Amid a sea of protesters in front of the Tunisian Ministry of Interior, one young man is carried above the crowd and he is holding an empty bird cage.
It is a memorable image, and one which was carried by many of the international news agencies on January 14, 2011. With a childlike face and a slim body, Wadih Jelassi is wearing a Palestinian Keffiyeh and a t-shirt emblazoned, “I do not want to grow old, I want to stay young”.
Amid a sea of protesters in front of the Tunisian Ministry of Interior, one young man is carried above the crowd and he is holding an empty bird cage.
It is a memorable image, and one which was carried by many of the international news agencies on January 14, 2011. With a childlike face and a slim body, Wadih Jelassi is wearing a Palestinian Keffiyeh and a t-shirt emblazoned, “I do not want to grow old, I want to stay young”.
Wadih had just released the white dove to represent the new found freedom of the Tunisian people after 23 oppressive years under Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.
The 24-year-old works as a waiter at the lawyers’ club. Like so many other young Tunisians who were inspired by the so-called Arab Spring, he took to the streets demanding the overthrow of the corrupt regime.
Before the revolution, I didn’t care about politics. I wasn’t a member of any party. My only concern was to earn enough to survive because due to social reasons I was forced to leave school after only one year at secondary school. I dreamt of success, either working in the youth sector or becoming an actor in the theatre. In some desperate moments, I considered illegal immigration. Taking a chance crossing the Mediterranean seemed better than staying in Tunisia.
A historic afternoon
On January 14, my friend and I went to Munsif Bay market. We were looking for animals so we could sell them as pets. Suddenly I saw a white dove, and for some reason I can’t really explain, I felt I had to have it. So I bought it for 1 dinar and put it in the cage that I had brought with me. But then I started to feel guilty because I was forcibly imprisoning the bird; I wanted to free it at the earliest moment.
On our way home, we noticed a large number of protesters gathering. There was a funeral for someone who had been killed in a rally the day before. Security was on high alert in the Boulevard of Mohammed V and police were doing their best to prevent the demonstrators from reaching the Habib Bourguiba Avenue at the headquarters of the Interior Ministry. But even though the police were using tear gas and hitting people with their batons, nothing was going to stop the young activists from reaching the ministry. They were dreaming of freedom and security barriers were not going to stop them. At that moment, I felt as if the current of the revolution was dragging me and that all my dreams of employment, freedom and national dignity was starting to become a reality. I felt that the end of the regime was imminent, there with all the protesters, organizations and other professional bodies united in front of the ministry, shouting the single word, “Degage”.
The cage door opens
At four o’clock news began to trickle through that Ben Ali had fled the country. At that moment, one of the protesters picked me up and put me on his shoulders. I raised the cage high and opened the door; the dove flew out. The bird was like the people of Tunisia with their voices muted by the autocratic regime. The government had confiscated their dreams and for long years the interior regions: Kasserine, Sidi Bouzid, Gafsa had been impoverished. The patience of the residents had been exhausted, so they opened their chests to the bullets, just for a decent life.
The picture that inspired a revolution
After January 14 my appetite for politics increased and I became more interested in public affairs. Because of my picture, several parties tried to recruit me. They wanted to use that image in the elections for the National Constituent Assembly in October 2011. Instead I chose to support the independent candidate, Abdel Nasser Uwaini, the lawyer, who broke the curfew on the 14th and was prominent at the protests on Bourguiba Avenue on the day that Ben Ali fled. I was one of the most high profile supporters on that list.
However, my main preoccupation at this time was how to make a living. The revolution had been going on for a year and I felt we had made little progress. I still didn’t have a job and this was really getting to me. I was losing so much weight due to the stress that I had to seek medical help. It was then that I decided to isolate myself from the outside world and disappear.
The cage bearer has left
Suddenly all news stopped about the cage bearer. Then in spring 2013, rumors started to appear on social network sites that Wadih had been killed in a car crash; there were even pictures of the accident. The youth movement was plunged into depression; Wadih had represented the hopes and aspirations of a generation: the dreams of freedom, employment and social justice. The mood reached a crisis point following the assassination of the prominent secular politician Chokri Belaid in February 2013.
I began to feel better when I received many calls from friends wanting to know whether I was still alive or not. So I decided to join the Vanguard Party’s youth wing. Then in August 2013 I took part in the sit-in at the Bardo.
People suddenly realized that I was alive after all. This time I carried a new symbol, a green cage, to represent the green Tunisia which terrorists want to turn black. I also added the word ‘freedom’ since the Tunisian people have yet to achieve their freedom. The revolution has succeeded so far, and the dreams of all young people have dissolved into the midst of the greed and ambition of the political classes.
Guards of the revolution
I left the door of the cage open and it will never be closed because the Tunisian people, who initiated the Arab Spring, will not kneel to terrorism and will not return to the house of obedience no matter who is the ruler. Yes, the Tunisian youth, including me, are frustrated and our dreams haven’t come true. I still sometimes think of immigrating illegally but this is desperation talking. I will continue to carry the cage of freedom and I will continue to be present in the protests and sit-ins until the dreams of the Tunisian people come true.
This is because we are the guards of the revolution and nobody can be the guardian of the people because now they are the true masters of their own decisions. The Tunisian people were able to snuff out the Ben Ali legend, and that of his party, overnight. It will not be difficult to go back to the streets again to bring down the insatiable politicians, who only want power at the expense of the people and their fundamental rights.
We are a waiting to see the results of the national dialogue. Either we reach a breakthrough or everything explodes again.
