Tunisian students perform the Harlem Shake in front of the education ministry on March 1, 2013. AFP PHOTO / FETHI BELAID
The Harlem Shake phenomenon — a dance craze that’s gone viral in recent weeks and sparked thousands of copycat videos worldwide — has just made it to North Africa. Tunisia, to be precise. More than just a passing fad, Harlem Shake performances by Tunisian students are taking shape as the latest incarnation of ongoing socio-political rumblings between secularists and Islamists in the moderate Arab nation.
The Shake first pushed Tunisian tensions to the surface last week when Salafi fundamentalists (a minority Islamist group) unsuccessfully attempted to stop a performance at a high school in Tunis. Thursday saw renewed clashes between students and Salafists, this time in Tunis as well as Sidi Bouzid (stage of the self-immolation of a fruit vendor that sparked Tunisia’s Jasmine Revolution in 2011). Tunisia’s Minister of Education Abdeltif Abid has since threatened to expel the involved students, calling the dance an “insult to the educational message.” Undaunted, hundreds of young Tunisians skipped school on Friday to perform a “retaliatory Harlem Shake” in front of the Ministry of Education, echoing a similar performance in front of the headquarters of Egypt’s ruling party, the Muslim Brotherhood, last week.
But unlike their Egyptian counterparts (four of whom were arrested for indecency), Tunisian students remain relatively unscathed by altercations with Salafi protesters wielding little more than angry slogans and condemnations of the dance’s ‘vulgar’ nature. And beyond threats of expulsion, there’s not been much in way of an official crackdown. Judging from a meme posted by Tunisian hackers on the Ministry of Education website — the grinning, wrinkled “U MAD?” face — even that threat isn’t being taken seriously.
But although Salafi fundamentalists were unable to stop the Harlem Shake — and despite their fringe status — they shouldn’t be underestimated. Radical Muslims came out of the sociopolitical shadows (or rather prison or exile) in this historically secular country after longtime dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was ousted in January 2011. Since then, Tunisia’s political landscape has been increasingly shaped by tensions between hard-line Islamists and secularists, with the Tunisian government (led by the moderate Islamist party Ennahda) nominally in the middle. This unrest most recently erupted with the assassination of Chokri Belaid, a left-wing opposition leader — a murder linked to Salafists. If that allegation holds true, it means that the extremist sect could be singlehandedly responsible for Tunisia’s “worst political crisis since the revolution.” Well, not exactly singlehandedly: following a surge in political extremism and violence last year, the Ennahda government has been vociferously criticized for its lax attitude to radical groups, and for letting extremists like the Salafis thrive.
While Ennahda’s alleged “fence-sitting” is difficult to prove, its reputation for incompetence is easier to justify — especially after former prime minister Hamadi Jebali was forced to resign last month after failing to resolve the political crisis sparked by Belaid’s death. But to Ennahda’s credit, the governmental response to Harlem Shake performances has been reasonable thus far. In fact, other than the expulsion threats from the Ministry of Education and a light police presence at some performances, there has been little reaction at all. This restraint can perhaps be explained by a ‘choose your battles’ mentality adopted at a busy (and precarious) time: Tunisia’s new coalition government is still being formed (despite a Friday deadline); political turmoil has made international investors skittish (and potentially endangered a badly-needed $1.78 billion IMF loan); and the Tunisia’s outgoing defense minister on Tuesday called the country’s military readiness into question.
However, Ennahda’s restraint may also be a nod to moderate Tunisians whose votes the self-proclaimed moderate party will need at the next (as yet unscheduled) legislative and presidential elections. (The Islamist party has already taken steps in this direction by naming independents to key government posts.) So while Tunisia is inarguably facing a potential political explosion, the government’s moderate response to young protesters is reassuring in a sense. As is the protesters’ weapon of choice: after opting for stones and burning tires to express their grievances after Belaid’s death (and on the heels of earlier, violent protests about the Tunisian economy held last year), activists this time chose a dance to express their frustrations. (A cheesy, memetically sensational dance, to be sure.) Ultimately, this nonviolent form of protest, coupled with Ennahda’s relative inaction — one which (perhaps unintentionally) allowed both parties to voice their opinions in safety, the crux of any functional democracy — may be the one of the most encouraging signs to date that Tunisia, once the most stable Arab country in the region, may yet find its way.