Banned 'Hezb Ettahir' party attacks government and West

(ANSAmed) - TUNIS - With Salafite-inspired terrorism casting a shadow on Tunisia's presence, the country's future could be even more cause for concern, faced with the enigma of 'Hezb Ettahir', the most fundamentalist party in Tunisia. The party continues its activities undisturbed despite the fact that it has been virtually banned by the Interior Ministry.

The government has not taken a clear stance against the party, and secular Tunisians have said that this ambiguous approach allows the party to do as it pleases, with proselytism (political and religious, which go hand in hand), initiatives and threats hiding behind simple ''advice''. At the country's universities for example, where the niqab or full Muslim veil has become the cause of a real battle between fundamentalists, students and teachers. Salafism is and remains a fringe movement of the Islam in Tunisia, but is becoming more visible because it is taking advantage of the long transition period from the fall of Ben Ali (January 2011) to the general elections that should be held next year. The most recent initiative of Hezb Ettahir is an open letter sent to Premier Hamadi Jabali and to all Muslims. The letter harshly accuses the government of failing to respect the will of the people and of failing to ''respect the Islam and God's word." This use of words is a clear call to conform the social and legal system to the sharia. In an Islamic country with an officially secular State everything, daily life, can be brought back to a religious level.

Therefore also a position statement like the one made by Hezb Ettarhir has a clear political value in the light of an interpretation of fundamentalist Islam. For example, the presence of Jabali at the economic forum in Davos, seen as the 'waiting room to hell' for Tunisia, is almost considered an act of treason in this light, with Jabali asking the United States, ''which desecrate Muslim land'', France ''which sows corruption in our country'' and the UK ''which has brought the Islamic caliphate to the fall'', for help. All united to support the eternal enemy, the Jews.

The open letter was published today on the website of Hezb Ettarhir, on the day the birth of the Prophet is remembered.

Copies were handed out at the exit of mosques in many Tunisian cities, despite the official ban on political activities. As if that is not enough, the demonstrations that continue to be staged by the Salafite movement show that the Interior Ministry's ''no'' is completely ignored. In fact nobody has even considered ending the protest in Avenue Bourghiba against the general director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde. The protesters shouted slogans and showed photographs of the director with her face made look bloody with red paint, and nobody took the initiative of removing the photos.

Source : ansamed.info