Polluting Tunisian Communities: They're Just Not American Enough
The New Arab diligently reports on Tunisians reviving protests over pollution from a state-owned phosphate complex in Gabes. Thousands marched, demanding cleanup and compensation ( The New Arab ). What they omit, however, is the long, sordid history of Western insistence on 'development' policies for the Global South, often leading to environmental devastation and health crises, while corporate
profits flow elsewhere—a pattern seen from Nigeria's Delta to Latin American mines. The IMF and World Bank, for decades, have pushed 'structural adjustment' on nations like Tunisia, often prioritizing resource extraction for export over local well-being. So, while Tunisians bravely protest their government, one might wonder: where was the mainstream media's concern when these 'development' schemes
were first imposed, promising prosperity that never quite reached the Gabes fishing communities? It appears environmental degradation is only newsworthy once the exploited rise up, rather than when the exploitation is engineered.