Tunisia: Understanding Conflict 2012 - Johns Hopkins School of ...

Lastly, the opaque role of the Gulf states’ funding in Tunisia needs to be taken
into account. As Ghannouchi said in Washington in December 2011, the salafis “emerged
during the period of the massive arrests of Ennahdha militants by Ben Ali in the 1990s.
They made their appearance because of the TV channels owned by the Gulf States,
especially Saudi Arabia” (SAIS Group Meeting, Washington DC, 1 December 2011).
These channels propagandize a very conservative version of Islam, which has started to
shape the beliefs and the behaviors of the Tunisians in the last ten years, according to
several commentators. As Latifa Lakhdar, former vice président of the Haute Instance
pour la réalisation des objectifs de la révolution et de la transition démocratique, stressed,
the Gulf states have tried to impose a cultural hegemony through satellite TV in the last
decade. The news media and the satellite TV have been used in such a way that Saudi
news arrives in Tunisians’ houses. All these aspects considered, Ennahdha would most
likely avoid any type of conflict with Saudi Arabia and other states, especially Qatar,
which recently has been very generous with its funding to Tunisia, as many
commentators have reported (SAIS Group Meeting, 26 January 2012). 21
Recommendations
The lack of resoluteness by Ennahdha has contributed to a climate of further violence and
tensions. In order to reduce the conflicts with the salafis, Ennahdha’s possible responses
can be divided into short term and long term.
In the short term, Ennahdha should promote the respect of the law by taking
the necessary measures against the extremists. The words of disapproval, expressed by
the government officials, have turned out to be insufficient to protect those Tunisians
whose freedom of expression has severely been jeopardized. The case of the aggression
against the journalists reporting the Persepolis case and the professors at Manouba
University have sent worrying signals to those in Tunisia concerned about the ability of
Ennahdha to keep the salafis at bay. Ghannouchi’s party and its coalition partners should
request the intervention of the police whenever the fundamentalists resort to
21 See also Sana Anji, “Visit of Qatari Emir divides Tunisian political society,” Tunisia Live,
January 15, 2012, http://www.tunisia-live.net/2012/01/15/visit-of-qatari-emir-divides-tunisianpolitical-society/
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