Why you shouldn't call it the "Jasmine Revolution"
Issandr El Amrani | Tunisia It's not exactly the most important thing about what's going in Tunisia right now, but on Twitter and elsewhere you see a lot of people complaining about media reporting on Tunisia describing the recent events there as a "Twitter Revolution" or even a "Wikipedia revolution" — it just really seems to make people angry. I don't think these are accurate terms, but I am more concerned — as are many Tunisians — about the enthusiasm for the name "Jasmine Revolution," which has become ubiquitous in much of the international media.
There are several reasons this term should not be used. There's nothing wrong in flower revolutions in themselves — the term derives from the very honorable end of the fascist regime in Portugal on 25 April 1974, dubbed the Carnation Revolution. But it unfortunately echoes more recent divisive terms, notably Lebanon's 2005 Cedar Revolution, which is associated with March 14 and US propaganda by a good part of Arab (and other) opinion. Personally, I loved the Syrian pullout out of Lebanon (and its alternative name, more common in Arabic, "Independence Intifada") — but, at the same time, so much spin was put on what was not really a revolution anyway. The term is now poisoned with Lebanon's divisive politics.
Furthermore, in Lebanon — as in Georgia's Revolution of the Roses and Ukraine's Orange Revolution —you also had events that, as positive as they may have been, are closely intertwined with Bush administration policies, making the flower revolution concept even more divisive. What I'm hearing from Tunisians these days is, "don't you go branding our revolution." For me, that's reason enough to stay away from the term.
But there's another reason to stay away from "Jasmine Revolution." It was the term that deposed President Zine al-Abedine Ben Ali used in 1987 to describe his own takeover, in those initial years of his reign that offered some hope for a democratic transition. To reuse Ben Ali's propaganda phrase at this point seems perverse — whereas something like the Sidi Bouzid Revolution, marking ground zero of the movement that led to the dictator's downfall, seems so much more appropriate.
Update: Qifa Nakbi points out that Josh Landis used the term Jasmine Revolution to describe moves towards reform in Syria in 2005.
Reader Comments (6)
it was not Twitter, it was not Wikileaks. Of course. But II would say that it was the first web-rev. I don't overestimate the role of bloggers, netizens, etc, but I do underline that it was Tunisia the country that lead the IT diffusion in the Arab world, paradoxically because of the decision - run by Ben Ali - to create a generation of 'informaticien' at mid-90s, to fight the unemployment and hope for foreign investments and telejob. He created his rebellious cybersons... E-dissent and e-samizdat are common practises in Tunisia since at least 2004. In conclusion: bloggers created a culture of opposition inside the youth. The youth - educated and illiterated - did the revolution. I hope that the youth could also contribute to the democracy, and that their courage will not be hijacked. On us, Westerners, and our role on enhancing democracy, I think it is better if you do by yourself....
Seriously. WTF is wrong with the "Tunisian revolution?"
I would stay far from any language used by Josh Landis. One wouldn't want to be a conduit for the Syrian Baathist regime's propaganda.
People, please stop saying it was a "Jasmine revolution" --so insulting for our dead-- "facebook revolution" or "twitter revolution". Fb and Twitter undoubtedly played an important part but they were NOT the reason why everything happened. Nothing would've had happened without Mohammed Bouazizi, without the deep discontent and the courage of thousands of Tunisians across the country. Thinking that internet was the engine is so wrong. So no, it's not the first web rev.
I don't overestimate the Tunisian web, and I don't undermine the sacrifice of Mohammed Bouazizi (one of my latest posts, on my blog, is "From Jan Palach to Mohammed Bouazizi"...). Following the same red line is like saying that the Eastern European revolutions in 1989 has been the work of a small dissident intellighentsjia. It was the people, desperate, fed up, enraged, etc etc. But without the role of that dissident intellightensjia, there wouldn't be that substratum, that background, that theoritical approach that led to 1989 Revolutions. So, thanks to the Tunisian people and the Tunisian youth in the streets. And thanks to the dissident e-intellighetsjia...
The revolution has to sustain for long to establish a NEW DEMOCRATIC order which must be based not on MINORITY AUTHORITARIANISM