The Libyan government's dispatch of about 100 trucks loaded with sugar, oil, flour, and rice to neighboring Tunisia, which faces frequent shortages of these products, opened the door to controversy on social media, as opinions were divided between those who welcomed the initiative and those who denounced the situation in the country.

Yesterday evening, Tuesday, the media attache at the Libyan embassy in Tunisia said, "These supplies come as a grant from the national unity government to sister Tunisia within the framework of support and assistance for the acute shortage of basic commodities for the aforementioned foodstuffs that the Tunisian people are going through."

He explained that this aid was sent in 96 trucks, which arrived earlier yesterday morning to Tunisian territory through the Ras Jedir border crossing.

The source added that a total of 170 trucks are expected to arrive in Tunisia, carrying all Libyan aid.

For his part, a source from the Tunisian customs at the Ras Jedir border crossing said that batches of trucks began arriving at the crossing since yesterday evening, Tuesday, loaded with materials such as oil, flour, sugar and rice, amid security guards.

Crisis and division

Tunisia is going through a serious economic and financial crisis that has led, in particular, to a chronic shortage of basic food products, against the backdrop of strong political tensions since President Kais Saied assumed power in July 2021.

The Ras Jedir crossing is the main crossing point between western Libya and southeastern Tunisia, and its population lives largely from cross-border trade, including smuggling.

watched

Amidst an acute shortage of basic foodstuffs that Tunisia suffers from, Libya sends an aid convoy consisting of 96 trucks, and it is expected that the number of trucks will reach 170#February_Channel#Libya pic.twitter.com/70JZw93eHj

- February Channel (@FebruaryChannel) January 17, 2023

On social media, the news filled Tunisians, and while a number of them expressed their happiness with this initiative, stressing the strength of the ties between the two countries, others warned of the situation in the country.

Hamed Herzallah said in a comment on Facebook: Thank you to sister Libya for standing by the Tunisian people and the Tunisian state in this circumstance, especially since the country is going through an economic and social crisis, to say the least, that it is suffocating.

He added, "They should not be ashamed of such initiatives, which confirm the strength of the brotherhood ties between the two peoples throughout history, and perhaps the strong relationship between the Ben Ali regime and the Gaddafi regime is the biggest evidence of that, and such new Libyan aid is not unprecedented."

He continued: Tunisia was also a pioneer in extending a helping hand to the Libyan people during the period of the economic embargo imposed on Libya by the West, and reciprocity was applied by the Libyan state whenever necessary in terms of launching projects in Tunisia, supporting infrastructure and other assistance.

He added, "Enough of your fallacies. Tunisia is more secure than Libya's security, even on the food and economic level."

Rejected

On the other hand, Hafez Al-Hamami said that Tunisia receiving food aid is not acceptable or palatable, and it can only be in the case of natural disasters and exceptional pandemics, as this is what a patriot who is jealous of his country does not accept.

And he indicated that this matter, which he described as "shame", is not the only one of its kind that Tunisia has received in recent years, as it received a US Agency for International Development (USAID) grant of $60 million through UNICEF to provide direct support to Tunisian families. Limited income throughout Tunisia, announced in mid-October in a statement by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

Commenting on this matter, journalist Lotfi Al-Ammari considered, in his intervention on the private channel Al-Nisa'a, "Tonight's Day," that "the Tunisian people have turned into a refugee people in their country."

He said, "Logic says that Libya is the one that knows tension and wars, but Tunisia suffers from food shortages," calling for not denying the truth and including aid within the framework of solidarity between the two peoples.

Al-Ammari said that he thanks the Libyan people for the quality of the aid "to be a slap in the face of the Tunisians and to remind the people that they have become a beggar people."

Blame and question

Many blamed Tunisian President Kais Saied, noting that his policies and those of his government have set the country back.

On this matter, the leader of the Ennahda movement, Rafik Abdel Salam, commented on his Facebook page, saying, "Praise be to God, Tunisia, in the era of Qais Saeed, began, with the blessing of God, to harvest from brothers and neighbors oil, sugar and rice."

Abdel Salam added, "President Qais Saeed said that the whole problem is with the monopolists, so why doesn't he strike at the hands of the monopolists and stop begging from abroad?"

An account in the name of Abd al-Rahman al-Idrisi said that Libya, which is experiencing a geographical division, a military war and a political crisis, sends food aid to Tunisia, and considered that this movement alone is sufficient for Qais Saeed and the government to submit their resignations if they had an iota of dignity.

#Libya, which is living geographically divided, military war and political crisis, sends food aid to #Tunisia.


This movement alone is enough for Qais Saeed and the government to submit their resignation if they had an iota of dignity.

- Abdul Rahman Al-Idrisi (@Edrissitn) January 17, 2023

Subsidies and crises

As for the writer and researcher Olfa Youssef, she said, "I do not know what disturbed the Tunisians about the subsidies that come to us from here and there, and the situation is that the only competence of our officials is the competence of begging.. Thanks to everyone who helps us.. and we do not forget that these subsidies are given in case of disasters.. and we Indeed, we are suffering from disasters in governance, so the matter is very logical.”

It is noteworthy that the dispatch of this aid came less than two months after the visit of the head of the Libyan National Unity Government, Abdul Hamid al-Dabiba, to Tunisia at the end of last November.