US embassy cable - 05TUNIS2564

C O N F I D E N T I A L  TUNIS 002564 
 
 
STATE FOR NEA/MAG - LAWRENCE 
PARIS FOR ZEYA 
LONDON FOR TSOU 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/27/2015 
TAGS: PREL, TS 
SUBJECT: THE DICHOTOMY OF ISLAM IN TUNISIA 
 
REF: A. TUNIS 2420 
     B. TUNIS 2153 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR WILLIAM HUDSON FOR REASONS 1.5 (b) AND (d) 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY.  Tunisian religious views cut across a wide 
spectrum of beliefs and adherence.  From atheists to 
Christians to Muslims to Jews, Tunisians are diverse in their 
religious views. While Islamic extremists may have enjoyed 
strong popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s, since 
then the GOT has co-opted the religious movement while 
labeling those with political leanings as terrorists.  Many 
secular Tunisians, especially those of the Bourguiba 
generation, also completely reject the possibility of 
including conservative religious elements in government, as 
they believe these groups will reverse the social and 
cultural progress Tunisia has made since independence. At the 
same time, Tunisians are more visibly religious today than 
they were even ten years ago.   END SUMMARY. 
 
BACKGROUND 
========== 
 
2. (C) Tunisia has a history of moderate and secular 
religious leanings. Founding father and first President Habib 
Bourguiba undertook political and social reforms that some 
called anti-Islamic according to some interpretations of the 
Quran, such as banning polygamy and granting women 
inheritance rights. He also famously drank juice on 
television during the holy month of Ramadan and removed a 
young woman's veil, saying both could hinder progress and 
development. Tunisians explain that the Maliki school of 
Islamic jurisprudence followed by North Africans is more 
moderate that those schools followed in the Levant and the 
Gulf, and that Tunisians have rarely been conservative or 
even observant Muslims.  Despite this, like many Muslim 
countries, Tunisia experienced a resurgence of conservative 
religious elements in the late 1980s and early 1990s.  Second 
(and current) President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali and the 
an-Nahda (Renaissance) Party engaged in a bitter and 
sometimes violent struggle for political power.  An-Nahda, 
which enjoyed strong support, particularly among students, 
was subsequently banned, and Ben Ali has used the Ministry of 
Interior to ensure religious elements never again gained such 
popular support. 
 
ISLAM IN TUNISIA TODAY 
====================== 
 
3. (C) Tunisians and foreigners alike often remark on the 
increase in outward displays of faith that has occurred in 
Tunisia over the past ten years.  More women appear to be 
wearing the veil, mosque attendance is rising, and more 
Tunisians fast during Ramadan.  Even public advertising seems 
to be impacted. Recently, local shops displayed an 
advertisement for skin cream that depicted a naked female 
body. A few weeks later, the posters were covered with a 
piece of draped cloth that hid the female features, and 
shortly thereafter the ads were taken down altogether. 
Poloff spoke to two well-educated, professional thirty year 
old women about the ad: their responses represent the 
divergent views of average Tunisians about religion today. 
One expressed shock that conservative elements could actually 
impact advertising; the other said she was pleased that 
someone was taking action to protect religious morals. 
 
GOT RESPONSE 
============ 
 
4. (C) Since the mid-1990s, the GOT has been waging a war of 
words with religious elements, characterizing conservative 
Muslims as "Islamists" and "terrorists".  This policy has 
been quite successful, as the two terms are used practically 
interchangeably in Tunisia today.  The GOT uses the term 
"Islamist" to tarnish the image of those who it thinks 
represent a threat to regime stability.  FM Abdullah recently 
told Ambassador (Ref A) that he has noticed a "regression" in 
Tunisian society toward more conservative religious 
practices.  At a recent meeting with U.S. military officials, 
the MFA Director General for the Americas and Asia 
characterized those who use the Quran to justify extremism as 
"criminals".  The GOT also uses a policy of "exporting" 
nationals who are suspected of fundamentalist behavior to 
combat the internal Islamic threat, while failing to address 
the root causes (Ref B). 
 
5. (C) To reach out to moderate Muslims and combat extremism, 
President Ben Ali has also taken steps to co-opt the 
popularity of religious sentiments in Tunisia by highlighting 
his own religious sentiments and practices.  In 1992, Ben Ali 
elevated the then Department of Religious Affairs to a 
full-fledged Ministry.  On Muslim holy days, Ben Ali prays at 
a large mosque built in greater Tunis in 2003, eclipsing a 
nearby historical cathedral.  In an attempt to further 
exploit Tunisia's Muslim and Arab heritage, Ben Ali decreed 
that Arabic is the official language of the GOT. One of his 
daughters now reportedly wears the hijab, or veil. 
 
SECULARISM STILL STRONG 
======================= 
 
6. (C) A significant portion of the Tunisian populace is 
strongly secular in their beliefs and agrees with President 
Ben Ali and the GOT that political Islam represents a threat 
to Tunisia's economic and social progress.  These views are 
found throughout Tunisia, not only in the relatively modern 
and Western capital of Tunis. A young shopkeeper in the 
ancient Roman town of Sbeitla told Poloff that he is Arab, 
not Muslim.  Muslims pray, go to mosque and read the Quran, 
and are nothing like him.  The trend towards increasingly 
outward expression of one's faith is disturbing to these 
Tunisians, who tend to doubt the true intentions of those who 
suddenly become conservative Muslims.  One woman told Poloff 
that shopkeepers complain that women are donning the hijab 
then coming to the market and stealing produce.  A former 
an-Nahda member also complained to Poloff that politicized 
Muslim groups are all about political activism and alliances. 
 God and religion are irrelevant to these organizations, 
which would not be any better than the current political 
leadership in Tunisia. 
 
RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCE, NOT EXTREMISM 
=================================== 
 
7. (C) At the same time, many Tunisians are increasingly 
demonstrating their religious beliefs, while calling into 
question the historically secular nature of Tunisian society. 
 One man, discussing the 2002 floods in Tunisia, told Poloff 
that natural disasters are the result of "people not thanking 
God."  He went on to explain that Tunisians do not pray or 
otherwise fulfill their religious commitments, especially 
those Tunisian women go out of the house "naked."  More 
religious Tunisians often express their feelings that the GOT 
restricts their ability to worship freely. A young doctoral 
student told Poloff that she would wear the veil, but she 
fears that her brothers, who are government employees, could 
lose their jobs if she insisted. There are many anecdotes 
about GOT harassment of veiled women or men with beards, 
including stories that police have torn off women's veils, 
manhandled veiled women in the markets and arrested and 
interrogated bearded men or veiled women.  This strong 
government reaction drives the most religious underground - 
and even out of the country.  Some Tunisians claim to know a 
story - real or rumored - of a young Tunisian man who 
traveled to Iraq on "jihad" to fight in the Iraqi resistance. 
 
THE MIDDLE ROAD 
=============== 
 
8. (C) Despite the strong views against conservatism, some 
observant Muslims have found a middle ground that is 
acceptable to the GOT.  Such Tunisians attend mosque and 
observe other religious practices, while keeping a low 
profile.  One forty-year-old man told Poloff that his wife 
wears the veil. When asked if she had any difficulties with 
the GOT, he said, "No, she wears the traditional head scarf, 
not a conservative veil."  Another young woman cited a hadith 
(saying) from the Prophet Muhammad, that advises (in short) 
if you cannot speak out against wrongdoing, or express your 
disagreement, the least you can do it know it is wrong in 
your heart.  The woman said that she does not believe she can 
wear the veil in Tunisia, but she, and thus God, knows that 
she would if she could. 
 
9. (C) COMMENT. The GOT's efforts to walk the fine line 
between respecting Tunisia's Islamic roots and combating 
religious extremism has had an unclear impact on the public. 
Clearly, the apparent increase in religious observance is 
being tolerated to a certain extent by the GOT.  But any 
forays into the political sphere, through government 
criticism or political activism, are completely restricted. 
While one could speculate that repressing religious 
expressions could lead to a religiously-based attempt to 
overthrow the government, the unique position of Islam in 
Tunisia suggests that there are many moderate elements that 
could act as a counter-balance to any sudden move towards 
extremism. In fact, scholarly works that discuss topics such 
as moderate Islamic political thought, secular government and 
interfaith dialogue, are among the most popular books in 
Tunisia. 
 
 
HUDSON