"Today, living in the United States, things feel daunting, hopeless, terrifying: It is hard to imagine how to reverse the intensification of the police state, the erosion of whatever pretenses of democracy this country had, the looming fascism, the open occupation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in our cities, or the kidnapping and execution of our neighbors by masked agents prowling our streets."
"Before the fall of President Ben Ali, people in Tunisia faced a situation even more difficult than the conditions that have descended on the U.S. today. For this reason, engaging with the history of the uprising that occurred 15 years ago in Tunisia can be a beckoning whisper in U.S. ears conveying how quickly things can change, how powerful we can be, and how "all that is solid" - to quote Marx and Engels - sometimes "melts into air.""
Fifteen years ago a mass movement in Tunisia overthrew the 24-year rule of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Contemporary observers in the United States express fear about intensifying police powers, erosion of democratic pretenses, rising fascism, ICE presence in cities, and violent actions by masked agents. Conditions in Tunisia before Ben Ali’s fall were even more severe than current U.S. trends. Remembering the Tunisian uprising offers a reminder that rapid political change and collective power can dismantle entrenched systems. In early-2000s Tunis, police routinely rounded up men into vans near markets, illustrating authoritarian policing.
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