What Can We Do If We Would Really Like to Fight Terrorism in Tunisia?

by Hayet Ben Said • August 11, 2015 at 5:00 am

Seifeddine Rezgui was not born a terrorist. He was indoctrinated to become a terrorist. He was the product of our educational system. What are the main characteristics of this system? Our educational system encourages the closedness of mind.
It is not easy for our students to accept others. Our religion teaches Muslims that they are the best people. The Quran says: "You (Muslims) are the best nation brought out for Mankind, commanding what is righteous and forbidding what is wrong." [3:110] So, Muslim people think that they hold the ultimate truth and that they must share it.
Why do we not break the idea that religion is a taboo topic that we must not talk about? Instead, we should introduce the tools of scientific enquiry to deal with the subject of religion -- asking questions without having any boundaries, and observing results through objective testing rather than with subjective and predetermined conclusions.

Seifeddine Rezgui walks with his rifle during his attack on foreign tourists in Sousse, Tunisia, on June 26, 2015.

The June 26 terrorist attack in Tunisia, at the Imperial Marhaba Hotel, has shown us Tunisians the failure of our educational system.

Seifeddine Rezgui, the attacker who murdered tourists with a Kalashnikov in the tourist resort of Sousse, was a student in one of our schools; he studied electronics in the city of Kairouan.

A lot of information seems even more important to know about him than if he belonged to or supported the Islamic State, if he attended a training camp in Libya, or if he had gone to Syria or Iraq to join militants fighting there.