Tunisia and the Challenge of Security and Freedom
By
Diana Moukalled
25 March 2015
Internet censorship is no longer kept a secret and no
longer a sign of embarrassment. Governments don’t feel embarrassed when they
announce new measures to control and track down users of certain websites. Yes,
the era of hesitation or confusion when an authority announces plans for
censorship over the internet and over social media websites is over.
Who can argue with a government when it says it’s
taking such measures to fight terrorism and violence? How can anyone resist
this logic when we see how social media and the Internet generally are being
used to plan, recruit, market, and coordinate attacks?
“There’s Internet censorship and it’s ongoing as it is
part of governmental work strategies,” said Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid
following the bloody attack against the Bardo museum. This attack is the most
difficult test for Tunisia which enjoys the characteristics of the only semi-
successful of Arab Spring countries.
Before this attack, we were commending the Tunisian
success of achieving democracy, compared to countries whose Arab Spring
transferred into murder and chaos. However the recent attack in Tunisia came as
a cruel slap to anyone who holds on to this hope linked to the Tunisian
experience.
How will the mechanism of Tunisian response to this
attack be?
The wheel of time is turning to where we were once
before
This response will specify if Tunisia will fall in the
same trap that Libya, Egypt, Yemen and other countries have fallen into after
they drowned in chaos within the context of their battles against violence.
Yes, the Bardo attack is dangerous and it threatens
the fragile Tunisian experience. The threat posed is not limited to security,
as it is also political, social and democratic. If Arab uprisings have released
that violence lying in Arab societies, this does not mean that terrorism is not
the fruit of regime’s tyranny. On the contrary, it is these regimes’ legitimate
son. We are worryingly observing policies enforced in Arab Spring countries
which are once again adopting practices of suppressing freedoms, jailing people
and narrowing the margin of freedom of expression. History is repeating itself.
Organized
Suppression
The slogan “no sound is louder than that of the
battle” was previously a reason to attack opposition figures and jail them and
to suppress political and other freedoms. All this was carried out under the
slogan of confronting colonization and Zionism. The wheel of time is turning to
where we were once before. There’s currently organized suppression under the
slogan of confronting terrorism and anyone who is critical is accused of being
a traitor and an agent. Isn’t this what’s currently happening?
Violent Islamic extremism which we are suffering from
today has developed in the shadow of collusion of some regimes and religious
institutions. Confronting this threat via suppression and counter violence is
not a successful means to eliminate it. Confronting extremism is a battle where
security and freedom are parallel. Mechanisms containing violence have a
security and military dimension, yes, but they also need intellect, art and
culture as well as freedom of expression.
Repeating the failed experience will not save Tunisia.
These experiences did not suppress terrorism and did not develop freedoms and
societies. We can see how activists are being jailed and how intellectuals and
the judiciary are being intimidated under slogans of security and patriotism.
Above all that, neither security nor stability were achieved.
The upcoming phase is crucial for Tunisia, and modern
technology has broken plenty of restrictions. Yes, there’s a need for
censorship strategies against the activities of extremists and those who
violate the law as these people use modern technologies to serve their harmful
aims. However, will this happen via an absolute legitimization of operations of
suppression and control over critical opinions, like is happening in more than
one country?
Which road will Tunisia take while confronting its
ordeal?
Diana Moukalled is the Web
Editor at the Lebanon-based Future Television and was the Production &
Programming Manager with at the channel. Previously, she worked there as Editor
in Chief, Producer and Presenter of “Bilayan al Mujaradah,” a documentary that
covers hot zones in the Arab world and elsewhere, News and war correspondent
and Local news correspondent. She currently writes a regular column in AlSharq
AlAwsat. She also wrote for Al-Hayat Newspaper and Al-Wasat Magazine, besides
producing news bulletins and documentaries for Reuters TV.
Source:
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2015/03/25/Tunisia-and-the-test-of-security-and-freedom.html
URL: https://newageislam.com/radical-islamism-jihad/tunisia-challenge-security-freedom/d/102127