The mediterranean square after the revolutions: can it make us more free?

“THE MEDITERRANEAN SQUARE AFTER THE REVOLUTIONS: CAN IT MAKE US MORE FREE?”

Moderator: Fabio Laurenzi, President of COSPE

Guests:

Mahmoud Hassan (EG): He is a writer, TV producer and political activist from Alexandria. His novel “The Remaining Stories of What Happened” won The Egyptian Cultural Palaces award in 2012. Member of the “Muslim Brotherhood” until 2005, he afterwards turned to a secular- left- orientation.

Costis Triandaphyllou (GR): Audiovisual artist, poet and activist from Athens, he was one of the leaders of the Direct Democracy group at Constitution Square; he collaborates with the social critic magazine Protagma.

Mohcine Hammane (MAR): Representative of Chabaka, a civil society network from Tangier working on labour rights, migration and youth. He joined the 20th of February 2011 Movement, is a member of the Tangier Human Rights Council, and cooperates with Spanish associations on social development issues.

The moderator Fabio Laurenzi, President of COSPE, introduces the dialogue, proposing as principal theme that one of the “Square”. He asks to the speakers how the square can continue to be an instrument of participation and freedom for the future. He invites them to bring out what is the value of the square and which type of influence will have in the future, having as example SABIRMaydan, who wants to be a kind of square, a place for discussion and knowledge with the aim to unite the two shores of the Mediterranean.

Costis Triandaphyllou, artist, poet and director, who lives and works between Athens and Paris,  reacts to this solicitation showing a video on the manifestations of Syntagma square, where citizens on the streets have affirmed their deep worry and anger for the social and political situation which surround them. “If we unite ourselves all together, we can change things; we are here in this square because we know which are the solutions for our problems; the solutions are in ourselves”: state the slogans of Syntagma square. After the projection of the video, Costis describes the actual situation in Greece and in general in the region, through a poetic text, entitled “Mediterranean Bridge of Communication and Struggle”. He claims that to create a bridge on the Mediterranean we need to reestablish relations with our neighbours, to find again a spirit of community in our districts. According to the artist, we have to start from our fight experiences and take in account our historical memory:  there were in fact founding moments in our society, which started as a result of citizens’ initiatives. It is only through raising our awareness of sharing a common historical memory that we can also find a common language, and then strengthen our struggle. No matter what is the position of each, where we live or in which way we perceive the reality; the historical reality links all of us, and we can lean to it only by creating a new context of dialogue of ideas: “we can practice the self-determination and selfcreation of new realities only trough a collective wisdom”, Costis said. It is the “square” the place where we can build a public discourse, such as Syntagma square, thus giving life to free and selforganised assemblies. In this respect, Costis launches a challenge: “I propose the creation of a Mediterranean assembly, the creation of a social movement for people who want to live sovereign and in peace. Let’s create a permanent Mediterranean assembly that has a specific exchange network, because we urgently need to meet; an assembly that looks towards the life of men, women and children from the Mediterranean, and of ecosystems too. We have to see the Mediterranean basin as a territory of creation and freedom”.

Mahmoud Hassan, TV producer, writer and political activist, born in Alexandria (Egypt), speaks about the actual situation in his own country after the revolution started in 2011, and the consequences that this one had on the Egyptian society. Egyptian society, despite the political subversions, is divided between rich and poor, there is a high level of illiteracy and it is exposed to a heavy environmental pollution: there are high levels of cancer among the population, for instance, which have been caused by a reform in favour of a chemical agriculture, wanted by the former president Mubarak. Egyptian activists have left the squares and are working on the ground, in the territory, to make people understand that the revolution is over, and now it’s time to think how to recover from an extremely degraded economical, social and environmental situation, in a concrete manner.

Also Mohcine Hammane, representative of the Chabaka network of Tangiers, shares with the audience the actual situation of his own country. Morocco has two faces, he said, one who focuses on abroad and on the country’s image to be sold beyond the borders, the other one, the interior one, shows itself much less tolerant and benign towards its people. After the demonstrations in the squares in 2011 and the claims for freedom, justice and dignity, the Moroccan regime decided to present a new constitutional reform, but actually, it was only a way to pour oil on troubled waters, a fictitious manoeuvre. A clear example of the contradiction between the official speech of institutions and the actual facts, according to Mohcine, is the repression of the freedom of expression, despite the protection contemplated in the constitutional reform. A human rights activist of Chabaka has been recently imprisoned after having participated in a rally, without any evidence. Once she has denounced her detention as something completely illegal, she has been sentenced to a year in prison.

“This is a clear expression of the manipulation of the government, which has been pretending to listen the political requests of the 20th of February Movement, while it has not converted those requests in laws”, Mohcine denounces.

To conclude, “how can we create a Mediterranean Citizenship?” Costis repeats his idea to create a Mediterranean assembly which can represents a transnational bridge. Mahmoud invites the governments of the North Mediterranean to invest more and more on education in the region, because only in this way they can counter the illegal immigration and make the populations of both shores more aware of challenges and opportunities in the region. Finally, according to Mohcine, the key word is solidarity, the unique concept that can create successful networks for the future.