Since 2017, Tunisian women have had the right to marry non-Muslims. But reality is playing out in different ways down on the local level amid an Islamist resurgence.
Tag: tunisia
PARIS — When they met Thursday in Berlin, Angela Merkel and Theresa May were two leaders in crisis: the German Chancellor trying to salvage her governing coalition in the face of criticism of her migration policy, while the UK Prime Minister is being dragged ever deeper down in the Brexit quagmire. The meeting, mocked in […]
In the southern city of El Hamma, young Tunisians attempt to emigrate all the time for a dangerous journey across the Mediterranean. One recent tragedy left dozens dead.
The attachment to autocracy prevails over the current appreciation of the state of democracy. Still tottering, to be sure.
SFAX — Plastic bags litter the fields that separate the highway from the Mediterranean Sea. Tunisian fishermen sail their boats in the Gulf of Gabes, between the cities of Sfax and Zarzis — and just 120 kilometers from the Italian island of Lampedusa. Indeed, recently the fishermen’s haul has begun to include migrants picked up […]
We have seen far fewer grim accounts of rescues and drownings of would-be immigrants in the Mediterranean in recent weeks, as the human trafficking route-of-choice between North Africa to Europe shuts down. But another dangerous route appears to be opening up right next door. The recent efforts to crack down on traffickers operating along the […]
In the south of Tunisia, near the Libyan border, an ancient dump serves as a cemetery for immigrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean illegally. But the living remain undeterred.
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One Tile At A Time
Hard at work under the Tunisian sun, these men were playing their small part in restoring some grandeur to the mosaics of the ancient city of Carthage. See more slides from My Grand-Père’s World here.
The pro-democracy Jasmine Revolution of 2011 has been followed by more, not less, religious policing in the North African country once known as a bastion of secularism.
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Model Mosque
The Great Mosque of Kairouan, in Tunisia, is considered a model of Islamic art. Its minaret, one of the oldest in the world, served as a template for how many minarets were later built in neighboring North African countries, as well as Spain’s Andalusia region. See more slides from My Grand-Père’s World here.
A Tunisian doctoral student has joined several poorly informed American celebrities in reopening the question of whether the Earth is flat or round.
TUNIS — Six years ago, the Tunisian Revolution sparked the Arab Spring uprisings and overthrew the regime of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his notoriously violent police state. Now a nascent democracy, Tunisia is once again faced with the issue of police brutality. Tunis-based daily Le Temps reports that several local and international NGOs […]
Our faithful Peugeot 404 makes a cameo appearance, with the Ribat fortress of Monastir in the background.
Ennahda’s founder Rached Ghannouchi calls for an end to ‘political Islam,’ a groundbreaking shift for a key Tunisian leader and intellectual long identified as Islamist.
A female Islamist member of Parliament and an alternative-minded blogger have very different ideas about the role of religion in post-Revolution Tunisia.
CONSTANTINE — Algeria’s third-largest city has been shaken after May 1 worker demonstrations, included one man setting himself on fire in front of the Constantine governor’s office to protest rampant unemployment. The Algiers-based daily El Watan reports that the man, indentified as Hamza, was participating in a demonstration organized by the National Committee for the […]
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The Lion Guards
In Tunisia’s capital, colorful Bardo guards kept a watchful eye on the Lion Staircase, one of the entrances leading to the parliament building inside the Bardo Palace.
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The President’s City
When we went to eastern Tunisia in the 1970s, Monastir-born Habib Bourguiba was then serving as the country’s first president, having replaced King Muhammad VIII when the monarchy was abolished in 1957.
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On This Day – January 14
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On This Day – December 17
Tunisia is the birthplace of the Arab Spring democratic uprising, and the only to have seen democracy survive. But it is both a source and victim of homegrown terrorists.
SIDI ALI BEN AOUN — Ali Chadli opens his eyes wide, incredulous even now. No, he had no idea his sons were planning to leave for Syria, where they eventually died. “They were praying as usual,” he says. “I hadn’t noticed anything particular.” The aging man invites us to take a seat next to the […]
Tunisia is building a wall along the border with Libya to defend itself against terrorist infiltrations, but it is stirring up hostility from locals on both sides.
In the wake of two devastating terror attacks, the fight for LGBT rights in a country that still criminalizes homosexuality has become even tougher.
Seifeddine Rezgui, perpetrator of last Friday’s attack in Sousse, often prayed at the “God’s Mercy” mosque in Kairouan, Tunisia. A look inside.
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Magic Mechanic
Our Peugeot 404 broke down in El Djem — one of the only times anything ever happened to our car, over the thousands and thousands of miles we drove. The local mechanic repaired it … by pouring water onto the hood! Luckily, there are worst places to be stranded in than in front of the […]
In the capital of Tunis, Hedia is the caretaker of a sanctuary dedicated to Sufism, a mystical form of Islam that worships saints. Radical Muslims slit the throat of a colleague.
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Coastal Gem
Our first trip to Tunisia was more focused toward the interior of the country, driving our Peugeot 404 down to Tozeur near the Sahara, but we still saved time for a detour to catch a glimpse of the beautiful island of Djerba in the Gulf of Gabes.
The ISIS terror group has devoted the cover of its official propaganda magazine Dabiq to its ambitions in Africa — Tunisia in particular, as the photo of Tunis’ Great Mosque of Kairouan suggests. In the magazine’s eighth issue, entitled “Shari’ah alone will rule Africa,” the jihadist organization once again claims responsibility for the March 18 […]
Thousands of protesters, including French President Francois Hollande, took to the streets of Tunis Sunday for an anti-terrorism march in response to the March 18 attack at Tunis’ Bardo Museum that left 22 dead. On its front page Monday, the Tunisian daily Attounissia features a picture of Hollande demonstrating alongside Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi, […]
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Why The Jihadists Fear Tunisia
The biggest threat to murderous Islamists are Muslims who believe in democracy.
TUNISIA DECLARES WAR ON TERRORISMPhoto: Adel/Xinhua/ZUMATunisia is in a state of shock today after the terror attack on the National Bardo Museum in the capital yesterday left 19 people dead and 44 wounded, most of them foreign tourists. In Paris-based Libération, Algerian writer Kamel Daoud says that yesterday’s “sniper attack” targeted the “true heart of […]
Tunisia is in a state of shock Thursday after the terror attack on the National Bardo Museum in the capital, which left 19 people dead and 44 wounded, most of them foreign tourists. Wednesday’s attack in Tunis was a devastating reminder, both inside and outside the North African country where the Arab Spring started more […]
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Save The Dates
When we first visited Tunisia, the tourism industry was just starting to take off in the country, although most of the economy still relied on farming. Here in the oasis of Tozeur, it was the harvest of dates.
With her laid-back attitude, angelic face and Jasmine revolution experience, Deena Abdelwahed carves a perfect image of a modern, forward-looking Tunisia. She will also make you dance. “I like to mix dance music that comes from the working classes. It is much more sincere. It appeals to everyone, not just the wealthy who can afford […]
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Vintage Hues
Sidi Bou Said in northern Tunisia is famous for its crisp blue and bright white houses of Ottoman and Andalusian influence. But a few of my slides from the 1970s (probably because of the film I used during that period) have lost a bit of their original color — and the village looks a bit […]
Leftist movements in the Arab World are divided and marginalized, even after leading the region’s democracy uprisings. In Tunis, Arab leftists got together to try to reverse course.
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A Day’s Catch
The port city of Sfax was a mix of coastal ease and urban grit. Here, 10 local fishermen split the land/seascape in two.
Since their country’s 2011 revolution, cynical Tunisians say a laundry list of ills have plagued them: an incompetent president who refuses to wear ties; a self-interested Constituent Assembly that is charged with creating a new constitution; high inflation and a rapidly devaluing currency; and a deeply uncertain security situation. But Al Jazeera has recently reported […]
Presidential guards in Tunis take five during a cabinet meeting at Bardo Palace.