ProudlyTunisian

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 …

Published on D+C Development and Cooperation  Translated to German My coverage of the Parliamentary Elections and Presidential Campaign  Around 5 million Tunisians were registered to vote, and 65 % of them did. Nidaa Tounes won 85 of 217 seats. This party was formed in 2012 and unites supporters of the pre-revolutionary regime, trade unions, opposition activists and anti-Islamist groups. The Islamist party Ennahda, which has historical ties to Egypt’s Muslim Brothers, came in second with 69 seats. In the Constituent Assembly, it was the strongest party, and led a coalition government called Troika for two years after the revolution. Ennahda later gave up administrative power and agreed to a technocratic government when it became obvious that Troika rule had become divisive. People were upset because the government had not been able – or perhaps unwilling – to prevent two assassinations. Partly inspired by the Muslim Brothers’ disaster in Egypt, Ennahda’s prior...

Co-writing the article with  Katharina Walbert  Published on European Youth Press Magazine during Peace Journalism Meeting  "Rethinking Journalism" in Berlin Republished on the North South Centre While lyrics of the German anthem call for a “united Fatherland,” in other parts of the Mediterranean, many Arab countries are referred to as “the Motherland.” For decades, gender has been perceived differently where women and men are treated based on the influence of cultures, media and the marketing industry. Tunisia, has been a leading country on women’s rights in its region. Tunisia’s laws have provided women an immersive measure of equality largely absent among its neighboring countries. Women have one of the most progressive Personal Status Codes: polygamy there is banned, and women have equal rights in marriage and divorce. The code also guarantees strict women rights in the criminalisation of domestic abuse and marital rape. On the other hand, this very C...

I grew up with multiple identities that I questioned throughout my teen years. The strongest identity I was brainwashed with, is being “Arab”. Since primary school, my education, which curriculum I didn’t choose, has been mainly about the Arab civilization and the invention of the zero! My library has been full of books of Gibran Khalil Gibran and Mahmoud Darwish. I actually loved Arabic, which I believe is my native language. I used to write a lot of poetry and short stories and have always been top of my Arabic prosody class. I lived in a country that has always been portrayed as part of the larger Arab region, with which it shares a language and many cultural elements, including a political identification. I then learned French since the 3rd grade, which cultivated my Mediterranean identity. But French, as my Algerian friend mocks, “is just a bad habit”. The sense of national identity is constantly maintained by reference to recent national history, particularly the struggle again...

Published on Foresight For Development Africa  The dramatic political changes and instability in North Africa following the civil war in Libya and the partition of Sudan, in addition to the conflicts in Syria and Mali, have created new waves of movements in the region. The crisis has two main faces; the sub region serves as either a transit or final destination for sizeable mixed migration movements from neighboring countries, sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East. Despite the risk of arrest and detention, Libya continues to see the arrival of many refugees and asylum-seekers. According to UNHCR, over 37,000 asylum-seekers and refugees are registered with their Tripoli and Benghazi officers, with Syrians making up the largest group (18,655), followed by Eritreans (4,673), Somalis (2,380) and Iraqis (3,105). In Egypt, there has been an increasing number of asylum-seekers from Syria and Sudan. In addition to Sahrawi refugees in the Tindouf camps of Algeria, Algerian fami...

Published on Your Middle East  and OpenDemocracy                    #WorldRefugeeDay   More than  2.8 million Syrians  have been forced to leave their country so far. The vast majority of them remaining in neighboring countries, such as Turkey (764,000), Lebanon (1,093,069) and Jordan (597,328), according to the UN Refugee Agency. They are often living in dire conditions because countries like Lebanon and Jordan are already under extreme economic and political strain. Few others went seeking refuge in Europe. However, Europe has only granted asylum to 89,000 people. Though  Europe is failing refugees from Syria  , Sweden is one of the few European countries to offer permanent residence to Syrians arriving at its borders. Salim Salamah, found refuge in Sweden after fleeing Syria to Lebanon. I met Salim few weeks ago in Malmo, the most densely populated are...

Published on Your Middle East  and Open Democracy  interviewed for the article at Radio France Internationale  by  Zeenat Hansrod   The world has been applauding Tunisia for its new progressive constitution and new consensus caretaker installed government of technocrats that is administrating the country until elections later this year. However, this celebration seems exclusive to the leadership, members of the National Constituent Assembly, political parties and their allies. In fact, the unemployed, the poor, the student, the worker among other Tunisian citizens are yet to celebrate. After changing the government five times during the past three years, this current administration has been the most praised for its appearing stability. Nevertheless, if we have a closer look at Tunisia’s internal issues- beside the pictures of the Tunisian Prime Minister shaking hands with Barack Obama-, we will f...