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| Africa Horn |
| Nafta festival pits youth against Islamists |
| 2014-03-06 |
| [MAGHAREBIA] A recent festival in the southern Tunisian city of Nafta brought thousands of domestic and foreign tourists to an area once neglected over fears of terrorism. But the new event faced a backlash from religious bad boys. Desert tourism in Tunisia received a blow after the revolution as a result of insecurity. Tourism Minister Amel Karboul highlighted her commitment to reviving the south by inaugurating the Electronic Dunes Festival on February 21st. "We must as Tunisians embrace the desert....in order for tourists to follow us," she said at the opening of the 3-day event. The culture and tourism ministries recently agreed to organise events in southern Tunisia. Culture Minister Mourad Sakli said that strengthening tourism in the region would include festivals and artistic events, and also the creation of a cultural crossway in the desert. The Nafta event was the first in the planned series. "We wanted to help the region and make it known to foreigners and tourists," Patrick-Ali Elouarghi, one of the festival founders, told Tunisian television. "Success has already exceeded all expectations." Indeed, hotels in the south were for the first time fully booked. "Tourism Minister Amel Karboul is betting on festivals, which are thronged by Tunisians and tourists alike," hotel owner Moez Boudelli told Magharebia. Despite this success, bad boy groups used social networking pages and websites to launch a campaign against the minister, accusing her of "low morals, corruption, and hostility to Islam". They also posted photos of youths at the festival. Islamist-leaning Al-Sada website said: "The tourism minister in Jomaa's government desecrates the Tunisian south; wine, prostitution and gambling under the protection of the police." In a piece for an Ennahda-affiliated newspaper, news hound Mohammed Hamrouni wrote: "Amel Karboul addressed youth who were standing in front of her sipping beer. She told them, you are the ones who will make the future of Tunisia." Others did not hesitate to leap to the defence of the tourism minister. Tunisian writer and researcher Raja ben Slama wrote on her Facebook page: "There is a silly pseudo ethical campaign coming from sites claiming to be Islamists against the Minister of Tourism. These sites specialise in assaulting opponents and fabricating lies against successful women in particular." "These sites began their campaign against the Minister of Tourism with, 'desecration of the South with alcohol, prostitution, and gambling...The funny part is that these sites hide the faces of men in the photos but show the faces of women as if for Dire Revenge™," she said. "Every show of joy and delight, every celebration of life and art is considered indecency by pseudo-Islamists," ben Slama added. Another supporter of the minister had a different theory. The "Plot for the Republic" Facebook page suggested a political motive for the social media outrage. "The reason for the campaign against Amel Karboul and the festival in the South is not wine or dance and singing and not even 'the desecration of the South'... The real reason is that she dared replace her deputy, who was from Ennahda, with a person she can trust," the page commentary said. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 "Every show of joy and delight, every celebration of life and art is considered indecency by pseudo-Islamists," Islamic fundamentalism defined in one sentence. The Arabs may finally be figuring this out. |
| Posted by: Florida Al 2014-03-06 19:40 |