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fuckyeahcivildisobedience:

Tunisian engineering students spell the Arabic words “tunus hurra” - free Tunisia - in silent protest, as police surround their university to prevent further rioting.

Tunisia has seen almost continual civil disturbances for the last three weeks. Rioting and protests began when a young unemployed graduate set himself on fire in protest as police confiscated his fruit-and-vegetable stall. The people of Tunisia are fed up with high food prices, massive unemployment and their president Ben Ali, who has ruled the country since 1987.

Dozens of protesters are thought to have been killed by police and army units using live ammunition. Several more are thought to have killed themselves in suicide protests. Exact numbers are difficult to verify since foreign journalists have been prevented from covering the riots.

Sadly it seems the Western media isn’t interested in any case - a hacking attack by Anonymous against Tunisian government computers was barely mentioned in the mainstream media, in contrast to the massive coverage their attacks on corporate America received.

Solidarity protests have sprung up in other Arab countries including neighbouring Algeria, which has been forced to reduce the duties levied on sugar and cooking oil by the scale and anger of the protests.

Pic via Al-Bab