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Tunisian legislator tore an Israeli flag during a parliament session
while promoting a proposed bill to criminalize relations with Israel,
the Associated Press (via JNS) has reported.
Legislators sitting in the
government’s opposition had previously proposed the bill that would make
attempts to normalize relations with Israel illegal.
Debate on the bill was suspended
indefinitely because parliament officials did not consider the law a
priority. To protest the delay, opposition lawmaker Ammar Amroussia
tore a paper with the Israeli flag printed on it at the parliament’s
podium, while calling for a vote on the bill. The incident was carried
on state television.
Moderate Islamist party Ennahdha*,
which is part of the governing coalition, warned such a law could hurt
Tunisia’s relations with western nations and international
organizations.
Tunisia, like most Arab
countries, does not have diplomatic relations with Israel. In the late
1990s Tunisia and Israel briefly opened relations within specific
interest sections, but Tunisia suspended relations in 2000 during the
Second Intifada.
In 2014, Tunisia’s tourism
minister Amel Karboul was nearly forced to resign for traveling to
Israel in 2006 to participate in a U.N. training program for Palestinian
Arab youths. Karboul and another minister similarly faced censure
later that year after being accused of promoting “normalization” with
Israel.
Read article in full
*The Ennahda party grew out of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Iranian revolution, so its moderate credentials are questionable.
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