Our agenda for the day:
- Questions and comments about Diigo. (5 min.)
- Compare maps with neighbors (5 min.)
- Small group discussion questions about the chapter (15 min.)
- Whole-class discussion about the chapter, nature of political activism, first-person perspective on a major historical event (15 min).
- Shift to blogs. Look at assignment sheet and goals. (5 min.)
- Look at examples of previous semester blogs. (5 min.)
- Sign into your class blog with SEU and start customizing.
Diigo (5 minutes). Missing a couple of students. Overall comment: don’t forget to add three tags per item and two sentence summaries.
Maps (5 minutes). Take a couple of minutes to talk to your neighbors about the locations you tagged on your maps for “Greetings to the Dawn.”
Small Group Discussion (30 minutes). Here’s how we’ll discuss the reading in small groups. I want you as a group to pretend that you are an investigator with the Tunisian Ministry of the Interior. You’ve tracked his movements on your Google Maps, and now your task is to compile a dossier on Malek Sghiri, which you’ll write up as a comment on this day’s class blog entry (you can elect one scribe, but write down the names of everyone in your group). Touch on the following points:
- Personal background: Family, education and employment.
- Psychological profile
- Political profile.
- Habits, activities and known associates.
- Subversive activities and/or known crimes against the state.
Large Group Discussion (10 minutes). Each group will share some details from the item I ask them about. Other groups will have a second to mention anything important about each item.
Look at Previous Student Blogs (5 minutes). I’ll show you what a typical full-paragraph (or longer) blog entry looks like using these examples from Fall 2014. Here is one by Kevin at the end of the semester. Here is one by Allie from the beginning of the semester.
- 3 points to summarize first artifact.
- 3 points to summarize second artifact.
- 4 points for the quality of your reflection on both artifacts.
- Repeats only basic knowledge or facts contained in the artifacts.
- Builds on knowledge or facts with some reflection on meaning to larger historical context.
- Connects the knowledge and historical context to perspectives on globalization or other large concepts.
- Uses all of that to express growth in understanding and greater expertise over the topic, which can be demonstrated by venturing answers to substantial questions or expressing your beliefs or doubts about perspectives on globalization.
Log In to your Class Blog from St. Edward’s Sites (Remainder of Class). Start customizing your blog. Change the layout and appearance, change the title (your name and topic, for example), practice adding a post, etc.
Miles Wright, Collin Sherrod , Ralph Khayat, Irede Apaokagi, Joe Pouttu, Jack Blanton, Peter Grossman
1. Personal background: Family, education and employment.
• Brother and sister who both graduated from University of Tunis
o Family’s social standing was modest but had big dreams
o Brother- graduated from college of Economics at University
o Sister- finished Year 9
o Dad – engineer graduate
Imprisoned for political views twice
• Malek – went to Tunis but got expelled because
April 9 enrolled at Faculty of Human and social sciences
Participated in student movement on campus
Employment- political activist, blogger, trade unionist and leader of the General Union of the Tunisian Students
2. Psychological Profile of Malek
• Grew up with unstable home life; father was in prison
• Split personality
• Revenge
• Angry towards the regime
• Determined to please his father
• Natural leadership qualities
• Brave
• Tribal/territorial
During his run into Tala, Malek felt no fear, nor terror, although it had plagued him the whole trip up until that point.
He felt on fire, ready to defend the city. He said he felt as though he was a patriotic resistance fighter, baring their breasts to the forces of some merciless foreign foe.
By the evening of January 8th Malek was famished and exhausted from the battle that took place. He showed character and strength in the face of danger and bullets
Malek believed that he could make a difference in Tunis and that he could be apart of something bigger than himself. He had a strong character and a passion for his countries well being.
Although picked up by Tunisian authorities they did not crack about anything that they had done and kept a mentally strong stance on who he was. Even when confronted by Bab al-Bahr he stood cold faced not giving an inch.
3. Political profile.
• “Masked Bandit”
• Activist opposed to regime
4. Known associates
• He had a girlfriend Ezra
• Friend named Zaid
• Habits
o He liked to read and write
o He liked organized rallies
5. Subversive activities and/or known crimes against the state.
• He got expelled because he was convicted of “defaming the president of the country, incitement against the regime, releasing false information about security..” and other
• Participated in a bunch of sit-ins in various government buildings and institutions as forms of strikes
• Started an online news bulletin called the Resistance Diaries
• Admits to being involved in clashes with police
CC Fuentez
Phillip Valdez
Samantha Foster
Michelle Kulach
Michael Portier
Ana Acosta
Raad Alqassem
Alysson Romo
Ysenia Valdez
Education
• 2005, enrolled at Preparatory Institute in Literary Studies and the Humanities, part of the Tunis University
o Learned to criticize, interrogate, deconstruct, philosophize, and to ponder questions of existence in the lecture halls and classrooms
o Founded a negotiating committee for the General Union of Tunisian Students
• Engaged in mighty confrontations against the regime and its educational policies
• Expelled from Preparatory Institute in Literary Studies and the Humanities in May 2007
o Expelled him and two other students for ‘defaming the president of the country, incitement against the regime, disseminating false information damaging to national security, disturbing leaflets, inflaming citizens against the ruling party, and seeking assistance from foreign elements
• Faced possibility of being taken to court in view of ‘the seriousness of the charges against me’
o Protested expulsion with sit-ins by the Ministry of Higher Education, the Presidency of Tunis University, the Preparatory Institute, and the colleges of the humanities
• Enrolled at April 9 Faculty of Human and Social Sciences in October 2008
o Known as ‘The Vietnam of Tunis University’
o Red Square
o Became an ambassador for April 9 at the other colleges
• Starting fronts
• Drawing up movements
• Overseeing demonstrations
• Creating unionists
• Founding branches for the General Student Union
Family:
Father – imprisonment
-Between 1983 and 1985 under President Habib Bourguiba
-Between 1991 and 1996 under President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali
-Prison taught him and his family the map of Tunis and its byways
-We would punish him and his family by constantly moving him to different jails.
Mother
-Was the one who raised the family with the help of his grandmother and uncle
Brother – Dhaffer
-Known as the victorious
-Born in 1982
Malek (main target)
-born in 1987
Sister – Sana
-born in 1987
-named in honor of Sana’a Mehaidli
Employment
• Unemployed
Psychological Profile:
He grew up in a family were politics was highly discussed. He describes his family’s opposition in politics and his father’s imprisonment, which is probably why we see such a strong attachment and involvement to the revolution. He does not stop to sugar coat any event, including the gruesome torture he endured. He expresses strong emotions of both hate and love, which lets us know about the emotional attachment to the revolution. His pain and his hope can clearly be seen, but also states that it is still an ongoing battle without a clear win, thus it is an internal struggle for him as well as the motivator. His strong sense of emotion for the revolution is most likely coming from the early childhood attachments to the ideas his father and mother had on politics, as well as the personal experience of oppression growing up until he was old enough to actually take a stance and create a movement through the student organization UGET.
Political profile:
Memberships and Ideologies
Modest social standing, enrollment at two universities: Prepatory Institute in Literary Studies and the Humanities, April 9th
Inspired by role models of authority challenging nature, such as Che Guevara
Fiercely Partisan, Marxist and left, dogmatic aethist, believer in plurality
Member and organizer of General Union of Tunisan Students (UGET)
Considers students struggling against “despotism” (the current regime)
Habits, Activities, and Known Associates
-Family, all had revolutionary views
-Father was imprisoned on two separate occasions for political views
-Expelled from preparatory institute and literary studies and the humanities- a part of Tunis University
-Damir and Munji, two colleagues, were also expelled
-All three enrolled at April 9 Faculty of Human and Social Sciences
-An Embassador, reader, debater
-Founded branches for the general student union
-Mostly apart of student movements, had a social media aspect
-Born in Tala
-Meet up at local coffee shops with friends
-Member of the General Union of Tunisian Students
-Considered an enemy to the state because of his activism
Subversive activities and/or known crimes against the state
Malek Sghiri has committed many crimes in Tunisia. He has opened up the Tunisian Street Protest News Agency, which would inform people about protests and cause more chaos in the nation. He has helped in the destabilization of the nation. He participated in union movements in 2007 before May. Throughout 2007 Malek participated in sit ins and caused disturbances among the nation through his movements. He has had continuous involvement in protests around the country, such as Thala. Malek has been seen to begin marches among Avenue Habib Bourguiba. He has created and began writing the “Resistance Diaries” and has threatened to kill Ben Ali. Overall, he participated in civil disorder, attacking security forces, defaming the president and similar charges.
TO: Tunisian Ministry of the Interior
FROM: Investigation Group 4
SUBJECT: dossier of Malek Sghiri
[Personal Background]
Family:
– Family history of political opposition
– Father imprisoned on two separate occasions for political views
– Grandfathers, Tayyib and Lazhard, were revolutionaries of the National Movement
– Great Grandfathers were leading figures of the 1906 peasant uprising
– descended from Ali Ben Ghadaham, leader of 1864 revolt against Med Sadokbey
– raised by mother and grandmother
– one brother, Dhaffer was born in 1982
– one sister, Sana’a Mehaidi
Education:
– 2005: attended Tunis University, enrolled in Preparatory Institute in Literary Studies and Humanities
– General Union of Tunisian Students; expelled in 2007 for protesting
– 2008: enrolled at the the April 9 Faculty of Human and Social Sciences
[Psychological Profile]
– radicalism, while his parents seem more of a political realism
– He feels like a victim because of his circumstance
– He was raised around those incriminated on bad charges.
– He is opposed to the government, only sees it as controlling
– doesn’t have a plan for what happens next.
– naive
– Primarily a doer, not a follower
– Sees himself as a martyr. Wants to become a “great one”
– Believes in what he’s doing and that’s dangerous.
– Educated so he is dangerously effective
– opens with statement that seems playful about madness, but this is his driving force
[Political Profile]
– radical
– pluralist, yet very passionate about questioning political structure
[Habits, Activities, Associations]
– As a child he visited his father who was imprisoned for his political views.
– attended Tunis University
– associated with other political and social activist on campus
– hung around the public plaza ‘Red Square’
– active reader
– constantly around student demonstrations
– ambassador for other colleges
– founded branches for general student union
– freedom Square: Mohamed Ali Square
– big part of student rallies
– friends with many martyrs
[Subversive Activities or Known Crimes Against the State]
– family of martyrs
– protesting and rallying at the university
– illegal entry into Tala
– Facebook page inciting others at the university