In the cradle of Tunisia's revolution, anger gave way to apathy. Then Gaza happened

Fifteen years ago, this was a city that changed the Arab world.

It was here that street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire after local officials harassed him, humiliated him, and confiscated his fruit cart - igniting an uprising that toppled Tunisia's longtime ruler, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and inspired revolts across the Middle East and North Africa.

Today, the market hums with familiar rhythms. Traders haggle over prices. Customers inspect fruit they increasingly struggle to afford. Life appears ordinary.

Yet beneath the routine, residents say something has shifted. Not because Tunisia's economic crisis has eased. Nor because confidence in politics has returned.

Instead, many point to an event more than 2,000km away: Israel's war on Gaza.

For many in Sidi Bouzid, solidarity with Palestinians has become inseparable from their own frustrations over deepening poverty and a political system they say has left them feeling powerless.

The war has also done something few analysts expected.

After years in which public political discussions all but disappeared due to apathy and President Kais Saied's increasingly authoritarian rule, many residents say Israel's genocidal campaign has given them a reason to speak openly again.

"Our leaders betrayed us," Wajdi, a fruit seller, told Middle East Eye.

"What have the Muslim leaders done for Palestine? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

"We're told every day that Tunisia stands with Palestine, but what has our government actually done?"

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"All the president does is talk. He had opportunities to take practical steps, to push internationally, to pressure other governments, but instead we've seen nothing. We're tired of his empty words."

For Wajdi, and several other Tunisians MEE spoke with, Gaza has become a powerful political flashpoint, deeply intersecting with domestic issues.

It's become a measure of the gap between official rhetoric and political action, reopening conversations that had largely fallen silent since July 2021 when Saied suspended parliament, sacked the prime minister and granted himself prosecutorial powers, invoking a national emergency in a move rights groups and political opponents called a coup.

At first, many in Sidi Bouzid welcomed Saied's power grab, hoping a strong presidency would break years of political paralysis. 

But as the economic hardship deepened, many Tunisians lost faith that politics could improve their lives. 

Election turnout plummeted, public debate faded and conversations increasingly centred on making ends meet.

Fifteen years after sparking the revolution, Sidi Bouzid remains among one of Tunisia's poorest governorates. 

Investment has failed to materialise, unemployment remains stubbornly high and many young people see emigration, rather than reform, as their only path forward.

With inflation turning everyday shopping into careful arithmetic, traders say customers who once bought fruit and vegetables in bulk now only purchase enough for a few days.

"Everyone has become poorer," Wajdi said, watching shoppers move between the stalls.

Gaza shifts attention to home

When Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza, demonstrations spread rapidly across Tunisia. 

Tens of thousands took to the streets in Tunis and other cities, while Sidi Bouzid once again saw residents gathering in public around a political cause.

Palestinian flags appeared en masse and marches drew in crowds who had not joined demonstrations for years.

Residents said the demonstrations became one of the few spaces where people once again felt able to express political opinions publicly after years of silence.

But as the death toll in Gaza mounted, many began asking why Tunisia's support appeared to stop at speeches.

'The regime displays hyper-sensitivity towards any street mobilisation, even when protesters raise officially endorsed slogans like supporting Palestine'

- Khalil Lahbibi, Tunisian activist

While Saied repeatedly condemned Israel, residents said they saw little effort to translate that rhetoric into meaningful diplomatic action or regional leadership.

"I don't think Tunisia has done anything meaningful," Oumaima, a 26-year-old housewife, told MEE.

"We haven't seen serious diplomatic efforts or attempts to build an international coalition. Why wasn't Tunisia leading efforts at the international courts [such as the ICC] or working to bring African countries together around a common position?"

Instead, she pointed to South Africa, whose case accusing Israel of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) won widespread support across much of the global south.

"Other countries stepped forward while Tunisia, despite all its statements about supporting Palestine, stayed on the sidelines," she said. "I expected much more."

Several residents echoed those frustrations, arguing that the government's response had been defined more by rhetoric than action. 

They questioned why Tunisia had not attempted to rally African governments around a common position or pursue legal avenues against Israel, while other states pushed the issue onto the international stage.

At home, they said, the contradiction became even harder to ignore. 

'Government's actions tell a different story'

While officials continued to present Tunisia as an unwavering supporter of Palestine, authorities launched a crackdown on activists involved in pro-Palestinian mobilisation, including participants in the Global Sumud Flotilla campaign.

The arrests fuelled accusations that the government was seeking to monopolise solidarity with Gaza, allowing support for Palestinians only when it took place within state-approved boundaries while treating independent activism as a political threat.

Khalil Lahbibi, a Tunisian activist involved in the Global Sumud Flotilla campaign, said Saied was seeking to "strike down the very idea of independent collective action".

"The regime displays hyper-sensitivity towards any street mobilisation, even when protesters raise officially endorsed slogans like supporting Palestine," he told MEE.

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"It refuses to allow the public to move independently or outside official, directed mobilisation frameworks. Because young activists and civil society organisations possess the capacity to mobilise and influence opinion, the regime treats them as direct political threats and potential rivals."

Mohammed, a 22-year-old unemployed high school graduate, asked why Tunisia had largely confined itself to condemning Israel without attempting to lead any meaningful campaigns.

"The government says it supports Palestine, but its actions tell a different story," he said.

"It has arrested activists - people who were trying to show solidarity with Palestinians. How can you claim to defend Palestine while criminalising those standing up for it? That's a betrayal of the cause."

Mohammed said Saied's speeches condemning Israel now carried little weight without concrete political action.

"If he was truly serious, he would have worked with Algeria, Libya and other African countries to find ways of stopping weapons from reaching Israel, whether by sea or by air," he said. 

"Instead, we've only heard words while Gaza continues to suffer."

Whether the war in Gaza marks the beginning of a broader political awakening in Tunisia remains uncertain.

Years of economic hardship, repression and political disappointment have left many residents wary of predicting another uprising. 

Few in Sidi Bouzid speak openly of repeating the events that began here in 2010. But they say the silence that settled over the city has been broken.

"The people will no longer be silent," Mohammed said. 

"This government hasn’t done anything for Palestine or Muslim causes. They now either need to step aside or step up, because the people have had enough,” he said.

"We will not back down."