Friends of Tunisia
(An Affiliate of the National Peace Corps Assoc.)
P.O. Box 25245
Washington, DC 20007
Tel. (202) 526-0897
May 1999
NO FOT ACTIVITIES PLANNED FOR NPCA CONFERENCE...BUT MEMBERSHIP LISTS ARE AVAILABLE FOR STATES
Because only one FOT member expressed interest in attending this year's National Peace Corps Association annual conference in St. Paul, Minnesota (on August 12-15), FOT will not hold a meeting at the event. However, if you are interested in finding out the names of FOT members in your state - and possibly setting up a local social event - write us and we'll send you a list.
SUGGESTIONS NEEDED FOR NEXT FOT MEETING IN D.C.
FOT's event planners in the Washington area - Patricia McPhelim and Bonny Tyler - request help planning DC's fall meeting/social get-together. (No spring meeting this year.) They would like to have a cultural/educational activity along with the social event. Perhaps you have photos or a film of a recent trip to Tunisia or know of something else that can be shared with others. If so, please contact either Patricia (202-362-6342) or Bonny (202-462-7396). All suggestions welcomed.
HILLARY AND CHELSEA CLINTON VISIT TUNISIA
On March 25-27, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton visited Tunisia on a good will trip to North Africa. The first lady's itinerary included a visit to a housing project funded by the "26-26" Solidarity Fund and a work center run by ENDA Inter-Arab, a non-governmental organization. (FOT recently began to offer financial support to ENDA's micro-loan clients.)
At the Congress Palace on March 26, Mrs. Clinton addressed a regional women's conference that included delegates from Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, and Egypt. Taking her theme from the Tunisian film "Silence of the Palace," Mrs. Clinton repeatedly urged women to end the silence of the past and speak out to obtain women's rights, which she equated with human rights: "the right to education, the right to health care, the right to live free from violence in one's home or walking on the street, the right to be treated with dignity and to express one's feelings, to be heard; the right, in a word, to be fully human."
Other subjects she touched on were the victimization of women in Algeria and Afghanistan and Tunisia's exemplary role in supporting women's rights. She also announced that USAID would fund several ENDA representatives at a micro-enterprise training course here in the US at the end of June.
PRESIDENT BEN ALI MAY VISIT USA
Efforts are underway to schedule a visit by President Ben Ali to the United States later this year, most likely in the fall. Meanwhile the State Department continues to push for what is now known as the "Eizenstat Initiative," an attempt to increase American business's investment in the Maghreb by helping North African countries to form a Maghreb Union by lowering their tariffs and integrating their inter-country transportation links to create one large market of 70 million consumers. On April 30, a meeting between 60 American businessmen and officials from Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria was held in Washington. Deputy Foreign Minister Tahar Sioud represented Tunisia, and, in an April 6 speech, President Ben Ali expressed confidence in the eventual success of a new Maghreb union.
Of course, a major obstacle to a successful Maghreb union is the civil war in Algeria. In early April Ben Ali expressed high hopes that Algeria's mid-April election would put an end to the bloody, seven-year civil war. Unfortunately, just before the election, the Algerian army was charged with rigging the outcome so, at the last minute, six of the seven candidates for president (including former government ministers and three candidates with moderate Islamist backing) withdrew. Once again the future of that star-crossed country seems in doubt, and, to some extent, the entire Maghreb's economic potential is dimmed.
EGYPTIAN MILITARY COURT CONDEMNS NINE TO DEATH
The largest military trial in Egypt's struggle against Islamic militancy ended on April 18 with a death verdict for nine members of "Jihad," a group alleged to be conspiring to topple the government.
In all, 87 members of the group were tried. Fifty-nine, including the group's leader, Ahman Zawahri, were tried in absentia. Zawahri was among the nine sentenced to death. In addition to those nine, 20 members were acquitted; 11 were condemned to life at hard labor; and the rest were given prison terms from one to 15 years.
Jihad is the group that assassinated Anwar Sadat in 1981 and, along with "the Islamic Group," Egypt's largest militant fundamentalist group, is opposed to President Hosni Mubarak's government. Meanwhile, Mubarak has other "religious" troubles. In December he and other Egyptian officials hotly denied charges that the police had brutalized the Coptic population of Kosheh, a rural community in southern Egypt. A report by the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights stated that the police in Kosheh "overreacted" to the murder of two Coptic men by "random arrests and intimidation of hundreds of citizens, hostage-taking, and the use of torture to extract confessions." Government officials strenuously denied any religious motive, and, in an odd twist, the human rights organization agreed. "This is not a matter of Muslims and Christians," said an official of the Organization. "This is the way the police work. This kind of thing happens everywhere." After the report was issued, the Organization's leader was arrested. He was later released.
PEACE CORPS WRITERS
The previous issue of this newsletter mentioned several recent fiction works by former Peace Corps Volunteers. FOT member Sharon Griebel Tomkins responded from Pflugerville, Texas, with a recommendation of a novel by a former volunteer in Morocco, Michael Moran: Younqer Than That Now (available from amazon.com or, for a signed copy, send $15, which includes taxes and the costs of shipping, to Full Court Press, PO Box 12641, San Antonio, TX 78212). Moran served in Morocco in 1981-83 where he met the near-legendary author Paul Bowles, who recommended "pure kif (as) the best thing in the world for a troubled mind." Apparently Moran took the advice, and the result is a "hallucinatory'' account of his two-year stint in Boujad.
Other notable recent books by former PCV's include: Sir Vidia's Shadow by Paul Theroux (Malawi 65-67), describing his friendship with author V.S. Naipaul; Blast From the Past by Kinky Friedman (Borneo 67-69), the former leader of the notorious rock-and-roll band "Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys." (Who says ex-PCVs don't know how to attract attention?); An Inn Near Kyoto: Writinq by American Women Abroad, co-edited by Kathleen Coskran (Ethiopia 65-67), New Rivers Press.
POEMS FOR VOLUNTEERS AND...VOLKSWAGENS?
The American Poetry and Literacy Project recently announced it will donate a book of poems to each Peace Corps Volunteer going overseas (3,500 a year) as well as place poetry books in 40,000 new Volkswagens. How Volvo missed this deal is anyone's guess!
FRIENDS OF MOROCCO HAS A NEW WEB PAGE
If you're interested in news about Morocco, check out the new Friends of Morocco web page: http:\\www.att.net\~Morocco
NPCA: STILL SEARCHING FOR A NEW PRESIDENT
The National Peace Corps Association is still searching for a new president. If interested or if you know of someone who might be, call the NPCA at 202-293-7728 or Barbara Ferris at 202-965-3124. The association needs a leader who can give it an enthusiastic push in new directions -- more active advocacy and more programs and activities aimed at older ex-volunteers.
US AMBASSADOR GIVES TALK IN WASHINGTON
Robin Rafel, the current ambassador to Tunisia, gave a talk on Tunisia on March 4 as part of the annual lecture series sponsored by the American-Tunisian Association. (The last in the series will be May 6 at 6 p.m. at the Meridien House. Subject: Did the Carthaginians Discover America? Tel. 202-939-5541 for directions.) Rafel observed that, after a five-year hiatus, the United States has resumed military assistance to Tunisia: $2 million this year. She also noted that Tunisia will be on the UN Security Council starting in January. Overall, she saw a good future for the country but noted possible unemployment problems. She cited "scattered" strikes and student demonstrations as signs of opposition to opening the country up to competition from the European Union, which could increase unemployment.
A"MICHAEL JACKSON UNIVERSITY" IN TUNIS????
A British newspaper, The Independent, broke what is obviously the hot story of March. Moonwalking Michael Jackson wants to build universities named after him in four countries in Africa: Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and Tunisia. The project is supposedly being brokered by a consortium headed by a Malaysian entrepreneur, Abdul Rahman. Hmmmmm!
****TUNISIAN NEWS******NEWS FROM TUNISIA******TUNISIAN NEWS****
- On April 17 Tunisia sent two planeloads of supplies - tents, blankets, and food - plus medical supplies and a medical team of doctors and nurses to Albania to help the Kosovar refugees.
- Tunisia's population growth rate fell to less than 1.3% last year for the first time since independence in 1956.
- President Ben Ali has scheduled elections for October 24, 1999, and has promised that international observers will be present. Meanwhile Tunisian unions - the UGTT - have backed Ben Ali.
- On April 19 Yasser Arafat conferred with President Ben Ali about Arafat's intention of declaring Palestine's right to be an independent state. On April 5, Ben Ali met with a US Congress\-ional delegation seeking support for "the peace process."
- Of the top 40 tourist-destination countries, Tunisia had the third highest percentage increase in 1998. Portugal had the highest increase at 16~. Next came Malaysia at 10.4~, then Tunisia at 10.3~. Spain, Greece, South Africa, and Brazil tied at 10~. Tunisia now gets about 5 million tourists a year.
MEMBERSHIP: For FOT-only, send a $15 check to FOT (address on page 1). For NPCA/FOT, send $40 to NPCA, Suite 205, 1900 L St. NW., Washington, DC 20036. Specify FOT affiliation.