On Wednesday, Tunisia's MP, Mohammed Brahmi, was gunned down outside his home in the middle of the morning. This is Tunisia's second assassination in the last sixth months, when Chokri Belaid was killed in February. In all of the small Mediterranean country's independent history, they have never seen the likes of such acts. Furthermore, since 2011's Arab Spring revolution started in Tunisia, the question remains as to whether this will mean instability and insecurity in the long-run. With a population of only around 10 million people, it is no understatement that everyone is concerned about the future of their otherwise prosperous, liberal, and thriving country.
On Thursday evening, DA3 (pronounced "Daa") got a phone call from a friend at home telling him the news. His whole demeanor changed. He was immediately affected and spent the rest of the evening watching online broadcasts announcing the assassination and the subsequent demonstrations. "Something really terrible has happened in my country today," he said despondently. "You have no idea how badly I wish I were there now."
I watched him in silence trying to feel some of what he felt. I couldn't put my finger on the right emotion, though. Is it a form of patriotism? I asked myself. Is it that he felt he knew this politician since it's such a small country and he's so passionate about politics in general? Does he have a personal stake in this?
"Our economy is really fragile. Right now it's tourist season, but something like this could make foreigners stay away. Something like this could end our economy like that!" He exclaimed.
His speech turned to the opposition party and the various parliament members, as well as all the civilians who were opposed to the different factions and parties trying to get their say. I was starting to feel lost in it all. And that's when it hit me. Out of all the political assassinations and attempts since Lincoln and Kennedy, as well as all the school shootings, the Boston marathon and other bombings, 911 etc...I, as an American, should be the most sympathetic to this new turn of events in DA3's motherland. It's not simply a matter of killer and victim, which is tragic enough, but also of what kind of environment can lead to such decision-making. Moreover, it's a question still shrouded in mystery.
Is it our post-modern world that has got us actually anticipating that something bad is going to happen whenever we change a law or drop our kids off at school? Now that Tunisia has stepped past one stage of self-government, does that mean that its next stage cannot be a well-paved transition rather than a pot-hole strewn path of conflict? While we all hate hearing about such tragedies, is it possible that my reaction was one typical of a citizen coming from a big, powerful country where I myself don't feel like I hold a large stake in its operation or ideals? Because, to be honest, DA3's reaction floored me. How could it be so personal?
Please don't think me insensitive. As I watch DA3 deal with the aftermath--the possible dissolving of parliament, the funeral for their new martyr (which DA3's brother attended), as we listen to Tunisia's national songs on the radio--my heart breaks for him. He just wants to see the place he cares about so much, his home, become a place fit to build a life, career, and family. Unfortunately, at the moment it's more beneficial for him to be abroad. One cannot turn a blind eye to that. Yet I still recognize this as one of our differences, this fact that I would only ever personalize to such an extent a death in the family or of a close friend. I just assume (and this may be a result of cultural background, religious orientation, personality, or a combination of it all) that life will go on not so differently from before. Let it be just me, though, that willingly keeps my naïveté. Perhaps it's good to have someone like DA3 in your life to react strongly to news seemingly outside the personal fault lines. Someone's gotta care, right?
No comments:
Post a Comment