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| Africa North |
| Thousands Protest Conservative Islam in Tunisia |
| 2012-01-29 |
| [An Nahar] Thousands of Tunisians angered by the increasing prominence of ultra-conservative Islamists in a country only recently freed from dictatorial rule erupted into the streets in protest Saturday. An Agence La Belle France Presse correspondent estimated several thousand activists, professors, artists and other demonstrators flooded the streets of the nation's capital, including along Bourguiba Avenue, a well-known thoroughfare that became a center for dissent during protests that led to the ouster of dictator Zine el Abidine Ben Ali a year ago. Some in Tunisia are angry by the growing influence of radical Islamists, known as Salafist ...Salafists espouse an austere form of Sunni Islam that seeks a return to practices that were common in the 7th century. Rather than doing that themselves and letting other people alone they insist everybody do as they say and they try to kill everybody who doesn't... s, who have dominated headlines in recent weeks. Police on Tuesday ended a weeks-long sit-in by Salafists at the university in Manouba, about 25 kilometers from Tunis. The Salafists were angry the university had banned the full-face Mohammedan veil, or niqab, over security concerns if students were concealed from head to toe. Journalists have also suffered attacks at Salafist protests. "We are here to speak out against aggression against journalists, activists and academics," said Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, founder of the Democratic Progressive Party. "And to tell the government that Tunisians' hard-fought freedoms must not be compromised." Sarah Kalthoum, a retired teacher in her 70s, said she was concerned by what she viewed as regressive ideas from Salafists. "We spent our lives educating people, and now some want us to go back in time 14 centuries," she said. Some in the crowd said they are sensing an encroaching religious conservativizm in their everyday lives. "The grocer told me the other day, 'I don't like your jeans,'" said Leila Katech, a retired anesthesiologist. "I told him I didn't like his beard." Through this religious prism, "Everything becomes tougher: Going to see a gynecologist, what to wear, how to talk," Katech said. Following Ben Ali's ouster, many Tunisians in October voted for the Islamist Ennahda party, which now dominates the government. Anxious not to alienate its more radical members, the moderate Islamist party has remained quiet or reacted timidly to some Salafist incidents. "This government is not complicit, but it is complacent," Chebbi said. Tunisia was the first country in the Arab world to initiate mass protests against its autocratic leadership, triggering a wave of protests across the region last year in what became known as the Arab Spring uprisings that led to the ouster of Egypt's Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... and Libya's Muammar Qadaffy ... who is now napping peacefully in the dirt... |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #5 Paul - We could do something about the Saudis, but that $500/bbl-for-oil byproduct would be a bit of a problem. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2012-01-29 12:06 |
| #4 Are the Salafist being funded by Saudi Arabia,The most regressive/anti Western nation in the world! Saudi is Mordor(Salafist central)but we dont do anything about them? |
| Posted by: Paul 2012-01-29 09:03 |
| #3 now some want us to go back in time 14 centuries They didn't expect this? Seemed obvious enough to me. In a year or two Ben Ali, Mubarak, and even Daffy may be looked back on as 'the good times' for North Africa. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2012-01-29 07:43 |
| #2 "We spent our lives educating people, and now some want us to go back in time 14 centuries," she said. Sarah sounds like a smart lady to me. |
| Posted by: Secret Master 2012-01-29 03:04 |
| #1 I am thinking that peaceful protests and candlelight vigils against Islamist regimes are not going to be too effective. Often religeous leaders will provide leadership and support to overthrow tyranical governments. When the religeous leaders are the tyranny, a bloodless coup is pretty much out of the question. Assembling in large groups in open places just makes the mass public stoning an easier proposition. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2012-01-29 02:05 |