Yet another article on the Salafist protest in Tunis

Tunisia's Islamist Ennahda edges away from Sharia

Some 10,000 demonstrated in favour of Sharia in Tunis on Sunday

Continue reading the main story

Officials from the largest party in Tunisia's governing coalition have said they will not support moves to enshrine Islamic law in the new constitution.

Senior members of the moderate Islamist Ennahda Party said the wording of the old constitution, which proclaims Islam as the state religion, would remain.

A group of ultra-conservative Muslims known as Salafis had demanded the introduction of Sharia.

Ennahda has been under growing pressure to declare its position on the issue.

The BBC's Jon Leyne says that the news will disappoint the increasingly vocal conservative minority, but it will bring relief to liberals and secularists who fear a tide of Islamism sweeping across the region.

"Ennahda has decided to retain the first clause of the previous constitution without change," senior Ennahda official Ameur Larayed told local media.

"We want the unity of our people and we do not want divisions."

The article from the 1959 constitution states: "Tunisia is a free, sovereign and independent state, whose religion is Islam, language is Arabic and has a republican regime."

Another senior figure, Ziad Doulatli, said he hoped the decision would help Tunisia to "serve as a model for other countries going through similar transformations".

Some 10,000 Salafis took to the streets of the capital, Tunis, on Sunday to express their support for the proposal that the country's legislation should be based on Islamic law.

The Tunisian uprising last January, which unseated long-time President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, inspired a wave of pro-democracy movements across North African and the Middle East.

Another article on the Salafist protest in Tunis

Several Thousand Salafists Demonstrate for Islamic Law, Attack Dramatists in Tunis

Ahmed Ellali | 25 March 2012 | 35 Comments

Salafist demonstrators wave Caliphate flag on top of Tunis clocktower

A group of several thousand Salafists and their supporters demonstrated in downtown Tunis today in support of the Koran, claiming that the Muslim holy book was under threat by more secular elements of Tunisian society. Demonstrators climbed the clock tower of Tunis to fly black caliphate flags from the top of the tower and chanted slogans such as “the people want a new caliphate.”

At the same time and on the same street, the Tunisian Association for Drama Arts held a celebration for the upcoming World Day of Theater (usually March 27th) in front of the Municipal Theater. As the Salafist protest came to a close, a number of Salafist demonstrators attacked the Theater celebration.

According to Yassine Ouni, a student from the Higher Institute for Drama, the Ministry of Interior was responsible for the confrontation because they gave permits for both events knowing there would be a conflict. “The Tunisian Association for the Drama Arts event and the Salafist demonstration was held at the same time. We want to hold the Interior Ministry accountable since it gave permission to the two movements on the same day and the Ministry knew there would be tension since Drama is sacred for all artists and religion is sacred for every citizen.”

Salafists gather in front of the Municipal Theater

The permit given to the dramatists was supposed to allow them to celebrate theater in the space between the municipal theater and the Africa Hotel while the Salafists had a permit to demonstrate by the Tunis clock tower. While the Salafist organizers agreed to separate the events at first, a group of  Salafists later came and damaged equipment, disrupted outdoor performances and threw eggs, empty bottles and sharp objects at those celebrating theater.

Fawzi Guara, one of the demonstrators at the Salafist organized event for supporting the Koran blamed the theater celebration organizers for the confrontation. “Some Tunisians are not respecting our religious sanctity, campaigns against our religion confirm that there are elements here who want to provoke us. They don’t respect our views.”

Members of the Tunisian Association for Drama Arts in front of the Municipal Theater

Guara admitted that the Tunisian Association for Theater had received permission to hold an event first, but he said the Koran was more important than theater. “We knew they got permission before us, but they should give priority to defending the Koran and our religion. Anarchy can happen at any time, and simply by calling themselves ‘Theater of Resistance’ they are provoking us, resistance to whom? Did we sell out our country?”

For Guara, his demonstration was necessary because he sees Islam as being under attack. “Today Tunisia is witnessing a historical day. Tunisians went to the street to show their disapproval against the desecration of the Koran in Ben Guerdene, against the six pointed star on the wall of the Al-Fateh Mosque.”

He added that opponents of Salafists have been making a big deal out one Salafists’ desecration of the Tunisian flag at Mannouba University, just to give them a bad name. “We do love our country and our flag but the priority is for our religion and what is sacred. Islam does not oppose civility. We are here today to express our love for the Koran, for the prophet, for our holy sites. Our slogans are in support of the Koran, defending that which is sacred and rejecting discord and strife between Tunisians,” Guara said.

Salafist Protest in Tunis

Here are some articles about the Salafist protest in Tunis on Sunday, March 26 that I found myself in the middle of. I will post my own take on these events when I get a chance.

Tunisia: Thousands of Salafists Rally for Sharia Law

by Anna Mahjar-Barducci
March 21, 2012 at 4:00 am

"Tunisia, by opening to democracy, changed its face, and now the country's main components are Islamist and extremist."

Thousands of Salafists calling to include Sharia Law in the new Tunisian Constitution gathered in front of the National Constituent Assembly on March 16. As reported by the Agence France-Presse, the slogans called to have the Koran as the country's only constitution. "The people want the application of God's Sharia," "Our Koran is our constitution" "No constitution without Sharia," and "Tunisia is neither secular nor scientific, it is an Islamic state," the demonstrators cried. Revealing that Tunisia's government supports Sharia Law in the Constitution, two MPs, Sahbi Atig and Habib Ellouze, members of the Islamist party, Ennahda, were among the protesters.

Following are excerpts from an op-ed that appeared in the North African magazine, Le Courrie de l'Atlas, reporting on the Salafists' "show of strength" during the demonstration in the streets of Tunisia:

"On this sunny afternoon, Bardo [Tunisian city/suburb west of Tunis] looked like Afghanistan. Following a call launched by Salafists on social networks, a flood of people, around midday, gathered in Bardo to put pressure on Tunisian MPs and demand that Sharia be included as the only source of law.

"[…] According to Salafists' Internet pages, there were 30.000 protesters. Never before had Bardo Square been so filled with people. The crowd was compact and excited. When all the protesters started shouting together "Allahhu Akbar!" [Allah is the Greatest!"], they sent shockwaves through the floor. […] The event was marked by a strongly missionary spirit […].

"The few foreign media that attended this event were astonished by the separation between men and women in the demonstration [Organizers of the protest had arranged separated sections for men and women]. However, the men incited the women systematically to repeat slogans, such as "The people want the enforcement of Sharia…" […]. There were also many slogans […] very hostile to secular people and meant to demonize them".

Some worrisome abuses

"1. Zitouna FM Koranic radio, a radio station that was put under judiciary control after the revolution, and which belongs to the state, had launched a call to demonstrate a few days earlier. This is an unprecedented decision […]

"2. […] Each and every demonstration [after the Revolution] had been followed by a counter-demonstration conducted by pro-government elements, with the exception of this one. […]

"3. [Protesters were intimidating journalists] when our camera was taking longer shots of somebody, it was not rare that this person came immediately to us asking for our papers and for whom we were working.

"4. […] Ennahda's most radical base was represented. This allows predicting that, considering the increasing popularity of the Salafist movement, the Islamic party Ennahda will have to compromise more and more with these movements that are harming the image of moderation that the party, ever since it came to power, is trying to promote. […]

"Today was a black day [for Tunisia][…]. Tunisia that belongs to a non-secularized region, by opening to democracy, changed its face […], and now the country's main components are Islamist and extremist."