A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Don't Answer It: It Might Be the Citizenry

I hadn't mentioned, until reminded by The Moor Next Door's post, that during Tunisian President Ben Ali's address to the nation the day before yesterday, his — or someone's — cell phone (or perhaps landline) starts ringing about 3:38 into the televised speech. Many jokes are already being made about this, and you can watch it here (speech is in Arabic, ringtone is generic), though I can't embed it. I hope this wasn't the reason the Communications Minister was fired yesterday.

Set your phone to vibrate before addressing the nation on TV. Set your phone to vibrate . . .

No comments: