Football woes and foreign meddling absorb Tunisian bloggers
2009-11-24
Tunisian cyber-scribes are lamenting the Carthage Lions' poor showing on the pitch and demanding answers from the team.
By Mona Yahia for Magharebia in Tunis – 24/11/09
 [Anesh Debiky/Gallo Images/Getty Images] Tunisian bloggers shared Carthage Lions' defender Yamen Benzekri's disbelief in Tunisia's early exit from World Cup qualification. |
Tunisian bloggers channelled their heartbreak over the national team's early exit from World Cup competition into their websites this week, but some commentators were able to peel themselves away from football madness long enough to discuss politics, media and accusations of betrayal.
Blogger Challenges… that must be raised, demands that the Tunisian national squad return the money they received from the state for training, commenting that qualifying for the African Cup of Nations or the World Cup is a duty, not a choice.
"I heard (and God only knows if it's true) that you received 30 million for the Mozambique match, in which you did not show a satisfactory performance and were defeated. I am being quite frank here. Please, forgive my honesty and do not be offended," fumes the blogger, adding: "I think the 30 million that you received is totally illicit money. Return the money, because qualifying for the African Cup of Nations is a duty, not a privilege. You do not deserve a dime of it."
In "Carthage Eagles, Correction, Carthage Butterflies, Disqualified," blogger Congoros writes, "The disqualification of the Tunisian national squad from the Mondiale in South Africa is not something to be sorry for."
"Now that all those funds have been spent on the national squad, and several billions were taken from hard-working Tunisians, the truth remains that Coelho's squad is overtaken by chaos and stubbornness, and the formation is characterised by a kind of sports offense in terms of managing their affairs," adds the blogger. "The Carthage 'Butterflies' are down and are no longer a name to be reckoned with, after they were honoured and dubbed the 'Carthage Eagles'."
Saharaclub expresses his football frustration in a piece entitled "The Ball does not lie, Nigeria qualifies and our brutes remain true to boorishness". Saharaclub continues: "History shows that wherever our brutes tread, they become the laughing stock at the World Cup. I love football and would love to watch a World Cup with no fanaticism, a World Cup where there is no Tunisia or Saudi Arabia, and hopefully Bahrain will be disqualified, too."
Still talking about football, blogger Point de Vue tackles the game between Egypt and Algeria and the ensuing fan skirmishes that have escalated into mutual media assaults. The writer compares Marx's axiom "religion is the opiate of the masses" with football, "which is sowing seeds of discord among nations".
"The pathetic and shameful events that took place among Arab nations communicated sparks of fanaticism and fury to the minds of Arab officials, which is natural as it is taken for granted – in our gloomy and disintegrated Arab world – that sports is used to serve politics," writes the blogger. "Within the context of the qualifications for the World Cup and the African Cup of Nations, most Arab mass media were frantic, breaking loose of all the manacles binding it outside the context of sports. All participants in the continental qualifiers were aflame."
Turning an eye to politics, blogger Antikor urges ambassadors of major countries in Tunis not to interfere with his country's domestic affairs. "Dear sirs, I am confident you are quite intelligent, too," writes the blogger. "Surely, you're aware that the Tunisian people will be the prime victim and the biggest, and perhaps only, loser in your game of putting pressure on Tunisia. You certainly know that, because you are smart."
"Dear ambassadors, we both know that your states and leaders never stood by nations and did nothing to their benefit," adds Antikor. "You are only seeking to serve your national interests. History bears witness to that."
The blogger wraps up by reminding the foreign emissaries that "wherever the white man treads, destruction is sure to follow. And that you know, too."
Since Greater Bairam is just around the corner, blogger Tarek Cheniti discusses what he calls the do-it-yourself "slaughters of the Eid", noting "for the umpteenth time, I am suggesting that a serious, in-depth dialogue be launched to discuss the problem".
"I particularly suggest that the current laws be changed so as to forbid in-house slaughtering that takes place under no veterinarian supervision," explains Cheniti. "For those who don't understand that, all they have to do is head for the municipal slaughterhouse."
Blogger Scribbles harps on the FAO's latest summit in Italy. "In response to the charade of the FAO Summit in Italy, which was not attended by former colonial rich countries, we demand that November 27th be declared 'National Grilled Meat Day', where each citizen receives a dish of grilled meat. Happy Greater Bairam to everyone, but watch out for sheep influenza!"
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Anonymous Posted 2009-11-25
You need to hold your nose if you visit the so-called blogger Antikor’s website, as the smell of Goebbels and of the Tunisian Minister of (Dis)Information is both clear and repulsive on this website. This contract scribe is only carrying on, in a simplistic way, Ben Ali’s lack of tact. The latter, just before this last outbreak of swine flu, received the credentials of a dozen new ambassadors appointed to Tunisia. To wish them welcome, he gave a speech asking them not to stick their noses into Tunisia’s internal affairs. This language is reproduced in clearer terms and in Arabic by none other than the blogger Antikor. Addressing himself to the ambassadors of the “Great Powers” in Tunisia, he tells them in bold red characters: “Everywhere white men have gone, they have sown devastation.” I'm surprised, because I always thought that Pasteur, a white man, invented the rabies vaccination, Flemming discovered penicillin, and Koch invented the vaccine against tuberculosis and so on. But, I must recognise that not all white people are scientists. Maybe this Tunisian blogger was thinking about Eleanor Roosevelt, who, after WWII, played a decisive role in elaborating the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. All of the member states had to then sign it, including Tunisia. But, this declaration continues to enrage the dictators, and Pasteur’s vaccine has not managed to help them. Hence, the language of hatred that spreads among their people while they bow to white Europe in order to conclude trade treaties with it. They present themselves as a bulwark against jihadists and Muslim fundamentalism and champions of women’s rights.
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