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Showing posts from July, 2012

Some thoughts about Dakar...

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We are both Republican states with Muslim majority, we both have about 12 million inhabitants, and almost the same number of inhabitants in our capitals "Tunis & Dakar", about 2.30 million people. We "Tunisia & Senegal" were French colonies and got independence almost in the same period; 1956 for Tunisia and 1960 for Senegal. Accordingly, we can communicate in French. I spent my second day of Ramadan in Dakar and the atmosphere has reminded me of Tunisia; very slow movement during the day and very alive city at night. The voice of the calling for the prayer everywhere-since mosques are almost in every neighborhood- the reciting of the Quran, the greeting "Salam alikom" and the smell of the food were very familiar. Besides, the funniest thing that Tunis and Dakar have in common is an avenue called "Habib Bourguiba". Habib Bourguiba was the first president of the Republic of Tunisia right following the independenc

I am proudly African

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I am African, YES I am African and not Middle Eastern. Tunisia is obviously situated in North Africa. Accordingly, I belong to Africa more than any other identification attributed to me like being from the Arab region or the predominately Muslim societies. After Kenya's Global Voices Citizen Media Summit , my sense of belonging to Africa grew stronger. Surrounded by 300 people from 60 countries , I found myself attending the Kenyan panel , socializing with participants from Nigeria, Malawi, Ghana, Cameroon... and mostly interested in topics like Creating an African network,   I hope the Sub-Saharan Africa would link up with  the North in terms of activism, events, networking, partnerships... because we definitely have the common ground to work together for peace, youth empowerment, women's issues and many other topics that affect our regions. We all need to talk to each other, recognize each others&#

تكذيب لكل ما نشر في وسائل الإعلام

  بسمي وبسم عائلتي- عائلة المرحوم محمد الناصر الشابي بالدهماني -هذا  تكذيب لكل ما نشر في وسائل الإعلام عن حادثة مستشفى جهوي بالكاف لوفاة عمي    رد على مقال اقتحام قسم الاستعجالي بالمستشفى الجهوي بالكاف رسالة مفتوحة إلى السيد وزير الصحة العمومية و السيد وزير الداخلية لقد وجدت الصحف و وسائل الإعلام مادة سهلة و مثيرة لتشد إليها الرأي العام من قبيل "مدينة كذا تحترق أو مدرسة كذا تنهب أو اقتحام مستشفى" و عندما ندقق في الأمر نجد كل هذا باطلا. طلعت علينا وسائل الإعلام الثلاث المرئية و المسموعة و المكتوبة بخبر مفاده أنّ مواطنون أو أهالي مدينة الدهماني تقتحم المستشفى الجهوي بالكاف و تعتدي على من فيه و تخرب معداته، هكذا و بكل بساطة، فمن هو على غير علم بما حدث يتصور أن عصابة خارجة عن القانون هاجمت المستشفى و عاثت فيه فسادا و روّعت و خرّبت و كأن أهالي الدهماني هم بقايا بني هلال أو التاتار. لماذا يتعمّد الإعلام إلى اللجوء إلى هذه السلوكات دون تثبت أو ترو و دون الرجوع إلى المصدر أو حتى زيارة المرحوم و تقديم العزاء و استجلاء الأمر عما حدث دون تهويل أو تضخيم و يكون الإعلام

Women's studies in Sudan but not in Tunisia?!!

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While waiting in Cairo Airport for the next flight to Kenya, I have some thoughts to share with you. I met an impressive lady from Sudan who made me rethink about the status of women in Tunisia.  She was sitting right next to me on the plane. We had a little chat, then I asked her about her stay in Tunisia. She was attending a seminar gathering professors from all over the Arab region to discuss the Educational System. Then I asked her :"and what do you teach?". "Women's development", she answered. Well, I figured out then that they have women's studies in Sudan and my reaction was :" oh, interesting but we actually don't have it in Tunisia". She confirmed that she surprised the Tunisian attendees at the seminar when introduced herself as a professor of women's development. Well, they must be surprised if not ashamed, like I do feel. I've always thought that Tunisia as an Arab country is very much advanced in terms of women