Tunisia: Activists demand enactment of law criminalising Israel normalisation

Hundreds of activists participated in a march held in the capital, Tunis, on Friday, demanding the enactment of a law criminalising normalisation with Israel, which has been waging an ongoing war of genocide in the Gaza Strip for 18 months.

The Coordination for Joint Action for Palestine called for the march, which began at Bab El-Khadra Square and headed toward the Parliament building.

A banner reading: “The people want to criminalise normalisation with the Zionist entity and stop military and security cooperation with America” ​​was at the front of the march, according to an Anadolu Agency correspondent.

Hundreds of activists also raised flags of Palestinian and Lebanese resistance factions and held signs reading “Criminalise normalisation,” “Palestine is not for sale… Where is the criminalisation of normalisation?” and “The people want to criminalise normalisation.”

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On Thursday, the Coordination for Joint Action for Palestine announced its intention to organise a mass march on Friday under the slogan “Tunisian Day to Criminalise Normalisation.”

It explained that the primary demand of the march was: “The enactment of a law criminalising normalisation with the Zionist enemy, the dismissal of the US ambassador, and stopping military and security cooperation with the US, which is involved in the aggression against our people in Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen and Syria.”

This march comes as Israel intensifies its genocidal war against the Gaza Strip, with US support, since October 2023.

In November 2023, the Tunisian Parliament failed to ratify a law criminalising normalisation with Israel after Speaker of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People Ibrahim Bouderbala announced the postponement of the vote, which has yet to be held.

In turn, Tunisian President Kais Saied commented on the controversy surrounding the decision to postpone the vote, asserting: “Tunisia’s position on normalisation is unwavering in its rejection. The term ‘normalisation’ has no place in my dictionary.”

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