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

immediately and loudly condemn actions by conservative salafist groups, and when it
finally did so, to act to limit such actions. Instead, the group seems intent on maintaining
a vague position in order, as Mohamed Salah Hedri (member of the Justice and
Development Party, an Islamist group) explains, “to please everyone because they are
afraid someone will arrive to take their power” (SAIS Group Meeting, 24 January 2012).
In its desire to remain as it was before—the party that meant something to everyone—
Ennahdha is intentionally unclear about its position on issues that divide conservatives
and liberals.
One topic that has revealed the differences in opinion that are surfacing regarding
women’s rights is the recent debate about the wearing of the niqab on university
campuses. From November 2011 thru January 2012, on the campus of Manouba
University (Tunisia’s largest university by number of students and one of its most
liberal), salafists staged sit-ins demanding that female students be permitted to wear the
niqab during classes and exams. The university’s argument is that the wearing of the
niqab not only poses a security risk, but also leads to separation in the classroom. As
Latifa Lakhdar, 14 professor of contemporary history at the University of Tunis, has
explained, “We cannot teach someone who is hidden because we cannot communicate
[with her]. It is a pedagogical problem, not a question of human rights or expression” 15
(SAIS Group Meeting, 26 January 2012). Meanwhile, conservative Muslims, including
the young women we interviewed from Ennahdha, argue that the ban goes against
religious freedom; though they do not wear the veil themselves, they support those
women who “are convinced it is necessary” (Ennahdha Female Youth 16 , 27 January
2012). Others like Mr. Moncef Barouni, leader of the Tunisian-American Chamber of
Commerce, approach the issue as such: “I will tell you one thing about the niqab: it is
14 Ms. Lakhdar was also Vice President of the former “Haute Instance pour la réalisation des
objectifs de la révolution et de la transition démocratique.”
15 Ms. Lakhdar went on to say: “Those people who want to say they are free in wearing the niqab
and want you to respect their liberty, I say in what respect? I say you are in prison because you
have chosen to cut off communication and you don’t understand the meaning of liberty.” (26
January 2012)
16 Names not provided to protect anonymity.
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