Erraï

This article is about the newspaper. For the star, see Gamma Cephei.

Erraï (الرأي meaning "Opinion") is a weekly Arab language newspaper which was published in Tunis between December 1977[1] and December 1987.

Hassib Ben Ammar on Erraï:

"We opened our columns to everyone. Even to Rashid al-Ghannushi (Islamist) and to Mohamed Harmel (Communist), while not supporting their positions. We did this in the name of free expression. I even published an editorial which defended fundamentalists.

"Nous avons ouvert nos colonnes à tous. Même à Rachid Ghannouchi (islamiste) et à Mohamed Harmel (communiste), alors que nous n'épousions pas leurs positions. Cela au nom de la liberté d'expression. J'ai même publié un éditorial qui prenait la défense des intégristes"[2]

The newspaper was launched by Hassib Ben Ammar, a leading Tunisian politician and journalist/editor. He was a powerful campaigner for human rights.[3] Ben Ammar had co-founded the Tunisian Human Rights League in 1976, and he described the newspaper, at its launch, as "a contribution to the dissemination of democratic ideas".

In December 1987, a few weeks after Zine El Abidine Ben Ali took power, Ben Ammar scuttled the newspaper, of which at this time he was the director.[4] Writing under her pseudonym, Om Ziad (أم زياد), the journalist Naziha Réjiba used the pages of Erraï to warn readers, "Do not be in too much of a hurry to applaud Ben Ali. Do not forget his military past, nor his background with the police. And what if he takes us down a path even worse than his predecessor's? Do not give him a blank check!".[5][6]

The article would enrage the newly installed president, who placed a ban on the edition in question and launched a campaign of intimidation against Hassib Ben Ammar who was cornered into putting an end to the newspaper's publication.[4]

References

1. Didier Le Saout et Marguerite Rollinde, Émeutes et mouvements sociaux au Maghreb : perspective comparée, éd. Karthala, Paris, 1999, pp. 112-113 ISBN 978-2-8653-7998-9
2. Lise Garon (1998). Le silence tunisien : les alliances dangereuses au Maghreb (L'Harmattan, Paris ed.). Harmattan. p. 52. ISBN 9782894890400.
3. Boubaker Sghaïer (18 December 2008). "Hommage à ... Hassib Ben Ammar". "Leaders" (PR Factory, Ennour Building, Cité des Sciences - BP 200 - 1082 Tunis - Tunisie). Retrieved 8 March 2016.
4. Michel Camau et Vincent Geisser, Habib Bourguiba. La trace et l'héritage, éd. Karthala, Paris, 2004, p. 352 ISBN 2845865066
5. Olfa Belhassine (18 September 2015). "Tunisie : " la propagande est revenue"". « Tunisie : cinquante ans de développement économique et de répression politique » originally published 31 July 2007. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
6. « N'applaudissez pas trop vite Ben Ali. N'oubliez pas son passé militaire, ni son passé policier. Et s'il nous entraînait sur une voie bien pire que Bourguiba ? Ne lui donnez pas un blanc-seing! »