Photo 2011 © Peter Gonda / www.Photofade.com
In late January of 2011 I walked into the back end of the Tunisian ousting of Dictator Ben-Ali. No one saw it coming a few short weeks before but through the use of facebook the revolution was fomented. In a country where the press was strictly monitored, often beaten, social networking was left alone. As a result the rich tourism industry suffered, over 6000 vacationers were needlessly evacuated and I arrived in the ghost town of Sousse. Many businesses were either closed or burnt and on many a night more were burning still. This was generally misunderstood in the west as Islamic fundamentalism which it was not. This was a fight for a democratic nation. It made sense that this began in Tunisia, a country with one of the oldest civilizations on Earth. Before I left a month later, first Egypt then Algeria and lastly Libya, all revolted against their respective dictatorships. Finally – a domino effect that’s real and for the betterment of society.
Text 2011 © Peter Gonda / www.Photofade.com
Excellent Report and commentary Peter.