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Environment Vanessa Szakal03 October 2014

A Story of Water in Kairouan

A Google Web search on «l’eau + Kairouan» produces a disconcerting variety of reports on the magnificent Aghlabid basins, the conqueror Okba’s recovery of a lost golden cup («When picking the cup up, water sprang from the ground») and the stoppage of running water to the Haffouz delegation of Kairouan, so that one is left confusedly marveling at the graceful aesthetic and functional design of the region’s ancient water source and wondering how residents of such parched lands have survived the summer months without the potable running water to which they are accustomed.

Economy Vanessa Szakal26 September 2014

A Tiger Cannot Be Raised By Sheep – Economic Recovery and Party Politics in Tunisia

In this newest publication, World Bank economists Antonio Nucifora and Bob Rijkers reiterate this background of corruption, characterized by «limited competition and active state intervention» and of which enduring vestiges are manifest in «three dualisms, namely the onshore-offshore division, the dichotomy between the coast and the interior, and the segmentation of the labor market»– to explain the present economic crisis that is its legacy.

Media Vanessa Szakal25 Sep 2014

Le journalisme imparfait : A propos des médias occidentaux et tunisiens et des « combattants étrangers » en Syrie

On peut considérer que certains préjugés sont, parfois, inévitables et nécessaires dans des discussions liées à l’actualité. Ils doivent, cependant, être propices au dialogue et à la réflexion, lorsque les sources sont fiables, et ne reflètent pas une intention de désinformation ou une lecture bornée de l’auteur, et totalement biaisé, telle que celle élaborée par la CNN, et repris sans sourciller par la plupart des médias. Ce qui pose, inévitablement, la complexe et sempiternelle question des origines des sources médiatiques.

Society Mohammed Samih Beji Okkez24 سبتمبر 2014

منظّمة الدفاع عن المستهلك عاجزة عن حماية المواطن من غلاء الأسعار

منذ شهور تمّ إقصاء منظّمة الدفاع عن المستهلك من اتخاذ القرار بخصوص سياسات الوزارة وتهميش دورها الرقابيّ والإستشاريّ. فصارت لا تعلم بالزيادات إلاّ بعد إقراراها بعد أن اتخذت سلطة الإشراف قرارا غير معلن باستبعاد المنظّمة من كواليس اتخاذ القرارات. بل رفعت الجهات المسؤولة الحماية والدعم الأمني والقانونيّ عن لجان المراقبة التابعة لها، حيث لم يعد لا الأمن ولا الوزارة تحميهم من بطش المخالفين أو توفّر لهم الدعم اللوجستيّ والقانونيّ لممارسة مهامهم.

Media Vanessa Szakal20 September 2014

Reporting Through the Grapevine: Western and Tunisian Media on “Foreign Fighters” in Syria

Even if it is for the lack of up-to-date and relevant data produced and diffused by Tunisian government institutions, that Tunisian media draws from foreign mainstream reports without questioning the validity of the data, analysis, or sources used–reporting through the grapevine, as it were–is a practice that diminishes rather than enhances the quality of dialogue on current issues. Noteworthy, for example, is the number of news agencies that have referenced the recent CNN International study and imprecisely or incorrectly attributed it to the Washington-based non-profit Pew Research Center.

Politics Vanessa Szakal14 September 2014

Circumventing Political Exclusion – RCD After the Revolution and in the Coming Elections

What Euchi demonstrates in The Disappointment of the Revolution is the falling short of an effective transitional justice process, a degredation of standards since 2011 that has witnessed the successive criminalization of former regime officials to their pardoning, to the concession of their right to engage in politics. Those who were initially seen as “enemies” of the state have gradually come to be recognized as political equals, now rivals now allies as per the momentary needs of political parties vying for electoral ground.

Networks Vanessa Szakal04 September 2014

Global Surveillance Monitoring – Nawaat Partners with Privacy International for Legal Reform in Tunisia

Defining the core of Nawaat’s collaborations with Privacy International, Sami Ben Gharbia points to the present legal battle that encompasses the Technical Telecommunications Agency mandated by decree and the (leaked) draft law concerning cybercrime, both of which must be addressed by «deconstructing the legal discourse of these threats and coming up with a proposal that will respect human rights.»

Politics Vanessa Szakal17 August 2014

Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Tunisia and Israel, Tunisia and the US

As much as Tunisia’s initial, post-independence, political transition was influenced by the extent and nature of economic support from the West, the success of the country’s waning post-revolution «democratic transition» is significantly impacted by the same US and EU powers. A misnomer that diminishes the scope and complexity of international alliances and enmities that it encompasses, the Arab-Israeli conflict bears greatly upon Tunisia’s relations with Western democracies, the primary prospective investors and financial backers of political transition in Tunisia for the past half century.

Media Mohammed Samih Beji Okkez08 أوت 2014

استقالة الجنرال “الغامضة”: بين إعلام يستعجل طيّ الصفحة وفضاء “بديل” يسعى لفكّ دلالاتها

إستطاعت العمليّات الإرهابية في تونس خلال سنتين أن تطيح برئيسي الحكومة حمادي الجبالي بعد اغتيال شكري بلعيد وعليّ العريّض إثر اغتيال محمد البراهمي، كما طالت ارتدادات الهجمات الإرهابية المؤسّسة العسكريّة التي شهدت استقالة جنرالين هما رشيد عمّار في 24 جوان 2013 بعد فترة وجيزة من بداية المواجهات في جبل الشعانبي والجنرال محمد صالح الحامدي بعد عمليّة 16 جويليّة 2014 الإرهابية التي راح ضحيّتها 15 جنديا.

Networks Vanessa Szakal04 August 2014

ATT and New Cybercrime Draft Law are But Snags in Tunisia’s Threadbare Legislative System

It is the transgression from the notion of censorship as a right and protection against physical and verbal violence that Tunisia’s legislative body must now recalibrate in order to advance in this period designated as democratic transition. That Tunisian law adheres to international standards is not merely insufficient, but ill-fitted, unconstructive, and myopic if compliance with international conventions translates into the copy-paste importation of text and a lack of contextualization and comparative analysis.

Environment Vanessa Szakal02 أوت 2014

مشروع تحلية المياه المالحة في جزيرة جربة: عودة إلى عقد غامض

من الضروريّ الإشارة إلى غياب أي معلومة في وسائل الإعلام التونسية أو موقع الشركة الوطنية لاستغلال وتوزيع المياه على شبكة الانترنت حول هذا المشروع، على الرغم من بعض المنشورات التي كانت تشير إليه منذ سنة 2008

Environment Vanessa Szakal30 Jul 2014

Djerba : Ces eaux amères qui peinent à dessaler. Retour sur un contrat opaque

Plusieurs acteurs économiques dans des domaines divers et variés seraient tombés d’accord, le mois dernier, selon les médias espagnoles, pour la construction d’une usine de dessalement qui fournira aux 150 000 habitant de Djerba, environ 50 000 m3 d’eau potable par jour. Cependant, il est intéressant de constater qu’aucun média tunisien, ni le site de la SONEDE lui-même, n’en font mention

Environment Vanessa Szakal21 July 2014

Djerba Desalination Plant Contract: Seawater Can be Purified, But Can Tunisia’s Water Management?

On the island of Djerba–where, «close to hotels, under the beautiful palms, on the beaches and surrounding the white houses, putrid piles of garbage pollute the air, the water, the land, and the lives of residents»–the local population may soon benefit from the construction of a new desalination plant that promises abundant, pure, sea-sourced desalinated drinking water.

Politics Vanessa Szakal16 July 2014

Interventionism, Systematic Alignment Instill Political Divisiveness – and No Resolve for Gaza

In Tunisia, there is a great deal of skepticism regarding the competency and «responsible governance» of the interim government in juxtaposition with Tunisia’s international image as the ‘sole democracy in the Arab world’ as citizens sense that technocrats and politicians are incapable of rising above their own political and electoral trajectories to synchronise a unified, coordinated national response to aggression that is tantamount to a Palestinian holocaust.

Politics Vanessa Szakal09 July 2014

Moving the Masses to Reject Terrorism / Register to Vote

The interim government’s approach to addressing terrorism is a continual source of public discontentment, and heightened security issues have directly influenced citizenry’s reticence to participate in political processes, according to several La Presse and Nawaat reports. On the same day that the Ministry of National Defense reported on the Jebel Ouergha explosion, the High Independent Authority for Elections (ISIE) announced the markedly low turnout for voter registration.

Society Vanessa Szakal05 July 2014

Tunisia : The Holy Month of Ramadan – Pockets Empty, Dumpsters Full

Ramadan this year began on Sunday, June 29 and articles are rife with discouraging statistics on the inflation and warnings against over-consumption and waste of foodstuffs purchased in over-abundance. With food, water, electricity, and gas prices already on the rise, the expenses associated with the holy month of fasting compound what is an already unbearable economic burden for many Tunisians.