Israel's fan in Tunisia

Zizou from Djerba recently introduced his readers [Fr] to Souheil Ftouh, whom he describes as “surely the most pro-Jewish and admiring of Israel of all Tunisian Arabs :-)”, a man whose perspectives, unorthodox for a Tunisian, left  Zizou‘s readers a bit appalled.

Zizou links to several of Ftouh's articles, posted on various blog sites, including a recent piece on IdentiteJuive.com where he explains his views on Israel and terrorism:

Je suis un homme libre, qui depuis le monde arabe, admire le peuple juif qui a invoqué en premier un Dieu unique et qui est aujourd’hui contesté sur sa propre terre. Dans mon enfance, je ne savais pas exactement ce qu’était un juif. Je n’en avais jamais rencontré. Tout ce que je savais, c’était que les juifs étaient « des soldats terrifiants » qui voulaient tuer les enfants arabes palestiniens et détruire les maisons sur leur tête.

I am a free man who, from the Arab world, admires the Jewish people who were the first to invoke one God and who are today disputed on their own land.  In my childhood, I didn't exactly know what a Jew was.  I had never met one.  All that I knew was that Jews were the “terrifying soldiers” who wanted to kill Palestinian Arab children and destroy the houses over their heads…

…J’ai réalisé à quel point la jeunesse du monde arabe continue à être mal informée aujourd’hui … Ça me fait une grande peine de voir la propagande, la désinformation, la haine et l’antisémitisme exacerbé, que j’ai connu dans à mon enfance se disséminer aujourd’hui à la nouvelle génération .

…I have realized the extent to which the Arab world today continues to be misinformed…It gives me great sorrow to see the propaganda, the misinformation, the hate and worsening antisemitism that I knew in my childhood being disseminated to the new generation.

Le terrorisme n’est pas un accident, il fait partie intégrante de la doctrine officielle et de la culture du djihad, de la marche pour la domination mondiale qui s’est enclenchée voici une décennie dans le monde musulman… les haineux maîtrisent à la perfection l’art de jouer avec les faiblesses de l’Occident et utilisent à cette fin des mots tels que l’islamo-phobie.

Terrorism is not an accident, it is an integral part of the official doctrine and culture of jihad, of the march for global domination underway in the Muslim world for the last decade…the hateful have mastered to perfection the art of playing on the weakness of the West and to that end use worlds like islamophobia.

Another where he explains the true nature of Palestine:

Elle n’existe tout simplement pas ! C’est un concept. Un concept ? Oui, prenez un couteau, retirez-en la lame et le manche, il vous reste le concept. La Palestine n?a pas d'Histoire autre que l'Histoire judéo-chrétienne, ni de peuple présent depuis plus d'un siècle autre que le peuple juif. C’est un concept.

It doesn't exist!  It is a concept.  A concept?  Yes, take a knife, remove the blade and the handle, and what remains is a concept.  Palestine has not history other than Judeo-Christian history, nor for more than a century any people present there other than the Jewish people.  It is a concept.

And on rencontrejudaïquesfm, a piece on the history of Jews in Tunisia explaining how with the Westernization (or more specifically, the Francization), “the relationship of domination between Arabs and Jews could become equal for the first time” after “centuries of domination by Muslims” since Jews more readily adopted French culture and modes of dress.

Zizou‘s readers comment:

Profilo writes:

C'est totalement subjectif trop même. dire que les juifs étaient des sujets de second rang avant le protoctorat c'est vraiment trop mentir et trop bafouer l'histoire alors qu'ils vivaient ensemble sans aucun problème comme l'atteste tous les vrais historiens.

…It's completely subjective, overly so.  to say that the Jews were second-class citizens before the Protectorate is a lie and it flouts history when [Jews and Muslims] lived together without any problem as all the real historians attest….

Soufiene writes:

En regardant ces versions de faits. Souheil ne peut etre qu'un avocat du diable. Il cherchait le coup mediatique comme-quoi. C'est son interveiw dans le journal Afaq qui a fait de lui un hero.

Reading these versions of facts, Souheil can be nothing more than a devil's advocate.  It just goes to show he's looking for media attention.  His interview in the newspaper Afaq that made him a hero.

chiraz:

en fait, l'interview a été publiée par le magazine Hakaeq (version arabe de réalités). Bon, maitre Ftouh est libre d'avoir ses propres opinions mais ce qui m'a étonné, c'est lorsque le journaliste lui a posé une question sur les enfants palestiniens victimes de la sauvagerie militaire israelienne, maitre Ftouh a répondu que le Hamas en est responsable et qu'il avait une pensée pour les enfants de Sdirot!

Actually, the interview was published by Hakaeq magazine (Arab version).  Ok, so Mister Ftouh is free to have his own opinions but what shocked me was when the journalist asked him a question about the Palestinian children who have been victims of Israeli military savagery, Mister Ftouh replied that it was Hamas's fault and that he was thinking of the children of Sdirot [an Israeli village attached by rockets launched from Gaza]!

Zizou‘s take?  “Long live free speech!”

5 comments

  • Maybe there is hope. At last, an honest man in the Arab world that is not afraid to speak and voice his opinions.

    Yes, Palestinians suffer. Yes, there are injustices — but this is for the most part the result of Arab / Muslim hate and violence. Who can blame the jews when it is obvious that their neighbors want them dead or gone. As Golda said: “I can forgive the Palestinians for what they do to us, but not for what they make us do to them.”

    Remember that for every Palestinian that was forced out of Israel, a jew was expelled from their ancient homes in the the Arab / Muslim world. Some of those Jewish communities had existed for thousands of years but were forced to emigrate after 1948. Israel took them in with open arms. What did the Muslims countries do for the Palestinians? They attacked Israel after independence, causing the abortion of the Palestinian state. Since then Muslim states have used the Palestians for their own political and social goals. It distracts from their own vile government and human rights abuses. Muslim leaders and Imams also use Israel as an excuse in their jihad against infidels.

    When something bad happens to Muslims, they always blame everything on others. Regarding the comment that “[Jews and Muslims] lived together without any problem” — I recommend that you read the Rambam’s (Maimonides) letter to the jews of Yemen. It is 900 years old but very current.

    Thank you, Ftouh.

    Kactuz

  • naruto

    sorry John but your comment sounds biased.
    I won’t talk about palestine but how israel never respect international law.
    israel attacked in 1985 a Tunis subrub and died tunisian and Palestinian civils who lived there and had never request apologizes or forgiveness. I didn’t remember that tunisia had ever attack israel and no tunisian jew was forced to leave his country : tunisia they can still benefit tunisian citizenshipa.
    after independence, there was a tunisian jew minister,when in israle there is a news sort of apartheid of Arabs living there and treated as “subcitizens”
    the people who formed the Tshal were mostly members of terrorist organizations
    do you know that Tunisian jews can back to Tunisia and do a pilgrimage at the most ancient synagogue when a Palestinians from Al quds (jersualem) isn’t allowed to do it?
    always having doubts about assumptions
    talking about Mr Ftouh is what he wants : a self-promotion

  • Mon cher “rare oiseau”,
    Vos declaratoin courageuge qui parle de la veritee cruelle et reele du monde Musulmans plein de haine et d’antisimitisme aveugle qui arrive du culture du Djihad profond et bien racinnee.
    Vos idees et votre chemin saint et sauf , chemin de rose et de parfin me chaufe le coeur et me donne la raison d’etre encore optimiste . Merci et grand courrage.
    David Barzelay-Haddad
    (Ne a Gabes)

  • Victor

    Cher David Haddad de Gabes,

    Comment osez vous dire autant de mensonges et de calomnies a l’ egard du monde musulman qui vous a permis de vivre en paix malgré votre communautarisme et votre manque de patriotisme pendant prés de 3000 ans ?

    Avez vous la moindre idée des pogroms, massacres, expulsions qu’ ont connu les juifs en terre chrétienne ?

    Voici comment vous remerciez le monde musulman de sa tolérance, votre armée sioniste massacre les palestiniens dans leur propre pays !

    Vous êtes un ingrat monsieur Haddad !

  • ali el gabsi

    Je suis un homme libre, qui depuis le monde arabe, admire le peuple juif qui a invoqué en premier un Dieu unique et qui est aujourd’hui contesté sur sa propre terre. Dans mon enfance, je ne savais pas exactement ce qu’était un juif. Je n’en avais jamais rencontré. Tout ce que je savais, c’était que les juifs étaient « des soldats terrifiants » qui voulaient tuer les enfants arabes palestiniens et détruire les maisons sur leur tête.

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