This is a picture of President Ben Ali, the current leader of Tunisia. Not the best angle, I know, but then you don't go around snapping pictures when there are a lot of police and soldiers hanging about. It would be hard to consider 'President' Ali as anything shot of a dictator, a fairly benevolent one at that, but his regime doesn't tolerate criticism too well. Not at all, really. Still, he does remarkably well when you compare Tunisia to Egypt.
In the 1800's, piracy again plays a role here. For many years, pirates based on the Barbary coast (Tripoli, Tunis and Algiers) would attack shipping in the Mediterranean. Increased trade and commercial shipping by western powers made this situation intolerable and the US, the UK, Holland and France sent naval vessels to intervene. In 1881, the French again stepped in on the pretext of stopping Tunisian tribal raids into French-occupied Algeria. They occupied Tunisia and refused to leave.
In 1956, after independence, Habib Bourguiba, a French-educated lawyer, took office and made radical changes to modernize Tunisia and limit the power of the Islamic clerics. He banned Ramadan (now allowed) and proclaimed himself the "Liberator of Women". Bourguiba outlawed polygamy and granted divorce rights to women; he called the hejab (women's headscarf) an 'odious rag' and, in 1981, Tunisia banned it in schools and public administration. Ironically, while women enjoy a degree of freedom not found in other Islamic countries, family tradition still weighs heavy. I saw plenty of female police officers and soldiers and hejab-wearing women were definitely in the minority, maybe 25%, but the men still rule the roost and society is completely male-dominated.
You almost never see women in any cafes at night; this is the sole domain of domino-playing, sheesha-smoking, coffee-drinking men. Judging by their coffee-smoking lifestyle, you would think Tunisians were in fact perpetual college students either trying to stay awake or keep thin. As Lonely Planet (LP) puts it, Tunisian smokers make the Chinese look like doctors at the National Lung Association.
There are still plenty of controls in this country: no freedom of the press, censored (and limited) internet access and only a few state TV stations. No wonder the economy stagnates. Still, there is lots to admire: the infrastructure is good, the food is pretty tasty although you can overdose on cous cous here. Tourists can drink the tap water no problem; that's rare in Africa. Foodwise, you get fig jam and baguettes for breakie, and tuna pizza, tuna pie, tuna cous cous and tuna salad are popular at lunch and dinner. There is also no shortage of cakes, pies and sweet stuff for dessert or any other part of the day.
