Ennahda Spokeswoman Souad Abderrahim: Single Mothers Are a Disgrace to Tunisia
LinkedIn
Print
Souad Abderrahim, the woman who became an icon of the Ennahda movement during the October Constituent Assembly Election campaign has said that single mothers are a disgrace to Tunisia and “do not have the right to exist.” Abderrahim made her controversial remarks in response to a comment by a Radio presenter who said that single mothers should be protected under the law during a show on Radio Monte Carlo Doualiya the evening of November 9th.
“I am ashamed of Arab and Muslim countries that try to make excuses for people who have sinned” claimed Abderrahim as her argument with the radio hosts began to get heated, adding that only rape victims should be entitled to protection under the law. Abderrahim insisted that law should be based on Arab-Muslim customs and tradition and that in Tunisia “there is no room for full and absolute freedom.”
Ennahda is the Tunisian Islamist party that captured 89 out of the 217 seats in the recent Constituent Assembly elections. A trained pharmacist, Abderrahim became a well-recognized symbol of the Ennahda party mostly because she does not wear a headscarf. She was elected as a member of the Constituent Assembly representing a seat from the second district of Tunis.
Comments (33)
Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed
Sites That Link to this Post
- Tunisian Elections: Facade or Pluralism? « Civil Dissent | 13 December 2011
- Amelie Reep | 26 November 2011
- Ennahda’s tight rope act on religion - NET2 World News | 24 November 2011
- Souad Abderrahim Of Ennahda Clarifies Her Position On Single Mothers And Promises A Surprise Program : Tunisia Live | 22 November 2011
- Ennahda’s tight rope act on religion | Egyptian Intifada | 19 November 2011
- Las provocaciones islamistas inquietan a los laicos de Túnez | chile55.com | Noticias de Chile y el Mundo | 18 November 2011
- Las provocaciones islamistas inquietan a los laicos de Túnez « Ecuador33.com | Ultimas noticias de Ecuador y el mundo | 18 November 2011
- Las provocaciones islamistas inquietan a los laicos de Túnez | Notimundo | 18 November 2011
- Will Tunisian Islamists Strip Women of Their Rights? : Ms Magazine Blog | 18 November 2011
- Ennahda Spokeswoman Souad Abderrahim: Single Mothers Are a Disgrace to Tunisia : Tunisia Live | Human Rights and the Will to be free | Scoop.it | 11 November 2011
How if she tries to make an effort and turn “Disgrace” to a state of GRACE, showing support and counseling to single moms. That would be considered a milestone for the movement and a first step into the 21st century.
Excuse me? Why would single mothers need counselling?
Can you people put it in your head that some women choose and are
very happy to raise children on their own. They don’t need pity or compassion, they just need RESPECT.
counseling = The provision of assistance and guidance in resolving personal, social, or psychological problems and difficulties, in case a single mom faces social difficulties.
Maybe they got the majority but did you know that most of the people who voted Ennahdha are from the countryside therefore (not to be mean) uneducated. Only the capital and suburbs and some other cities of the east coast are people who got a good education and who traveled and who therefore have a different opinion than an Islamic government. The rest of the country is not developed enough so those people don’t really care about what to choose (by the way a lot of people didn’t vote because they just didn’t care). I am against Ennahdha and I bet people will regret this choice in the future. There’s no need to mix politics and religion.
And by the way, this woman is just a monster pretending to be God.
@Doudou. So, the Tunisian people who did not vote the same way as you are uneducated. Here is a good example of arrogance on the part of the so-called “educated” people of Tunisia. This is a minority (among the educated) that is trying to impose its will on the Tunisian people, and who think that they know better. They are the ones who constitute a danger for the nascent democracy in Tunisia through their intolerance and denigration of the Tunisian people.
Uneducated people are a big problem in a democracy, because anyone can vote. Those who are gullible can be lead to believe, or support, just about anything.
Well, she does not keep islamic teaching herself, so she has no right to say this about other women.
I have a question….I see a lot of people who criticize/ ridicule Ennahda online. Actually the majority of the people online hate Ennahda..But something tells me that most people in your country don’t share your thoughts. Because if you see all those malicious things said about Ennahda online you will get the feeling that people hate them..but in reality they got 41% of the vote..Does it indicate that u guys who regularly mock ennahda and it’s leadership is a minority.
By the way the Islamists are the majority given that Ennahda and Arida Chaabia( hope I spelled it right) together received more than 50% of the vote..
What do you mean by blame? Some women choose to have babies and raise them on their own. It is nobody business what people do with their lives and this politician should cover her head in shame for her vile words towards single mothers (whether they are single mother by choice or not is irrelevant they both deserve RESPECT)
Single mothers in Tunisia should be treated with compassion! Many, many of them are pregnant, not because of their choices, but because of the terrible behavior of the men around them. It is often male extended family members who deserve the judgment, not the poor girls who are forced into sexual relations. We can be thankful that they did not decide to kill their babies before they were born, like many ‘upright Muslim’ (single and married) women in the urban areas do. It is disappointing that Souad, a woman herself, would accuse only the single mother, and not say anything against the man who is at least equally to blame.
And so it begins with the election of the Ennahda! I hope that the women of Tunisia rise up against these types of comments and ideology! Tunisian people, including women, died for the right of freedom!!
You can rest assured that Tunisian women will drag this lady on the street by her hair before they let anyone take away their freedom
At a boy Peter! calling for violence. You might like to be sure of all the facts. What if what has been reported is far from being the whole truth about what was said in the interview. Would you eat your words?
Just showing their true colours, didn,t take long!! more to come, people will be sorry they voted for this backward party
Sure? Did she said exactly that? I would like to hear from other sources. Anyway I do agree they must be protected by law.
And its normal she doesn’t like that kind of mother. Its not Islamic nor Catholic good concept.
Tunisia is a secular country, therefore I could not care less if single mothers offend the moral islamic virtues of this wicked bitch. The moment she incites hatred towards a group of people (like she did) she is committing a crime and that hardly makes her fit to be a member of parliament let alone represent a country.
The people decide whether she is fit for parliament or not. Not you. If the people don’t like her they will vote her out. It’s very funny seeing people like you cry about what the people chose when you were the ones arguing for democracy all this time…It is really funny seeing the state of secularists in Tunisia.
An absolute democracy that enforces the will of the majority on the minority is not a recipe for stability and success. A secular state is in the best interests of everyone, this is why the Catholic church is not allowed to rule Europe anymore.
Here is what she said on Shams FM: http://shemsfm.net/ar/replay_emissions/108?label=%D8%B4%D8%AE%D8%B5%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%B4%D9%85%D8%B3-%D9%81%D9%85
What a wicked bitch! This so called lady is a disgrace.
It didn’t take very long for those new Islamic dictators to show their true colours.
What da fuck?? Peter Scott that doesn’t sound like a very tunisian name to me. I suggest you just shut up and stick to your country. We will run our country how we feel like it. We chose the islamist so go suck it.
From one prison to another.
Leila al hajjama, l’inculte, a peut etre plus de compassion pour les femmes celibataires, qui vivent dans un calvaire, que cette porte parole (ou cul petant) du parti de dieu. Bientot, les femmes celibataires vont etre fouettees sur les places publiques, leur seule autre option serait de devenir seconde epouse aux barbus de Nahdha.