A Tunisian MP has apologized for using an offensive word to describe Jews during a parliamentary session.
MP Abu al-Hanaa, during a debate over a 1964 land law, said something like some of the land was for the French and the rest for the “Hashakim” Jews, which I believe translates roughly to “shitty.”
Immediately, the chairman of the parliament Abdul Moro said that such language was unacceptable and that Jews were respected members of Tunisian society.
Other Tunisian groups – not Jewish groups, but other NGOs – also called on al-Hanaa to apologize for the slur.
And she did, saying it was a slip of the tongue and she did not mean to offend.
This is a remarkable story for the Arab world and I do not recall ever seeing anything close to this happening before. Tunisia and Morocco have been far more tolerant to Jews than most Arab states (which can be seen by the fact that there are simply no Jews to speak of in Arab countries outside those two states.) But immediate censure for an antisemitic slur, not being prompted by the West, is as far as I can tell unprecedented.
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