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Archive for March, 2012

More Than 4,000 People Descend on Constituent Assembly to Call For Shariaa Law

Sana Ajmi | 16 March 2012 | 21 Comments

Around 4,000 people gathered today in front of the National Constituent Assembly, calling for the implementation of Shariaa law in the new constitution. Shariaa is Islamic law derived from the Quran and the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed. Shouts of ‘takbir‘ – an affirmation of the greatness of God – and slogans such as “the [...]

Leftist Student Union Scores a Landslide Victory in Tunisian Student Board Elections

Hend Hassassi | 16 March 2012 | 11 Comments

A left-leaning student union won a landslide victory against its Islamist rival union – supported by the moderate islamist political party Ennahda – in yesterday’s student board elections that took place in Tunisian universities. Young members of the leftist General Union of Tunisian Students (UGET) celebrated their triumph at the ballot box last night, filling Habib [...]

RIP Amina Campaign Raises Awareness for Women’s Rights

Megan Radford | 16 March 2012 | 9 Comments

A protest is planned tomorrow in Morocco following the death of 16-year-old Amina Filali. The Moroccan teen drank rat poison after being pressured into marrying the man who raped her. Her death has inspired a global internet campaign that exposes the Moroccan government’s part in the plight of women and girls like Filali. A petition [...]

Tunisian President Marzouki Mourns Victims of Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami

Kouichi Shirayanagi | 16 March 2012 | 1 Comment

The nearly 20,000 victims of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan last year were mourned last night in a solemn ceremony attended by nearly fifty diplomatic guests at the Japanese ambassador’s residence in Carthage. Among those signing the condolence book was President Moncef Marzouki, who attended but did not make any remarks, according to [...]

Tunisian Farmers Call for Renewed Support of Conservation Agriculture

Carolyn Lamboley | 16 March 2012 | 1 Comment

“Too often we forget that the land is alive,” said Abdelaziz Ben Hammouda on his way to his farmland in the Mateur region of northwestern Tunisia. The 63 year-old farmer has been sewing a variety of produce - including wheat, alfalfa, and beans – on his 200-hectare property since 1976. Ben Hammouda first started dabbling in [...]

Canadian Government Pressured to Reveal Information on Ben Ali Clan’s Assets

Mischa Benoit-Lavelle | 16 March 2012 | 2 Comments

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has come under increasing pressure, from government opposition as well as from civil society, to reveal more information concerning the assets of Ben Ali and Trabelsi family members frozen in the country. Following a formal written request for information from opposition MP Hélène Laverdière, Baird released some figures pertaining [...]

Tunisia’s Tourism Sector Showing Signs of Life

Bernard Yaros | 15 March 2012 | 1 Comment

Is tourism in Tunisia making a comeback? According to an official source from the Ministry of Tourism, total tourism between January 1st and February 20th 2012 increased by 72.2% compared to last year’s figures over this same period. For the ministry, this marks “significant progress,” as the country’s tourism sector still lags behind pre-revolution levels. 2011 [...]

Islamic Tunisian Associations Organize Protest Calling For Sharia Law

Sana Ajmi | 15 March 2012 | 15 Comments

The Tunisian Front of Islamic Associations is organizing a protest calling for the implementation of shariaa – Islamic law derived from the Quran and the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed – in the new constitution. Entitled, “Friday of Supporting Shariaa,” the protest is scheduled to be held tomorrow in front of the National Constituent Assembly [...]

Consumer Debt Trap Brings Suffering to Tunisian Families

Mischa Benoit-Lavelle | 15 March 2012 | 2 Comments

Marriage can be an expensive affair in Tunisia. For Ahmed, a 40-something secretary who works in Tunis, the cost was too much for his salary to cover, and he was forced to resort to a 12,000 Tunisian dinar loan. Add to that 4,000 dinars of interest, and you arrive at a 16,000 dinar burden, which Ahmed [...]

Tunisia Presents Excuses to Libya Over Tunisian Consul Diplomatic Blunder

Houda Mzioudet | 15 March 2012 | 1 Comment

The Tunisian Government officially recalled the consul from the east Libyan city of Benghazi, announcing the end of his mission. This decision was made after the consul participated in a conference in Benghazi on March 6th, 2012, that called for the autonomy of Eastern Libya, historically known as Cyrenaica. The official spokesperson of the Tunisian presidency, Adnen [...]

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