TUNIS/THALA, Tunisia — A gas mask is spray-painted on a wall in the gritty Tunis suburb of Douar Hicher, beneath it reads the phrase "We have
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suffocated." This captures the mood of Douar Hicher, where unemployment, crime and anger against Tunisia’s leaders hang heavily in the air.
“Everything is collapsing. The other day, a 25-year-old murdered his mother and his sisters here,” said Mohammed, who ekes out a living selling oranges. Pressed for a reason, the teenager offered, “They were poor; they had nothing. There is no stability, no work in Tunisia.” Young men with sullen faces filed past along the garbage-strewn streets
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purposelessly during working hours as if to illustrate his point.
Eight years ago, it was here and in the neighboring working class strongholds of Ettadhamen, al-Entilaka and el-Mnihla that the first protests against Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali reached Tunisia's capital. Today, many of the chronic ills that triggered the revolution and the lack of democratic institutions have thrust this North African nation of 11.7 million back into a crisis with no ready fixes in sight.
“The revolution was the biggest popular mobilization in Tunisia. An entire generation discovered the opportunity to change their lives,” said Olfa Lamloum, country director for International Alert, a global nongovernmental organization that specializes in conflict resolution and is helping with Tunisia’s transition to democracy. She added, “The result is a big zero. Young people are stuck having to choose between Lampedusa and DAESH.” Lamloum was referring to the Italian island where thousands of desperate Tunisians aided by trafficking rings have headed in recent years. DAESH is the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State (IS), which has attracted large numbers of Tunisian recruits.
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