Translated by John Catalinotto, Tlaxcala
Tunisia and Egypt are undergoing parallel and similar regressions. Here are some of the features common to both countries:
1 - A virtual "revolution"
In both countries, things remained the same because everything
changed: The dictators - who were themselves merely the "dictated to" --
were overthrown, democratic elections were held and the "moderate
Islamists" found themselves in "power." But it is clear that they were
not perched on the seats of real power. In Egypt, the Supreme Council of
the Armed Forces holds the real power and pulls the strings, since it
remains in direct and permanent contact with its sponsors and protectors
in Washington. In Tunisia, the situation is much more opaque, and the
answer to the question, "Who has the real power?" is much more difficult
to answer. To begin with we would say that it’s the mafia cartel
(businessmen, bureaucrats, police officers) of the former regime,
including some key pillars who let their beards grow.
2 - Shock Therapy
What the "democratic powers" that these "revolutions" gave birth to
have in common is that they submit meekly to the orders of the
"contractors": the World Bank, IMF, WTO, EU, USA and the Gulf
oil-monarchies. The conglomerate of these contractors has only one
concern: to prevent the Arab peoples (and all other peoples, for that
matter) from carrying out genuine revolutions that set their societies
right-side up, establishing social justice and enabling them to exercise
their rights as citizens of a state ruled by law. In the first place
they should enjoy sovereignty over the energy resources that abound
beneath the soil of their countries and other commons (water, land,
heritage etc.).
The therapy applied has several components:
- Governments must pay up every cent of the odious debt service they inherited from the fallen dictators/dictated -- the only condition imposed for them to be "granted" other credits that put them further in debt;- Governments must continue up the work of "cleaning house," already initiated by their predecessors: liquidation of public services and thus their advocates, privatization, selling off the country's wealth to multinational corporations, implementation of structures to control the rebellious population, first of all the unionized workers and precarized youths (the "unemployed graduates"). To soften the social damage of this "cleaning house," the solution is "Islamic charity" instead of legitimate social rights;- The pacification of society: The EU and U.S., German and other foundations distribute hundreds of millions of Euros to organized civil society, with a single purpose: to control, discipline and orient them towards a process of "transitional justice*" that doesn't question the system in place. Its main objective: to prevent the active college-educated youth from reaching the level of real politics, that is to say the organization of the people for the satisfaction of its demands for access to citizen rights and commons.
The Bologna massacre (Italian: Strage di Bologna) was a terrorist bombing of the Central Station at Bologna, Italy, on the morning of 2 August 1980, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 200. The attack has been materially attributed to the neo-fascist terrorist organization Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari. Suspicions of the Italian secret service's involvement emerged shortly after, due to the explosives used for the bomb and the political climate in which the massacre occurred (the strategy of tension), but could not be proven (yet). Here as seen by artist Carlo Carosso
3 - Strategy of chaos
The strategy at work in the two countries is basically the same as
that which was implemented in Greece in 1967, in Latin America and in
Turkey, in Italy (the "strategy of tension") and in Lebanon in the 1970s
and 1980s, in Algeria in the 1990s -- with tactical adjustments to suit
each particular situation. The main weapons of this strategy are:
a. The use of armed violence by grouplets -- what is called "terrorism" -- manipulated to sow fear, disrupt people's lives and make them renounce peaceful, mass, democratic and transparent struggle. The aim is to tear down all the structures (parties, unions, movements) that are capable of holding back the "liberalization" (privatization) of the economy.b. The polarization between "ideological" tendencies that all in the society are supposed to join, a procedure that creates a framework where everyone is divided into mutually exclusive "camps" that fight each other violently. This is a new variant of "divide and rule": above, a "modernist, secular, democratic" bourgeoisie opposed to a "conservative, Islamic, democratic" bourgeoisie; below a "progressive, libertine and revolutionary" people opposing a "tradition-bound, bigoted, fascist" people. In short, the only way those holding power can keep it is to impose civil war, of brother against brother, sister against sister, parents against children, "liberated" against "turbaned," through alliances between exploiters and exploited in the name of divisions that have nothing to do with the real needs and class interests of people.
c. The diabolical manipulation of infernal duo of conspiracy and riot. In Egypt, as in Tunisia, as in Algeria in 1988, the legitimate revolt of young precarious people was channeled by the mafia-police network towards nihilistic hooded violence that broke out in the open on the occasion of popular gatherings. Objective: To stimulate the demand for a strong power that could ensure security. The latest example: the emergence of a "Black Bloc" in Cairo at the Jan. 25, 2013 anniversary. A "Black bloc" was also infiltrated by police in Genoa in 2011, in Montreal, in Toronto, in London, in Strasbourg and in Heiligendamm.
d. Targeted assassinations of key people, which the hidden networks of those really in power have decided on and organized. Attributed immediate to others, they are designed to cause an irreversible division of society (see point a). The assassination of Chokri Belaid, like those of Tahar Djaout, Abdelkader Hachani, Mohamed Boudiaf and many others (Liabes, Boucebsi, Flici, Mahiou Merbah, Belkaid, Alloula, Bouslimani and Sheikh Sahraoui) in Algeria, fits into this strategy.
Social, progressive or revolutionary movements need to be fully
aware of how that strategy works, otherwise they risk falling into a
deadly trap. Their fate will be that of the bull that rushes into the
red cape without seeing the hand of the bullfighter ready to plant his
sword in its neck.
Note
* Transitional justice: process to pacify society
by putting in place a mechanism substituting itself for the justice in
place in order to "turn the page" from a dismal past of dictatorship or
civil war and put an "end point" to the victims' demands of justice. The
most spread model is the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South
Africa. In the Arab world, Morocco is the only country so far to have
established such a committee, the Equity and Reconciliation Commission.
In Tunisia, the Ministry of Human Rights has signed a partnership
agreement with the New York-based International Center for Transitional
Justice. "Through its Tunisia office and with the assistance of
international experts, ICTJ will help the Ministry to establish the
foundations of the transitional justice process and offer technical
assistance in the preparation and formation of a truth commission, a
reparations program, and achieving judicial reform." (http://ictj.org/news/ictj-signs-cooperation-agreement-tunisian-ministry-human-rights-and-transitional-justice)
Authors
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The Collective for The deconstruction of the virtual
Paraphrasing
good old Marx, we might say: "Philosophers have only deconstructed
texts, the point, however, is to deconstruct the virtual to access
reality." This virtual space in which almost all of us are immersed, and
into which the younger generations plunge at the risk of drowning by
mistaking for the real, building an imaginary world that makes them
unfit for action. We therefore propose to restore the sense of what is
real by reconstructing the reality that hides behind the multimedia
mirrors of propaganda that reflect in all directions, and -- by acting
on events that hit us, that challenge us, that concern us -- to share
our analyses and reflections and help people understand what is
happening to them. Our group is open to cooperation.
Write to deconstruire@gmail.com
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