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| PromoTunisia Exploration & Leisure |
Arab, Berber, African, and European influences have helped shape the unique Tunisian cultural identity. The overwhelming majority of the population is Muslim, and the official religion is Islam. However, Christian and Jewish communities practice their faith freely and contribute to Tunisia's rich cultural diversity. A modern and tolerant Islam Tunisia’s historically moderate and pragmatic character is reflected in its approach to Islam, the religion of the vast majority of its population. Conciliation and modernity have characterized the Tunisian approach to Islam for decades and even the nation’s theologians refute the fundamentalism and conservatism of radical Islamic movements. Violence is foreign to the Tunisian character and is entirely unacceptable, whether in the name of religion, economic advancement or political gain. Although the Jewish and Christian populations of Tunisia are very small, the practice of tolerance and brotherhood is considered a basic concept of the Islamic tradition, which grew from Judeo-Christian roots. In the 3rd and 4th centuries, church fathers such as Tertullian, St Cyprian and St Augustine worked and preached in early Christian Carthage. Remains of early places of worship and art are evidence of a significant indigenous Christian population, whose disappearance by the 12th century has not been fully explained by historians. Christianity in Tunisia While there are no native Christian communities in Tunisia, Christian instructions remain welcome. Over two hundred Catholic priests and nuns run churches, among them the Tunis Cathedral, as well as seventeen schools wich educate 6,000 Muslim students. Christians assist in the care of handicapped children and the White Fathers’ Institute of Arab Humanities is still a center of intellectual influence. In April 1996, Pope John Paul II visited Tunisia and enjoined Tunisians to defend the presence of Christians, as well as to carry on the dialogue with moderate Islam. Judaism How old are Tunisian’s Jewish settlements? The answer to this question is almost as hard to determine as the age of Judaism itself or the geographic origins of the Berbers. The Jewish community on the island of Jerba is thought to date back to 600 BC, which would make them contemporaries of the Phoenicians who settled on the coast and eventually became Carthaginians. Did Tunisia’s first Jews, then, come with the Phoenicians from the Middle East? History gives evidence that the indigenous Berber tribes were pragmatic in the way they blended influences in the transition from paganism. Some chose to become Jews. In fact the redoubtable El Kahina, who led the Berber resistance to the Arab invasion was likely Jewish. By the 6th century, Jews in Jerba established the Ghriba Synagogue, which became an important site of Jewish pilgrimage. While the present building dates from the 20th century, it holds Torah scrolls which are among the oldest in the world. Although many Jewish Berbers accepted Islam, others clung to Judaism. To their numbers were added successive waves of refugees from persecution in Europe. From the time of the Visgoths through the Spanish inquisition to the Second World War, Jews found refuge in Tunisia. |
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| Why Tunisia |
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| Land of Tolerance |
| Family Values The family remains the basic unit of Tunisian society. With the assistance of public and private institutions, it continues to function as a vital support mechanism for the individual at all stages of life. The resilience of the family structure did not prevent women from gaining a good measure of autonomy and pursuing their own careers on an equal footing with men. Women’s role The legal rights and freedom which Tunisian women enjoy are unparalleled in the Arab world. Yet just two generations ago they shared the disadvantaged status of women which often characterizes Arab society. The rapid and permanent change in the status of women owes much to the personal vision of Tahar Haddad and former president Habib Bourguiba and his ability to institute sustained, far-reaching reforms. Among the first measures he took after Independence in 1956 was to introduce the Personal Status Code to improve the social position and treatment of women. This code stated that polygamy was abolished, persons directly concerned by marriage must consent to it, marriage of a minor needs to be authorized by the mother as well as the father, divorce is the prerogative of either the wife or the husband, Women have legal access to family planning and hospital abortion, penalties are the same for male and female adulterers, equal wages are required for equal work, everyone has the right to an education without discrimination. School attendance has long been mandatory and gratis and Tunisian women have voted since 1957. Having enjoyed full access to public life since the Independence, Tunisian women, today, are government ministers, doctors, lawyers, business owners, executives, and airline pilots. |
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| Family Values |
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| PromoTunisia specializes in guided holidays around cultural themes such as music, festivals, cuisine, arts & traditions to provide our travelers with a Tunisian people experience. |
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