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#Revolution
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Arab Spring, Domino Effect, Twitter Revolution: That's how we see it...
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by Davide Galati and Antonella Sinopoli
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Freedom is extremely important for human beings.
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The real revolution, I think, took place in Tunisia.
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I admired the courage of these guys,
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and I respect them a lot for what they did.
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In a very undemocratic country such as this
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Is difficult to find the strength to march and protest.
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In Tunisia getting rid of Ben Ali was almost impossible.
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It wasn't easy because everything had to change.
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Before, Ben Ali was untouchable.
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People were tired of a fake democracy.
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Revolution really changed everything.
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In other countries, I think, Europe pushed for changes
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because of economic interest, for instance in Libya.
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Everybody knows that oil caused the war, even if no one says it.
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Why the war? Libya was a nice place to live in.
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Not many Libyans live abroad, because Libya is nice country.
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Instead, in countries like Somalia
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people suffer hunger and poverty; there people live miserably.
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But nobody moves a finger.
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Our revolution spread in the whole Middle East,
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first in Egypt, then in Libya, a radical change took place.
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To a certain extent, the Tunisian revolution helped other countries to understand
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that protesting and marching on the streets is important.
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These revolts can help other countries,
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they can be seen as a model to imitate.
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Now, in Senegal, here and there something takes place, not a revolution,
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but still, we are fighting against changes in our constitutional law.
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Constitution cannot be changed simply with a referendum.
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It's not possible because, as I said before, our culture is different.
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Yes, we have different cultures, we don' t have the same kind of courage.
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We are not inspired like them.
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We prefer peace and quiet. We want to be left alone.
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We see what happened in Congo,
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and in other countries near Cameroon.
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And we don't want to end up like them.
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So, we prefer the status quo: it's easier.
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We survive and we get food on our tables.
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Future is hard to predict, really hard...
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...but we can accept that.
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In Morocco there is no revolution. There was some protest, some loose movement.
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But there is no revolution because people lives comfortably.
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They feel that changes are happening all around,
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and for this reason they don't want the revolution there,
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although they ask for some constitutional changes,
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which recently have been approved by the King.
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I believe 98% of the people voted Yes.
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Whoever you meet these days, in Italy or in Morocco,
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will say for sure that in Morocco life is very good,
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that the King is astonishing, first-class,
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that the economy is improving, everything is terrific.
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So there is no need for a revolution.
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Unfortunately, it's not true. If in Morocco everything can be bought and everything can be sold as well.
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So there is no need for a Constitution, no need for women's rights
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since parents, sons, husband can buy all women's rights.
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They can buy them with their own money.
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It seems that 70% of the population voted and 99% chose Yes.
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99% is always a magic number in Arab countries.
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A search for "Movement 20 February" on YouTube, every Sunday,
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because still now, people take it to the streets on Sundays.
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The number of people protesting is incredible.
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So, you have to ask yourself about that 99%? Did it fall from the sky?
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In Morocco, the national TV ignores any protest, any hardship.
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Not even Al Jazeera mentions them. Al Jazeera is not doing a good job there.
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I think that Morocco... has been the most clever country so far.
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Elections and Constitutional changes promoted by the King,
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In fact, no substantial change took place.
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It's a joke. I am from Morocco, and I think it's a mockery.
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Morocco is not yet ready, it needs to grow to become aware of the situation.
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There is a movement that is doing something,
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but is not enough.
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Sadly, Moroccan politicians are too sharp, too clever.
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They are able to exploit tools and media (like TV)
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to convince the public opinion to support their regime.
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Also, for the older generation is almost impossible
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to imagine a Morocco without a King.
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I think that more than 50% of Tunisian revolution is due to the Internet.
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Internet was paramount as a communication tool,
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to ensure the success of this revolution.
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And this time social networks played a crucial role
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also because these revolts were promoted mostly by young people.
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I followed the events on the Net, calling my family, on Facebook...
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... then on newspapers and Al Jazeera.
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There is a feeling that they are speaking the truth, and indeed people trust Al Jazeera.
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TV in general is manipulated, being owned by private groups,
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that have profit in mind and inform only about what they like.
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As for National TV, as we know, the government has its own agenda
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regarding its own internal and foreign policy,
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so State media are affected by this approach.
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Instead, on the Net news sources are diversified.
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For instance, on social networks young people in particular,
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but also the general public, can share first-hand information.
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Internet now is a communication medium
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...that can immediately reach millions of people.
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It can be a useful means, but we cannot give up the streets,
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because the streets are the real thing,
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where all the events organized online will eventually take place.
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Today we interact mainly online.
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It's inevitable, then, that if a revolution had to take place
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that was the way to conjure up people, especially youngsters.
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Because this movement included not only Tunisia or Egypt
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but the whole Mediterranean and the Middle East are bound together.
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We speak the same language, so we are all connected.
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Facebook, Twitter, are the fastest and better way to exchange information.
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The social unrest was shared, so the media had to be shared as well.
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But I don't think that Facebook itself widened the revolt.
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People must have been extremely distressed for something like this to happen.
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The spark that ignited everything was the situation in Tunisia.
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No one, nobody could have imagined what actually happened.
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Everyone has the right to internet access,
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and governments needs to understand this.
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I went and I said that I would not be returned,
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and wrote on all walls, that I would not be returned.
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All barriers have collapsed,
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our dreams were our weapons,
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our future is clear, we waited a long time.
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We are still looking for our place
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We continue to look for the site to which we belong,
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in every corner, in every country.
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The call of freedom there is calling
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from every street corner of our country
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the call of freedom there is calling
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Rewrite history
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If you're one of us, join us
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and does not prevent us from achieving our dreams.