Khaled Meets Thomas

Dear Journal,
It is a blessed day. I found the journal of a man named Thomas Lewes. He was from France and he experienced a revolution just like I did. It was exciting to read about, a man going through something that I just went through. In the French Revolution they were trying to get rid of a monarch that had ruled them for over a hundred years. We were just getting rid of some one who had ruled us only 23 years. It took us 23 years to revolt because the President Ben Ali used police to silence us. The French had never complained about their monarch because it had always manipulated them to think that they were less than their King and should never resist. This went on until the enlightenment thinker's wrote their books and they inspired a whole way of thinking. Montesquieu wrote about separation of powers and Rousseau wrote about social contract. In France they did not have Separation of Powers because their King Louis ruled all of France. Also in my country it seemed like we had it because we had a president and ministers however in truth we were just like France. Our ruler, Ben Ali, had ultimate power. As for social contract it never mattered to the king of France or Ben Ali what the majority of the people in their countries wanted, these leaders just did what they felt like doing. To make matters worse during this enlightenment era the French were experiencing unemployment and hunger just like we were in the Tunisian Revolution, yet their king was ignoring them. So all these devastations put together caused the people to call to get fed up with their rulers and revolt. In France men and women protested in crowds, attacked the prison Bastille and even the king’s castle. Also in my country both women and men protested in crowds and recently I heard that some prisons. In France they created the Declaration of the Rights of Man, which was basically declaring they free from the rule of King Louis XVI. They even made the king sign this decree. In my revolution we did not create a constitution however through our protests we did make the Ben Ali promise that he would not run again and he would give us our freedoms. However after promising this to us Ben Ali escaped to Saudi Arabia similarly to how King Louis tried to escape to Varrenes but was caught. Anyways in the end the French Revolution the king, his wife and followers were beheaded for neglecting their people. So I think Ben Ali, his family and his ministers should be quite thankful that they are only spending the rest of his life in jail.

Learn More About These Revolutions

French Revolution Links

http://www.fsmitha.com/h3/h33-fr.html
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/France/_Texts/CROROY/Fuite_de_Varennes*.html
http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/French_Revolution
http://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/17/world/nantes-journal-in-a-corner-of-france-long-live-the-old-regime.html
http://www.h-france.net/vol4reviews/mcphee3.html

Tunisia's Revolution links

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/01/2011126121815985483.html
http://www.iar-gwu.org/node/257
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/14/tunisia-revolution-live-u_n_809294.html
http://www.economist.com/blogs/newsbook/2011/01/tunisias_revolution

Ben Ali Under Law

Hello Again,
Right after the activists’ arrests, on Jan13, the Paris based International Federation of Human Rights announces that there have been 63 deaths since the protests started announced. It was a grave day for everyone. Fire was burning in everyone’s eyes, we wanted the blood of the one who had caused these deaths. Ben Ali sensed that his life was in danger and he tried to reconcile with us by announcing on a national broadcast that he would not run in 2014 and also promising us our freedoms. We did not want to reconcile all we thought about was our dead relatives who had died because of him. We wanted him out. The next day January 14 the televisions announced that Ben Ali escaped to Saudi Arabia where he would be protected from us his very own people. Such a traitor he was!! In power he had left the Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi.On the 15th it was announced that Prime Minister gave up his power to speaker Fouad Mebazaa however it was more like the leaders were sharing power and we didn’t trust them. They proposed a new coalition government but we would have been fools to listen to men who still belonged to the RCD(Ben Ali’s ruling party). On Jan 21-23 we took a break from protesting had a national mourning days to commemorate those whose lives had ended in the Jasmine Revolution. In the crowds of people sniffled, they screamed, and I felt my very own warm tears slide down my cheeks. On the day the protests ended the police force finally decided to break away from Ben Ali's government and they joined us. At first we were a little hesitant of them but then we saw that since now we had the police we were even more powerful. We continued to gain support and this time because the police were on our side it there was less violence and our protests were more like civil disobedience. Eventually on march 9 the court of Tunis abolished the RCD. Then on April 14, the happiest day of our lives because Ben Ali, his family and his ministers were charged of crimes against humanity. We finally got justice.

Off With Their Heads

Hello Journal
I apologize for not writing in for the past 3 years but just be glad that I have survived the Reign of Terror with my head still in place. Since the last time I wrote the King moved to Paris with us. A couple of months later in 1791 the king and his family attempted to escape to Varennes. He acted like such a traitor leaving us. When we brought him back we confined him in the Tuieries Castle with his family for 3 years. Meanwhile we the revolutionaries in the assembly gained control of France. The leader of the assembly my dear friend Robespierre convinced us that we had,” To kill the king so that the revolution could live". On February 21, 1793 the most joyous day of our revolution, at 10:22AM Louis XVI was beheaded under the guillotine. "I pray that my death is for the happiness of my people" he said trying to gain pity from us but only who were close could hear him because the drums were too loud. With his death we became the French Republic. However, even with the king dead turmoil continued. From 1793-94 one of my hero and mentor Robespierre became the dictator of France and also my enemy. Before he had been such an exquisite man who believed in humanity but during his short dictatorial rule he killed 40,000 people. He had secret police around France listening to people and if someone was suspected of still being loyal to the old regime of King Louis they were killed. I was both disgusted and afraid of him. I could no longer go to him and speak my mind fully because I thought for sure he would have my head the next day. However we did not suffer long under his tyranny, eventually the deputies charged him of his crimes and he was executed. The reign of terror died with Robespierre but the New Republic and our declaration lives now and forever more.
Enthusiastically,
Thomas Lewes

Declaration of Man and of the Citizen

Hello again,
Uproar has continued on in France. We have created a new flag that has the colors red, white and blue. The king is getting weaker as the days pass by. In preparation for the fall of the king on August 26, 1789 the Declaration of Man and of the Citizens was created. This document is a magnificent piece of work that provides the long suppressed people of France with justice. I was right there when the deputies were creating it. I was asked to contribute because they knew of my vast knowledge in philosophy so I told them the ideas of the great Montesquieu and Rousseau. We needed separation of power so no one in government could ever have too much power. We also needed to use the social contract or majority rule. Lastly I told them more than anything this declaration should support all people’s right. Like the Declaration of Rights in the United States. After the declaration was written a couple of days later Jean Paul-Marat the author of “The Friend of the People” printed an article saying that the king had a party where he threw our flag on the ground and stomped on it. On the 5th of October the news reached a crowd of women near city hall who were protesting the shortage of bread. The women became so outraged with the king’s offensive behavior that they burst in to Versailles with pikes and guns calling for the queen’s blood. In the end they were not able to hurt the queen because she hid in her husband’s chamber. However the women did force the king to sign the Declaration of Man and of the Citizens. Also they made him move to Paris so he could be close to his people and they could keep a close eye on him. I remember looking out of by room the day King Louis arrived in Paris. His carriage was crowded by chanting women holding pikes with the heads of guards on top.

Activists Arrested

Hey,
Since my last journal entry our protesting has grown even stronger. It has only been 12 days since Bouazizi burned himself. We are so strong that we got on Nessa TV on December 29. I saw myself when I went for a smoke in the the coffee shop. I was on T.V.! I looked so fierce, because for the first time I was speaking my mind. The faces of those around me matched my own. We were rapping to the inspiring songs of Hamada Ben Aoun. We sang with such solidarity it moved me to tears. I saw a man kissing the flag, another waving a piece of bread, and another man holding up his son who help a sign calling for the termination of Ben Ali’s ruling party. I could not help but smile at this beautiful a sight.However not everyone was pleased with it, a couple of days after we got on TV on January 7th bloggers, journalists, activists, and Ben Aoun were arrested. This caused such an outrage that Ben Ali ended up releasing them.

Death of Bouazazi

Salaam again,
 I back to describe how this all began.Muhammad Bouzazai, that is the name that rang out in the streets from sun rise to sunset. In my previous writing I lighly tampered upon the inspiring story about Bouzazi but now I will go even further what happened. So on December 17,2010  the  young  26 year old man was trying to fend for his family of eight  by selling fruits and vegetables. He was caught and abused by the police for doing his work unlicensed though he tried to pay for his crimes. They shamed and made him feel worthless so he burned himself. His action opened everyone eyes including my own on how neglecting and unloving our government is towards us, its people. Right then in my city, Sidi Bouzid, where Bouzazi was killed we began to protest. I was right in the middle of the loud vigorous crowds of people. We urged each other to make the protests even bigger. We called, we texted, we emailed, our families all over Tunisia. By September 27,2010 the protest had reached Tunis our capital, and there 1000 people had joined our cause. Protests were spreading like wildfire and  Ben Ali began to feel scared. He tried to fool us into going back to loving and respecting him by visiting Bouzazi in his hospital bed on 28 th . But, we would not fall for his old tricks anymore, our patience had run out that day even more people protested.Frustrated by our reaction toward his fake courtesy on the very same day Ben Ali ended up making a national broadcast calling us unacceptable people who should be punished. This angered everyone and it sealed our minds to continue fighting for change.