Al-Ghannouchi says a threat to Palestine is a threat to all Muslim countries

The head of Tunisia’s Al-Nahda (Renaissance) movement, Rashid Al-Ghannouchi, has said that his country’s January 14 revolution was not only against injustice, tyranny and corruption. It was also, he said, against what he called the “suspicious links” of the former regime, especially with Israel. This was a reference to Israel’s assassination of some Palestinian leaders on Tunisian territory.

Speaking in the city of Jendouba at a televised event, Mr. Al-Ghannouchi emphasised his belief that “Palestine is the heart of the Islamic nation, and a threat to Palestine is a threat to all Muslim countries”. The audience included Al-Nahda officials, members and supporters. The Movement’s leader told them that “there is no room to normalise relations with the Zionist entity”.

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Al-Ghannouchi went on to explain  that the revolution in Tunisia has achieved some “important” steps towards realising its goals. He noted that “exercising liberty may lead to breaking the law sometimes”, which threatens the stability of the country, “but leaves us with two choices: either the country’s freedom, discipline, development and progression or an imbalance of these elements and resultant chaos”. The latter, he added, is incompatible with the goals of the revolution.

According to Mr. Al-Ghannouchi, the political landscape of Tunisia is heading towards “maturity”. He pointed to the possibility of his movement’s integration with some other Islamic political parties and confirmed that such mergers should be “a pillar of building the country”. However, he warned that any attempt to dislodge Al-Nahda will sink the country into chaos, “and that does not serve the national interest by any means”.