New Article in African Conflict and Peacebuilding Review

The latest African Conflict and Peacebuilding Review contains an article by myself. You can access it here through JSTOR:

Here is the abstract:

Whose Music, Whose Country? Music, Mobilization, and Social Change in North Africa

ABSTRACT Social change began to rapidly emerge in many North African states in 2011 and 2012, and this process continues today. Music has been embedded within this process from the beginning and has been a key feature in street protests and expressing group identity that opposed the status quo at the time. The situation has since become extremely complex as group identities have split and merged, but in the early days of social change in Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya, music was used by professional and amateur musicians as well as non-musicians for several purposes, namely, to express a more generalized group identity, to capture the moment of the protests, and to propagate information about the situation to a wider Arab diaspora and gain support from them. Conversely, the state also used music at this time as a form of social control by promoting music that was uncritical to marginalize the challenging music.

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."

Culture war brews between new Islamist movement and secularists in post-revolution Tunisia

 

By Associated Press, Updated: Friday, March 9, 9:53 AM

TUNIS, Tunisia — Every Friday, bearded men in shin-length robes demonstrate in Tunisia’s capital against perceived insults to Islam in a country once known for its aggressive secularism. They have occasionally turned violent, attacking secular intellectuals and harassing women for their style of dress.

This emerging movement of believers known as Salafis has seemingly appeared out of thin air — and prompted fears of a culture war in this North African country of 10 million.

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( Hassene Dridi, File / Associated Press ) - FILE - This Friday Jan. 20, 2012, file photo shows Tunisian Salafist women demonstrating near the French embassy in Tunis, Tunisia, in support of a Muslim woman who was fined in France for wearing a niqab Muslim veil. An emerging movement of believers known as Salafis has seemingly appeared out of thin air _ and prompted fears of a culture war in this North African country of 10 million. Since the overthrow of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011 unleashed a string of Arab uprisings, Islam has blossomed in Tunisia in a way it wasn’t allowed to do for half a century.Sign reads: Allah is the Only God, and Mahommed is his Prophet.

Since the overthrow of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011 unleashed a string of Arab uprisings, Islam has blossomed in Tunisia in a way it wasn’t allowed to do for half a century.

New religious freedoms have also opened the way for the Salafis, who are now in a daily battle for hearts and minds with equally hardline secular elements entrenched in the media and the elite. Television stations, Western embassies and government offices have all felt the conservatives’ wrath.

In the middle are the moderate Islamists who won Tunisia’s first free elections and are trying to build a democratic model for countries that followed Tunisia down this still uncertain revolutionary path.

The Salafis say they are just reclaiming rights long denied.

“Tunisians are thirsty for religious knowledge,” said Mohammed Bedoui, a young adherent of the Hizb al-Tahrir, or Liberation party, which calls for the return of the Islamic caliphate. “The regime of Ben Ali neglected the religious universities and the Tunisian imams just can’t answer to the demand.”

The war of words is taking place against a backdrop of armed radical movements just over the porous borders in neighboring Algeria and Libya, and there are worries that Tunisia’s aggressive demonstrations could evolve into an armed struggle if the competing demands are not handled carefully.

Secular intellectuals describe the Salafis as backward and engaging in a wholesale assault against freedom of expression and Tunisia’s progressive traditions. The religious conservatives — distinctive with their mustache-less beards, short robes and sneakers — counter that their religion is under daily attack.

“The demonstrations are a response to the provocations of the secularists and the leftists, particularly the polemic against the niqab (face-covering veil) in universities,” said Bedoui.

The Salafis cite the broadcast of blasphemous movies, publication of seminude photos of models in newspapers and bans on women wearing the veil as attempts to target and provoke them. They call the secularists leftover supporters of the old dictator.

In one of their most high profile sit-ins, demonstrators stalled exams at a university near Tunis for weeks protesting a ban on female students wearing the niqab during exams.

In October’s elections, the moderate Islamist party Ennahda dominated the polls, though most believe that people voted for them not out of religious conviction but because they trusted them to do away with the old system and get the country back on track.

Said Ferjani, a high ranking member of Ennahda, told The Associated Press that the last thing they wanted right now was a culture war between the Salafis and what he calls the “secular fundamentalists.”

“We are dealing with the business of government, we have floods in the north, a sinking economy and these people are talking about the burqa and the hijab (headscarf),” he said with exasperation. “I don’t think they are very grown up.”

During the election campaign, leftist parties tried to paint Ennahda as closet conservatives seeking to drag the country back to the Middle Ages. Voters didn’t agree, but now with the rise of the vocal Salafi minority, secularists have found the “bearded menace” they have been looking for.

The secularist opposition maintains that Ennahda not only sympathizes with many of the Salafi positions, but may be actually promoting them.

“Sometimes the line between the Salafis and Ennahda’s activists are a bit blurred,” said Kamel Labidi, a former journalist now heading the committee rewriting the country’s media law.

Under Ben Ali, some of the Salafis joined armed groups that were quickly squashed. But now with Libya next door flush with weapons from the civil war, the means for a new armed rebellion are easily at hand.

On Feb. 2 border guards stopped a car in the south filled with three bearded men at a checkpoint who opened fire with assault rifles before fleeing into nearby olive groves, sparking a major police security operation. Two of the men were shot dead; the third, who was captured, revealed the existence of a violent network with dozens of members across the country.

While such incidents are rare, elements of the Salafi movement have shown a disturbing tendency toward bullying behavior, such as harassing women in smaller towns for not abiding by conservative dress.

In one incident a prominent secular intellectual and a newspaper editor were punched and kicked by a crowd of Salafis protesting outside a courtroom.

Ferjani of Ennahda said that the government is trying a lenient approach with the Salafis so that they aren’t further radicalized, attempting to address their concerns with education and religious debate rather than just denouncing them as backward.

“If you push these people, you are empowering them,” he warned.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Grenoble, France Hosts Festival Commemorating the Tunisian Revolution

Wiem Melki | 30 January 2012 | 0 Comments

Grenoble, France will host a cultural festival celebrating, and reflecting upon, the Tunisian Revolution. The festival, “Tunisia 2012 Between East and West,” will run from February 1st to February 29th.

The event was organized by the Tunisian Consulate in Grenoble, the Community Center of Social Action of Capuche (a center supporting social and cultural activities in Grenoble), local municipal libraries, and several French and Tunisian cultural and social organizations.

The festival will feature an exhibition consisting of different forms of artistic expression – such as theater, cinema, painting, photography, dancing, music, and even cooking.

One of the plays, “Hekayetna,” (“Our Stories” in Tunisian Arabic) by Baghdadi Aoun,  aims at portraying contemporary Tunisian life. The story recalls the trials of a myriad of characters during the Fatimid period, employing powerful and poetic language inspired by the oral heritage of southern Tunisia – expressed through a mix of literary Arabic and Southern Tunisian dialect.

“The goal of my play is to educate the public about the importance of the oral history of Tunisia,” Baghdadi said.

Tunisian cinema will be represented by a number of documentaries and fictional short, and feature-length, films. Among the films to be featured during the festival are, “No More Fear,” by Mourad Bechikh, “Freedom,” by Ferial Ben Mahmoud, and, “Jasmine Revolution,” by Nassar Ayad.  The films all focus on the events surrounding the Tunisian revolution as interpreted through the perceptions of the different directors.

The festival will also include a poetry reading entitled, “The Will of Life,” which will include poems by Abou El Kacem Chebbi – the legendary poet of Tunisia’s independence movement. Chebbi (who lived from 1909-1934) was best known for writing the final two verses of the current national anthem of Tunisia and other evocative, patriotic poems.

“In early 2011, the Tunisian people started the Jasmine Revolution. One year after the uprising that initiated the ‘Arab Spring,’ many actors – but also the libraries of institutions and associations in the city of Grenoble – wanted to honor Tunisia,” said Mohamed, one of the organizers working with the Tunisian Consulate in France.

He explained that the event aims at enhancing cultural life in Grenoble and enlightening French citizens about Tunisian culture and history.

Controversial Tunisian Rapper Arrested in Unclear Circumstances

Asma Ghribi | 27 January 2012 | 2 Comments

Tunisian rapper, Anis Mrabti

Anis Mrabti, a young Tunisian rapper better known by his stage name Volcanis, was arrested at his house on January 25th.

Statements made by Mrabti’s father after the incident, coupled with the political nature of Mrabti’s music, have provoked speculation about the motivations of the police action.

According to Anis’ father, Mongi Mrabti, six men in plain clothes broke into the family house, asked for Anis, arrested him, and confiscated his desktop and MP3 player. The father asked them who they were and they answered that they were police.

“They drove a tinted glass civilian car and they did not show me any arrest warrant or any police ID,” explained the father.

In an interview with Tunisia Live, Mongi Mrabti stated that the Mrabti family was not told where there son had been taken and were not informed of what he had been charged with for nearly two days, until the family received a call from a Tunisian citizen not affiliated with the police who had heard of Anis’ story and made independent investigations. The phone call apparently informed them that Anis had tested positive for drug use, and that his arrest came after others involved in the same “drug case” had given police Anis’ name.

Anis Mrabti became well known recently for his song “Matbadal Chay” (“Nothing has changed” in Tunisian Arabic), which contains sharp criticism of the current political situation in Tunisia. In the song, Mrabti criticizes the Tunisian government, accusing Tunisian politicians of running after power and speaking about the suffering of Tunisian people from bribery and social injustice. The controversial nature of the song has prompted some on social networks to speculate that Mrabti has been arrested for political reasons.

Anis’s father said some human rights organizations contacted him and told him that they will look into the allegation that Anis was arrested without warrant or due process.

The Ministry of the Interior released a statement on its official Facebook page in which they denied all rumors about the arrest being politically motivated, or having anything to do with the lyrics of Mrabti’s song.

This morning, Mongi Mrabti received a call from the police station of Wardiya, a suburb of Tunis asking him to collect his son’s desktop. He has been told that his son will be tried tomorrow in a drug case in Grombalia, in the governorate of Nabeul, the alleged crime said to have taken place in Hamamet, also in the Nabeul governorate.

Project Begun on the Role of the Arts in the Arab Spring

It has been such a long time since my last post, and much has happened. Last August I discovered the work of Sultan Barakat, director of the Post-conflict Reconstruction and Development Unit and the University of York. In particular, I was interested to read about his meeting with the Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers nearly ten years ago, the proceeds of which are located here. In it he mentions the current problems with reconstruction and development initiatives, namely, that they tend to focus almost exclusively on state and economy which does not deal with underlying cultural issues which may have caused the original conflict. This lack of cultural development hindered progress, in Barakat's opinion. He never overtly mentions music or the arts, but the way he was discussing culture he might as well have. Since he is only in York and I am in Leeds, I pay him a visit, thinking it is always good to network, but not thinking anything concrete would come of it. After a pleasant half an hour, Barakat (although by this time we are on a first name basis) presents me with a proposal he has written on request from the British Council for research into the role of the arts in the Arab Spring. He says that there is nothing mentioned at present about music in this report, but perhaps I should write that in. Without hesitation, perhaps the last time in this enterprise that I did not hesitate, I agreed. It was such a perfect fit considering my research area. That was the last I heard about it for quite some time, which was really very disappointing, but it gave me time to continue writing up my thesis, which I continued to do throughout the autumn.

Near the end of October, I get a message from the PRDU inviting me to a meeting with the British Council regarding the proposal I helped out with. This meeting was very interesting: the British Council were very excited about the project and were imagining that, if this project was successful, they could roll out similar projects all over the world. The proposal needed some tweaks, however, which I did quickly before my half-term family holiday, but, again, that was the last I heard for quite some time. I began to think it was never going to happen.

Anyway, it did. Eventually. At the start of December I was informed that I was to go to Egypt for two weeks in less than a week to begin field work. If I had been ten years younger with no dependants, I might have jumped, but it was impossible for me, but the project began anyway, although I have as yet not done any field work, rather working from home or York, collating data and organising the field work placements. So far the project has collected data from Egypt and Morocco and soon I, yes I, will be going to Tunisia, and the rest of the team will later go to Libya. The purpose of the project is to attempt to understand how the arts and social change affect each other and what role, if any, has the British Council and other international institutions played. In addition, the British Council were keen to know what they might be able to do in the future in these situations. Very exciting. It is too early to discuss the findings yet, but so far there is little evidence to contest my theories on the nature of music and conflict espoused elsewhere on this blog. All very promising! In the meantime, I have had to take an official break from the PhD, even though I was only a couple of months short of submitting a draft.

The project is due to end in mid-June, but there is talk about a public dissemination phase, which would presumably include radio, national press, popular journals, websites and possibly even television. That would be exciting to be part of that, but we shall see.

Meanwhile, I will begin sharing some of the links I have been discovering.