Tunisian perspectives abound in blogosphere

30/03/2009

This week saw a variety of interesting online contributions by Tunisian bloggers, on topics ranging from the environment to religious fundamentalism.

[L'Alternaute] Many blogs devoted space to promoting this weekend's Earth Hour initiative.

Tunisian bloggers were busy this week, covering topics from Islam and feminism to beauty tips.

Several authors noted Saturday's (March 28th) Earth Hour, where citizens from around the world were encouraged to turn off their lights between 8:30 and 9:30 PM local time to raise awareness of the importance of action against climate change and environmental degradation.

"It's such a shame that there are only a few Arab countries on the list of EARTH HOUR participants," wrote Eman of Tunisia's AquaCool. The author called on readers to participate in the global event, asking them to "switch those lights off and enjoy a candle-light atmosphere for at least an hour."

L'Alternaute reprinted a promotional Earth Hour poster to motivate readers to join in, and El Khadra Environmental News posted a similar message, including a video.

On Islamiqua, Iqbal Gharbi considered the question of whether Islam and feminism are compatible or opposed. "Women's involvement in Muslim history has oftentimes been hidden," she wrote. "Yet women's impact during the beginning of Islam, its spread, its struggles, is primordial."

Tunisia's Mon Massir posted a sequel to a previous post about equality. "Today, we request… greater equality of rights and obligations," the blogger wrote. Comparing rights in her country to other Arab nations, she concluded: "I am under the impression that some Tunisians do not realise how lucky we are in Tunisia… If we are not careful, we could lose these rights."

Tunisian blogger Kiffe Grave wrote about how social networking sites and other websites are used by young Tunisians to have fleeting romantic encounters. According to the writer, many youths engage in "behaviours that are not necessarily, as some would say, of 'our culture'."

Tunisia's El Manchou posted a study previously published in Al Sabah, which showed that 37% of Tunisian teenagers have thought about suicide, and that 16% of young Tunisians have engaged in unprotected sexual relations.

Meanwhile, L'Alternaute's Lilia explored traditional beauty treatments, which she used to address her various beauty problems. She recommended Moroccan Argan oil and mixed oil consisting of castor oil, chamomile, rosemary, lavender, and thyme for the hair. She also recommended watercress soap for the skin.

Jeunes Tunisiens reviewed a recent book by Nadia Khouri Dagher titled L'Islam Moderne: des musulmans contre l'intégrisme [Modern Islam: Muslims against Fundamentalism]. The new volume, which presents the views of "intellectuals, students, writers, artists, journalists and homemakers" on modern Islam, went on sale in bookshops on March 26th.

Bloggers outside Tunisia also addressed a variety of issues. Arabesque posted about France 24's recent programme, "Pilleurs de mots" (Word Thieves), which revealed that "Violations of intellectual property are common in the Arab world." Among those implicated were journalists, doctors, a member of the Saudi royal family, an Islamist Member of Parliament from Kuwait, as well as several researchers. Arabesque gave further details about other forms of plagiarism in show business as well.

Maghreb Politics Review's Alle posted a piece on Algeria's presidential elections. "The Algerian government has decided to close some of the country's mosques between prayer times for, you guessed it, security reasons," the blogger wrote.

Alle added that "the purpose of this is obviously to disrupt Islamist opposition activity during the election campaign... we have a situation where a number of Islamists, secular intellectuals and Berber activists are all, for once, united".