tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22261571.post4202416229123078244..comments2024-03-20T01:06:12.181-04:00Comments on MEI Editor's Blog: Rachid Ghannouchi and Al-Nahda: Will They Return?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22261571.post-21059486884501587012011-01-21T23:34:36.909-05:002011-01-21T23:34:36.909-05:00My first visit to Tunis was 1988, so I was never t...My first visit to Tunis was 1988, so I was never there during the Bourguiba years. I doubt if all that many Tunisians publicly emulated Boueguiba during Ramadan, but certainly on a lot of issues, including public consumption of alcohol, Tunisians have fewer inhibitions than in many countries. (I don't think I've ever been there during Ramadan.)<br /><br />While I don't know all parts of the country, of places I've been, Kairouan clearly had the most traditional, religious, and Arab feel to it. More so even than the area around Zeitouna in the Tunis Medina. I believe Kairouan was also a Nahda stronghold.Michael Collins Dunnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07398326467953722017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22261571.post-55555637424902626042011-01-21T21:13:51.211-05:002011-01-21T21:13:51.211-05:00My time in Tunisia was 1979-1982, when Bourguiba w...My time in Tunisia was 1979-1982, when Bourguiba was no longer exercising much leadership. But the secular system he had built was in firm control of the government, universities and most other official institutions, even if the weak Islamist party of the day (at-Tayar al-Islami or "Islamic Current") had a minority following. Socially and culturally, I found Tunisia to be a very divided society. Perhaps I was more aware of this having come from officially secular Iraq and speaking Arabic. In Tunis and the Sahel, you felt you were in a southern Mediterranean environment. I had to speak French in order to do my work. In Sfax or the cities of the interior, greater Islamic piety (and use of Arabic) seemed to be the rule. With a few exceptions, even in Tunis, the Ramadan fast was observed in public even by Tunisian smokers. There was no mosque anywhere close to the U.S. Embassy, located in one of the more Frenchified parts of Tunis. When some of our Tunisian employees asked if they could have a room for prayers so they would not feel a religious obligation to absent themselves from the embassy premises for a long midday break, I thought it was a good idea and agreed. We later heard that there were people in the Tunisian Government who resented a gesture that I thought was both culturally sensitive and sound employee management. Evidently, the Tunisian Government did not make similar provisions. Our employees, however, expressed appreciation, save for one senior and very secular Tunisian who thought we were setting a bad example!David Mackhttp://ambdavidmack@yahoo.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22261571.post-22419355954446005342011-01-21T19:16:05.479-05:002011-01-21T19:16:05.479-05:00"As many have noted, despite Western stereoty..."As many have noted, despite Western stereotypical assumptions about the Arab/Islamic world, political Islamism played no detectable role in the Tunisian upheaval; nor would one expect it to in such a determinedly secular society, where Habib Bourguiba used to publicly eat during Ramadan. "<br /><br />Just as an aside (I realise this isn't the main point), how representative do you think Bourguiba was of Tunisian society? How many other people were out there drinking orange juice with him?the dour goathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06530481118710266660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22261571.post-10045977235499599072011-01-21T14:50:27.752-05:002011-01-21T14:50:27.752-05:00Contrary to Tunisian Government claims during the ...Contrary to Tunisian Government claims during the past decade, while in exile, Rachid Ghannouchi spoke out against the Al Qaeda attacks of September 2001. I can't remember his exact words and don't have the source at hand, but an Islamist friend brought his statement to my attention after I published an article in 2005 in which I had fallen into the trap of relying upon the Tunisian government line on this point.David Mackhttp://ambdavidmack@yahoo.comnoreply@blogger.com