This would have been unthinkable when Ben Ali was president of Tunisia, he kept an iron lid on all forms of Islamism and made sure the country was staunchly secular. Sadly, one day Tunisians (mainly women) will look back fondly on that era.
(JPost) — Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh declared Sunday that the Muslim revolutions born out of the “Arab Spring” would replace US-backed chaos in the Middle East, Hamas affiliate Al Resalah quoted the Hamas leader as saying.
“We are among those who will create a new Middle East. We have created a glorious revolution that will bring back the nation and its glory in place of the chaos that the American administration had so desired,” Haniyeh told a gathering of Tunisian Islamist Ennahda party supporters in Tunis.
According to the report, tens of thousands of Tunisians gathered outside the palatial government complex in the Tunisian capital to see Haniyeh speak, chanting in support of “Palestinian liberation.”
Protesters also chanted “Death to Israel” and “the army of Mohammed is back,” as Haniyeh reiterated his pledge not “to lay down our arms” or recognize Israel, according to AFP.
The Ennahda party, banned under the rule of ousted Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, has since become the country’s largest party, garnering 40 percent of votes in last October’s parliamentary elections.
Haniyeh has traveled Arab and Muslim nations on a Middle East tour that began December 25, including Egypt, Sudan, Turkey and Tunisia.