“Cursed Be The Phosphate”: did first spark of Arab Spring come from a phosphate mine?

The online movie magazine ScreenDaily contains a review of a little-seen documentary about labor unrest in 2008 in Tunisia’s Gafsa mining district; the movie previewed at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival.  LINK  The review notes that 25% of Tunisia’s GDP originates from phosphate mining.  Several protestors were killed in the rioting that was eventually put down by more than 30,000 government police sent to the region.  I’ll be watching to see if the movie appears on YouTube or elsewhere on line so that perhaps it can have a broader audience and more about these obscure events might come to light.  Regardless, it is interesting to contemplate the possibility that the tidal change in world affairs encompassed by the Arab Spring might have had its genesis in the high stakes of the phosphate market.

Screenshot from ScreenDaily review of Cursed Be The Phosphate

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