Tunisia's revolt rages on in protest town

Tunisia's Jasmine Revolution still burning in poverty-stricken town where protests first began.

Middle East Online

By Dario Thuburn - SIDI BOUZID, Tunisia

'We want real democracy' An authoritarian ruler has fallen but the resentments at the heart of Tunisia's Jasmine Revolution are still burning in the poverty-stricken town where the first protests began last month. "The regime has taken everything from us and left us in misery. We don't have the right to live like everyone else," said Yusfi, 42, a bricklayer in a scuffed baseball cap marching in one of the daily protests in Sidi Bouzid. "We need equality in this country," shouted one of the hundreds of protesters. Another said: "Be careful Gathafi, the Tunisian revolution is coming" -- a reference to veteran leader Moamer Gathafi in neighbouring Libya. One passer-by in a traditional robe said: "We're dying of poverty here." This rocky rural region of olive groves and almond trees in central Tunisia has been a key flashpoint for social protests that led to last Friday's ouster of president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in the Arab world's first popular revolt. "We've had enough. We're not terrorists, we're pacifists. We just want equality. We will continue the revolution," said Mohammed Dali, 58, a seasonal worker, as dozens of soldiers and armoured vehicles patrolled the city. "We are all ready to sacrifice ourselves for the martyrs," read a banner put up by protesters on a central square in the city. Another sign read: "No to state terrorism. Yes to the liberation of political prisoners." Protesters chanted: "Down with the RCD!" -- a reference to Ben Ali's once all-powerful ruling party which has dominated Tunisia for decades. Anger against the RCD has been one of the main drivers behind continued protests against the country's new leadership a week after Ben Ali's ouster. But in this town of 40,000 people it is local social issues that are upmost in people's minds. Journalists are quickly surrounded by dozens of local residents keen to voice their list of frustrations over the prevailing misery. "A lot of people are unemployed here," said Zyad Al Gharbi, 27, a friend of Mohammed Bouazizi -- the young fruit vendor who set himself alight on his cart last month after police prevented him from selling to make a living. Angry social protests in Sidi Bouzid began with a small rally on December 18 -- the day after Bouazizi's self-immolation and they quickly escalated. A fruit vendor, who declined to give his name, said: "The police take money off us to sell here. Why is it banned? Why do we have to pay off the police?" As he handed oranges to customers from his cart near the mosque, another vendor said 26-year-old Bouazizi was a victim of widespread corruption. "It was a tragedy. He was a victim of people who make a lot of money. It's always the poor man who pays the price," said the 26-year-old. One of the town's squares has been re-named in honour of Bouazizi by local authorities to assuage an angry population. It has turned into a gathering place for malcontents and a shrine to the vendor who set himself on fire. A large picture of Bouazizi has been tacked onto a monument in the square. "We have been destroyed by poverty. The young people here need jobs. We want real democracy," said Abassi Toufik, a 47-year-old activist, standing on the square as dozens of youths in leather jackets and baseball caps crowded round.