{"id":82,"date":"2006-12-21T21:55:58","date_gmt":"2006-12-22T02:55:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.eatbees.com\/blog\/2006\/12\/21\/censorship-alert\/"},"modified":"2008-12-14T02:47:14","modified_gmt":"2008-12-14T07:47:14","slug":"censorship-alert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.eatbees.com\/blog\/2006\/12\/21\/censorship-alert\/","title":{"rendered":"Censorship Alert"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Last updated on December 23, 2006 at 16:23. See Updates 1\u20133 below.<\/small><\/p>\n

Two Arab nations, two acts of censorship.<\/p>\n

In Morocco, an Arab-language magazine has been taken out of circulation, and its web server shut down, because it dared to publish some jokes considered “injurious to Islam.” In Tunisia, four blogs have been blocked in a form of censorship that allows their authors to keep posting, but prevents them from being read inside Tunisia. A solidarity campaign has been launched asking bloggers everywhere to place a “blank post” on their blogs next Monday. I will participate, but first I want to address the disturbing situation in Morocco.<\/p>\n

As best I can piece it together from Larbi’s discussion<\/a> of the subject and the reader comments that follow, the journal Nichane<\/a> (deactivated!) published a collection of popular jokes a week ago dealing with sex, religion and politics. Moroccans are known for their jokes, which are an integral part of their culture, and can be considered a national treasure. Like in Soviet Russia, they are the true barometer of popular opinion, revealing people’s feelings about their leaders in a sly, indirect way that is otherwise suppressed.<\/p>\n

Publishing such jokes as the cover story of an Arab-language magazine (as opposed to its French-language sister publication TelQuel<\/a>, which has a more elite audience) must be seen as a deliberate provocation. Those responsible were testing the limits of free speech, and they soon got their answer. Activists from the Islamist PJD fanned the flames of protest, demanding the infidels be punished. The government was happy to oblige them, because Nichane and TelQuel are known for their acerbic criticism of the Moroccan political system. The Prime Minister, a “nonpartisan technocrat” (sycophantic toady) appointed by the king, ordered the journal shut down. Its editor and the author of the offending article were hauled in for questioning. They face three to five years in prison for telling jokes! (As Larbi mentions in the comments below, apparently some hotheads have even called for their decapitation.)<\/p>\n

What astonishes me is not that such a thing could happen, because similar things have happened before, but that there are rational people defending what the State has done. No matter if this is arbitrary justice, or a violation of the standards of a free society. Islam has been insulted, so the violators must pay! Some claim that the Prime Minister made a smart move, so as not to give traction to the Islamists in next year’s elections. The PJD is already expected to win easily. There is no reason to hand them yet another campaign issue. Others insist they are all for free speech, but they draw a line in the sand when it comes to religion. That line was crossed willingly, they argue, and those who crossed it must suffer the consequences. Morocco is not Europe. Moroccans are still sensitive when it comes to their faith. These were not the sort of jokes you would tell your grandmother. Worse, they insulted God.<\/p>\n

To me, both these arguments miss the point. Whether the State made a political calculation or acted out of a moral obligation, it was still wrong. The State had no business getting into this debate. There is a way to oppose ideas we don’t like in a free society, and that is to make a counter-argument, or perhaps to organize a boycott of the offending publication. When the State rushed to the side of the Islamists, who are usually its opponents, that was blatant opportunism that should have been rejected by the Islamists themselves. Even worse is the idea that the State can defend the honor of Islam. Does God, who is infinite, need the State to defend him? Would he even want to be defended by such a corrupt and unjust system? What believer, self-confident in his belief, needs the State to cover his ears for him? Isn’t running to Daddy a sign of weakness? Again, the Islamists should have rejected this.<\/p>\n

The situation in Tunisia is similar, but different. Religion doesn’t come into it, but it is still a question of arbitary power and the limits on speech. I’ve been reading Tunisian blogs for the past few weeks, and one of my favorites is Mouwaten Tounsi<\/a>. For most of the time I’ve known about this blog, it has carried the following message: “For a better Tunisa for our children…this blog has been censored in Tunisia since 11\/15\/2006.” Three days ago, word came that three more Tunisian blogs have been censored, Samsoum<\/a> (a Tunisian living in San Francisco), Sami III<\/a>, and Felsfa<\/a>. All four of these blogs are still online, and their authors are still out of trouble, as far as I know. They just can’t be accessed from inside Tunisia. What did they say to get themselves censored? It isn’t clear. Like politically-minded bloggers everywhere, they cover a mix of politics and other topics. Apparently they went too far in giving an image of the Tunisian state that made its leaders uncomfortable.<\/p>\n

Here is what I have to say about the Tunisian state. It is worse than Morocco. A number of Tunisian bloggers call President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali the Big Boss. Before becoming president in what has been termed a bloodless coup<\/a>, he was the nation’s top security official. This would be like putting J. Edgar Hoover<\/a> in charge of government in the U.S. Ben Ali runs Tunisia as his personal fiefdom, for the profit of himself and his cronies. He has done an effective job of quashing all opposition. His power is not in danger, whether from Islamists or the Left. As a result, he is sometimes held up as a model of stability and moderation in the Arab world. He consistently wins over 90% of the vote in the elections that keep him in power. His country is quite close to Europe, so it a popular tourist destination, although visitors see little of the country beyond hotels and beaches. If you want to have a “Mafia Vacation,” travel to Tunisia! If you want to support freedom, I would suggest not.<\/p>\n

A number of the most prominent members of the Tunisian blogosphere, including Mouwaten Tounsi, have agreed on a symbolic protest<\/a> against censorship. According to the OpenNet Initiative<\/a>, internet filtering in Tunisia is as bad as in Iran, China or Saudi Arabia. This makes it one of the most censored nations in the world. Tunisian bloggers can write what they want, but their fellow citizens are unable to read what they have to say. Not all Tunisian bloggers are in agreement with this protest, because it could bring further clampdowns without achieving much. The power balance between bloggers and the State is very weak. But the censored bloggers want it to happen, so I am happy to participate. On Monday the 25th, I will put up a “blank post” and remain silent for 24 hours. To those reading this message, please join us if you can.<\/p>\n

What links the Tunisian censorship crisis with the Moroccan one? Both are shameful, in my opinion, for what they reveal about government in the Arab world. As in Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Libya, or Saudi Arabia, a paternalistic state pretends to know better than its own citizens what is best for them. The Moroccan state is protecting sensitive ears from jokes about God. The Tunisian state is protecting its people from doubts everyone shares. Both states are preventing their citizens from airing their views in the often painful process of consensus. Dialogue is short circuited, freedom driven underground into sly jokes, and the Big Boss sits smugly on his rotting pile, surveying the wasteland of his nation.<\/p>\n

I am pessimistic today, because speaking out changes nothing. But silence is worse!<\/p>\n

UPDATE 1:<\/b> An odd twist on the Nichane story has been brought to our attention by two different sources, AbMoul<\/a> on his blog and Nemo<\/a> in a comment (#66) to Larbi’s original post. This is from Nemo:<\/p>\n