31 May 2004

Tunisia: A noble modern-day experiment

It's Memorial Day and I've just returned from Tunisia. I didn't go because of the warm sunshine, the cool ocean breeze, the amazing ruins or the fascinating culture. This time I went because I am fascinated with this country that is a noble modern-day experiment.

Tunisia sits on the tip of the northeastern coast of Africa. They were the first to recognize the U.S. when we adopted our Constitution, and we were the first to recognize them when they adopted their constitution in 1957. They are the only Arab country to have such a document. They abolished slavery 150 years before we did.

In ancient days they were the "breadbasket" for the Roman Empire. Today they still provide food for much of Northern Africa.

According to Oussama Romdhani, the director general of the Tunisian External Communication Agency, "Tunisia is a 'melted pot' that is formed from the relationship between the 10,000 Christians, 3,000 Jews and several million Muslims that harmoniously live and work together."

I met this gracious middle-aged man over a fish dinner at the Sidi Bou Said Hotel on the outskirts of Tunis, the capital.

I can't think of any other place in the world that has this unique situation. For example, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali established the 2626 Fund, a donation fund supported by "civil society" to end poverty in Tunisia. Other government policies have driven down the poverty rate from 22 percent to 6 percent over the last decade. Eighty percent of the people own their own homes.

The government believes that using religious faith to co-op others is absolutely wrong. They say that some countries are not enlightened or informed about how to build their economy. These countries try to impose a fanatical belief on their nation.

For nine days I listened to men and women talk about their lives. A hundred times I heard the stories of how the Jewish and Muslims have lived together in peace for centuries. At dusk I even saw a thousand camels with their nursing babies in the desert.

Toward the end of the trip I took the ferry to the tiny Jewish village of Hara Kebira on the island of Djerba to watch the Ghriba Festival. Pilgrims from America, England and France were among the 1,000 locals that decorated a small white cart with women's colorful scarves and a gold crown to honor Ghriba, the saint who died in a fire so long ago no one knows the date anymore.

Heather Capell was one of a handful of American women who wrote her name on a fresh egg and then crawled under the synagogue to place it on a warm rock. This is the only time of the year that women are permitted to be inside this holy place. The next day Heather retrieved the cooked egg and ate it with the hope that her prayers for health, motherhood or to find a husband would be answered.

She sees herself in the Jews who live here. When asked if she was nervous about traveling in a Muslim nation to a festival that was the scene of violent bomb attack two years ago, she remarked, "You have to live your life ... if you stop, then they (the terrorists) win. Here, no one seems to care if you are Muslim or Jewish. We all belong."

"People should come here to see this place," she added. "The Jews and Muslims are very proud that they accept everyone. ... This is not a melting pot, but a place where people accept each other. They prove that we can live together."

Tunisia still has a long way to go ... but their message is one of hope because if little 'ole Tunisia, without any oil, can figure out how to build a strong economy and live in peace, surely a rich country like the U.S. could do the same.