Is terrorism part of Tunisia’s new reality?

What the Arabic language media says about the attacks in Tunisia’s capital

Screen grab from video released by Tunisia's Interior Ministry shows gunmen walking through the National Bardo museum in Tunis during the attack that killed 21 people. AP Photo

Tunisia was left shaken by the terrorist attack that targeted foreign tourists in the Bardo National Museum last week. ISIL claimed responsibility.

Abdel Wahab Baderkhan, writing in Al Ittihad, the Arabic-language sister newspaper of The National, asked if terrorism has become part of Tunisia’s reality.

“Tunisia was able to keep violence within certain limits by ensuring the primacy of dialogue. It also succeeded in containing extremism ... and began building its stability and revitalising its economy following the latest elections,” he wrote.

“During the tension of this transitional phase, terrorism rose, taking advantage of the prevailing freedoms. It sprang from the womb of political Islam. [The country] wanted to give extremists the opportunity to join on the country’s path, thinking that dialogue would tone down their radicalism.”

But the museum attack, he said, “showed that terrorism is back, forceful and persistent, through the ruling of Al Nahda and the fight between extremism and secularism that went on throughout 2014”.

He cited Tunisia’s foreign minister, who said the government was mistakenly thought of as lenient. Baderkhan said the attack in the heart of the capital “has put an end to serenity, bringing the government back to an ugly reality.”

In the pan-Arab daily Asharq Al Awsat, Diana Moukalled asked how Tunisia will respond.

“The response will determine whether Tunisia will fall into the same trap as Libya, Egypt, Yemen and other countries that have drowned in the chaos of a battle against violence,” she wrote.

“The attack on the museum is treacherous. It threatens the fragile Tunisian experience and the threat is not limited to security – it is also political and social as well as a threat to democracy.”

Terrorism is not the inevitable response to tyranny, she noted, adding that everyone was watching with concern as history repeated itself in the Arab Spring countries.

“The next phase is pivotal for Tunisia. There is a need for tighter control to monitor the activities of extremists and troublemakers as they make use of modern technology,” she wrote.

“Will this absolutely legalise repression or the expression of different opinions? Which path will Tunisia choose?”

Hazem Saghieh, writing in the pan-Arab Al Hayat, said that the museum attack ended hopes that Tunisia had avoided ISIL’s influence.

“Terrorism took advantage of its considerable spread and it holds the cards that allows it to threaten the completion of the Tunisian success story,” he wrote.

“This prompts fears about Tunisia and its revolution, as remnants of the Ben Ali’s regime are trying to rebuild the old security structure on the pretext of counter-terrorism.

“Tyranny, which played the biggest role in the establishment of terrorism, stands watching as terrorism nibbles on the remnants of the revolution. As for the latter it will not successfully come to completion unless it confronts both tyranny – the father – and terrorism – its offspring.”

Translated by Carla Mirza