by Asaf Romirowsky
Middle East Times
Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes has argued for years that the
solution to Islamism/radical Islam is moderate Islam. But the question
is still, who are these moderates and where can they be found. As
Pipes states, "Islamism [is] a radical utopian version of Islam.
Islamists, adherents of this well funded, widespread, totalitarian
ideology, are attempting to create a global Islamic order that fully
applies the Islamic law (Shari'a)."
Using this definition, moderation requires rejection of jihad to
impose Muslim rule and the rejection of suicide terrorism. No more
second-class citizenship for non-Muslims. No more death penalty for
adultery or "honor" killings of women. And No more death sentences for
blasphemy or apostasy.
Ultimately, it means embracing the same modernity that Jews and
Christians have adopted whereby there is no contradiction between
being an observant individual on the one hand and living in a modern
society on the other. The headlines from Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan and
a host of other places suggest this moderation is simply not feasible,
and that Islam at its most basic and aggressive always wins.
I recently traveled to Tunisia to explore this small and beautiful
country located in the heart of North Africa between Algeria and
Libya. Tunisia has quietly and successfully developed in recent years
an environment of co-existence amongst Jews, Christians, and Muslims
where modernity serves as a common denominator and religion does not
get in the way of one's day-to-day life. Tunisia is hardly perfect but
its political stability, Western-Arab synthesis, and economic vision
could serve as a paradigm for other Middle Eastern states.
As Oussama Romdhani the director general of the Tunisian External
Communication Agency told me, "Cultural and religious tolerance is
part of Tunisia's patrimony. The display of religious harmony that one
witnesses on the Ghriba celebrations is possible because of Tunisia's
social history and because the changes and reforms introduced in
Tunisia especially during the last two decades have anchored the
values of tolerance and acceptance of religious and cultural
differences."
The Tunisian people are warm, friendly and educated as well as open to
the West. The 10 million citizens of Tunisia today show a great
appreciation of the centuries of Phoenician, Roman, Jewish, Arabic and
European influences that still impact their culture.
Tunisia was rated by the World Economic Forum as the most competitive
economy in Africa, and is known for its low level of poverty, high
rate of literacy and the number of opportunities available to women.
But critics also contend that it is a place where the political
leadership controls the press and routinely jails opponents.
Many of my one-on-one conversations with academics and others involved
world politics, American foreign policy in the Middle East as well as
the Israeli-Palestinian dynamic.
What I found interesting is that Tunisians, like Europeans, are proud
of their Jews and their Jewish heritage but hate Israelis, who are
perceived as the embodiment of evil.
However, this animosity does not prevent Tunisia from seeing its model
of co-existence as a mechanism for helping establish peace between
Israelis and Palestinians.
One obvious reason Tunisians differentiate between Jews and Israelis
is the proximity to France. Another issue is the Tunisian position on
the problem Europe faces as a whole with new Muslim immigrants, who
despise the Jewish state because of the Palestinians' situation.
Europe is seeing a slow but steady growth in anti-Semitism under the
guise of anti-Zionism which is spreading back to its Muslim neighbors,
themselves no strangers to Koranic anti-Semitism.
There has not been such a level of concern, anxiety, even depression,
among European Jews since 1945. One reason for this is the loose
official definition of anti-Semitism in places like Germany where,
until it prompts an act of violence, there are enough legal loopholes
to allow perpetrators to avoid consequences.
Robert Wistrich, a historian of anti-Semitism, notes, "Europe cannot
fight anti-Semitism if it appeases terrorists or blackens Israel's
name. We need to insist that a linkage exists between blind
Palestinophilia, being soft on terror and jihad, defaming Israel, and
the current wave of anti-Semitic violence."
Tunisia has indeed had its share of anti-Semitism and Islamist
activity. In April 2002 an al-Qaida homicide bomber drove a truckload
of propane up to al-Ghriba, the oldest synagogue in North Africa.
Nineteen people, mostly German tourists, were slaughtered.
Historically, anti-Semitism/anti-Israelism rose in the wake of the
Six-Day War, but it was former Tunisian President Habib Bourguiba
(1903-2000) who acted precipitously to quell such violence and ensure
Jewish safety.
Bourguiba was known for being a shrewd politician who often preferred
to outmaneuver adversaries like French officials and Islamic
conservatives rather than confront them. His tactics became known in
the Paris press as Bourguibism, and they helped him retain his
position as Tunisia's leader after the rulers of other Muslim nations
-- the shah of Iran, the king of Libya, strongmen in Syria and Iraq --
were overthrown. When Tunisia became independent it was Bourguiba who
worked for women's rights and pushed through a "personal status code"
that ran counter to traditional Muslim jurisprudence and custom in
enhancing women's rights.
Years of study in Paris during the 1920s had imbued Bourguiba with a
blueprint of logical and Western thought, and during his three decades
as president he found it only logical to advocate restraint toward
Israel, even after the Israeli victory in the 1967 war, when other
Arab leaders were demanding revenge.
In addition, he also called on the Arab/Muslim world to face the fact
that Israel is a reality that had to be acknowledged and worked with.
This realism had political consequences; in a backdoor conversation
with Nasser in 1965 Nasser commended Bourguiba for his statement about
Israel then publicly denounced it. And thanks to the way Nasser
ridiculed Tunisia they severed diplomatic ties in 1966.
Some months before the Yom Kippur war in 1973, Bourguiba called for a
"just and lasting peace," citing Israel's right "not to be
exterminated and thrown into the sea." But in 1973 as in 1967, he sent
a token military force to show his support for the Arab side.
When the Palestine Liberation Organization left West Beirut in 1982
after the Israeli invasion, despite many misgivings he took them in.
And approximately, 1,100 active PLO members arrived by sea at Bizerte
to a tumultuous welcome. The chief greeter was Bourguiba waving from
the dock and allowing the PLO to set up shop in Tunis.
Fast-forward to 1987, and one of the quietest coup d'états in all
history, when Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali took power. Ben Ali had been
prime minister and intelligence chief under Bourguiba. And given
Bourguiba's poor health in 1987 the transition was remarkably
unremarkable.
Under Ben Ali the leaders in Tunis have adopted a tough stance on
separation of religion and state. Enforcement of the constitutional
prohibition on political parties formed along religious lines is swift
and silent, as are crackdowns on individuals suspected of the
slightest inclination of advancing Islamic political movements. This
helps explain why men with Islamist-style beards are a rarity in
Tunisia. The authorities firmly quelled the leading Islamist
organization, An-Nahda ("Renaissance" in Arabic) Movement, under the
leadership of the renowned exegete Rashid al-Ghannushi.
All of this has engendered much support for Ben Ali and Bourguiba for
moving Tunisia in the direction of moderation and modernity in a
region that is constantly threatened by Islamism and instability.
And this is indeed the impression I got as I traveled throughout the
country that is that Tunisians are happy with their lifestyles and are
not looking to carry their religion on a flag in the name of an
ideology.
However, maintaining this balance is dependent on Tunisia promoting
its model in addition to Algeria and Libya seeing Tunisia as a gateway
for modernity. Then if we can successfully replicate this practice of
religion there is a chance that we will see change.
Without a doubt anyone concerned about the future of Islam should be
harnessing Tunisia's pro-Western sentiments.
This hidden treasure in the Muslim world was illustrated to me by my
friend Jerry Sorkin a Philadelphia based entrepreneur with many years
of experience in Tunisia.
He described to me his first visit to Tunisia 25 years ago saying: "I
got into a taxi, the driver instinctively put on the meter, drove
within the lanes and upon my paying the fare, gave me my change and
thanked me. I knew I was experiencing something I had never
experienced in my many prior visits to many other countries in the
Middle East and North Africa! This was the first of what has been a
perpetual stream of dichotomies I have witnessed and experienced in
Tunisia that has allowed me to say that Tunisia breaks the image that
most people in the West have of the Arab and Muslim world. We in the
West, particularly our present administration, should look to Tunisia
as a country that, while far from perfect, can be a wonderful bridge
between Americans and the Arab and Muslim world and whose many
achievements within the socio-economic realm can be the barometer to
which other countries in the region can aspire."
The above truly highlights what Tunisia has to offer and what we
should be embracing. As the next U.S. president looks on the one hand
to win the war on terror and on the other to find those moderate
Muslims who can and will speak out against radical Islam, Tunisia
could help. It could deliver individuals desperately needed in the
public eye to show that the Islamists are not the majority.
Asaf Romirowsky, an associate fellow at the Middle East Forum, is
manager of Israel & Middle East Affairs for the Jewish Federation of
Greater Philadelphia
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