Tunisians hold session to raise awareness of dangers of extremism, terrorism, polarization

The Sumud Coalition organized a dialogue session on extremism and polarization in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, with the participation of experts and university professors.

The session focused on terrorist attacks that rattled the North African country over the past few years and the reasons that forced young people drawn toward extremist ideology.

Participants stressed that polarization is spreading silently in the country, especially through schools that are not licensed to teach the Qur’an, calling for monitoring these institutions and shutting down illegal ones.

They also urged officials to control websites visited by young people where they are exposed to diverse ideas. Moez Ali, President of the Union of Tunisians Independence, spoke to A24 News Agency and called for monitoring the virtual space which he said is the source of most polarization and recruitment as more than four million Tunisian youths between the ages of 18 and 34 use various websites.

Hossam El-Hami, General Coordinator of the Sumud Coalition, said the session aims at proposing laws that could prevent terror and extremism.