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 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"
The newspaper was launched by Hassib Ben Ammar, a leading Tunisian politician and journalist/editor. He was a powerful campaigner for human rights. 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. 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!".
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.
References
- 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
- Lise Garon (1998). Le silence tunisien : les alliances dangereuses au Maghreb (L'Harmattan, Paris ed.). Harmattan. p. 52. ISBN 9782894890400.
- 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.
- ^ Michel Camau et Vincent Geisser, Habib Bourguiba. La trace et l'héritage, éd. Karthala, Paris, 2004, p. 352 ISBN 2845865066
- 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.
- « 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! »
  | This Tunisian newspaper-related article is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it. |