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

announced that he is opposed to state imposition of any practice on Tunisian society—
including how one dresses, drinks or believes. He likens Ennahdha to the AKP of Turkey,
noting their common historical backgrounds and goals of the “marriage of Islam and
democracy.” He also attempts to explain the current rise of salafism as a consequence of
the vacuum left by Ben Ali’s expulsion of Ennahdha, in which would-be Ennahdha
adherents were instead exposed to the Wahhabi values coming from TV channels
financed by Gulf states. He asserts that salafism is not rooted in the Tunisian heritage and
was inspired instead by the experiences of torture in prison as well as the lack of a
moderate alternative. Ghannouchi, although tending towards grand and philosophical
descriptions, did define certain boundaries between Islamic and democratic principles.
For example, he defended the Nessma television station’s right to broadcast Persepolis, a
film that shows a cartoon image of the Prophet Mohammed, noting that Nessma was free
to broadcast as it chose, and the prohibition against images of holy figures in Islam was
not a principle to be embodied legally.
Mohammed Salah Hedri, leader of the Justice and Development Party, 7 described
his vision of an Islamist Tunisia as based on the philosophy of the golden age of the
Zeitouna University as well as the teachings of Ibn Khaldun (SAIS Group Meeting,
January 24, 2012). He emphasizes the specificities of the Tunisian manifestation of
Islam—Sunni and Maliki—and notes that they are, in fact, struggling against the
influences of other Islamist countries, such as Iran. He declared that his listeners
shouldn’t assume that his identity as an Islamist precludes his identity as a democrat.
Like Ghannouchi, he believes that the two are not necessarily incompatible. His vision of
Islamism involves legal support for what he terms “family values” and Islamic education.
Practically speaking, this means including the teaching of Quran and religion in the
public education system from primary school onwards, and supporting “family values”
by offering women funds if they choose to stay at home, as well as financial support for
families with children. Furthermore, he envisions a Tunisian Constitution in which all
7 Not to be confused with the AKP of Turkey. According to Hedri, the Turkish translation of their
“Justice and Development Party” differs from the Arabic translation of his own “Justice and
Development Party.”
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