Where to Invade Next Page #9

We're savin' our own lives

It's true,

we'll make a better day

Just you and me

It's true,

we'll make a better day

Just you and me.

There was much

I took from Norway

and much more to think about.

A country that forgave.

A country that,

when it locked up its citizens,

it treated them as human beings.

So what was I to do now?

Where to invade next?

Sweden?

Denmark?

I could go somewhere else.

Like Iran

or Brazil

or even Rwanda.

But I chose Tunisia.

A country

in Muslim North Africa

that has something

that we don't--

free government-funded

women's health clinics

and government-funded abortion.

We have 24

reproductive health centers in Tunisia

and it is our main mission--

contraception.

We have I.U.D.s, pills, implant,

and of course condoms.

- So, how about abortion?

- Yes, of course.

In Tunisia, abortion is legal

since 1973.

And the Tunisian people

are okay with that?

Yes, because

these kind of services

help women

to be the equal of men,

and when a woman

is well-educated,

when she work,

she have a better quality of life,

so she will have

a better life expectancy.

And I think that family planning

has played a great role.

As in other countries,

once women had control

over their own bodies,

eventually

both women and men

want control

over their own lives.

And in Tunisia's case,

that meant the dictator had to go.

We are gonna turn now to an almost

inconceivable act of protest.

More than a dozen men

across the Middle East

have now set themselves on fire

to oppose corruption and repression

in their own countries.

This massive uprising

began with one man--

Mohamed Bouazizi.

A 26-year-old college grad,

he was unable to find work

and forced to sell fruit

in the street.

Last month, harassed and insulted

by corrupt officials,

he snapped

and set himself on fire.

Mr. Bouazizi, he was a hero.

Mr. Bouazizi was a martyr.

He was a hero.

He's a symbol.

He's a-- I thank him

because he freed me

of my fear.

Fear of what?

Fear of oppression,

fear of the government.

Armed only with the fruit

from Bouazizi's broken cart,

the people of his town

stormed the governor's mansion

and the revolution had begun.

When the revolution happened,

I was pregnant,

and I was so proud

that my babies are born free.

They are born free citizens.

They are born

proud to be Tunisian.

I wasn't proud.

I was so ashamed.

I studied in Paris

and I was like,

"I'm here, I can talk to you

because it's in France. I'm safe."

But I won't have the courage

to outspeak in my country

because I choose life

and I didn't have the courage

to be persecuted.

And I'm quite ashamed

about that.

So, what did you do

when the revolution started?

The day of the revolution,

the 14 of January,

as I told you, I wasn't in the street

because I was pregnant.

And I was having journalists

all over Tunisia.

I was trying, really,

to not censor

as much as I could

because censorship

was everywhere.

And at some point,

one of my journalists called me crying

and said to me,

"My brother was shot

three minutes ago.

So what are you

going to do now?"

And it was like

a point of no return for me.

I was ready to lose my job,

everything, but this guy--

I still remember when

I put the phone down and I said,

"Okay, stop.

There's no turning back.

His brother is dead

in front of him."

So, I went into the studio and said,

"Guys are shot.

We have to outspoke this."

There were many women like Amel

who played a key role

in the revolution.

They toppled the dictator

and formed a democratic government.

But when the newly formed

Islamist Party

decided they

didn't want women's rights

as part of the new constitution,

the women of Tunisia

fought back.

We have many new

political movements

that weren't here before,

and those movements

are threatening women's rights.

And so now we're here

to defend them

and to show that

we'll not lower our guards.

E.R.A.! E.R.A.!

Like with the women in Tunisia,

women in America had tried to get

their Equal Rights Amendment

to the Constitution passed

back in the 1970s,

but it fell three states short

of ratification.

The Tunisian women

were determined

not to have the same fate

as those in America.

They took to the streets

and rallied the people.

And before long, the majority

of the country was behind them.

The final vote

on the constitution was passed,

with 200 voting yes,

four abstentions, and 12 no votes.

Although

the Conservative Islamist Party

controlled the most seats

in Parliament,

they agreed to abide

by the will of the people,

who wanted an equal rights provision

for women in the constitution.

They also offered

to voluntarily step down,

even though, legally,

they didn't have to.

That's really amazing

that you decided to step down

and follow the will of the people

as opposed to following,

you know,

maybe what some religious leader

might have told you to do.

That's not

the impression that we're given

in the United States

of anybody who's a Muslim.

Do you require women

to cover their heads here?

How do you feel about

discrimination against homosexuals?

Is there something you think

America can learn from Tunisia?

Americans are lucky.

They are-- they belong

to the most powerful country

in the world.

But being the strongest one

maybe stopped them

from being just curious.

I know a lot about you guys.

I know your music

from the '70s until today.

I dance on your music.

I speak, as much as I can,

your language.

I know Henry Miller, Kerouac,

Scott Fitzgerald.

I wear your clothes.

I eat your food.

But I also have my culture.

What do you know

about my culture?

Or Estonian culture?

Or Zimbabwean culture?

I read an interesting article

about the average time

an American spends

watching the Kardashian show.

Why do you spend

your time for this?

You invented the most powerful

weapon in the world--

it's Internet, guys.

Use it the right way.

Check, read, watch,

and then come to visit us.

We're worth it.

It's a little, small country.

Its name is Tunisia.

It's in North Africa.

And I really think we deserve,

as the other countries,

your attention,

because if you keep

this way of thinking,

that you are the best

and you know everything,

it won't work.

I was seven

when the women of Iceland

went on strike

on October 24th, 1975.

They marched into the center

of Reykjavik and filled the streets.

90% of women

did no work that day.

No schools opened.

No banks opened.

No kids ate.

No busses rode into town.

It was impossible

to get anything done on that day

because when women don't work,

nothing works.

They changed the impression

of the value of women

for women and men

alike forever,

because nothing worked

in Iceland that day.

So they changed the very reality

that I grew up with,

and they changed

my view on it forever.

And five years after this day,

we were the first country

to democratically elect

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes