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life (?) in Hammamet, Tunisia: Trip Advisor.com forum postings: Correspondence
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Planet Travelers' Forum about Tunisia News
& Reports: 2 Bloggers debate homosexuality and democracy 5/07 3 Lonely Planet Thorn Tree gay forum comments: Gay Travels in Tunisia 4 Sex and Relations in Tunisia 2007 5 Tunisia: At the Desert's Edge 7/07 (non-gay background story) 6 Training course for human rights activists concludes in Tunis 7/07 8 Where Europe, Africa and the Mideast Meet in Tunisia 5/08 (non-gay background story) 9 Internet Chat Rooms Offer Romance to Maghreb Residents--Including Lesbians 8/08 10 Tunisia Denies Allegations of Human Rights Abuses 8/08 11 Day 9: Tunisian swimmer Mellouli wins Olympic gold 8/08 12 Tunisians receive Olympic hero Oussama Mellouli 8/08
The articles
include the personal stories of homosexuals and lesbians, information
on their legal status in Tunisia, and a medical assessment
by Dr. Kamel Abdelhak, a psychologist specializing in sexual matters. In addition,
renowned anthropologist Malek Chebel [2] is quoted as asserting that homosexuality
is tolerated in Arab culture. Poems on bisexual love by 10th-century Persian-born
Muslim poet Abu Nawas are cited as an example.
May 3, 2007 2
Q from guilray: Any gay spots in Tunis? A: If
you speak French you are luckier than most tourists who can't. That
is a plus for you. Tunis and Tunisia do not have clubs, etc, in the
gay western sense, you are probably aware of that already, right?
One has to make do and use one's talents. With a knowledge of French,
you can probably much easier drop small linguistic clues and hints
as to what you are looking for.
4 2007 (?) Lifestyles
in Tunisia are far more modern than most visitors expect,
especially in the larger cities. Young men and women meet freely, and
pre-marital relations are far from uncommon. This rests both on the
traditional society values, where women played an important role in
society and was predominantly responsible for finding a life partner
by her own, and on the politics of the country which emphasize the
freedom of women. July 2007 5 by Christopher
Hitchens After Rome took its revenge and deleted Carthage from the historical page a hundred and forty-six years before Christ—as I was told by the Tunisian archaeologist Neguib Ben Lazuz as we sat in the shadow of the magnificent Roman amphitheater of El Djem—it cast around for a name to call its new colony. The most
imposing local people were the Afri, a Berber tribe in the northeastern
quarter of what is now Tunisia. And the new province of "Africa," or "Ifriqiyyah," as
its later, Muslim rulers were to call it, was sophisticated enough
to give its title to a continent. There were Roman emperors—such
as Septimius Severus—of African descent. In the eighth book of
his Natural History, written in the first century a.d., Pliny the Elder
made the observation, possibly borrowed from Aristotle, "Ex Africa
semper aliquid novi" ("There is always something new out
of Africa"). And
it is here that the crosscurrents between fundamentalism and cosmopolitanism,
syncretism and puritanism, are being most acutely registered.
From
the northern tip of Tunisia on a clear day, you can see the
shimmering Italian island of Pantelleria. Spanish and French and
Italian coast
guards regularly pick up Africans from as far south as Guinea
who have traversed the interior to launch their craft across the
Mediterranean.
(One of these was picked up the other day, having attempted
the perilous crossing with no more than an oil-drum raft and a G.P.S.
navigation
system. Give that man an entry permit! We require people with
such initiative.) This poses
a fairly stark choice. Will the northern littoral of Africa become
a zone of tension, uneasily
demarcating
a watery yet fiery line between Europe and the southern continent?
Or
will it evolve into a meeting place of cultures, trading
freely and cross-fertilizing the civilizations, as it did once before? The
Tunisian Jews make a potent grappa out of figs, which is
available as a digestif in most restaurants. There were several moments,
as I
was loafing around the beautiful blue-and-white seaside
towns or the exquisite classical museums and ruins, when the combination
of stylish
females, excellent food, clean streets, smart-looking traffic
cops, and cheap and efficient taxis made me feel I was in a place
more upscale
than many European recreational resorts and spas. I remembered
what my old friend the late Edward Said had told me: "You should go
to Tunisia, Christopher. It's the gentlest country in Africa. Even
the Islamists are highly civilized!" Then I
added two more. Since its independence from France, in 1956, Tunisia
has had exactly two presidents,
the first of whom, Habib Bourguiba, became a "president for life" before
being deposed for senility and megalomania. The
current ruler, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, will celebrate
his 20th year of uninterrupted power
this November. At election times, he has been
known to win more than 90 percent of the vote: a figure
that never fails to make me nervous.
I have not met the man, but within hours of landing in
the country I could have passed an exam in what he looks
like, because his portrait
is rather widely displayed. To the west lay the enormous country of Algeria, again artificially prosperous through oil and natural gas, but recently the scene of a heinous Islamist insurgency that—along with harsh and vigorous state repression—had killed perhaps 150,000 people. Looking farther away and to the south, Sudan's fanatical and genocidal militia, not content with what they had done in Darfur, were spreading their jihad into neighboring Chad, extending a belt of violent Islamism across the sub-Saharan zone. Increasingly, Africa was becoming the newest site of confrontation not just between Islam and other religions (as in the battle between Christian Ethiopia and Islamist Somalia, or between Islamists and Christians in Nigeria, or Islamists and Christians and animists in Sudan) but between competing versions of Islam itself. Why pick on mild Tunisia, where the coup in 1987
had been bloodless,
where religious parties are forbidden, where the population
grows evenly because of the availability of contraception, where
you can see male
and female students holding hands and wearing blue
jeans, and where thousands of Americans and more than four million
Europeans take their
vacations every year? And the
country is lucky in other ways as well. Its population is
a smooth blend of black and Berber and Arab, and though it proudly defends
its small minorities of Shiites, Christians (Saint
Augustine spent
time here), Baha'is, and Jews (there is a Jewish
member of the Senate), it is otherwise uniformly Sunni. It has been
spared the awful toxicity
of ethnic and religious rivalry, which makes it very
unusual in Africa. Its international airport is named Tunis-Carthage,
evoking African
roots without Afrocentric demagogy. I still could
not shake the feeling that its system of government is fractionally
less intelligent and
risktaking than the majority of its citizens. Oh no, not again. If you saw my "Londonistan" essay, in the June Vanity Fair, you will know that fanatics who are unwelcome in Africa and Arabia are allowed an astonishing freedom in the United Kingdom. The leader of Ennahda, the outlawed Tunisian Islamist group, the aforesaid Mr. Ghannouchi, was until September 11, 2001, allowed to broadcast his hysterical incitements into Tunisia from a London station. "Almost everything we have worked for in this country
among the young," I was told by Mounir Khelifa, a highly polished
professor of English, "can be undermined by any one of a hundred
satellite stations beamed into our society." I thought perhaps
he was exaggerating, or perhaps feeling insecure. The Tunisian authorities
sometimes give the same impression by hovering around in Internet
cafés
trying to invigilate what sites people are clicking
on. In a society where satellite dishes are everywhere,
this looks crude and old-fashioned. So this is the edge of uncertain awareness on which an outwardly happy and thriving society is poised. Some way to the south of that Roman amphitheater at El Djem, you begin to hit the Sahara. It was in this imposing dune landscape that Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and The English Patient were filmed. It is also here that the desert ceaselessly, mindlessly, but somehow deliberately tries to move northward. Its rate of progress is uneven, and varies from country to country, and when you do see the Tunisian Army it is often helping in measures—of planting and irrigation—to stave off the remorseless encroachment. An enclave
of development, Tunisia is menaced by the harsh extremists of a desert
religion, and ultimately
by the desert itself. As with everything
else in Africa, this is not a contest we can view with indifference.
31 July 2007 6 Human rights professionals from throughout the Arab world gathered in Hammamet for a ten-day symposium on human rights education organised by the Arab Institute for Human Rights. The training ended Monday (July 30th). by Jamel Arfaoui for Magharebia in Tunis At the opening of the 10-day course, Adam Abdelmoula, Regional Co-ordinator for the Human Rights Commission in Geneva, said "Such courses are important in the Arab region, which needs specialists in the field of defending human rights." Abdelmoula disclosed that he is a graduate of AIHR's first course, organised 17 years ago. Abdelmoula told Magharebia, "These courses are very important in empowering human rights defenders. And after the experience acquired by the Institute, we began to see its graduates throughout the world, bearing major responsibilities at human rights organisations." The course aims to familiarise human rights advocates with the international laws and charters related to human rights, and to train them to determine the type and nature of violations, and to deal with international organisations and governments on humanitarian issues occurring in their countries. This year's programme received support from the United Nations and the Ford Foundation, which strongly supports the Institute, which has trained more than 7,000 human rights activists. More than 20 Arab organisations participated in this year's course. Abdallah Ali Thabet, an independent activist from Saudi Arabia, said, "Very rapidly, I was able to become thoroughly familiar with all the various legal and intellectual aspects related to the human rights field. I thus revised many concepts I had understood incorrectly." Prior to the start of the course, Mokhtar Trifi, President of the Tunisian League for the Defence of Human Rights, told participants, "After completing the course, you will know the extent of the importance of intellectual and legal mastery in the human rights field." AIHR's President Taieb Baccouche expressed his group's determination to provide a professional, well-organised training course. He said he was proud of the institute, which managed "to train thousands of activists and workers in the field through scores of training courses—public and private, regional and national—as well as the scores of those who became trainers, many of whom established associations or took part in supporting existing associations and institutions." The AIHR is an independent Arab non-governmental organisation founded in 1989 upon an initiative from the Arab Organisation for Human Rights, the Arab Lawyers Union and the Tunisian League for Defence of Human Rights, and with support from the UN Centre for Human Rights. The institute won the international UNESCO Prize for Human Rights Education in 1992.
November 30, 2007 7 by Yotam Feldman, Amman, Jordan There are other places, too, for those seeking cross-border relations: Thakafa Street (thakafa means "culture" in Arabic) in the Shmeisani quarter is a cruising site for a higher-level crowd. Strolling on the well-lit street, amid the ubiquitous campaign posters for the parliamentary elections, are families with children, groups of students and also gay men (mostly young) who are trying to spot a new face in the city's small, stifling community. The searchers can be identified by their long pauses every few steps or by their many sidelong glances. Iman, a young literature student of Palestinian origin, whose family comes from Hebron, is here with friends to cruise Thakafa Street - "Not necessarily to look for anything, but if the opportunity arises, why not?" He is not ashamed to say that he's looking mainly for foreigners. "In a small place like Amman, people we don't know, with whom we haven't yet slept, are a refreshing innovation. You can find tourists here from different countries - Americans and Europeans - and also many from Arab states, and occasionally also Israelis." Just that morning, Iman relates, he met, via the Internet, a Saudi student who was in the city for a short visit. "It's been a long time since I met someone so uptight," he says. "He didn't stop shaking until we entered the hotel room. Anyway, I won't see him again." In the evening, Iman and his friends hang out at Books@Cafe, a coffee shop that is considered "gay-friendly" and whose owner acts as an adviser and mentor to his clients. He tells of efforts by the young people to create a sense of community. Two of them, he says, tried recently to put out a magazine for gays, but quickly found themselves in trouble with the authorities, who threatened them with legal proceedings. They shelved the idea. We meet one of them later in the evening, together with a group of his friends, in the gay bar RGB, a relatively new establishment. It's not very big - five wooden tables around which two groups of young men are milling. Sitting at one of the tables are two women, a couple, who have come from the lesbian bar that opened recently not far from RGB. Marwan, a successful young Palestinian entrepreneur, originally from Jerusalem, who is at RGB almost every evening, says he is not concerned by the implications of the ties between Jordanians and tourists. "The westernization and Jordan's economic dependence on the West are facts of life. The tourists, on the other hand, also alleviate our distress." At the same time, he regrets the fact that forging genuine relations is impossible under these conditions. "The end is more or less inevitable - the tourist will leave and we will probably never talk again. It is also unfortunate that it is impossible to find a place for meaningful encounters - all my recent encounters were in hotel rooms or in my car. Sometimes I feel a little like a prostitute." The anti-erotic element "They were an instance of the eastern boy and boy affection which the segregation of women made inevitable. Such friendships often led to manly loves of a depth and force beyond our flesh-steeped conceit. When innocent they were hot and unashamed." - T.E. Lawrence, "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" Gay Israeli travelers frequent Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey and Dubai. Holders of two passports also visit Beirut, which they say can compete with Tel Aviv as the gay capital of the Middle East, and Damascus, where the gay scene is more secretive. This is not sex tourism, all the travelers who were interviewed for this article emphasized, certainly not in the narrow sense of obtaining sex in return for money. The fear of being exposed as an Israeli heightens the thrill, some of the visitors say. "It's a state of consciousness, which allows you to overcome the usual inhibitions. The erotic yearning mobilizes additional forces," says Arnon, 35, who works for a human rights organization and makes frequent visits to Arab countries. The fantasy that lured Western travelers to the Arab world is not new. In the 19th century, writers and other creative artists, Europeans in general and Frenchmen in particular, were drawn to the Levant under the auspices of colonialism. On their return they described places where men slept with other men without being categorized as homosexuals, as in the West. "What connected me to the East was French literature of the 19th and 20th centuries," Arnon says. "Roland Barthes connected me to Morocco, and Flaubert to Tunisia. My image was of a place where almost every man could find himself in a sexual situation with another man, because you don't have the Catholic prohibition on sexual contact between males. That is further intensified for a Western man, for whom all the barriers are lifted, in part by material incentives. It is not confined to a bar or a park. The horizon of possibilities is far more dynamic, and it is not just about those who declare themselves gay. It can also be a married man - anyone, really." And were your expectations fulfilled? "Very quickly. There are always these types who approach you. For example, in Tunis - you are sitting in a cafe and someone makes eyes at you, comes over and asks, 'What are you looking for?' 'Where are you from? Are you married?' 'Would you like to go someplace?' You don't necessarily go straight to the hotel. Usually they want to go out, want you to take them drinking, to a discotheque." And it's at this stage that the economic dependence is created? "In the background, there is always the question of what they will get out of it in material terms. It's not that you are going to send them a hundred dollars a month for the rest of their lives, but relations of dependence form. Some of them told me that their dream is to leave Tunis and live in the West. They asked if I could write a letter to my consul general that will make it possible for them to get a visa. They asked that after 25 minutes of conversation." What was your reply? "I think I left it open. I said it's an interesting idea, maybe I will try." Does this put a damper on the experience? "It is the anti-erotic element that bothers me. In Tunisia, for example, someone I met invited me to his cousin's home. I went with him, even though I did not necessarily want sexual contact. I understood that the sexual thing was the payment I would make in order to see his house. "We got a cab and drove out to a kind of suburb. It was a large house, what's known in Israel as an Arab villa, made of concrete, on which construction was completed but hadn't yet been quite whitewashed or furnished, or maybe would never be whitewashed because the money has run out. The uncle was sitting in the courtyard, holding prayer beads and smoking. We said hello, and the man introduced me in Arabic and spoke with him." Was the uncle surprised to see a Western tourist in his courtyard? "Not in the least. Maybe he was thinking that this was exactly what he did with the French who were there 50 years ago. He was completely at ease. Inside we met the cousin - 'ahalan wasahalan' - and then okay, let's go to my room. We entered a room, which may or may not have been his, where there were two wooden beds and a poster of a Hollywood star on the wall. The small talk continued, the same conversation that is repeated on every trip. At a certain point he decides to turn off the light and starts to lean over me. After our pants are lowered the cousin opens the door and turns on the light. I thought there was going to be trouble, maybe he would be appalled, or maybe he would want to join, I don't know, but he only asked him something, took a pack of cigarettes from him, and left." Does the political dimension make such encounters highly charged? "From my point of view, that dimension is critical, because if you leave only the sexual core, nothing would exist. It all comes from anthropological curiosity, political power relations, attraction to him as the representation of something, through my Israeliness and Jewishness. It is absolutely a type of conquest or operation in enemy territory and a speedy withdrawal. I came, I experienced a few things, I pulled out. The moment I have collected intelligence, withdrawal back to the hotel as quickly as possible." Every trip is political "The association between the Orient and sex is remarkably persistent. The Middle East is resistant, as any virgin would be, but the male scholar wins the prize by bursting open, penetrating the Gordian knot ... 'Harmony' is the result of the conquest of maidenly coyness." - Edward Said, "Orientalism" Lior Kay, 32, one of the founders of the gay forum called Red-Pink in the Hadash Arab-Jewish party, has paid many visits to Arab states, including Iraq. He finds a direct link between his experiences as a gay man in Tel Aviv and his adventures abroad. "There is something very international about being gay," he says. "Gays have a tool that allows them to enter deep into communities that are rooted in the local culture. When you come to someone for a one-night stand, you learn about all kinds of things. You can see the house, meet the friends, have breakfast with them. There is this very deep desire to get to know, even if it is only for one night - things that don't necessarily happen to tourists. "I, for example, like parks more than pubs, because there is an experience of disclosure there. You meet people who are outside the mainstream. In parks there are people who have no vested interests. We forget that there are people who do not have vested interests. That's what I do in Jordan, for example, just talk with people who are wandering around the amphitheater." Kay entered Iraq in February 2004 on a U.S. passport, eight months after the start of the occupation. "On Friday I took a bus from Tel Aviv to Beit She'an. I hitchhiked to the border and then took a taxi to Amman, where I got a taxi to Baghdad. It was a 12-hour trip. We made a night stop in the desert and waited for the dawn, because it was dangerous to enter the Sunni triangle in the dark." There were hardly any tourists in Iraq at the time, he says. He walked around the city and talked to people, but was afraid to look for men. Are these visits also related to your political attitudes? "For me, all the trips are political and also social, in the sense that I see up close how people live. In many places I saw the anger at the West's pillage of resources, and of course at the Israeli occupation. What is the negative side of being political in this context? "There is a feeling of a stereotype that is at work on both sides. The fantasy of the West that likes what's available and hot, and the people who live there, who hope to latch on to the tourists to get out of the disgusting cycle of poverty. Sex in these countries has a very clear economic element: a relationship of exploiter and exploited. Sometimes there is a feeling that you can go with almost anyone you meet, that they want you not because of your personality but because of these relations." Where is that reflected? "Everywhere, and first of all in bed. Even the active and passive thing - very often they will not agree to be passive with a Jew. There is definitely a matter of honor." Do experiences in these countries challenge some of the images of homosexuality? "Yes. We know the Western definition of the gay person - someone like Oscar Wilde - but in the Arab countries it is formulated in different codes of their culture. There is also liberation from the usual image of the body - less of the Western worship of youth. Many of the normative rules of the West do not apply there. Here we have the gyms, the hair removal; there it is a little less orderly, there are more possibilities." Legislation is now being formulated that will strip Israelis of their citizenship if they visit Arab countries with which Israel does not have an agreement. Is it possible that you will no longer be able to travel there? From Egyptian writer Constantin Cafavy "In the Tavernas": "I am a law-abiding citizen, but I don't know how far my instinct for adventure will be repressed by that. Especially when it's a flagrantly undemocratic law which is aimed, I think, less at people like me than at Knesset members whose activity might create a chance for peace." Assad watches the men: "I wallow in the tavernas and brothels of Beirut. I live a vile life, devoted to cheap debauchery. The one thing that saves me, like durable beauty, like perfume that goes on clinging to my flesh, is this: Tamides, most exquisite of young men, was mine for two years, and mine not for a house or a villa on the Nile." (translated by Edmund Keeley/Philip Sherrard) Russell, an American who immigrated to Israel in 1982, first visited Syria in 1993, entering the country on an American passport. His first encounter with the gay community of Damascus was a chance one. "I went into a pizzeria in Damascus. There was only one empty seat. The young Syrian who was sitting next to me asked where I was from, and we got into a conversation. It turned out that he was in charge of renovating the Jewish Quarter in the Old City of Damascus. "Even though the norms are very different in Syria - for example, it is routine for men to walk hand in hand in the street, and usually it doesn't mean a thing - he somehow tuned me in and quickly started to pour out his heart. I asked him what was happening and where it was happening. He said it was done with a very low profile, a very traditional approach. The fear is less of the authorities, who monitor everything that goes on in the country, including gays, than of family and friends. He told me that people got together in homes, that there was a kind of group of gays who met every so often, and that there was sometimes sex with married men, too, but that there was no true gay life." And besides the homes, are there other meeting places? "In contrast to other Arab states, nothing happens in the hamams [public baths], but there are parks." Russell's host took him to a park. "He told me it was the cruising park of Damascus and that everyone went there, of all ages, for money and not for money. In the middle of the park there is a huge statue of Assad, who seems to be watching all the men. We walked around a little, said hello to a few people, and left." What was the atmosphere like? "Dark and not very pleasant, not friendly. I didn't feel that I could have hooked up with someone if I had found anyone. I also drew a lot of attention - suddenly there was this new face, white with blue eyes. A tourist in Independence Park [in Jerusalem] might be an attraction, but not a big deal." Did you get an unpleasant economic feeling from your encounters with men in Arab countries? "Not necessarily. I've been to Jordan 200 times. If you go to Book@Cafe and want to meet someone, you can put out feelers immediately. If it is someone who speaks English and is well dressed, you know he is not after your money. People who are after money will go to the theater area, where the refugees hang out and where there are more needy people. Of course, it differs from one country to another - Dubai is one big brothel, filled with foreign workers, most of the population is not Arabic, and you don't walk three meters without someone stopping you, whether it's in a mall or in Starbucks, it makes no difference." No consideration for Edward Said From: Gustave Flaubert, "Flaubert in Egypt": "Here it's quite well accepted. One admits one's sodomy and talks about it at the dinner table. Sometimes one denies it a bit, then everyone yells at you and it ends up getting admitted. Traveling for our learning experience and charged with a mission by the government, we see it as our duty to give in to this mode of ejaculation." (translated by Francis Yair Kedar, who was the editor of the travel magazine Masa Aher from 2003 to 2005, first visited Egypt in 1991, when he was 22. "I went with a gay French friend and an Italian-speaking Korean clergyman who joined us through a travel agency," he says. Kedar started to look for the gay scene where he had been told it was happening: hotel lobbies. "You are in a very large hotel lobby, in the Hilton, say, and you sit down on a sofa and scan the place. Someone sits down next to you and you start to talk about the weather - 'It's really hot today.' 'Where are you from?' 'What do you do?' 'Have you been to the pyramids?' And then he asks you if you would like to have a cup of coffee, and adds, 'Just the two of us.' And from there things develop. "There is also the boardwalk along the Nile, which is a good catching place, these liminal places along the water, where culture ends. You wander around in the evening, there are groups of two-three guys and they start to talk to you, and suggest that they go with you and visit the room." Do you feel guilty because gay tourism is also sex tourism, in the negative sense? "That is a moral dilemma, because the visits also derive from good reasons. Is there a conflict between what they are selling and the regimes in these countries, and the economic dimension that permeates the sexual relations? There is a big contradiction. Is there something distinctive about the gay experience in places like this? "There is a similarity between gay cruising and tourism: you are sold something that looks terrific from the outside by hiding the moral problem it entails - in that something is promised that cannot be fulfilled. In both cases there is a large dimension of guilt. On the other hand, I always thought that homosexuality is a great treasure that enables you to meet people and embark on new voyages with them. It's intriguing, and you acquire experiences, until at a certain age you discover that you are becoming less patient and less inquisitive." Benny Ziffer, the editor of the weekly Culture and Literature supplement of Haaretz (Hebrew edition), has written a great deal, in books and articles, about his erotic experiences in Arab countries. He says he chooses to ignore the feeling of guilt that accrues to the economic relations. "You walk in Alexandria and people offer themselves to you in return for shawarma. If I were political and Marxist, I would not do anything. If someone offers you something like that, you have to cry out to the high heavens. I am doing something bad: I am fulfilling a desire at the expense of these unfortunates. These relations of power are ancient, you know, it was the pattern in the colonial period. People who were nothing in France became great lords in these countries, because they could control the people." How do you justify it to yourself? "Maybe in my writing I purify myself, maybe by saying it now. I always travel in order to write, and I have always written; I can't bring myself to travel just like that - and I am not original in this, I did not invent it. I go to Egypt with the official goal of writing about bookstores, but the real inner goal is for something to happen from the erotic point of view, otherwise I will be very disappointed." Don't political relations interfere, in a period when there is critical talk about the East that was created by the writers you read? "I immerse myself in the erotic and literary East alike, without taking account of orientalism and without taking account of Edward Said. I have my life and my experiences and my things.
May 25, 2008 8 by Eric Lipton Yes, this was only a restaurant — named after the elegant 18th-century private mansion where it is housed, Dar El Jeld. But it happens to be one of Tunis’s finest, with a menu featuring such tangy delights as kabkabou, a tender dorade, with capers, stewed tomatoes and olives, in a delicious lemon, onion and tomato sauce. But the surprise upon entering Dar El Jeld expresses something you will find more than a few times when visiting this ancient capital city of Tunisia: it is a captivating adventure that exceeds expectations — somehow successfully mixing Mediterranean flavors, Arabic and North African history and a modernist European touch. Tunis, just inland from the Mediterranean, is known quite well by Europeans — particularly the British and the French, who take cheap flights south so they can be on the nearby beaches in just a few hours. But for most Americans, it is off the beaten path, as Morocco is the much more conventional destination for those who venture to North Africa. But the Tunis area has an extraordinary amount to offer — and in a way it features more variety and even history, you could argue, than Fez or Marrakesh. The list includes its unrivaled medina, whose alleys and covered passageways go on for miles, filled with markets, mosques and cafes; the nearby ruins of the ancient Phoenician port city of Carthage; the bustling beach town of La Marsa; and the charming hillside village of Sidi Bou Said, where the blue-and-white painted homes have views reaching out for miles over the gentle waters of the Gulf of Tunis. It is not a place, obviously, that has anywhere near the range of luxury accommodations found on the European side of the Mediterranean. But it has an increasing number of upscale places to stay and eat, not only in Tunis’s center, but also in the beachside villages and resorts just outside the city. The highlight of a visit to Tunis is the ancient core of the city itself: the seventh-century medina, which, beyond the most intensely touristy spots surrounding Jemaa Ez Zitouna (the Great Mosque), has a more genuine feeling than its counterparts in Morocco. Yes, it is true that during peak tourist times in the summer, the number of foreigners at the central souks packed into the covered corridors that surround the Great Mosque can easily outnumber the locals. And the merchants invite you into their stores, trying to guess what country you come from by greeting you in French, English, Spanish or German. But venture out beyond this area, losing your way through the alternating shadows and sunlight of the twisting streets, and you are overtaken by a sensual assault: the smells of the burning incense and spice stores; the undulating chant of the prayer calls; the blue, beige and orange doors that decorate certain homes; and the local Tunisians, pushing carts or carrying overstuffed bags of goods. What makes the medina so special is that there is a great deal of real commerce that still goes on there, as at Mourad Bouali’s closet-sized silversmith workshop on Rue Sidi Ben Arous, where he and his brother-in-law make custom-ordered silver lamps using hammers, a hot, blue flame and rolls of fine silver. Take a break at Café Ez Zitouna or Café Essour, both on Rue Jemaa Ez Zitouna, for a coffee or tea and snack. The Halfaouine neighborhood, which starts just outside the medina’s northern walls, also offers scenes that are entirely varnish free, as thousands of residents mill about buying up the endless supply of fresh meats, vegetables, fish and other essentials. A man, at the foot of the main square, holds six live chickens in his hands, bargaining a fair price for his game with particular gusto. It makes New York’s Union Square farmers’ market look like a minimart. Exit the medina from the eastern side and it is like passing through a time machine, as you cross through the appropriately named Porte de France and emerge somehow in Belle Époque Paris. This is the start of the colonial city the French built during their occupation of Tunisia, which began in 1881. There on Avenue Habib Bourguiba, Elham and I found bustling sidewalk spots like Café de Paris, and the grand National Theater, whose Art Nouveau facade is so overdone with flowing sculptures it almost resembles the icing on a wedding cake. Perhaps most out of place is the Cathedral of St. Vincent de Paul — with its two Moorish/Gothic bell towers — which the French built in 1882 as a clear symbol of their intention to stay. The various layers of cultures that define — and in many ways elevate — Tunisia are most on display along the avenue. There are all these French-style cafes — only some of which serve wine — in what of course is a Muslim country. The street is often described as the Champs Élysées of Tunis, but it is named after the former Tunisian president who wrestled its independence from France in 1956. Down toward the base of Avenue Habib Bourguiba is another remnant of the French rule: a train station built by the French that quickly (and cheaply) links the city center to the string of seaside towns that are an essential part of any Tunis itinerary. Eight quick stops down the line and you are again sent through a time warp: you step out in Carthage, the one-time playground of Dido and Hannibal. The Romans, when they arrived in this Phoenician city in 146 B.C., did a pretty good job of demolishing the main sites — what is left today really are ruins, surrounded by the well-kept homes of this now-affluent suburb. But the spirit of Dido, who founded Carthage, and Hannibal, the military commander who used it as a base to invade Italy, still survives, in the rolling seaside hills that lead down to the remains of the Punic port. A morning stroll through the different sites and gardens — the Roman baths, and the Sanctuary of Tophet, where hundreds of small stone markers designate the spot where children sacrificed to gods were buried — is a haunting and memorable one. Atop a hill overlooking the ancient port city is Villa Didon, an über-modern hotel designed by the French architect Philippe Boisselier. There is nothing else like it in Tunisia. Everything inside is sleek and white. The doors to suites slide open like some kind of spaceship hatch. An oversized marble bathtub sits right in the middle of the bedroom, not far from the oversized flat-screen TV. Downstairs is a hip bar, which is popular among rich Tunisians as well as tourists. And while the restaurant that Alain Ducasse opened there in 2004 is no longer run by the French master, Le Rest’ô — as it is now called — still offers a pretty tasty, although pricey, fare. Staying there will cost you dearly — at least by Tunisian standards — as the smallest of the 10 rooms start at 370 dinars a night, about $308 at 1.2 dinars to the dollar. Just outside Carthage lies the whitewashed hilltop town of Sidi Bou Said. During the day, its cobblestone streets can be almost overwhelmingly crowded with tourists. But in the evening, the crowds recede, the tourists depart and the charms of this postcard-perfect town known for its trademark blue-and-white buildings emerge. And within the confines of the Dar Saïd hotel, you are in a private sanctuary, with wide-open Mediterranean views and an Old World feel. There is a tiled courtyard with a pool and bar, where, upon your arrival, a man arrives in an instant, laying out towels on a lounge chair and offering up beverages and snacks. Adjacent to the pool is a small, perfectly manicured garden, where breakfast is served, amid the jasmine and pink bougainvillea. Only five of the rooms have sea views, which are worth the extra price. On the last night of our stay in Tunisia, after a day trip to the beach at La Marsa, Elham and I had dinner at the restaurant across the street from the Dar Saïd, which is built just at the edge of a ravine that faces the Mediterranean. Entering the restaurant, Dar Zarrouk, you almost lose your breath, the blue expanse reaches out, both from the sky and the sea, for miles without end. We were escorted to a table near the middle of the glass-walled room. A blur of French and Arabic filled the room — no English, except at our table for two. As the sun went down and the first stars of the night started to come out, and we sipped a crisp Tunisian muscat, I could not help but think that this was another revelation — another spot of extraordinary charm and beauty. For us, at least, it was a fitting final face of Tunis. Layers Of Culture, In Old Alleys And Modern Villas How To Get There There are no direct flights from New York to Tunis. You can fly British Airways (www.britishairways.com) to London Heathrow, and then from Gatwick to Tunis; recently, mid-June round trips started around $1,240. Taking Air France (www.airfrance.com) through Paris eliminates the airport switch, starting around $1,470 in June. A cab into the city costs about $10. Where To Stay In Tunis, Dar el Médina (64, rue Sidi Ben Arous; 216-71-56-30-22; www.darelmedina.com) is by far the first choice. It is a former private home that has been turned into a gorgeous and comfortable 12-room inn, still run by the same family that built the house 183 years ago. A double room is $180. Outside the medina, the 49-room Tunisia Palace Hotel (13, avenue de France; 216-71-24-27-00; www.goldenyasmin.com) is an impeccably renovated bank building, with doubles starting at 185 dinars a night, $154 at 1.2 dinars to the dollar. A more budget-oriented option is the plain but decent 80-room Carlton Hotel (31, avenue Habib Bourguiba; 216-71-33-06-44; www.hotelcarltontunis.com), which has double rooms for 96 dinars, including breakfast. In Sidi Bou Said, the Dar Saïd (Rue Toumi; 216-71-72-96-66; www.darsaid.com.tn) is beautiful and luxurious. Its 24 rooms go for 275 to 480 dinars. It is best to avoid two spots near Tunis: Hammamet, which is Tunisia’s Cancún, filled with downmarket, all-inclusive hotels; and Gammarth, a more upscale, just-built, American-style hotel-golf course-resort area that lacks any real Tunisian flavor. Where To Eat Dar El Jeld occupies an old mansion in the heart of the medina in Tunis (5-10, rue Dar El Jeld; 216-71-56-09-16; www.dareljeld.tourism.tn). Prix-fixe dinners run 45 to 80 dinars, without wine. Le Rest’ô at Villa Didon in Carthage (Rue Mendès; 216-71-73-34-33; www.villadidon.com) will cost you about 50 dinars for dinner, without wine. Neptune (3, rue Ibn Chabbat; 216-71-731-456) offers open-air dining on the waterfront in Carthage. Tasty grilled dorade and dessert is about 25 dinars. Getting Around The Tunis-Goulette-Marsa, or T.G.M., train goes from the city to Carthage, Sidi Bou Said and La Marsa. The trip is also not too expensive a cab ride. A rental car is only necessary if you want to go out to the end of Cap Bon, the nearby peninsula. When To Go In the late spring and fall, it is still warm enough to go to the beach, but not so hot as to make the city insufferable.
August 1, 2008 9 The Maghreb region has embraced the trend of meeting strangers in chat rooms and finding a venue for self-expression, even on taboo subjects, in cyber-space. by Jamel Arfaoui for Magharebia in Tunis Meryam, who is over 30 years old and still single, said the internet helped her achieve her long-desired goal of getting to know the opposite sex "without embarrassment or any obligations". "I'm free to speak to whoever I want and to reject whoever I want," she said. "The environment in which I grew up is conservative and rejects social intercourse between men and women. I had no other option but to secretly log into these virtual clubs where the two sexes can meet." One website drawing more visitors every day is Ab Coeur. It is becoming increasingly popular among the young. According to the owners of the website, the number of subscribers is currently about 300,000, made up mostly of Algerians, Tunisians and Moroccans. The French also have a notable presence on the site. Subscribers range from 18 to 90 years old. One-third of them are women. Ab Coeur subscriber Mourad ben Saad, a young man in his twenties, said he spends more than 5 hours a day on his computer, either surfing or chatting on the website. "I have become addicted to speaking with girls whom I don't know," he said. "We speak about everything… without any taboos." Mourad's internet girlfriends are of different ages, locations and backgrounds. He has also encountered married women, as well as men who wanted to have relations with him. "What surprised me most is that they spoke frankly with me about their sexual inclinations," he told Magharebia, "including sexual preferences that no one would dare to speak about away from the computer screen". Journalist Mokhtar Tlili has been monitoring the website since it was launched five years ago. "You find the real images of the Arab and Islamic societies," he said. "You discover people who speak absolutely honestly about issues that are not only rejected in our countries, but also religiously and morally banned; issues that family and friends refuse to accept." Tlili thinks that the internet has forever changed the rules for social contact in the region. "After 14 centuries of a male-dominated system that doesn't allow any discussion of emotional and sexual issues, the web came to destroy all the taboos and forbidden issues. Our young people are now able to find a confession stand on the web, through which they express all their passionate dreams, as well as their concerns and questions, without fear," Tlili explained. "The web has given the young people of our region an unparalleled opportunity to escape from a reality that judges natural emotional relations on a scale of halal and haram." He also suggests that speaking so freely about emotional matters may relieve some young people from psychological pressures which can lead to violence: "After someone spends his/her night speaking about love and agitated passions, this will make them more balanced the following morning when they walk in the streets." [Jamel Arfaoui] For many young people, meeting online is easier than arranging to spend time in person. But this virtual freedom does not come without a need for online anonymity. Fake names and fictionalised biographies are common among the Tunisians who frequent these sites. Some use entertainers' names such as "Jennifer Lopez" or "Monica Bellucci." Others prefer to go political and choose to be called "Obama" or "Kennedy". Subscribers offer a hint about their personality with usernames such as lalatek (your lady), mughamer" (adventurer), aabera (female passer-by) or haera (bewildered woman). Devout Muslims have also joined the trend. Religious net surfers, such as the Moroccan teacher who introduced himself as "Muslim" or the Tunisian woman with the moniker "mohajaba" (veiled woman), do not hesitate to ask that their partner be devout as well. Men outnumber women 4-1 in chat rooms. Most are in their thirties or forties. No one seems embarrassed to talk about their sexual preferences, even married men and women looking for casual relationships or girls looking for intimacy with other girls. "All males, with all due respect, please don't try to contact me," one female user writes on her page. Another post says, "I will reject all men. Therefore, they shouldn't try to contact me and waste my time." During the week, especially in the morning hours, older people dominate the site. Most of them access the internet from work. It is another story on the weekends, however, when young people make web traffic spike. In "a world where there is no time for meeting or getting to know other people", said Tunisian social worker Mongi Saidani, the younger generation is comfortable pursuing online rendezvous. "Unlike the reality they live in," he said, in the cyber-world, "young men are not required to propose or bear the consequent financial obligations". The web "protects them against everything, including the taboos that are still prevalent in Arab society,"
August 3, 2008 10 Tunisian Justice Minister Tunisian Bechir Tekkari denounced on Saturday (August 2nd) the recent "false allegations on the human rights record" in the country, local and international press reported. Speaking on the sidelines of the congress of the ruling Democratic Constitutional Rally (RCD), he asserted that Tunisia obeys all international conventions concerning the protection of human rights. He also denied the existence of secret prisons in the country. On Thursday, the Observatory for the Protection of Defenders of Human Rights condemned the continuing "acts of repression against defenders of human rights in Tunisia". magharebia.com August 17, 2008 11 Swimmer Oussama Mellouli made history in Beijing on Sunday by winning Tunisia's first gold medal in 40 years. Olympic medal aspirations remain alive for some other Maghreb athletes in athletics and boxing events. Mawassi Lahcen in Casablanca, Nazim Fethi in Algiers and Mona Yahia in Tunis contributed to this report – 17/08/08 Tunisian swimming champion Oussama Mellouli kisses the gold medal he won in the 1500m freestyle on Sunday. Tunisian swimmer Oussama Mellouli pulled off an upset victory Sunday (August 17th) to claim the gold medal in the 1500m freestyle Sunday (August 17th) at the Beijing Olympics. With 300m left in the race, the 24-year-old took over the lead from world-record holder and 4-time world champion Grant Hackett to win in 14:40.84. After completing 30 laps, Mellouli's touched the wall just 0.69 seconds ahead of Hackett, who took the silver medal in 14:41.53. Ryan Cochrane of Canada won the bronze.
"I felt good in the first 400m of this race and at 800m and 900m I started believing that I could win," Mellouli told reporters. Tunisia's swimming sensation came off an 18-month suspension in May after testing positive for the amphetamine Adderall at a 2006 meet. Mellouli has maintained that the incident was an "honest mistake". "I've been waiting for this moment for two years. It's the redemption I wanted and I got it. This year was difficult because of the [drugs] penalty, but I thank God for the talent I've been given," Mellouli said. "In the finals you never know what can happen, you could get last or first. At the Olympic Games anything can happen. It was a miracle and for once the miracle was for me," he added. Another Tunisian athlete did not fare as well. Habiba Ghribi finished 13th in the women’s 3000m steeplechase Sunday in Beijing, completing the course in 9:36.43 minutes. Russia's Gulnara Galkina-Samitova scored a new world record of 8:58.81 minutes to take the gold. The ninth day of the Beijing Olympics was also disappointing for Algerians who were relying on success in athletics events. During much of the 42km marathon, Soaud Ait Salem looked promising. He was part of the leading pack until the 35th kilometer, when he fell behind and never regained the ground. He finished 9th with a time of 2:28:29. Antar Zerguelaine and Tarek Boukensa were both eliminated in the semi-final of the 1500m footrace. In the men's 10,000m race, Moroccan athletes Abdellah Falil and Mohamed El Hachimi hardly stood a chance because Kenyans, Ethiopians and Eritreans dominated the leading positions. Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele won the gold medal, setting a new Olympic record of 27.01.17. The outlook for Maghreb boxers still looks good. Tunisian flyweight Walid Chérif qualified to the men’s +51 kg quarter-final after crushing his Korean opponent Oksung Lee 11-5 on points. Cherif is due to fight Italy's Picardi Vincenzo on Wednesday (August 20th). Algerian boxers Abdelkader Chadi (+57 kgs), Benchebla Abdelhafidh (+81 kgs) and Nawfel Ouettah (+91 kgs) are the last Algerians in the running for medals at the games. On Monday, featherweight Chadi will face Turkey's Yakup Kiliç, super-heavyweight Ouettah will meet Ukraine's Vyacheslav and light heavyweight Benchebla will fight China's Xiaoping Zhang.
25 August 2008 12 by Mona Yahia for Magharebia in Tunis He noted that the win was the fruit of huge efforts and months of endless work before the Olympics. "I have realised the goal I set for myself before the start of these Olympic Games," Mellouli said. "I wanted to prove again that Tunisian sports can shine in major international events." He added that he was prepared to raise the bar and achieve new successes in future world championships and the London 2012 Games. The swimmer's father and siblings joined a throng of reporters and officials, including Minister of Sports Abdallah Kaabi, at Carthage International Airport to receive the new champion. They all expressed their happiness for Mellouli and his victory. Bands provided a backdrop of folk music to add to the many posters and banners emblazoned with greetings reading "Welcome Tunisia's Champion" and "Welcome Gold Hunter." Mellouli said he was touched upon seeing the scale of his reception. Tunisian National Olympic Committee President Abd Hamid Slama said, "The greatest happiness was when the Tunisian flag was raised and we listened to the Tunisian national anthem being played in the biggest international sports event. We hope that new generations will follow in Mellouli's footsteps." Outside the airport, hundreds of Tunisians waited, chanting Mellouli's name and carrying banners decorated with photos of the athlete and Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. They rushed to greet the Tunisian champion, who returned their greetings from inside an open vehicle. Mellouli, wearing the gold medal on his chest and a Tunisian flag over his shoulder, waved signs of victory to the cheering fans. Mohammed Gammoudi, gold medal-winner from the 1968 Games in Mexico City said, "We have been waiting a long time. Now the complex is over. We hope to have more than one Mellouli and more than one Gammoudi in the future." With great happiness, Tunisian Swimming Federation President Arbi Chanhani said, "Mellouli didn't just honour Tunisian sports, but all African sports." Many Tunisians also followed the closing ceremony of the Beijing Games on Sunday. "I happened to be in a café by coincidence, and watched the closing ceremony which was truly awesome," said 35-year-old Tunis resident Mourad Zmerli. "Actually, I wish one of the Arab states would host the Olympics and do a good job like China did." Farid Brinssi told Magharebia he was impressed with the event, which gave viewers a glimpse of Chinese culture and civilisation. "I started following the Olympics when Mellouli won the gold medal," said Mona. "Today, I saw a marvellous ceremony. It seems that the London Olympics will be equally impressive, based on what we saw in the event." |
