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GGJ Delegation Report Back from the WSF 2013 in Tunisia. Wednesday, May 8, 2013 & Thursday, May 9, 2013. Tunisia, the Arab Spring, and the World Social Forum. Tunisia, the Arab Spring, and the World Social Forum.
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GGJ Delegation Report Back from the WSF 2013 in Tunisia Wednesday, May 8, 2013 & Thursday, May 9, 2013
Tunisia, the Arab Spring, and the World Social Forum • The World Social Forum Tunisia marked a first for the World Social Forum. It was the first time the Forum was held in a country actively engaged in the early stages of a revolutionary transformation. The Tunisian revolution toppled a neo-colonial, oligarchic dictatorship lead by Ben Ali, and has ushered in a highly contested democratic process, where the forces of political Islam have seized the political initiative and much of the social space. The Tunisian revolution remains a highly contested process. • Tunisia was chosen to host the WSF to capitalize on and learn from the world altering momentum its revolution helped to inspire, particularly in the Arabic speaking world (with major protests taking place in virtually every Arabic speaking country from Morocco to Bahrain). The revolutions in Egypt and Yemen inspired hope and promise the world over in addition to challenging many of the established “relations” in the capitalist world-system. • The US, EU, and NATO imperialist bloc, allied with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Monarchies, have been aiding and abetting a major counter-revolutionary initiative in the Arabic speaking world since the fall of the Mubarak regime in Egypt. This counter-revolution has seen the dramatic rise in power and influence of many of the most reactionary forces of political Islam throughout the region, such as the Salafists in Tunisia.
Tunisia, the Arab Spring, and the World Social Forum • However, the counter-revolution has not been able to establish a solid hegemony anywhere in the region. Left and progressive forces are mounting stiff resistance to the neo-liberal economic policies and anti-democratic initiatives of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Democratic forces in Bahrain are still struggling for democracy despite intense repression. The Monarchies of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, etc., are having to offer numerous “carrots” to the working class and various social movements in the effort to divide the movement and sustain their rule, and where these aren’t effective they are still relying on many heavy repressive “sticks” to maintain the status quo. In Tunisia, the World Social Forum helped fortify and embolden the left and progressive forces in the country in their struggle against the repressive and anti-democratic initiatives of the forces of political Islam that currently dominate the government.
Tunisia, the Arab Spring, and the World Social Forum • Overall the situation is very fluid, and there is a lot of space to maneuver at present, but what we clearly learned is that progressive social movements have a lot of hard work ahead of us to organize our bases to be able to capitalize on transitory moments as occurred in Tunisia and Egypt in 2011. • View GGJ Executive Director, Cindy Wiesner speaking at Opening Rally at http://youtu.be/NatB88vUg18 • Also read Kali Akuno’s article at http://ggjalliance.wordpress.com/2013/05/07/tunisia-social-transformation-and-the-world-social-forum-a-perspective-on-moving-grassroots-internationalism-forward/ • For more reading on developments in the region visit http://www.jadaliyya.com/.
Tunisia, the Arab Spring, and the World Social Forum • Additional comments from Jordan Flaharty, independentjournalist and GGJ ally. • This social forum came at a time when the direction of the uprisings seems in flux. On the one hand, they continue to inspire people around the world. On the other hand, in each country there has been serious pushback from ruling interests. • There is also a major division in the left on how people view so-called Islamic governments, like those in Egypt and Tunisia. While many spoke of Islamic political movements such as Muslim Brotherhood as regressive forces, others see political Islam as part of an anti-imperialist front. • In Tunisia and Egypt, dictators were overthrown, but many of the systemic issues remain. • In Bahrain and Yemen, popular movements were for the most part shut down with the support of imperial powers – though in Yemen, the situation is still in flux.
Tunisia, the Arab Spring, and the World Social Forum • In Libya, imperial powers united with forces within the country to overthrow the government. And in Syria, of course, the situation is still ongoing, but you have the US and other Western powers deciding how closely to align with forces linked to Al Qaeda. • Marxist theorist Samir Amin, who many of us saw speak at the Forum, calls the overthrow of dictators in Tunisia and Egypt the first step in a continuing process. He said, “This gigantic popular movement got rid of the dictators Ben Ali and Mubarak, but not of the system. The Muslim Brotherhood who are in power in both countries are just continuing the same system…The same so-called liberal policy, the same submission to imperialism, the same social disaster.” • Amin added that the biggest change represented by this period is a new awareness that change is possible. “The people now, who have proved to themselves their capacity to overthrow any dictatorship, will also get rid of the Muslim Brotherhood,” he says. • These contradictions and conflicts of the Arab Spring on full display at the WSF. While one group held a session on strategies for overthrowing the Syrian government, there was a rally nearby in support of President al-Assad. Elsewhere in the Forum, arguments broke out over whether Libya was better off without Muammar Gaddafi. Reflecting the importance of these debates, hundreds lined up to hear remarks by Tariq Ramadan, a Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies and major figure in the debate on the role of Islam in the West. • The movement for a free Palestine was well represented, and the Forum closed with more than ten thousand people marching in commemoration of Palestinian Land Day. While Palestine liberation was the consensus position at the Forum, there was strife between grassroots activists and those representing the political leadership in Ramallah.
Tunisia, the Arab Spring, and the World Social Forum • Personally, I found a surprising amount of hope. We have heard so much bad news from the region, so much about neoliberal and other right-wing forces co-opting the revolution, I was excited to find so many people who were still excited about the revolutionary possibility. Of course, this may be partly the result of being in the middle of 50,000 radicals from around the world, but the atmosphere in Tunis was electric. Every night, the downtown was filled with people singing revolutionary songs until 3am or later. • Hamouda Soubhi, an activist from Morocco and one of the members of the WSF Tunisia organizing committee, told me. “For us its like the beginning of the struggle. Tunisia wants to say to the world, no more fear, we are going to change the region.” • In Tunisia, a major issue is a return of the economic policies that brought about the revolution in the first place. I had three different conversations with Tunisians where they mentioned Naomi Klein’s name, and her book Shock Doctrine. People feel that entities like the IMF are using this time of transition to push through even worse economic policies than those from the time of the dictatorship.
Tunisia, the Arab Spring, and the World Social Forum • In Tunisia, a major issue is a return of the economic policies that brought about the revolution in the first place. I had three different conversations with Tunisians where they mentioned Naomi Klein’s name, and her book Shock Doctrine. People feel that entities like the IMF are using this time of transition to push through even worse economic policies than those from the time of the dictatorship. • Mabrouka Mbarek, an elected member of the Tunisian constituent assembly, told me: “When I read about shock doctrine, I said, ‘oh my god, it’s happening to Tunisia. They are going to stop subsidies after two years, they will increase the price of gas, they will increase the price of wheat, they will completely restructure the banking system. All of this happened without discussion without debate in the parliament. The fate of the Tunisian people should not be discussed between this international institution and a resigning government.” • To more of Jordan’s analysis read the following articles https://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/03/27-2 • http://www.zcommunications.org/world-social-forum-highlights-shock-doctrine-in-tunisia-by-jordan-flaherty
Tunisia, the Arab Spring, and the World Social Forum • Additional Comments from Charity Hicks, with East Michigan Environmental Action Council. • Current state and impact on Black Libyan’s in North Africa after NATO war on Libya 2011. • Two years ago on 19th March 2011 a coalition, led by France, Great Britain and the U.S.A., started bombing Libya, and on 31st March, NATO officially declared war against the Gaddafi regime. • Hundreds of thousands of people had to flee Libya; among them were many migrant workers and refugees from all over Sub-Saharan Africa, who were suspected of being of Gaddafi’s mercenaries. • Tunisia left its borders open and accepted about half a million refugees, from the European and NATO led war/violence.
Tunisia, the Arab Spring, and the World Social Forum • Current state and position of Black Tunisians in North Africa after Arab Spring 2011. • Tunisia has a 10% - 15% Black African population which is non-Berber/non-Arab, whom live mostly in the southern regions of the North African country of 10 million people. • The Arab Spring which removed Ben Ali from power in Tunisian in 2011 also unearthed the profound inequality and racism of the Tunisian state, and marginalized social identity of Blacks within Tunisia. • The apparent contradictions of the popular movement, revolutionary thoughts, and ideals of the Arab Spring also woke up in Black Africans in Tunisia a sense of social identity and racial politics, which the moment of the Arab Spring crystallized in the Black African Tunisian community towards a call for recognition, protection, and participation. • Standing firmly in the moment of the Arab Spring and fully aware of the contradictions of race, class, culture, and privilege many in the Black Tunisian community organized an association which could carry their movement building work to strengthen the focus on the internal/external contradictions of society and historical racial dynamics in Tunisia. • Black Tunisian moving to fully seat their identity and participation in the current constitutional convention happening in Tunisia formed an association; “ADAM” for equality and development in May 2012 under visa number 2012G03190APSF.
Tunisia, the Arab Spring, and the World Social Forum • The objectives of ADAM are to: 1) Defend the principles of justice, equality, and tolerance between all the individuals and the sections of society and fight against all the forms of segregation and discrimination. 2) Combat marginalization and exclusion. 3) Support in partnership with the official structures and the organizations of the civil society the rights of the Black minority on the legal, economic, cultural and social levels. • ADAM ahead of the WSF organized an international conference March 21-22, 2013 on Racism in Tunisia to lift up and explore the history of Tunisia, and bring into their work international, Maghrebine, national, and local frames and to call out the contradictions on the Arab Spring. • At this international conference the Black Tunisian community commemorated the December 1966 United Nations anniversary for the convention on Elimination of Racial Discrimination and remembered the victims of the Sharpeville Massacre March 21, 1960 whom were peacefully protesting Apartheid in South Africa. • ADAM and the Black Tunisian community are pressing their way to fully hold the Tunisian government and civil society accountable to the words/ideals of the Arab Spring and the ideals of equality, liberty, and dignity. • ADAM can be reached via the following means. • ADDRESS: • ADAM: Association for Equality and Development • 8 Rue Borj Bourguiba • 1001 • Tunis, TUNISIE • TELEPHONE/FAX: • +216 71 240 204 • +216 71 240 201 • EMAIL: • adam@gnet.tn • WEBSITE • http://www.adam.tn
Climate Justice • What is the Climate Space? Why Was it Created? From the Open Call to create the Climate Space: The Climate Space aims to bring together environmental activists and social activists in order to discuss: What went wrong from Bali to Doha? How can we achieve the target to leave more than 2/3 of the fossil fuels under the ground? What are our decentralized energy alternatives? How do we tackle the food crisis that is aggravated by the climate and financial crises? How do we stop the disruptions of the vital cycles of water? How do we respond to the need of employment and stop this suicidal path of endless growth? How do we strengthen the fight against false solutions like GMOs, Synthetic Biology, Agrofuels, and Geoengineering? What are the implications of the financialization of nature through green economy, carbon markets and REDD? What are the threats of climate security for peace, democracy and migrants? How do we build alternatives to capitalism from experiences like “Vivir Bien”, the defense of the commons, the happiness index, food sovereignty and other examples that have already been developed from the grassroots? • As the 16 Organizations who created the space stated, the Climate Space was created to Turn the Tide and create real solutions to Climate Change. For more read http://ggjalliance.org/WSFclimatespace2013.
Climate Justice • The capitalist system, particularly in its industrial form, has become a threat to the sustainability of life on planet Earth. • Rather than make any serious efforts to transform and adjust, the capitalist class has sought to profit from this escalating calamity by commodifying more and more of the Earth’s natural resources and processes of regeneration (water management) and reproduction (DNA patents, GMO foods, etc.).
Climate Justice • GGJ played a major role alongside 20 internationalist organizations from across the world in anchoring and advancing the Climate Space at the World Social Forum Tunisia. The objective of the GGJ delegation was to forge deeper relationships with social movements struggling against climate change, environmental racism, and displacement throughout the world, and to develop strong international campaigns to transform the system in order to stop the advance of climate change. • A listing of the Climate Space workshops that GGJ helped to develop and co-facilitate are included in the next several slides.
Climate Justice • Fighting Fossil Fuel and extractive industries to build new alternatives! • Workshop Outline: Fighting fossil fuel industry (tar sands, shale gas & shale oil, onshore and offshore drilling, pipelines…) to build new alternatives and get rid of the highly polluting current extractive system. The fossil fuels session will be an open space for collective discussion on fossil fuels as foundational drivers of the engines of extractivism, exploitations and climate change. Fossil fuels have lubricated the current manifestation of “civilization” and have been seductively presented as cheap energy sources making humankind addicted to it with the winners being the fossil fuels companies and collaborating states. It has recently been acknowledged that unless 60-80% amount of known fossil fuels reserves are left untapped the world is headed towards an irreversible and catastrophic global warming whose costs will be not spare any life form. This workshop will serve as a broad social, political and economic convergence process whereby different struggles will be linked for a rapid transition to a decentralized, equitable and ecologically sensitive energy and transport system. Energy security has become a cover for wars and other destabilizing geopolitical struggles overturning national sovereignty, criminalising door communities and locking humanity into energy forms that are clearly harmful. This is the time for a serious conversation on energy sovereignty unhooked from massive grids and polluting systems. The debate will look at alternatives to the present energy production/consumption model imposed by governments and transnational companies and link to groups/social movements working on agrofuels/bioenergy including those dealing with the impacts in the South. We will aim to build convergence and point at ways of conceiving true planetary civilisation. • Tom Goldtooth, with the Indigenous Environmental Network was the GGJ Representative
Climate Justice • Climate Jobs Now!: Organizing Campaigns for Transitioning to Low Carbon Economies • Workshop Outline: This session will discuss the organizing of ‘one million climate jobs’ campaigns in several countries around the world. These campaigns arise out of two converging conditions, namely, increasing mass unemployment due in large measure to austerity measures being invoked to salvage a broken economic model and the corresponding prospects of catastrophic climate change mainly due to the spewing of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere by carbon polluting industries. Tackling the climate crisis of our times demands changing the prevailing economic model. Transitioning to and building a low carbon economy for the future is imperative. Originally, the ‘one million climate jobs’ campaign was developed by progressive labour unions and civil society organizations in both South Africa and the United Kingdom. The campaign has to do with opening or reviving sectors of the economy to create new decent jobs that contribute both to the reduction of carbon emissions and the advancement of social equity at the same time. This session will explore strategies proposed for creating new climate jobs in energy, transportation, and construction, plus water, health care, waste management and other sectors of the economy. Strategies from both the global south and north will be considered along with the corresponding challenges to be undertaken by governments. Activists from progressive labour unions, environmental organizations, youth and social justice groups are encouraged to participate. The session will be participatory, drawing from the interests and experiences of the participants as well as inputs from several resource persons. • Miya Yoshitani, Asian Pacific Environmental Network was the GGJ representative for this workshop • Read Miya’s article here http://ggjalliance.wordpress.com/2013/05/07/confessions-of-a-climate-denier-in-tunisia/
Climate Justice • Faith Communities, Mother Earth, and the Militarization of the Climate • Workshop Outline: The community of faith have deep concerns about nature and peace. This event will try to generate a dialogue between different faith communities (Buddhists, Catholics, Christians, Muslims, Animists and others) in relation to Mother Earth and Climate Security. Climate change is not just an economic, social or scientific issue. It has ethical implications and it is being used to promote new forms of colonization and militarization. The idea is to bring progressive representatives of different faiths to discuss in a very open way their common and different visions in relation to Mother Earth, the role of humans and nature, the meaning of climate security, and the threats for peace and justice. In this event we will also discuss how to strengthen our struggle against the criminalization, assassination and forced disappearances of climate and environmental activists all over the world. • Charity Hicks, East Michigan Environmetnal Action Council (show photo of Charity) was the GGJ representative for this Workshop
Climate Justice • Convergence Assembly - Climate: What New Strategies? • The New Strategies Convergence Assembly will summarize the different proposals that will come out of the Climate Space events and will focus on what we can do together to increase our impacts and achieve some milestones that can strengthen our different struggles and campaigns. The discussion will be focused on what are the new issues that we have to address, the link between the grassroots actions and system change, what are the most appropriate mechanisms to coordinate multiple actions of different kinds but with the same aim, how to strengthen key proposals like food sovereignty, rights of nature and others, the development of new ideas for new initiatives and many more.The aim is to come up with a proposal for concrete follow up steps and an action plan. • Cindy Wiesner, Grassroots Global Justice was the GGJ representative
Climate Justice • The convergence assembly of the Climate Space produced a very critical document that we think is an advance within the Climate Justice Movement. To read the document visit http://ggjalliance.org/climatespacedeclaration and to follow the climate justice debates and outcomes visit http://climatespace2013.wordpress.com/
Gender Justice • Following the WSF preparatory assembly in 2012, which discussed the ongoing struggles of women in Tunisia and throughout the world, GGJ came away with the real urgent need to press for solidarity with the women's movement and the overall movement integrating women's rights. • As women of color we we wanted to express that there is diversity to the Feminist movement in the US, and that not all of it is bad Feminism. • Following theses objectives, GGJ collaborated with the World March of Women to help organize the Gender Justice space and several workshops on Gender Justice and Women’s Solidarity.
Gender Justice • The 2013 WSF Forum was kicked of March 23rd by a Women’s Assembly. • Here are some reflections on the Women’s Assembly from Charity Hicks with Black Workers for Justice and Miya Yoshitani with Asian Pacific Environmental Network. • “Sol-Sol-Sol – Solidarité!” was the chant from the crowd as the GGJ delegation squeezed into the packed amphitheater for the World Social Forum Women’s Assembly. The room was electrified by the powerful voices of women activists from Tunisia, all over the region, and the world. • The invitation to the Women’s Assembly reads, “we the Dynamic Tunisian Women of the WSF, call upon women from all over the world to come together to express our solidarity with all women in struggle and our rejection of unbridled capitalism and any model of development that objectifies us, marginalizes us, commits violence against us, abandons us to unemployment and precariousness, and excludes us from the centers of power and wealth.” • Read more at http://ggjalliance.wordpress.com/2013/03/27/sol-sol-sol-solidarite-ggj-at-wsf-womens-assembly/
Gender Justice • Attacks against women and women’s rights by conservative forces throughout the world have dramatically escalated over the past several years. To combat this conservative movement an emerging global women’s movement is growing.
Gender Justice • To stand in solidarity with women and women’s struggles throughout the world and challenge these conservative social movements and their aggressive promotion of patriarchy as a system of global oppression, GGJ played a significant role in the women’s convergence space at the World Social Forum in Tunisia.
Gender Justice • GGJ also participated in a critical Workshop organized by the World March of Women, called “Women’s Rights in the Age of Empire”. Video of the workshop can be viewed here http://youtu.be/lXucT1gIjdM. • Read Maria Poblet’s reflections on Feminist Internationalism at http://ggjalliance.wordpress.com/2013/03/19/womens-rights-in-the-age-of-empire-maria-poblet/ • And Part 2 athttp://www.organizingupgrade.com/index.php/component/k2/item/981-under-construction
Gender Justice • Feminists Unite! Women’s Rights in the Age of Empire • Workshop Description: Any revolutionary movement aimed at fundamental, long-term change cannot exist or flourish without the full participation of historically disenfranchised communities. This has never been clearer or truer, than in the role of women in historic revolutionary movements across the world. The inclusion of a Feminist perspective has therefore become an inherit part of making a different world possible. Our discussion will revolve around the participation of women in revolutionary spaces and the evolution of Feminist demands in the Maghreb/Mashrek region, and in Tunisia in particular. We will highlight the contradictory role the U.S. has and continues to play both economically and politically in its promotion of hegemony in the region. Particularly through “disaster capitalism” models which are used to take advantage of countries where disasters strike or wars are waging on, to privatize state enterprises and the commons, engage more women workers into low and no wage informal sector work, and make land grabs. Dispelling the myth of the “development” narrative which has become the framework for the discussion of women’s economic access and social mobility; through claims that integrating women from the global south into “income generating activity” is an emancipatory project, because it gives women access to money. We will develop a deeper understanding of the limited fountains of resources women in the region have access to, for their own agency and take a closer look at the problematic intervention of western feminists and funders not rooted in true solidarity models derived from a class and anti-imperialist analysis. We seek to collaborate with women's organizations and networks in the region and internationally. We intend to have this be a panel and participatory discussion of how we can help to create spaces of empowerment that support feminist demands, particularly in Tunisa and the Maghreb/Mashrek region in a way that does not reinforce colonial dynamics and becomes yet one more obstacle in the advancement of the economic rights of women • GGJ was represented by Maria Poblet, CJJC; Marcia Olivo, Miami Workers Center
Social Movement Assembly and Next Steps for WSF • Social movement assemblies and coverage spaces within the World Social Forum have served as major vehicles for the development of international campaigns and solidarity initiatives over the past decade. • GGJ played a major role in anchoring the social movement assembly in Tunisia in the effort to create a greater degree of synergy and coordination between the various international social movements.
Social Movement Assembly and Next Steps for WSF • This Forum’s Social Movement assembly encountered many challenges (Indigenous struggles against various nation-states, conflicting land claims, etc.) and demonstrated how much attention the Social Movements must pay in the future to resolving conflicts, antagonisms, and contradictions amongst progressive forces. To see the outcome document of the Social Movement convergence space visit http://ggjalliance.org/SMAdeclaration2013.
Social Movement Assembly and Next Steps for WSF • A major debate is now underway about the future of the Forum. This debate is primarily concentrated within the International Committee, but is not isolated there. There are two primary visions and proposals on the table. One vision sees the Social Movements playing a more central role in shaping and defining the Social Forum and orienting it more towards the development and promotion of coordinated international campaigns. The other vision views it being primarily a space for “open” dialogue and exchange between individuals, civil society and the social movements. This debate will continue for some time. But, it should be clear that GGJ has always viewed the Social Movement convergence process as central to the advancement of grassroots internationalism and will continue to support it going forward.
