A well-known Tunisian journalist said he was the first to call the wave of protests that ultimately led to the downfall of disgraced leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali a "Jasmine Revolution."
"It's one of the symbols of Tunisia," said Zied El Hani, who works on the foreign desk of the pro-government newspaper Essahafa but was also a popular dissident blogger and media rights campaigner under the now deposed regime. "Its white color symbolizes the tolerance of Tunisians and its sweet odor smells like Tunisia. It reflects the richness of this country," he said.
Hani wrote a blog post entitled "The Jasmine Revolution" on Thursday - a day before Ben Ali's abrupt resignation after 23 years in power. It soon went viral among the thousands of Facebook and Twitter users who played a crucial role in spreading the word about the protests.
One of the many restrictions under Ben Ali was on the Internet, with several popular websites blocked by the authorities. Ben Ali lifted those controls last week in a desperate and ultimately futile attempt to cling to power.
Several revolts in recent history have taken on poetic names, starting with the Carnation Revolution against the dictatorship in Portugal in 1974.
There was the Velvet Revolution in the then Czechoslovakia in 1989 and then in the former Soviet Union the Rose Revolution in Georgia in 2003, the Orange Revolution in Ukraine in 2004 and the Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan in 2005.
"It's one of the symbols of Tunisia," said Zied El Hani, who works on the foreign desk of the pro-government newspaper Essahafa but was also a popular dissident blogger and media rights campaigner under the now deposed regime. "Its white color symbolizes the tolerance of Tunisians and its sweet odor smells like Tunisia. It reflects the richness of this country," he said.
Hani wrote a blog post entitled "The Jasmine Revolution" on Thursday - a day before Ben Ali's abrupt resignation after 23 years in power. It soon went viral among the thousands of Facebook and Twitter users who played a crucial role in spreading the word about the protests.
One of the many restrictions under Ben Ali was on the Internet, with several popular websites blocked by the authorities. Ben Ali lifted those controls last week in a desperate and ultimately futile attempt to cling to power.
Several revolts in recent history have taken on poetic names, starting with the Carnation Revolution against the dictatorship in Portugal in 1974.
There was the Velvet Revolution in the then Czechoslovakia in 1989 and then in the former Soviet Union the Rose Revolution in Georgia in 2003, the Orange Revolution in Ukraine in 2004 and the Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan in 2005.
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