{"id":849,"date":"2025-12-04T10:20:48","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T09:20:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/noria-research.com\/mena\/?p=849"},"modified":"2026-01-06T12:09:04","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T11:09:04","slug":"gabes-a-local-mobilization-with-national-consequence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/noria-research.com\/mena\/gabes-a-local-mobilization-with-national-consequence\/","title":{"rendered":"Gab\u00e8s: A Local Mobilization with National Consequence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Download the Brief<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

In the four and a half years since the coup of July 2021, a common refrain emerged amongst the supporters of Ka\u00efs Sa\u00efed. To justify the President\u2019s imposition of restrictions on basic freedoms, Sa\u00efed\u2019s backers argued that though his actions might violate bourgeois interpretations of liberty, they were conducive to the advance of social liberties. Recent events in Gab\u00e8s put this framing to the test. In the face of a mass mobilization charged by social and ecological grievance, the President\u2019s has needed to balance his alignment with \u201cthe people\u201d against the wishes of capital and the Tunisian security state. A clarifying moment, these events have offered profound insights into the nature of Sa\u00efed\u2019s regime at the end of 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Background<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

At independence, the young Tunisian state set out to rebuild the economy upon a planned industrial policy. In the 1960s, several production hubs (mainly state-owned) were established throughout the country. The Bizerte region in the north became the primary host of steel production and oil refining. Mindful of the sugar beets harvested there, the city of B\u00e9ja in the northwest became home to a sugar factory processing. In Kasserine of Tunisia\u2019s center-west, a paper factory was set up to transform the esparto grass native to the lands. In the south, meanwhile, path dependencies from the colonial period ensured that the region remained the linchpin of the country\u2019s extractive industries. Minerals extracted from across Tunisia\u2019s geography\u2014principally, phosphates, gas, and oil\u2014wound up processed in factories along the Gulf of Gab\u00e8s. These operations, which were predominantly overseen by the Tunisian Chemical Group (GCT), tightly linked Tunisia\u2019s second largest city, Sfax, to its fourth, Gab\u00e8s. Socially, developmentally, and ecologically, the two cities were indelibly and unevenly bound. While the capital gains accrued from mineral extraction disproportionately accumulated in Sfax, damages to local ecosystems and to the health of the population were disproportionately suffered in Gab\u00e8s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These damages are today visible in a handful of key statistics. Uranium sediments in the Gulf of Gab\u00e8s have a concentration of 38 mg\/kg, more than 14 times authorized levels1<\/sup><\/a><\/sup>. Air quality, as measured by the number of airborne particles with a diameter of 10 micrometres (PM10) or less, is woeful as well. Daily peaks of PM10 are around 200 to 260 \u00b5g\/m\u00b3 in Gab\u00e8s2<\/sup><\/a><\/sup>, despite Tunisia\u2019s regulatory limit being set at 45 \u00b5g\/m\u00b3. More than 14,000 tons per day of phosphogypsum is directly deposited into the sea around Gab\u00e8s3<\/sup><\/a><\/sup>, with disastrous effect on water quality and marine life. Finally, the fluoride content in sediments in the area is nearly 33 times higher than the regulatory limit4<\/sup><\/a><\/sup> defined by Tunisian authorities (8,117 mg\/kg compared to a maximum permitted level of 250 mg\/kg).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The frustrations and resentments created by industry\u2019s environmental impacts in Gab\u00e8s famously came to a head in 2008 when the Gafsa mining basin erupted in a revolt. The uprising, a key precursor to those of 2010-2011, raised health and environmental demands just as it denounced the nepotism and corruption of the Ben Ali regime. And when that regime fell some two-odd years later, there was a brief moment when such demands were actually heard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Social Movement Grounded in History<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, the fall of Ben Ali created an opportunity, rare in recent history, for all kinds of demands to be made. As early as 2011, leaders of Gab\u00e8s\u2019 civil society began pressing for the consequences of local industry to be meaningfully addressed. The movement gained national attention on June 5, 2012, when a large march was organized under the slogan \u201cStop pollution \u2013 I want to live\u201d to mark World Environment Day (June 5). From 2013 onwards, this movement became more structured, connecting local associations with national organizations such as the Tunisian Human Rights League (LTDH), the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES), and the regional branch of the Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The protesters linked environmental issues to economic and political ones. Their aim was to denounce pollution, poor management, and regional inequalities. In 2017, the movement gained further momentum and massive marches were organized under the slogan \u201cGab\u00e8s rises up against pollution.\u201d Per Khaled Tabbabi, a sociology researcher and specialist in social and migratory movements, \u201cAfter Ben Ali’s fall, social and environmental movements were able to flourish thanks to greater freedoms. New actors joined former activists who had previously been underground or working in the few spaces that allowed political and social action, such as certain opposition parties or civil society organizations. The new context made it possible to highlight issues related to mining but also to the textile sector. Small farmers also attempted to have their environmental and social concerns heard and to raise issues relating to food sovereignty and an agricultural model premised around servicing big agribusinesses and multinationals.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to the 2017 marches, the government, led by Youssef Chahed, committed to gradually dismantling the most polluting facilities in the area and to move many processing operations away from major urban centers5<\/sup><\/a><\/sup>. However, such promises were not followed through on. Thus, in 2018, in line with the trend toward the empowerment of social movements\u2014such as the El Kamour movement6<\/sup><\/a><\/sup>\u2014a collective called \u201cStop Pollution7<\/sup><\/a><\/sup>\u201d was created and became the main voice of environmental protest in the region. Structured in a relatively horizontal manner, the movement was young in membership and highly skilled when it came to communications on social media. It also operated independently of Tunisia\u2019s main institutional intermediaries\u2014namely, political parties and the UGTT\u2014all of whom had shed credibility i<\/strong>n the previous years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Untethered to the political fabric, the \u201cStop Pollution\u201d movement was ripe for alignment with a Presidential candidate rejecting affiliation with any of the institutions that had risen to prominence during the democratic transition. As it played out, Sa\u00efed would support these youth of Gab\u00e8s and train many of their leaders8<\/sup><\/a><\/sup>. Once in power, Sa\u00efed also made numerous statements to signal his commitment to their cause, including referring to the situation in Gab\u00e8s as \u201cecological assassination.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, the period after the coup d’\u00e9tat of July 25, 2021 was auspicious for social movements like \u201cStop Pollution\u201d. Based outside the channels previously dominated by the political parties and trade unions Sa\u00efed developed such ire for, they became privileged interlocutors in the new political moment. \u201cIn several parts of the country, social and environmental movements gained momentum in connection with local issues that were more or less politicized. Some of their actions took on a national dimension,\u201d says Khaled Tabbabi. So long as contentiousness was steered clear of what Carthage deemed political, it was given a long leash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mood Sours<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

On March 5, 2025, the Tunisian government reclassified phosphogypsum as a \u201creusable\/co-product\u201d9<\/sup><\/a><\/sup> material and thereby removed it from the list of \u201chazardous waste\u201d products. At this point, popular anger, largely contained in Gab\u00e8s for a number of years, came to a simmer. Things then reached a full boil at the start of the 2025 school year. The precipitating cause was when thirty or so residents of the town of Ghannouch (a northern suburb of Gab\u00e8s)10<\/sup><\/a><\/sup> reported suffering breathing difficulties following toxic gas emissions from the industrial zone. Two weeks later, on September 27, 2025, thirty-five students from Chatt Essalem middle school, located in the part of town adjacent to the industrial zone, would also be treated at the Gab\u00e8s University Hospital for symptoms of suffocation, a further indicator of the increasing seriousness of the health situation. The lid blew off the pot on October 10, 2025 when new cases of asphyxiation among students at the same school sparked families into action11<\/sup><\/a><\/sup>. \u201cThe mothers of the students who suffered from suffocation were the first to protest in front of the polluting units, leading to a broader movement,\u201d reports Elyes Ben Romdhane, an activist involved in the protests in Gab\u00e8s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the days that followed October 10, tires were burned and the road leading to the industrial zone was blocked by residents of Essalem beach, who denounced the authorities’ inaction in the face of repeated toxic gas leaks. From October 15, 2025, the mobilization grew in scale, with several thousand people taking to the streets to demand the closure of the most polluting units of the Tunisian Chemical Group12<\/sup><\/a><\/sup>. At this juncture, the \u201cStop Pollution\u201d collective and other civil society groups promoted the slogan \u201cthe right to breathe13<\/sup><\/a><\/sup>.\u201d Over the next week, Gab\u00e8s would experience one of the most significant social movements in its recent history, with daily demonstrations and sporadic clashes with the police. On October 21, 2025, a general strike, backed by the UGTT and a host of environmental groups, paralyzed businesses, schools14<\/sup><\/a><\/sup>, and government offices. In rapid succession, then, a series of poisonings affecting mainly children turned into a nationwide social crisis, exposing both the \u201cecological assassination\u201d that had been denounced for years and the inability of the populist authorities to offer anything other than promises of plans and commissions. At the time of writing, the end of November 2025, protests continue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Move and Counter-move: The Protesters and the State<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The movement in Gab\u00e8s initially provoked an ambiguous response from the Tunisian authorities. Its demands garnered public support from the President. Security forces, however, first greeted the mobilizations with violent repression, dispersing some marches and making arrests. Some of Carthage\u2019s leading propagandists, moreover, attempted to muddy the waters around the protests in the early days: \u201cThey blamed Morocco (a competitor in phosphate production, ed.) and called the demonstrators traitors and conspirators,\u201d says Elyes Ben Romdhane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this stage, the President’s outlook on the protests looks to have carried the day. As Ben Romdhane recounts, \u201cWhen the president took up our slogans, the discourse of his supporters changed. They began to support our demands while warning against any \u2018political exploitation\u2019.\u201d Repression eased significantly after the visit of the Secretary of State to the Minister of the Interior, Sofiane Bessadok, on October 21, the day of the general strike. \u201cHe is from Gab\u00e8s, a detail that matters here,\u201d notes Elyes Ben Romdhane. \u201cHe made sure that the demonstration went off without a hitch. And in fact, we have seen a radical change in the doctrine of law enforcement. Today, the marches are fairly secure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the President bearing broad powers, one of the confounding aspects of the protests in Gab\u00e8s is that most protesters absolve him of blame for what has transpired. \u201cA very large majority of demonstrators believe that Sa\u00efed is sincere and honest and that he is fighting against his own administration, which is putting obstacles in his way,\u201d says Elyes Ben Romdhane, who recounts this anecdote: “At every demonstration, the slogan \u2018a minister (of industry, editor’s note) who can’t make decisions should go home\u2019 is chanted. However, when \u2018minister\u2019 is replaced with \u2018president,\u2019 most people refuse to blame the head of state.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We see the same logic among parliamentarians. The new Constitution gives very few powers of control to parliament, leaves the president of the Republic largely unaccountable to either chamber, and ensures that members of the government serve at the behest and pleasure of the President. Despite this being the case, MPs sometimes violently attack ministers while almost always sparing the occupant of Carthage of their vitriol. The example of Representative Faouzi Daas is instructive in this regard. During a debate held on October 20 in the Assembly of People’s Representatives15<\/sup><\/a><\/sup> to discuss the situation in Gab\u00e8s, Daas, who is from the region and a long-time companion of Sa\u00efed, violently criticized the government’s inaction and the repression executed by the authorities. When it came to the President, alas, Daas merely called for him to stop settling for slogans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/strong>s<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In the face of the Gab\u00e8s mobilization\u2019s long duration, Sa\u00efed recently tasked petrochemical engineer Ali Ben Hammoud with leading a mission to find a lasting solution to the situation. The appointment of this Shanghai University graduate was viewed as a positive within the protest movement. \u201cThe fact that he is from the city and respected made his appointment difficult to criticize,\u201d says Elyes Ben Romdhane. Ben Hammoud has already consulted with \u201cStop Pollution\u201d, and his ad hoc commission submitted its first report to Sa\u00efed on November 18. For the moment, the content of this document has not been made public. Regardless, the crisis in Gab\u00e8s has been embarrassing for the regime in that it highlights the gap between the slogans espoused by a president who has held full powers for more than four years and his inability to deliver on them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is grounds in thinking that the political fallout from events in Gab\u00e8s may be contained partially due to the wave of repression that civil society and independent media have been subjected to under Sa\u00efed. As discussed in a previous note16<\/sup><\/a><\/sup>, in his desire to reduce intermediary bodies, Sa\u00efed has relentlessly targeted political parties, national organizations, and mainstream media. The state\u2019s actions in May 2024, sweeping up journalists and activists from associations helping migrants, greatly reduced the striking power of the mainstream media and anti-racist activists. And after the outbreak of the Gab\u00e8s crisis, several associations saw their activities frozen. This was notably the case for the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women (ATFD), the largest autonomous feminist organization. Also targeted were the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (FTDES) and the independent media outlet Nawaat<\/em>, which has the legal status of an association. This administrative crackdown was preceded by a media campaign on social networks and in pro-regime newspapers such as Al Chourouk<\/em>. The NGOs in question were accused of being instruments of \u201cSoros,\u201d to use the terms employed in the attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cases of Nawaat<\/em> and FTDES speak to a touch of desperation creeping in within Carthage. The former, an opposition website created in 2004, devotes much of its coverage to social and ecological movements. As such, it often lays plain the disjuncture between the president’s words and actions. The latter focuses its activities on supporting movements in favor of economic and social rights and is in constant contact with activists in the field, including those in Gab\u00e8s. As such, the FTDES\u2019 activities are in competition with those of a President who seeks to be the sole spokesperson for the poor and marginalized. In the light of the Gab\u00e8s mobilization, the President seems to be uneasy with anyone or anything that might challenge his self-regard as \u201cthe people\u2019s\u201d champion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it is too early to predict how the Gab\u00e8s movement might evolve, it is already clear that it has become entrenched in an authoritarian context. The coming months will show whether the regime will be able to offer the region’s inhabitants a lasting solution, whether the temptation to resort to repression will prevail, or whether the protest movement will die out like other movements in Zarzis17<\/sup><\/a><\/sup> or Agareb18<\/sup><\/a><\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cover Photo Credit: NASA Johnson, “The sun’s glint beams off the Gulf of Gabes” (August 2, 2024)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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1<\/a> https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2071-1050\/17\/3\/1283<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2<\/a> https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S0048969724068839<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3<\/a> https:\/\/www.pjoes.com\/pdf-67529-24028?filename=Spatial+Distribution+and.pdf<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4<\/a> https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s11356-023-27518-9<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5<\/a> https:\/\/businessnews.com.tn\/2017\/06\/30\/article-1146357\/1146357\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6<\/a> https:\/\/www.middleeasteye.net\/fr\/decryptages\/tunisie-el-kamour-tataouine-ressources-petrole-manifestations-inegalites<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7<\/a> https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/StopPollution2<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8<\/a> https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reel\/25277059795221402<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9<\/a> https:\/\/nawaat.org\/2025\/08\/06\/ce-phosphogypse-qui-empoisonne-gabes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10<\/a> https:\/\/businessnews.com.tn\/2025\/09\/10\/gabes-trente-habitants-intoxiques-le-ftdes-denonce-un-ecocide-impuni\/1364927<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11<\/a> https:\/\/www.lapresse.tn\/2025\/10\/10\/gabes-plage-essalem-des-eleves-etouffent-pour-la-seconde-fois-suite-a-linhalation-de-gaz-toxiques<\/p>\n\n\n\n

12<\/a> https:\/\/www.mosaiquefm.net\/fr\/actualite-regional-tunisie\/1467537\/gabes-des-cas-d-asphyxie-parmi-les-eleves-du-college-chott-essalem<\/p>\n\n\n\n

13<\/a> https:\/\/www.pressegauche.org\/La-ville-de-Gabes-dans-le-Sud-tunisien-suffoque-et-se-souleve<\/p>\n\n\n\n

14<\/a> https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/sustainability\/climate-energy\/general-strike-protests-paralyse-tunisias-gabes-over-pollution-crisis-2025-10-21\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

15<\/a> https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reel\/1116087960292952<\/p>\n\n\n\n

16<\/a> https:\/\/noria-research.com\/mena\/breaking-what-remains-of-intermediation-saiedism-in-late-2025\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

17<\/a> https:\/\/www.lemonde.fr\/afrique\/article\/2022\/12\/29\/a-zarzis-dans-le-sud-est-de-la-tunisie-le-naufrage-de-jeunes-habitants-partis-pour-l-europe-nourrit-la-colere-de-la-population_6155950_3212.html<\/p>\n\n\n\n

18<\/a> https:\/\/www.lemonde.fr\/afrique\/article\/2021\/11\/23\/en-tunisie-la-bombe-a-retardement-de-la-gestion-des-dechets_6103313_3212.html<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the four and a half years since the coup of July 2021, a common refrain emerged amongst the supporters of Ka\u00efs Sa\u00efed. To justify the President\u2019s imposition of restrictions on basic freedoms, Sa\u00efed\u2019s backers argued that though his actions might violate bourgeois interpretations of liberty, they were conducive to the advance of social liberties. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":421,"featured_media":32557,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_molongui_author":["user-421"],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[22,78,233],"podcast":[],"project":[41],"region":[25],"class_list":["post-849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-middle-east","tag-middle-east-north-africa","tag-tunisie","project-tunisia-in-transition","region-middle-east"],"yoast_head":"\nGab\u00e8s: A Local Mobilization with National Consequence - Middle East & North Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/noria-research.com\/mena\/gabes-a-local-mobilization-with-national-consequence\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gab\u00e8s: A Local Mobilization with National Consequence - Middle East & North Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the four and a half years since the coup of July 2021, a common refrain emerged amongst the supporters of Ka\u00efs Sa\u00efed. 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