Tahrir “Blue Bra Girl”, you are the pride of my country

I thought this kind of images belong to the past. To the hard times where our voices were shut. I thougth the day our people united and rose, we became too strong to be humiliated. Alas I was wrong. The events at Tahrir Square this week-end, where the SCAF beats and kills protestors prove that we still have to deal with tyranny in Egypt.

There is this video/pictures of a  niqabi girl lying on the floor, surrounded by not less than 5 soldiers, her jilbab torn off revealing a white skin and a blue bra and beaten, again, and again. I can hardly imagime the terror, the pain, as well as the shame she must have felt at this moment. I wish I could take some of it to bear with her. Alas I can’t; all I can do is to tell her, I swear to God, she embodies the dignity and the pride of my country, of our great Egypt. She is the strentgh, she is the truth, she is the right fight. She is the only human being I see on this picture.

Today and tomorrow, she is the hero.

Tunisia, a little country making History

Almost one year after the dramatic immolation of Mohammed Bouazizi, Tunisia makes once again History, by appointing Moncef Marzouki as president. Elected by the Constitutive Assembly to be the transitionnal leader of Tunisia, he is a doctor and life long human rights activist, intellectual (not less than 20 published books on medical ethics, public health, human rights and political analysis of the Arab world), exiled in France for the last 10 years; we couldn’t imagine a more suitable person for a president. He highly contrasts with the rest of Arab leaders, and represents the standards we will ask for not only for our nation but for the whole MENA region.

The first speech of President Marzouki was beautiful, and as a Tunisian I was touched to see my president crying when he mentionned the martyrs of the revolution and praying for the Libyans, Syrians, Yemenis and Palestinians. I was also happy to see him wearing a burnous, the traditionnal Tunisian cloak, symbolizing in a simple and beautiful way our North African identity.

Today, like many Tunisians I am optimistic for my country. I think we are going the right way. We still have a lot of hard work to do, especially regarding the economical and labour market reforms; may the future be bright and brighter  for Tunisia.