Salafister i Tunisia gikk denne uken amok pga en kunstutstilling. Salafister er hypersensitive for kunst, og man kan lure på om de ikkeer suggestible, dvs at de finner den provokasjonen de trenger. Uansett.
I don’t expect Tunisia’s Salafist problem to lead to an Algeria-style civil war. It could happen, but I doubt it that it will. Tunisia has a pacifistic streak in it that’s highly unusual.
Salafism, though, is an ugly beast and its adherents aren’t pacifistic at all. They are totalitarian thugs who are using force to intimidate the liberal and moderate sectors of the society. If foreign Islamists get involved here, all bets are off.
Tunisia’s president on Wednesday condemned extremists after days of riots by radical Islamists left one man dead, 62 security forces injured and led to over 160 arrests.
Ultraconservative Islamists known as Salafis attacked an art gallery Sunday in a Tunis suburb for an exhibition they said insulted Islam. After security forces dispersed them with tear gas, Islamist gangs attacked police stations around the country over the next few days.
Clashes between secular groups and religious hardliners have been on the rise in recent months, but this week’s violence is unprecedented and comes just two days after the terror group al-Qaida urged Tunisians to rise up against the governing moderate Islamist party Ennahda.
