Letter to Mr. the Civilized…[including Donald Trump]

They promote democracy but not if it brings Islamic fundamentalists to power… They call our states rogue /undemocratic states but they tolerate human rights violations … They are watching when their intervention is needed but intervening when they need to watch… They preach non-proliferation in Iran but not in Israel… They massively repulsed aggression against oil owning Kuwaitis in the 90s but not against non-owning oil Bosnians… They consider Afghanistan the way is ruled by Taliban a threat but not Saudi Arabia the way is ruled by monarchy…

Besides,

They call us the south, the underdeveloped but who is exploiting, our resources and our countries -with the consent of our governments?… They call our culture a backward culture when women, in Tunisia, have voted while women in the US were still fighting for that right…We are Tunisia not Indonesia... we drive cars not camels... whatever backward means to you, try to find us on the map first.

They decide overnight to add a country to what they call "the Middle East". Then, they call this Middle East the "conflict zone".

It's still very much the "the West and the rest", "our nations, your tribes " , "our arts , your artifacts " , our demonstrations , your riots" AND " our security , your terrrorism " 

And… they call us the uncivilized…

Mr. the civilized,

Let’s explore together what "the developed", "the North", "the democratic" and "the civilized" is about,

April 11^th, 2011, Police in Paris detain at least two women wearing Islamic veils across their faces, after a law banning the garment in public comes into force and women found wearing either the Niqab or the burka in public will be subjected to a fine of 150 euros. What’s the difference between the undemocratic Tunisia banning headscarf under Ben Ali’s regime and the democratic France? 

 

“In Chicago (which is obviously part of the USA), DEAD people vote. In Florida, they endorse”... In Tunisia, dead bodies also used to vote under the previous regime, which is called "dictatorship".

 

The homeschoolers are persecuted in Germany. They are regularly fined thousands of dollars, threatened with imprisonment, or have the custody of their children taken away simply because they choose to home educate. The Konrad  case in 2003 and Paul-Plett case in 2006  are tangible examples.

And the list is endless…

Mr. the civilized,

I come from this part of the world that you think is underdeveloped, uncivilized, undemocratic and I tell you;

You divided the world according to your norms … You divided my language into French, English, Italian and others languages but mine.

You divided the world into West and East, the west and the Arab “World”, the West and the Muslim “world”  and now you’re trying to solve it by promoting interfaith dialogue, cultural exchange and mutual understanding forums. Then you mix Muslims with Arabs when only 5% of Arabs are Muslims.

I do not like the globalization that made the rich richer and the poor poorer but you celebrate globalization for what it brings to you; wealth, power and domination.

I do not interference in your or anyone’s affairs but you interfere in my and everyone’s affairs and assign yourself to teach me how I study, how I work, how I sleep and what I eat… I invite you Mr. the civilized to solve your own problems instead of interfering in mine.

If you, Mr. the civilized, cannot change the attitude of your government … If you, Mr. the civilized, in the government, cannot change your policies… do not lecture me about making the world a better place or about civilizational missions as I do not want for now to go into talking about slavery, colonialism, neocolonialism, postcolonialism, orientalism, eurocentism and so forth. 

I’d just like to invite you to redefine your terms of terrorism and democracy, to reconsider you values of freedom, justice and equality, to decolonize your mind and to respect ME whoever I am, wherever I live, whatever is my background, religion, language or culture, till we’ll all be dead corpses.

                                                                                                                                                                Sincerely,

                                                                                                                                                  Proudly Tunisian