A new twist to Tunisian protests

There are calls for a general strike in Tunisia tomorrow (Monday), according to various posts on Twitter. Meanwhile, more and more videos are appearing on the nawaat blog showing protests around the country.

I was particularly fascinated by one video showing a small but imaginative protest at an unlikely spot: Bab el-Assal metro station in the suburbs of Tunis last Tuesday. 

People can be seen on the platforms and railway lines, silently holding a hand over their mouth. A train approaches ringing its bell, but the demonstrators stand their ground and the train comes almost to a halt before they finally step aside. It's very reminiscent of that famous scene in Tiananmen Square where a lone individual challenged a Chinese tank.

The other thing to note is that it all happened without any sign of a police presence.

It seems to me that this sort of tactic could give the authorities quite a headache if adopted on a wider scale.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 2 Jan 2011.