Protests, strike shut down Tunisian town over Libya's halt of border trade
Protests, strike shut down Tunisian town over Libya's halt of border trade
A town in southern Tunisia went on strike again on Wednesday, days after clashes broke out with police over an earlier strike. Residents are protesting a decision by Libyan authorities to halt cross-border trade on which its economy depends. ....Ben Guerdane is one of the North African nation's poorest towns and was in the news recently after Islamic State (IS) group militants crossed over from Libya and tried to storm the town before being repelled by angry residents. Seven civilians and 13 security personnel as well as 55 militants were killed in the failed invasion in early March. ....."In March, we faced a terrorist attack. They wanted to kill us with bullets. Our politicians want to kill us with their policies," https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/strike-tunisia-town-over-halt-libya-border-trade-1410490164
Made in Tunisia: Women textile workers resist poor working conditions
"I borrow money from friends to buy food, said 35-year-old Dalel Mdimegh at a coffee shop in Chebba, near the coastal city of Mahdia in east Tunisia. Having free time for coffee on a Saturday morning is not something that makes Dalel happy these days, even after a ride on her motorbike.
Tunisias Grand Mufti Sheikh Othman Battikh called on Tunisians to halt social protests and sit-ins. His call has raised controversy and was condemned by civil society and trade unions. Diwan al-Ifta, Tunisias highest religious establishment, issued a statement Sept. 26 where the grand mufti called to abandon untimely protests and sit-ins that hinder work and production, and refrain from blocking the roads and damaging public property. The muftis call came following the recent social protests and labor strikes in Tunisia. https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/09/tunisia-mufti-call-halt-strikes-right-interference.html
Protesters blockade Tunisia phosphate mine, demand jobs
Protesters have partly blocked Tunisia's phosphate production, a month after state-run Gafsa Phosphate (CPG) announced an agreement to hire new workers to end demonstrations that had disrupted output for months, an official said on Saturday.
Nizar Dabbachi, 38, lives in an upscale neighbourhood of Tunis, where newly built houses and marble details distinguish it from the average Tunisian district. Yet for Dabbachi, his home has become his prison, and the only thing keeping him connected to life outside his walls is his big flat-screen TV.
In November 2015, Dabbachi was placed under house arrest and his world shrank to a 2km radius from the police station that he must report to every fortnight and the nearby mosque, where he goes to pray. Before his ordeal began, Nizar earned a living selling mobile phones and later body-building supplements. But since his detention, he has not been able to work and his home has gone from a place of comfort to a prison cell. https://www.middleeasteye.net/in-depth/features/when-your-home-your-prison-1602574858