The former Tunisian police force belonging to President Zine ElAbidine Ben Ali were thugs who enforced the dictator’s rule. They engaged in bullying, intimidation, bribery, and numerous human rights abuses, including contributing to the deaths of more than 100 government protestors in the last couple of months. On Saturday, they too took place in protests, alongside those they used to assault.
The quotes below come from these various news outlets.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110122/ap_on_re_af/af_tunisia
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2043966,00.html
I’ve listed the more notable quotes from these stories below. I make comments in order to put these statements into perspective.
They sought to press demands like the creation of a labor union, better pay and — like other protests in recent days — the ousting of any members from Ben Ali’s party from the government
Their protest does not seem to be about freedom or morality. They are in it for themselves. By forming a union, they can force the (presumably less coercive) new government to pay above market wages at the expense of everyone else in society.
[One officer] said he wanted a labor union to help defend police officers’ interests — and wanted to convince Tunisians in general that “we are here for the people and we want to serve the people.”
Police are basically the same all over the world: they describe their role of carrying out the force and coercion required by those wanting to control others as being a role of “serving the people.” Those who are at the receiving end of the force and coercion are usually submissive and question nothing.
“The government always made sure the people were scared of us but this must end,” he told The Associated Press. “Also I don’t want the blood of our martyrs on my hands.”
Here the pigs try to deceive the people into thinking that is was not their fault; they were forced to do these harmful things (never mind that they willingly kept their positions and took money from their employers in exchange for carrying out this aggression). Now, they pretend that they themselves are against those terrible things they were forced to do (such as taking bribes in exchange for not enforcing the “law”). They were apparently not too against it previously, because they continued to do it.
Added another officer, Nabil Jazeeri: “We need to forget the past and realize there is no home in Tunis that doesn’t have a police officer or a man serving in the army.”
Translation: “You need to forget the terrible things we’ve done to you, so that you don’t engage in retaliation against me. Besides, everybody was doing it—that makes it ok.”
In the southern city of Gabes, police officers also demonstrated, waving the Tunisian flag and singing the national anthem, state-run Agence Afrique Tunis Press reported.
No matter that it was the natural characteristics of the nation state which caused the police to be against the citizens, both sides get together and celebrate the existence of the nation state. Sheep are always led to slaughter.
“I thought you were my enemy but now I see that you are my brother,” says Mahmoud, a middle-aged bystander who has been listening intently and pushes through the small crowd to heartily embrace the policeman. “I know that you were oppressed too.”
This guy is a sucker, and most of the citizens are probably suckers too. They see the policemen, who voluntarily continued the job of oppressing people, as poor oppressed people themselves who need a hug.
“Colleagues, you are victims, come and join us,” they [citizens] chant to the men in uniform on the other side of the razor wire.
More suckers.
“We forgive you,” Sayed Ramadan, a business owner tells the officer. “Sometimes I’d have to pay the police bribes, but it was a difficult time for everyone. I knew you had low wages.”
Unbelievable. This guy deludes himself into thinking that the policeman who threatened him until he paid the policeman a bribe should be sympathized with because he was paid supposedly low wages. Perhaps we should forgive Hitler because he was bullied on the playground.
(This reminds me of how the leftist customer at the post office last week, after standing in the typical 20 minutes long line, sympathized with slow, rude, uncaring voluntary government clerk of a government monopoly who actually lied to her about not having a particular envelope, because he has such a tough job handling such long lines. (He was out of the envelope. The clerk next to him had it. He didn’t tell her the next clerk had it. She asked. He said yes, and got it. She thanked him for being so helpful.))
The police and national guardsmen are singing the national anthem. The crowds of citizens that have surrounded them heartily join in, clapping and applauding what just a few days ago seemed impossible.
