Tunisia: French Councillor Beaten By Islamists Over Wife And Daughter’s Summer Clothing

Europe Online – “Paris (dpa) – A French councillor of Tunisian origin on Wednesday said he was beaten by religious extremists in Tunisia because his wife and daughter‘s clothing were seen as provocative.

Jamel Gharbi, a councillor in the north-western city of Le Mans, said that he and his family were strolling around the northern coastal Tunisian town of Bizerte August 16 when they came across a group of men with the long beards and tunics of ultra-conservative Salafi Muslims.

‘I saw they were looking at them (his wife and daughter) with hate because of their summer clothes, even though there was nothing provocative about them (the clothes),’ he was quoted by the Lemainelibre.fr, a Le Mans news site, as saying.

‘They told us we were in an Islamist country and I quickly understood things were going to degenerate,’ he said.

‘I cried out to my wife and daughter to run. They then pounced on me and struck me with their fists, feet and sticks,’ he added.

Gharbi, 62, said he had reported the attack to police and cut short his visit to Tunisia.

Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, who was born in Tunisia, condemned the ‘cowardly, despicable act by an extremist minority’ as an ‘attack on Tunisia‘s values.’

The attack took place on the same evening as a group of Salafis attacked festivalgoers in Bizerte with knives and batons, injuring five people.” Read more.

Flashback: Tunisia: Radical Sheikh Calls For Holy War To Establish Islamic State And Wipe Out Non-Muslims – “A recent video from a self-avowed al-Qaeda member called for holy war against the Tunisian government, raising fears among citizens that extremist violence could escalate. The June 11th message from 30-year-old Salim Abou Ahmed Ayoub, purportedly the second in command of al-Qaeda in Tunisia, called on citizens to wage a holy war against the government in order to establish an Islamic state and wipe out unbelievers.” Read more.