Fast/Light discussion: Why don't you support Tunisia?

This is supposed to be a discussion that does not involve long tiresome posts with all sorts of reasoning and sources, but a discussion around your personal opinion and your personal opinion only.

My question - How is it that Tunisia, that is going through a rebellion so big right now, is not getting any more than a few threads here and there, which none of them seem to be interesting enough to reach more than the 2nd page?
Same goes for Lebanon.

Countries on the verge of revolution don't even get attention from you people, who are insisting to make people "wake up" against the wrong-doers of the world. How could anyone wake up if nobody around him even cares?


Could it be that the most of you are the ones that should wake up? I'll explain.
How is it that something such as a single protester being shot in Israel getting more attention than the entire country of Tunisia under revolution? How is it that a single ship being raided by the Israeli navy getting (WAAAY) more responses and criticism than a known terror organization that overthrows a sovereign nation's government?

Your definition of waking up means expressing yourself against US or Israel, or does it mean to actually wake up and start caring about tyrants in the world REGARDLESS of where they come from?

I hope this to be the last long post of this discussion and I'm looking for lightweight posts preferably with no ties to religion or exopolitics.

The overthrow of the government in Tunisia has been dubbed the 'First Wikileaks Revolution'. This is the first one in a string of potentially many revolutions, all for the better I might add. The people of Tunisia where oppressed during that governments regime. They can, for now at least, speak freely

I think it's just ignorance and disinterest.

I hate to stereotype, but this is a predominantly American board, and Americans are renowned for not really knowing much about other countries. I know there are plenty here who do, but they are a minority.
Look at the most active threads and they are predominantly about everything American. Even when discussing previous global events, they are American-centric. It's always about how something might affect America.

It's sad, but unless it's on the mind of Americans already, there isn't much interest.

I've seen it said several times that this is the first Wikileaks/Twitter led revolution, but I fail to see how. The Iranian people used Facebook and Twitter to spread news and awareness during their uprising.
Yet this event is clearly about the people combating an ongoing corrupt and dictatorial regime.
I saw on Twitter a few times that the people on the streets are not talking about Twitter or WL, they're talking about corruption, unemployment and freedom.

reply to post by detachedindividual


As far as I'm aware, it's because it is the first overthrow/revolution to occur as a direct result of data that was released in the cables

If that is true then it just makes it a bigger mystery.

The first actual change Wikileaks has done, and simply nobody is interested.

Where are all those people who rushed at the subject of "US IS EVIL LOOK AT WHAT WIKILEAKS PROVE!"? Where are they now when change is actually happening?

Doing nothing, waiting for the next anti-US and allies event to occur.

Great job ATS you're a wonderful community.

I'm not sure whether i support it or not,

Being realistic how often do revolutions happen in African countries, I feel sorry for the citizens i cannot claim to know much about Tunisia (apart from going on holiday there when i was seven). Gunfire ringing out in the capital city and looting going on can't do anyone any favours.

So what next another power hungry villan taking over and then more of the same for the next 25 years?

Good question. Part of the problem is that the situation is quite complex. The old government was notoriously corrupt, but presumed stable. Even the professionals at Foggy Bottom don't know what factions will begin to emerge in a struggle for power. Tunisia, like Algeria, has close enough ties to Europe that it might evolve a truly democratic parliamentary system, but as a majority Muslim state, there is the danger of Islamic radicalism rearing its head. Throw Moammar Ghaddafi into the mix and things get murky indeed. Because the situation is so complicated and the United States has no vital strategic interests at stake (ie; oil), the media are not paying much attention to it. Most of the conspiracy theorists here rely on the mainstream media, if only to draw their attention; if the media isn't covering it, it falls off their radar.

reply to post by IsraeliGuy

How is it that something such as a single protester being shot in Israel getting more attention than the entire country of Tunisia under revolution? How is it that a single ship being raided by the Israeli navy getting (WAAAY) more responses and criticism than a known terror organization that overthrows a sovereign nation's government?

As detachedindividual has stated above, it's an American problem. We see Tunisia as a primarily French and EU issue, whereas the propaganda machine in the US for the last 50 years has led us to consider Israel as a de facto state of the US, with the fate of the US and Israel inextricably intertwined. What can I say? The propaganda worked.

Please excuse my total ignorance, but are you calling the Tunisian people a known terrorist organization?

No, but I'll excuse your total ignorance.

I've been wondering the same thing OP, and said so several days ago. It's very strange and more than a little depressing.

Do people who say they want change really want change?

I'm beginning to wonder.

Originally posted by DJW001
Throw Moammar Ghaddafi into the mix and things get murky indeed.

This idiot has spent so much time criticizing NATO's fight in Afghanistan, talking about how every country has a civil war/revolution type deal and how we should let them work out their own situation. But once it happens right next door to him, the he comes on TV denouncing the revolutionaries:
www.youtube.com... (sorry I couldn't find an English version)
I think Ghaddafi and a lot of those other middle eastern dictators are sh*t scared right now and are probably scavenging all the gold they can get their hands on. Its just a question of what direction the future governments will take with regards to extremism etc.