At the end of the year, the question returns with almost painful insistence: is there any reason to hope in 2026, in a world which seems to have lost its moral and political bearings? Wherever we look – in Palestine, in Ukraine, in Tunisia, in the Arab world, in Europe, in the United States, in Africa or in Asia – the observation seems implacable.
Everywhere, conflicts drag on, hatreds become normalized, societies fragment. Everywhere also the same persistent contempt for Arabs, the same uninhibited hatred of Muslims, which has become a promising electoral argument.
Should we see the effect of a view that has become too pessimistic, or should we recognize that reality itself is cracking before our eyes? At this time of year, we like to remind ourselves that a page is turning, that a new chapter is opening. But how can we believe in the blank page when the book is still burning?
When injustice becomes the norm
In Tunisia, the drift is tangible. Respectable and respected citizens — Mourad, Ayachi, Ahmed, Nejib, Chaima, Saadia, Khayem, Abdelhamid, Sherifa, Lotfi, Ali, Ghazi, Borhene, Ridha, Mondher, and so many others — find themselves behind bars for a word, a sentence, an opinion. Arbitrariness adorns itself with the clothes of justice, the sealed letter resurfaces. Poverty, like a bad wave, submerges entire layers of society, where social injustice hits hard those who now struggle to ensure the minimum subsistence level. An entire youth, qualified or not, sees no future except in departure. Little by little, the feeling of being born in the wrong place at the wrong time takes hold, and we realize the cruel truth: we are treated as subjects and not citizens, on board a drunken boat where the irrational has become the norm.
But the distress is not only Tunisian. In France, a thirty-year-old with no real political experience, driven by a far-right speech targeting North Africans, dominates voting intentions. In the United States, the glorification of force and military domination trivializes violence. In Europe, the far right is making progress on xenophobic themes and the rejection of immigrants. In Africa, coups d’état follow one another, led by puppets who have only one argument: that of weapons. In much of the Arab world, repression, submission, betrayal of the Palestinian cause and corruption are established as norms.
And then there is Gaza. Still Gaza. A bleeding wound. Thousands of children and women wander in the cold, mud and hunger. Entire families were decimated, when they were not simply erased. And these signed “peace” agreements will only bring additional injustice, deferred suffering, violence recycled under diplomatic formulas. Peace without justice is never peace for the victims.
Faced with this picture, hope can no longer be a slogan. It can no longer be an abstract promise of a better tomorrow.
When all horizons seem blocked, this phrase from Paul Valéry comes to mind: “Nothing is worth nothing; nothing ever happens; and yet everything happens.”
Hoping for 2026 will not consist of naively believing that everything will be better. This will refuse to become indifferent. Refuse to normalize injustice. Refuse to let cynicism become an unsurpassable horizon.
Hope is reduced to little – and that is perhaps its strength.
A fair word when everything pushes towards silence. A gesture of solidarity from everyone when indifference wins. A discreet but stubborn resistance, a silent walk, a word, a word. No need to be a hero to change the sad reality: let’s simply be awakened consciences, let’s have a non-negotiable demand, the FREEDOM. It is neither a gift nor a luxury: it is a sacred human right. One day in prison, unjustly imposed, is worth eternity. Demand the immediate release of Mourad, Ayachi, Ahmed, Nejib, Chaima, Saadia, Khayem, Abdelhamid, Sherifa, Lotfi, Ali, Ghazi, Borhene, Ridha, Mondher, and all political prisoners.
If there is any hope left, it will not be measured in resounding victories or triumphant speeches. It is housed in these tiny gestures that span the centuries: saying no when everything calls for silence, naming violence when silence is demanded, preserving humanity when everything conspires to crush it. As long as someone remains to say no, history will never be completely written.
Happy New Year 2026
