Manouba students case'.
"Students were arrested for no other reason than staging a sit-in in front of a university dormitory as a final resort to demanding the right of their female classmates to dorms," writes the blogger in A Tunisian Girl. "Among the students who were tried in court were four girls, each of whom was sentenced to a year in prison."
"Ironically, on December 10th, the world celebrated the 61st anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," adds the blogger. "December 17th also marked the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Human and women's rights, however, continue to be violated. Even more ironic is the fact that the sentences passed against students coincided with the UN endorsing Tunisia's initiative to proclaim 2010 an International Youth Year!"
Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/blog/2010/01/19/feature-02.
By Mona Yahia for Magharebia in Tunis – 19/01/10
The fire that raged through the Ibla Library, an institution revered by generations of readers, captured the attention of Tunisian bloggers in recent weeks. Concerns about jail terms for protesting students, terrorism and freedom of expression also hit the Tunisian blogosphere in a flurry of posts.
In the blog Khayl wa Layl, Ali Saidane posts about "The Ibla Fire: Part of Our Memory Turned to Ashes," in which he expresses his sorrow at the fire that ate up nearly half of the rare books and documents in the library where so many men and women "worked so hard".
"Today, I'm overwhelmed with grief because the library has been turned to ashes," writes the blogger. "Books, folders, decorations, labels, walls and tables caught fire, demolishing traces of visitors who have avidly and regularly been frequenting the library since 1929, eager to quench their thirst for knowledge and information."
In a post titled "Terrorism Engineering," blogger RevolutionTunisie analyzes the relationship between terrorist acts and the science of building, illustrating his thoughts with a few examples.
"It's rare for engineering and religion to join hands. Erecting buildings and bridges are concrete activities deeply rooted in secular sciences," writes the blogger. "However, the failed terrorist attack perpetrated by mechanical engineer Farouk Abdel Motaleb during the Christmas celebrations reminds us that a large number of violent extremists belong to that profession."
December 25th marked the annual occasion for Tunisian bloggers to offer readers blank posts to protest authorities' efforts to block blogs. In "A Semi-Blank Post for Our Freedom (Us, Bloggers)," Progressive Libre writes, "As we are about to bid 2009 goodbye, we continue to pursue our virtual protests, some of which were a success (in my opinion) such as '404,' and the solidarity campaign with our fellow blogger 'Fatma Arabicca'."
"Surely, this is no occasion to start telling stories," adds the blogger. "After all, the blog needs to be semi-blank as the title indicates (may the blogger keep it alive for as long as possible). So, by the word of Progressive Libre, this semi-blank post promotes freedom of expression and blogging. We are thus seizing this opportunity to protest the conditions of Tunisian bloggers through our virtual community."
Boukornine, another blogger, writes, "Try to squash a blogger, and you'll see a thousand others spring up overnight. Try to silence the voice of truth, and you'll see that your efforts are to no avail." In the same vein, several other blank blogs present readers with posts in protest against efforts to block their colleagues' work.
The issue of arrested students found its way to one of the blogs that reads, "On December 21st, a verdict was issued against Tunisian students in what came to be known as the 'Manouba students case'.
"Students were arrested for no other reason than staging a sit-in in front of a university dormitory as a final resort to demanding the right of their female classmates to dorms," writes the blogger in A Tunisian Girl. "Among the students who were tried in court were four girls, each of whom was sentenced to a year in prison."
"Ironically, on December 10th, the world celebrated the 61st anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," adds the blogger. "December 17th also marked the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Human and women's rights, however, continue to be violated. Even more ironic is the fact that the sentences passed against students coincided with the UN endorsing Tunisia's initiative to proclaim 2010 an International Youth Year!"
Source: Magharebia.com.
Link: http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/blog/2010/01/19/feature-02.
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