Most recently, as part of growing tensions towards Ennhada (thought to be tied to the assassination), citizens in Thala pelted party leader Rached Ghannouchi's vehicle with rocks and stones, screaming "get out," a rallying cry heard during the Arab Spring revolution of 2011. In addition, Tunisian students filmed a Harlem Shake video - much to the chagrin of Islamist conservatives - mocking Ennhada and Ghannouchi, who are thought to be promoting hard-line Islamic rule in the state.
Note the mocking of conservative Islamic dress in the video.
Time will only tell if this recent wave of developments - and ensuing protests - will prove to be a major setback on Tunisia's road to democracy.
Sources:
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/28/harlem-shake-protests-in-tunisia-and-egypt/
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2013/03/03/269414.html
With Harlem Shake videos being everywhere, it's really neat that people are actually using it towards political protests now. I hadn't seen any of these videos prior, but I definitely think it was an awesome idea for whatever student came up with it. I also hadn't heard any of this prior to this blog, so I wonder where these protests will be headed in the near future especially for democracy in Tunisia.
ReplyDeleteI agree, its interesting that people are using it for political protests and using social media to have their voices heard. I also wonder what the implications will be for their mocking of the Islamic dress since it isn't solely mocking those leaders in Tunisia but Islamic dress worldwide
ReplyDeleteSame with the previous two. It's interesting to see how this Western-esque trend of the Harlem Shake has become a global phenomenon. The application of the spreading of social media esque functions is quite remarkable. I would like to clarify a statement made by Monica because Tunisia has some of the greatest forms of democracy and probably one of the most progressive countries for women's rights
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