Middle East Research and Information Project

Critical Coverage of the Middle East Since 1971

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Dhouha Djerbi

Dhouha Djerbi is a doctoral candidate in international relations and political science at the Geneva Graduate Institute, Switzerland.

'We Want to Breathe'—Dispatch from Gabes, Tunisia — Protesters carry placards and chant slogans as they march in the southern city of Gabes, Tunisia, on October 31, 2025, demanding the dismantling of the state-run phosphate processing plant. (Fethi Belaid/AFP via Getty Images)

Activism

'We Want to Breathe'—Dispatch from Gabes, Tunisia

A few weeks into the 2025 school year, in a middle school in Chott Essalem, Tunisia, students began to feel dizzy and light-headed and their throats tightened. Within minutes, they began collapsing, one after another. More mass asphyxiation events, as residents describe them, occurred throughout the month of September and

Dhouha Djerbi • 8 min read