Tunisia Harlem Sheikh

Independent

Following the assassination of a major political leader and resignation of their Prime Minister, Tunisia is threatened by perhaps its most subversive political conspiracy yet, the Harlem Shake. The North African crack down on this social media phenomenon began recently in Egypt. Four students were arrested on Saturday for stripping off to their underwear in a middle class area of Cairo while making the video. Egyptian sightseers at the pyramids were also shocked to witness dancers similarly relieving themselves of outer garments and riding camels to the Shake’s electro soundtrack around the ancient monument.

Now, Tunisia’s Education Minister, Abdellatif Abid, has told Mosaique Radio he has demanded an investigation into a performance of the dance in a school in the capital, Tunis.

Abid has threatened the students of “Père Blanc” lycée with expulsion and hinted at the sacking of educational staff. He also stressed that the video, in which students jump around in their underwear, is not in line with the educational objectives.

Supporters have subtly expressed their opposition by posting an internet meme with a troll face asking “YOU MAD?” on the Ministry of Education website and dedicating it to the students of Père Blanc. A Facebook group calling for a “Harlem Shake” protest performance on 1 March in front of the Ministry of Education has also gained 4 600 attendees on Facebook.

Père Blanc students, some of whom refused to attend lessons in protest on Monday, have also inspired thousands of other copycat videos, designed to needle the Ministry of Education.

Described by local media as “a simple danced based on movement of the shoulders,” “a zany and disjointed dance,” or simply translated literally as “the Harlem vibration,” the Harlem Shake has left some in Tunisia nonplussed. With videos depicting young people pretending to be zoo animals, riding motorbikes through large crowds and thrusting wildly at fire hydrants, it’s not hard to see why. While conservative voices have attacked the videos for being immoral, associated with drugs and alcohol and sexually suggestive, others complain their freedom of expression is being restricted. Al Shorouk reported defenders of Père Blanc students point out there is no punishment for proselytizing Islamist students who enter school with pamphlets advocating war. They complain the education minister is threatening secular values.

However, this is not simply a case of Shake v. Sheikh. In fact, the Education Minister is from the left wing liberal party, Ettakatol. The son of a member of the Islamist party in power, Ennahda, actually took part in the video, according to Tunisia Live. “As a mother and a politician, I believe dance is a form of expression and creativity” Souad Abderrahim, Ennahda National Constituent Assembly member and mother of a young Père Blanc coryphee, told local radio.

Other government figures have also searched for common ground. An education ministry spokesman told France 24 that dialogue was needed. Perhaps the Père Blanc students, who the video depicts hitting each other with sticks and punching oversized teddy bears, had become “overwhelmed” he suggested, by a situation which had “got out of hand.

Spongebob mania sweeps Egypt

France 24

Originally dreamed up by a marine biologist, inspired by the films of Jacques Cousteau, Spongebob Square Pants recounts the adventures of a kind-hearted sea-dwelling sponge. The always-optimistic US cartoon character has become so popular in conflict-stricken Egypt that a blog now documents Spongebob mania throughout the country. “Spongebob on the Nile,” created by American students Andrew Leber and Elisabeth Jaquette, records the real-life travails of his Egyptian reincarnations. The pair collect photographs of everything Spongebob.

The anti-Islam film and violence in Egypt - reaction from Cairo

Protests in Cairo spread to Tahrir Square today as Salafi protestors were joined by violent football fans, Ultras Ahlawy. But can these two days of violence really all be because of a film?