Her NAME is ...

She suddenly walked in the room and all those noisy screaming people stood up and somehow miraculously,  the look on their faces has changed from anger, hate and resentment to peace, love and respect.
No words can describe that specific moment when we all looked at each other, smiling busting into tears of happiness...
I looked around and asked a stranger standing next to me :
- who is that "she" ?
He looked at me strangely and said :
- omg don't you know her ?
- No ! Am I supposed too ?
He had a huge peaceful smile drawn on his face and said :
-She is the ONE !
Only then, I realised that everything has changed.....

Couple months later, I decided to go for a walk. It was a dark day, people were acting strangely, too much darkness in their eyes, some of them became dead walkers. Others more aggressive,  wanting to kill each other for no reasons.  What happened to them ? I wondered.  I looked to other side of the street, there she was... "Her"  sitting in the corner crying. I run into her, thinking omg she might need help.
- what happened ? I asked her.
She stopped crying, looked at me and said :
-They all want a peace of me
-But they love you, they called for you. They were so happy when you arrived.
-Yes, So I thought, but...
-But what ?
-My principles are not welcome. They want a body  with no soul.
-What Made them change their minds ?
-Greed and power.... my friend. I'm no longer welcome here "Big sigh"
-What did you demand  ?
- My friend, she said : I brought with me freedom, justice, Human rights...
-What ? Who are you ? I asked.
- My name is DEMOCRACY -She said.
Only then I realised that everything was a lie. Promises, promises ....
Then I said to myself : it can't end this way, I just can't let her leave.
As I stood up to call for help, too many people were already nearby offering protection to this beautiful creature called DEMOCRACY.
I left back home believing; one day "near",  DEMOCRACY will definitely meet TUNISIA.

Hope and peaceful "fight" , are the key words.
Never give up on your dreams. Peace to you all :)

Un 23 octobre 2012 très LOURD avec plein d'amertumes et regrets.Je ne reconnais plus mes compatriotes; où sont passés leurs sourires ? pourquoi toute cette frustration qui se dessine sur leurs visages ? et puis cette haine qui se manifeste sur le visage des AUTRES à te faire figer le sang dans les veines.
Je ne reconnais plus ma Tunisie.
j'ai alors décidé d'aller voir du côté de bardo. Là, oû siège nos "hautes", ces membres légitimes de la constituante, et là, tout est devenu limpide : Ils ont réussi à diviser Ma Tunisie !

Deux groupes qui s'acharnent l'un contre l'autre; un jet de môts à te briser le coeur.
C'est malheureusement, ma nouvelle Tunisie.

A qui la faute ? A ceux qui ont voté et cru au Paradis ? cru aux fausses promesses ?

La faute aux RCDistes qui essaient de percer la scène politique ? Du moins, c'est ce que réclament les pro-gouvernement? Ou alors, est ce la faute au gouvernement qui regarde et savoure le mal de la division?
Un gouvernement sans feuille de route.
Un gouvernement qui utilise le meme personnel de Ben Ali. Aucun changement au sein des établissements publics, mis à part, les quelques directeurs généraux pour les remplacer par des partisans qui majoritairement sans aucune expérience...

AMUSANT de constater que le gouverneur de la banque Centrale est un rcdistes et que Le directeur général de Dar assabah nouvellement nommé, un RCDiste et j'en passe....
Un gouvernement du genre deux poids deux mesures quoi !
Un gouvernement qui n'ose pas ouvrir le dossier de cette poignée de magistrats corrompus.
Un gouvernement qui parle de liste "noire" des journalistes corrompus et ne la dévoile pas.
Un gouvernement qui a oublié cette justice à rendre aux familles de nos martyrs.
Un gouvernement qui n'ose pas toucher au dossier du Ministère de l'intérieur et son archive...
Un gouvernement qui n'ose pas trancher sur les dossiers des Hommes d'Affaires corrompus, interdits de voyage....
Un gouvernement qui pu le laxisme à l'égard des salafistes jihadistes.
Un gouvernement qui fait couler le Pays économiquement et socialement avec ses dépenses exhorbitantes et sa mauvaise gestion quant aux ressources naturelles du Pays.

Un gouvernement qui n'écoute que la voie de son ombre, un gouvernement maladroit, arrogant, sans expérience et qui s'obstine à ne pas tendre sa main aux AUTRES pour l'aider.

Les Tunisiens se sont trouvés dans ce laboratoire politique, Où tous les testes sont permis. Aucune limite morale, aucune conscience.... Des envahisseurs assoiffés de vengeance aveugle.

Avez vous oublié votre compromi avec Ben Ali ?
Vous, qui avez choisi de quitter le pays avec vos familles, passeports á la main.

"Un aller sans retour".... Alors de grâce, arrêtez de jouer à la victime, vous avez choisi de FUIRE mais NOUS avons choisi de rester.

 

 

NO to polygamy in Tunisia

Tunisia is the only country in the Arab Muslim world where polygamy is forbidden by law. The Personal Status Code passed in 1956 by late Tunisian President Habib Bourguiba prohibited polygamy, gender inequality, facilitated women’s ability to obtain divorce,  banned forced marriages for minor girls etc. 

Now, after the Tunisian revolution, and despite The commitment of Ennahdha, the islamist ruling party, has pledged to preserve women’s rights, few Islamist figures are calling to legalise polygamy in Tunisia.

One of these "newly born islamist", is The head of a Tunisian Islamist association, "Tunisian Moderate Association for Awareness and Reform, formerly known as the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice" Adel ELMI, who is calling the Tunisian government to legalise polygamy and to cancel all laws that contradict Islamic principles.

The practice was permitted in Islam and should be legalized if it in the interest of Tunisian society so said Elmi at Al-Jazeera. 

I have to admit that In Islam, polygyny is allowed, with the specific limitation that a man can have up to four wives.  Also, The Quran clearly states that men must deal with their wives justly but If the husband fears that he cannot deal with his wives justly, then he should only marry one. I have to emphasise, that men must be just :financially as well as emotionally, which is almost impossible to do. I here refer to emotional feelings that MUST be equally shared between the wives. And we all know how hard it is, if not IMPOSSIBLE.

Besides, Each of those wives must have her own property, assets. Usually the wives lead separate lives in their own houses, even-though, they all share the same husband. 

Now; my question to men and specifically to this Elmi, did you ever think about those women's feelings besides your egoism and personal enjoyment. How about the negative sides of polygamy do they even occur to them ?

How selfish can Men be !

Now allow me to state a few of the many negative sides to polygamy :

* What about jealousy among the wives ? Which will lead to depression and neglect of the children.  No matter how much a mother may love her children, if she is in jealousy state of mind she cannot optimally tend to the emotional and physical needs of her children.  

* Money problems : let's face it, feeding 4 wives plus at least 12 children is not easy nowadays. Add to it; schooling, clothing etc. just imagining the situation gives me a headache.

*Effect on children: With a big number of children, The husband AKA the father will not be able to justly and fairly spread his love around the children which will lead to the development of low self-esteem in addition to, rivalry among wives which will cause hate between children, division and discrimination at a young age.  

Now, considering the Tunisian economic crisis, poverty, unemployment high rate do YOU really think polygamy is the solution to our misery ?

But since the Islamic Ennahdha Party came to power, we Tunisian women, are unfortunately, witnessing a high possibility of losing some of our rights

TO BE CONTINUED ! 

4 wives Noooo Wayyyy

Nikab Talk

Tunisian Women’s rights “The fight has just begun”

Before Islam, the conditions for women in the Arabic world were horrendous. They had no right to own property. All material possessions belonged to the men and if the men were to die, everything they owned passed automatically to their sons. In the 7th century, “the early days of Islam” women were afforded rights, primarily due to the Islamic reforms brought about with the creation of the Holy Qu’ran. These rights were set and included inheritance, marriage, divorce, education, work etc.

Ibn Abbas once recounted that a girl came to visit the Messenger of God, Muhammad and she reported that her father had forced her to marry without her consent. Muhammad gave her the choice between accepting the marriage or invalidating it. (Ibn Hanbal No. 2469). 

Under Islamic law, marriage is viewed as a contract, in which a woman's consent is an obligation. Thanks to Islam, women were finally given inheritance rights, property ownership, the right to administer her own wealth, the right to work, to attain an education, to divorce, all of which have helped raise women’s status in society. The Holy Qu’ran and the Hadith do NOT state that women must be housewives but rather that they have the right to administer the wealth she brings into the family or has earned by her own work. 

However and considering the amount of sharia’s flexibility, Muslim countries give women varying degrees of rights in marriage, divorce, dress code etc.

In Tunisia where we, the women, were relatively free even under Ben Ali’s dictatorship, are still far ahead of all other Arab Muslim countries in terms of women’s rights.   

If we look back at Islamic history, women including Aisha, Ume Warqa, and Samra Binte Wahaib took part in political activities. Other historical Muslim female leaders include Razia Sultana, who ruled the Sultanate of Delhi from 1236 to 1239 and Shajarat ad-Durr, who ruled Egypt from 1250 to 1257.  

Since 2002, Afghanistan is surprisingly one of the most progressive Muslim countries, with the highest number of female politicians, which means we Tunisian women, still have a lot to do J 

A year after the Tunisian revolution, women are facing a real threat in the name of Islam as we see the Salafis Jihad, an old and long underground Islamic Brotherhood movement resurfacing in numbers since the deposition of Ben Ali’s regime.  

Amazingly, The Tunisian Government, a predominantly Islamist party, is showing no signs of taking things in hand to control this brotherhood. Neither are they making statements condemning the brotherhoods attacks on journalists and their assaults on uncovered women (either verbally or physically). Also, with the governments knowledge and with no objections on their part, Mr. Wajdi Ghoneim (a highly controversial Egyptian Muslim figure) visited Tunisia on February 11th, 2012 where he “LECTURED” on his extreme beliefs in several cities.  

In one of his more shocking lectures, he advocated for female genital mutilation. In this lecture he also stated that according to his beliefs and to the beliefs of the salafi jihady , democracy is against God’s Law (Islam). 

The dark age is back !  

A few months ago, tension escalated in several Universities in Tunisia when girls wearing the niqab tried to attend classes, despite the fact that progressive Tunisian Law does NOT allow it. The reason it is forbidden is simply because they need to verify their identities (before exams) or even during the class course.

Throughout the years, Non-Muslim women have benefited from more progressive laws while the opposite is true for Muslim women. For example, polygamy flourishes and in the case of divorce, child custody is hugely biased towards the fathers as opposed to shared-custody etc. 

In conclusion, this indicates that we Tunisian women have a lot to do, inspite of ths new “Islamic Brotherhood” government, who actually had nothing at all to do with the Tunisian revolution, when you consider the fact that the majority of the members were living abroad or in jail at that time. The other ugly face of democracy J

Where there’s FREE WILL, there’s HOPE!!!

New dictatorship in Tunisia "The Constitutional Assembly"

Ennahdha, CPR & Ettakattol political parties, also known as the Troïka are currently monopolizing the highest of both executive and legislative positions within the new Tunisian Government. However, since Ennahdha party won the majority of the public vote in the first democratic elections, they now hold the majority of these positions.

In retrospect, this choice was made by the Tunisian people and be it good or bad, the vote is final and must now be respected. If after the elections we, the Tunisian citizens,  feel we have  made an error in voting for these parties we should learn from our mistakes…

The reasons Ennahdha (The Islamist Party) won the majority vote are two fold : 

Firstly:  The large number of Tunisians who abstained from voting because they had no faith in a democratic election in effect handed the win to Ennahdha.

Secondly: A vast majority of the Tunisian Citizens voted for Ennahdha did so believing a vote for them was a vote for God.  In other words, the good Muslims vote for Ennahdha, the non Muslims (i.e: the atheists) vote for the other parties. To illustrate my point, I once asked someone why they voted for Ennahdha.  The response was “I voted for Islam!” It was more than evident that these kinds of people did NOT vote on the electoral issues but solely on religious merits.

So now, legally and democratically Tunisia finds itself in the hands of the Troïka! But who controls them? Now they’re elected, who holds the reigns?  It’s left to us as citizens of Tunisia to watch and wait and if necessary….to react once again to ensure our freedom from dictatorship.

An example of a recent decision made by the assembly which illustrates why we, the people of Tunisia should be vigilant is as follows: 

The Troïka has passed a law allowing an elected member of the constitutional assembly to also simultaneously be a government minister which is unheard of in any other democratic country in the world. 

The opposing parties (those not in the Troïka) are far too weak to be any real threat to these three major players in the new assembly.  My advice to these smaller opposing parties is to be responsible with their votes or boycotts of votes and to think before advising the people to strike since it will undoubtedly be used against them by the Troïka.  The elite Politicians, (the wearers of ties and shiny shoes) within these smaller opposing parties should think before criticizing Ennahdha by name calling and accusations of returning Tunisia to the dark ages. Rather they should go out into the country and meet the Tunisians.  Make a concerted effort to get in touch with what the people want.  Talking to them and explaining the new government, EDUCATING the citizens in what a democracy actually is will benefit them far more in the long run!

I also think it would be wise to create a committee to control the public expenses within the Assembly as well as the Government. After all, we have the right to know where our money is being spent!

A dictatorship exists when all the power is held by one person or governing body.  My message to the Troïka, the latest governing body and aspiring dictatorship is that YOU ARE TOO LATE!  Tunisia is free at last.  The Tunisians will never again bow down to oppression.   Dictators have no place here.  With that in mind, the new Constitution, besides setting out the various legislative aspects should clearly protect the rights of the people against any and all forms of abuse of power by the government.

Now my question is:  Will the Troïka keep it’s other promises?  Bearing in mind that they have already broken one very important promise to finish the constitution in ONE year.   The new deadline is unspecified and will take an undetermined period of time!!!  Is this another  sign of a new dictatorship?

In conclusion, we will never go back to the bad old days.  We will be watching!  For those who do good things for Tunisia, we will salute you.  For those who wish to take us back, we will resist you. 

« Grand Hommage à Nos Martyrs. On ne vous oubliera Jamais »  

A great tribute to our Martyrs. We will never forget you !