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Al-Ahram Weekly 13 - 19 April 2000 Issue No. 477 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 13 - 19 April 2000 Issue No. 477
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Books Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters State builder dies
By Khaled Dawoud
Nearly 13 years after he was ousted in a palace coup by his prime minister, and now Tunisian President Zine Al-Abidine Bin Ali, Habib Bourguiba was buried Saturday in the coastal city of Monastir as thousands crowded around the family mausoleum for a last good-bye.
Habib Bourguiba
According to official Tunisian media, Bourguiba died at the age of 97, but the late leader himself used to say in his regular weekly speeches that he was born in 1900.
Bourguiba, who led his country to independence in 1956, personally supervised the construction of his mausoleum in Monastir, 160 kilometres south of the capital, importing marble from Spain and Italy, and ordering the following epitaph to be inscribed on its entrance: "The great freedom fighter, liberator of women and builder of modern Tunisia."
After he asked the Tunisian parliament to approve in 1975 his appointment as president for life, the late Bourguiba apparently felt sure that he would die while in office. He agreed with his close associates on the route of his funeral procession, asked his only son to personally invite world leaders to attend and even bought the coffin in which he should be buried. But in 1987, and after three decades in power, Bin Ali peacefully removed the historic figure after releasing a medical report confirming that Bourguiba was no longer capable of ruling the country because of his deteriorating health. At that time, Tunisia was in a state of turmoil due to Bourguiba's tight grip on power, constant changing of prime ministers and open confrontation with rising militant Islamist groups.
In spite of criticism for his authoritarian style of rule, Bourguiba was credited for his role in the building of modern Tunisia and assuring it a respected place in the world community. Fascinated by the experience of late Turkish leader Kamal Ataturk, Bourguiba sought to build his country along the same lines, imposing a strict separation between religion and state.
In the early 1960s, the late leader stunned the entire Arab and Muslim world when he appeared on Tunisian television during the holy fasting month of Ramadan, sipping a glass of orange juice, and claiming that fasting was incompatible with the needs of modern life. Later, he banned polygamy, which is permitted by Islam, and gave Tunisian women significant legal rights which made them the envy of women throughout the Arab world. Witnesses said young and elderly women formed around half the mourners at the funeral of the former president
Although Bourguiba led his country in the struggle against the French occupation, he was always fascinated by France and the Western style of life. Thus, while late Egyptian President Gamal Abdel-Nasser appealed to the Arab people with his anti-imperialist rhetoric and support for liberation movements, Bourguiba was calling for better understanding between Arabs and the West -- particularly with the United States.
In 1965, which was two years before the West Bank fell into Israeli hands after the massive Arab defeat in the 1967 war, Bourguiba again surprised the entire world when he became the first Arab leader to call for opening dialogue with Israel. The late leader said Arabs should have accepted the 1947 United Nations resolution calling for the partition of Palestine into two states: one Jewish and another Arab. Demonstrations denouncing Bourguiba erupted throughout the Arab world and the late Nasser decided to sever diplomatic ties with Tunisia. Indeed, international conditions at that time differed radically from those that prevailed nearly 14 years later when Egypt became the first Arab country to sign a peace agreement with Israel, followed by Palestinians in 1993 and Jordan in 1994. Yet, Bourguiba's call for peace talks -- audacious and unthinkable as it was at the time -- has led many Arab politicians these days to refer to him as "a man of vision," and to blame leaders of that era for attacking his appeal.
Bourguiba's opposition to confrontation with the United States, his belief in gradualism and attempts to reach a peaceful settlement between the Arabs and Israel will be remembered as his marks on Arab history.
Since his removal, Tunisia has in large part continued to follow the course that Bourguiba set, and enforcing it with an iron fist.
The Arab League expressed its "great sadness and grief" over the death of Bourguiba, describing him as "a great Arab commander and leader who gave his life for the liberty and independence of his country," adding that he "deserved to be described as the greatest warrior."
Presidents Jacques Chirac of France and Abdel-Aziz Bouteflika of Algeria led the contingent of international figures who went to Tunisia to pay their last respects to Bourguiba on Saturday.
Tunisian President Bin Ali delivered the eulogy, praising Bourguiba's "noble and devoted struggle." "You accomplished your mission with self-sacrifice and sincerity," he said.
Prominent among international mourners was Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. In 1982, Bourguiba allowed Tunis to become home for the headquarters of Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) when it was expelled from Beirut.
The seventh child of a former lieutenant in the army of the Bey (ruler) of Tunisia, Bourguiba studied law in Paris and became a barrister in Tunis. In 1934 he founded the Neo-Destour (new constitution) Party, becoming from that point on the key figure in Tunisia's independence struggle. During the next two decades Bourguiba spent roughly 10 years imprisoned by either the French -- or, during the Second World War, German -- authorities, or in exile.
An exceptionally gifted organiser and orator, he returned to Tunisia in 1954 after four years of exile in Egypt to lead a movement for constitutional reform aimed at a gradual transfer of power from French to Tunisian hands.
