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Defiant Tunisia Hosts the World Social Forum

Categories: Middle East & North Africa, Tunisia, Citizen Media, Politics, Protest
Tunisia hosts the World Social Forum for the second time in a row

Tunisia hosts the World Social Forum for the second time in a row

Less than a week after the deadly attack on the Bardo Museum [1] in the capital Tunis, which left 20 tourists and a police officer dead, Tunisia is hosting the 10th edition of the World Social Forum (WSF).

Following the attack on March 18, there were fears that the forum might be cancelled. However, the organizing committee issued a statement [2] declaring that the forum is not going to be cancelled and that all of its activities are maintained.

Through this attack, terrorist groups attempted to undermine the democratic transition Tunisia and the region are currently experiencing while creating a climate of fear amongst citizens who aspire to freedom, democracy and pacific participation in establishing democracy.

The quick response from the social movement and all the political bodies in Tunisia opposed to terrorism, calling upon unity to fight it, proves how Tunisians care about their recent democratic experience. The social movement in Tunisia and the region counts on the global support of democratic forces to oppose violence and terrorism.

More than ever, the massive participation to the WSF (Tunis 24th-28th March 2015) will be the appropriate answer from all the peace and democratic forces towards a better, more fair and free world made of pacific co-existence.

In fact, the maintaining of the forum is perceived as a strong response to the Bardo Museum attack.

Nessryne said:

While the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey tweeted:

The World Social Forum is an anti-globalization and anti-capitalism meeting [9] of civil society organizations. It first met in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 2001, as a response to the World Economic Forum. It serves as a space for reflection to groups and movements that oppose no-liberalism and strive for social and economic justice.

Human rights advocate Rae Abileah explains:

The Dakar-based Flamme d’ Afrique tweeted on 24 March:

Peoples of the world will be meeting in Tunis to express anger at the inequalities of our world and preach for a better one

The forum kicked off on Wednesday afternoon with an anti-terror march to the Bardo Museum.

2015 World Social Forum delegates march to the Bardo Museum, where two gunmen killed 21 people on 18 March. Photo shares on twitter by arabesque_tn [15]

2015 World Social Forum delegates march to the Bardo Museum, where two gunmen killed 21 people on 18 March. Photo shared on Twitter by @arabesque_tn

The World Social Forum in Tunis is an excellent reminder that counter-terrorism also requires social justice

This is the second time in a row Tunisia hosts the forum. Tunis has already hosted the 2013 edition. During the five-day event, 70,000 delegates from more than 4,000 organizations [19]representing countries from across the world, will be discussing a wide range of issues and topics [20] including, climate justice, immigration, media freedom, women's rights, refugees and energy.