The Cordoba Foundation hosted a major event in London on 11 June 2024, to launch Lobbying for Zionism on Both Sides of the Atlantic, the latest work by acclaimed Israeli historian Prof Ilan Pappe.
The event was organised in partnership with the Middle East Monitor (MEMO) and One World Publications.
Attended by hundreds of people in a packed central London venue, the book launch began with a poignant moment as Dr Anas Altikriti, founder and CEO of The Cordoba Foundation, led a moment of silence in remembrance and prayers for the lives lost in Israel’s military operation in Gaza and across Palestine.
Published by One World Publications, Lobbying for Zionism on Both Sides of the Atlantic delves into the intricate and powerful networks that advocate for Zionist interests in both the US and Europe. Pappe, a professor of History at the University of Exeter and author of the bestselling The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, provided insightful commentary on his latest work.
The event featured a distinguished panel of speakers who offered their perspectives on the book and its themes. Palestinian academic, physician, and author Dr Ghada Karmi praised the book as “impressive,” noting its exploration of the origins of Christian Zionism.
Dr Daud Abdullah, director of Middle East Monitor and co-organiser of the event, emphasised the significance of Pappe’s work, stating that it goes beyond previous attempts to examine the Israeli lobby by investigating its operations in Europe and Britain.
Prof Nur Masalha, a Palestinian historian and associate member of SOAS, University of London, provided historical context, discussing the role of “millennial Christianity” and “restoration Christianity” in advancing the interests of the British Empire and the Zionist movement.
Altikriti moderated the conversation, allowing the panel to share their insights and engage with the audience in a question-and-answer session. His moderation throughout the evening facilitated a meaningful dialogue, highlighting the significance of Pappe’s work leaving no doubt about the book’s power to transform our understanding of Zionism.
Reflecting on the event, Altikriti said, “the launch of Professor Pappe’s new book marks a significant historical moment on multiple levels. The timing of this critical publication, coupled with the exceptional turnout that filled the venue to capacity, is particularly noteworthy. We are witnessing a paradigm shift in public discourse, undoubtedly influenced by the remarkable resilience and determination displayed by the people of Gaza in the face of unprecedented adversity. This shift unfolds amid a global order that urgently needs reform, one that can effectively hold rogue states accountable and ensure that no entity, regardless of power or influence, operates above the law.”
Dr Abdullah Faliq, Managing Director at The Cordoba Foundation and the lead organiser of the event, commended Prof Pappe on his new book and thanked him for making time to engage with the attendees, some of whom had travelled from across the UK and even abroad. “The relevance of this book launch is especially critical today as we see Zionism increasingly aligning with Far-Right elements and other extremist ideologies. This unholy alliance, built on shared xenophobic and nationalist sentiments, poses a significant threat to minority communities and democratic values.”
Faliq further added “Pappe’s book sheds light on recent efforts on both sides of the Atlantic to conflate anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism and this discussion is particularly important as people in the US, UK and around the globe go to the polls. It serves as a timely warning about the potential impact of these lobbying efforts on electoral processes and policy-making.”
The event by The Cordoba Foundation with MEMO and OneWorld Publications not only launched an important scholarly work but also initiated a crucial dialogue about the far-reaching implications of Zionist lobbying in the West. As global attention remains focused on the ongoing situation in Palestine, Lobbying for Zionism and the discussions it has sparked provide valuable tools for understanding and addressing the complex dynamics that shape international responses to the conflict.
Prof Andrew March – USA
A professor of Political Science at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, he specialises in political philosophy, Islamic law and political thought, religion and comparative and non-Western political theory. Author of several books including, The Caliphate of Man: The Invention of Popular Sovereignty in Modern Islamic Thought (2019), and with Rachid Ghannouchi, On Muslim Democracy: Essays and Dialogues (Nov 2023)
Dr Ahmed Gaaloul
Former Tunisian minister; lecturer and writer in Islamic Studies, and an advisor to Rachid Ghannouchi.
Dr Daud Abdullah (Moderator)
Director of the Middle East Monitor; lecturer and author of several books, including, Engaging the World: The Making of Hamas’s Foreign Policy (2021).
Moadh Ghannouchi
Son of Rachid Ghannouchi and former Chief-of-Staff Nahda Party, Tunisia.
Watch Event Videos Below:
Special message by Shaykh Rachid Ghannouchi from prison to The Cordoba Foundation roundtable
Friday, February 16, 2024
I am in prison today because I called for the values of national democracy, which is part of universal democracy, and because the conflict in Tunisia is a conflict between democracy and non-democracy.
Some of the enemies of democracy rely on modernity as a basis to exclude Islamic opponents. We in Tunisia were founded on the values of Islam, and we do not find any justification to exclude those who disagree with us or those who believe in Islam with a different vision, because we do not see that there is an official spokesman for Islam.
I am in prison because a significant portion of the so-called Tunisian modernists are non-democratic. They call for a democracy that is just for them, an exclusionary democracy. Whereas We are in a struggle for a Tunisia for all and for a democracy that includes everyone inside Tunisia and outside Tunisia.
The country today is governed by the dualism of good and evil, right and wrong, patriotism and treason. This is the essence of the coup of July 25, 2021: the monopoly of patriotism, the monopoly of Islam, and the monopoly of righteousness. Therefore, the existing regime is in a relentless war against democracy in all its meanings. This approach cannot bring Tunisians together because God created people different.
The current system sees difference as a curse, but we see it as a mercy.
Palestine exposed the shortcomings of democracy within the framework of the nation state.
Democracy, as a mechanism, is one of the best mechanisms that the human political mind has produced for consensus and reaching settlements between differences and a way to resolve disputes away from violence.
But when democracy is confined to a particular group and is imprisoned within the trenches of nationalism, race, and colour, its mechanisms break down in more than one case – especially in the face of major challenges such as the Palestinian question.
The flaw, then, is not in the idea of democracy, but in the idea of the nation-state outside the framework of ethics and the values of equality for all human beings. There is no framework for ethics outside the framework of man as God’s khalifa / vicegerent on earth, the one who is entrusted to look after this world. Therefore, we demand democracy and add it to our understanding of Islam so that it emerges from the confines and the narrowness of the individual and the group to the vastness of humanity.
Their cheaper plans offer basics such as prebuilt analytics dashboard, standard bots, and predefined responses. As you upgrade to their pricier plans, you get more advanced AI, multilingual support, and a self-service customer portal. Collect.chat improves your lead collection with mobile-optimized AI chatbots in place of passive forms. Gather feedback more efficiently and gain insight into customer opinions and satisfaction as well as analytics about your conversions.
When choosing a chatbot for WordPress, make sure the bot is easy to set up and train. The quicker you can build and customize the bot, the more time you’ll have to focus on more complex aspects of your business. For example, many chatbot tools offer no-code builders and pre-made templates to simplify your chatbot creation. Provide instant responses to customer queries 24/7 and proactively message users with custom greetings to boost engagement. You can also make use of multilingual chatbots to expand your reach and communicate with customers in their native language.
Fielding the same questions over and over again can massively eat away at your customer service hours. Chatbots don’t get tired of repetitive questions, and they can answer them at any time of day or night. Even better, they’re able to give consistent and instant responses every time with a voice customized to reflect your brand’s unique style.
ChatBot is pre-configured for immediate deployment to your website, and is great for crafting engaging conversations and building stronger customer relationships. The ChatBot AI algorithms continuously enhance response quality over time, helping customers to engage in conversations and interactions. Through the interface, it’s possible to seamlessly blend text, images, buttons, and quick replies to showcase your brand, products, and services. With a fantastic range of triggers and templates, it’s easy to create a chatbot based on keywords specific to your business and user behaviour. This level of automation allows you to efficiently respond to customer queries and create conversion-focused funnels, without much direct interaction. A premium version is available with more advanced features like Onsite Retargeting by showing special offers and coupons on Exit Intent, time interval or page scroll-down.
How do I add new conversations to the ChatBot?
Zendesk offers a WordPress AI chat plugin designed to help businesses build connections with customers and increase sales through conversational flows. It offers real-time question answering and 24/7 support, with Chat PG support for over 40 languages to provide a higher level of personalization. It is known for being one of the best platforms for marketing automation, with a suite of tools for managing sales, support, and more.
Consider these top solutions if you want to add a chatbot integration to your WordPress site. From there, site owners can keep tabs on their interactions in a single unified inbox. Plus, the mobile app means business owners can pick up the conversation from anywhere if needed. Utilize their drag-and-drop tool to customize your bot, install your chatbot using the WordPress plugin, and receive instant notifications via email and the Collect.chat dashboard. Now that we’ve covered the basics of WordPress chatbots, let’s move on to discussing the best chatbot tools for your WordPress sites.
Chatling has a free plan available, which comes with 1 chatbot, 35 AI message credits (i.e., AI responses), 500,000 training characters, and 5 file uploads (1 MB file size). We also allow you to integrate your chatbot onto an unlimited number of websites regardless of which plan you choose. Chatfuel is simpe to use, powerful and scalable, and is trusted by brands including Adidas, T-Mobile, LEGO, and TechCrunch. It can be employed for increasing sales, lead qualification, and providing answers to frequently asked questions. The bot doesn’t require coding knowledge or prior experience, making it a great choice for users that require both website and social communications. Just a few simple steps and your Messenger bot will be fully functional with your site.
Best WordPress Chatbot For Your Website
But you can’t devote an employee’s entire schedule to sitting around waiting for visitors’ inquiries. Our chatbots are also able to respond in different languages, allowing you to provide multilingual support to customers across the globe. It combines live chat, chatbots, WhatsApp, Telegram, Messenger and Instagram for instant customer communication, enhancing satisfaction and sales. The chatbot supports several channels like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and your WordPress website. BotPenguin also integrates with over 40 platforms including Zapier, Stripe, HubSpot and Zendesk, providing extensive CRM options.
Some WordPress chatbots are free up to a certain number of users or conversations within a specific time period. Free chatbots are great resources for small businesses who need a little extra help handling customers, but can’t afford to commit to a monthly subscription. Chatfuel customer support bots field frequently asked questions, while also recommending products based on those same questions. They also have features for collecting user feedback, allowing teams to refine their support offerings over time.
What we like about Chatbot
Its exit-intent messages aim to prevent visitors from leaving, so they can help businesses convert more sales. It also includes conversation storage for holding important customer conversation history in case reps need to go back and find important information. This free WordPress chatbot engages visitors in conversations to grow email lists, generate and qualify leads, and set appointments.
Or FreshChat for its ability to work well with both your WordPress site and social channels. Alternatively, take a hands-off approach and have Botsify build and manage everything for you. The extensive Chatfuel website documentation aids the creation of chatbots, as well as ensuring compliance with Facebook’s rules for Messenger bots. Once you’ve created an account, just install the plugin on your WordPress site, and connect the two without any coding. Give instant answers around the clock and gather more leads based on those positive interactions. You can also create text responses for the ChatBot using the Simple Text Responses feature inside the WordPress dashboard.
Creating A Simple WordPress Plugin With 6 AI Chatbots – Search Engine Journal
Creating A Simple WordPress Plugin With 6 AI Chatbots.
There are many chatbots available for your WordPress website and the features can often become overwhelming. Adapt chatbots to your visitor’s preferences with a personalized conversational experience. Let our experts help you understand how to leverage your business with web & WhatsApp chatbots. Learn how to update your WhatsApp Business profile information to provide credibility and useful information to your customers. Another way to create a chatbot for your website is to use IBM’s Watson Assistant.
What we like about Collect.chat
Trigger the conversation to start when visitors hit a specific spot on the webpage, or at a certain moment when they’re most engaged. In HubSpot, conversations are automatically saved and logged in the conversation inbox and timeline, so your team can view how conversations were carried out. Chatbots can also be used to book appointments and meetings, answer support questions, and qualify leads. While WordPress is a great website builder for those on a budget, it lacks any chatbot functionality. It’s difficult to handle all your customer requests manually, especially if you’re aiming for fast response times, so it helps to automate these workflows with your own chatbot.
It also learns from conversations so that it doesn’t offer up information that your visitors aren’t actually searching for. If it gets in trouble and can’t answer, it can ID the chat topic and send the person to a human support person. Adding chatbots to a website is one of the easiest ways to make it more engaging and helpful.
The tutorial recommends placing the HTML Widget at the bottom of the page for better organization. If you like, you can add a chatbot to your WordPress site with a plugin like WP Chatbot. Built on the Facebook Messenger application, this tool provides you with access to over 1.3 billion messenger users on the most popular social network. Next up, DocsBot AI is another sophisticated and trainable AI solution that transforms traditional documentation into chatbots.
With their free plan, you gain access to unlimited bots, 50 responses/month, and automated appointment bookings. As you upgrade to their paid subscriptions, you get up to 5000 responses/month, third-party integrations, and custom domains. Finally, Tidio also allows you to qualify leads and collect user data to better inform your marketing campaigns. In this list, we’ll be going over each chatbot’s key features, pricing, and pros and cons to help you decide which one best suits your professional needs. Whichever option you got for, you’ll be providing your WordPress website visitors with a personalised experience that addresses their queries effectively.
Tidio is another popular chatbot platform with WordPress integration, but it may not be as good as some of the other options on the market. While it has a high rating of 4.8/5 from over 355 reviews, it may not offer as many advanced features as some of its competitors. The chat widget is customizable to fit your site’s design, including the color, theme, avatar, button type, and position.
While not as straightforward as the previous tool, Watson is very versatile and learns more with every use. Answering common questions via email can be a big resource drain for smaller companies. With a lot of chatbots on the market that work with WordPress websites, it can be hard to narrow them down. However, if you want the chatbot to appear only when a trigger is met, then you can select the third option. If you pick ‘Only show the chat launcher’, then visitors will have to click on your chatbot to see its prompts. Once you are done, scroll down to the ‘Visitor information and behavior’ section.
10 Best AI Chatbots for Businesses & Websites (May 2024) – Unite.AI
10 Best AI Chatbots for Businesses & Websites (May .
We have noticed that since the rebrand from MobileMonkey to Customers.ai, customer service appears to have become an issue with this app — potentially early teething problems. Create quick-reply buttons with personalized options so visitors can find what they need without typing a word. Use the drag-and-drop builder to create Stories for your multitasking chatbots. Easily create AI chatbots for your WordPress website – no technical skills required. If your server has a version below that, you might see some PHP error or the Simple Text Responses will not work at all. Please request your hosting support to update the mysql version on your server.
But to use Freshchat’s canned responses and reporting, you’ll need their “Growth” plan, priced at a very reasonable $19 per month. We like ManyChat’s intuitive user-friendly drag-and-drop interface, which simplifies the chatbot creation. This can enable you to reach your audience more efficiently, improving your communication processes.
Zendesk Answer Bot offers a simple and streamlined WordPress chatbot plugin that takes the weight off your customer support team. Zendesk Suite offers an entire toolbox of customer service features that helps businesses build loyalty, trust, and engagement with their customers. Botsonic is a cutting-edge chatbot builder designed to enhance user engagement on websites. Trusted by thousands of businesses, it offers a seamless way to connect with visitors and provide instant support.
Botsify is a dynamic, real-time chatbot platform suitable for a variety of businesses. With Botsify, you can easily connect with your website visitors, send customised messages, and provide support — even during your most busy periods. WordPress chatbots are a convenient way of automating responses to common customer queries, saving you time and enhancing user experiences. They can serve as a powerful tool for improving support, lead generation, reducing shopping cart abandonment and elevating overall customer satisfaction. From 24/7 customer support responses to sales information and marketing, you’ll likely be able to find a way chatbots can work for you. Chatbase’s apart is its ability to train ChatGPT on your data, which is about as easy as you could ask for it to be.
However, if you want to hide the chatbot on specific pages, then you can click the ‘Add exclusion rule’ link. This will open another rule where you can simply add the URL of the page where you want to hide the chatbot in the field on the right. Here, you have to choose where the chatbot widget will appear on your website. You will then be directed to your HubSpot account, where you will be creating the rest of your chatbot. Simply select an industry of your choice from the dropdown menu and click the ‘Next’ button. Once you have provided your details and set a password for your new account, HubSpot will ask you about the industry that you work in.
It is excellent for customer support, but DocsBot AI tries to make the specialized knowledge you give it even more useful with creative use cases. Lyro AI by Tidio uses chatbots for wordpress your content and data to make chats as smooth as possible. They can take FAQs and give them to your visitors in a way that matches the flow of the conversation.
Heroic KB is the best WordPress knowledge base plugin that adds a searchable knowledge base to your existing site. This means that they can only provide answers that you have programmed them for. IBM Watson Assistant even offers VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) calls for users to reach out to a real person if needed. Acobot can also interact through voice, meaning customers can reach out to their favorite brands even when their hands are busy.
WP-Chatbot for Messenger is fully integrable with a business’ Facebook page. Users can hold conversations over Facebook messenger or the company’s website widget. The OmniChat™ feature by MobileMonkey allows for chatbot conversations across multiple messaging platforms, and lets users add live chat functions to their website. Like Zendesk, HubSpot is a sales and CRM platform offering a whole suite of customer service features, including a chatbot.
First, you will need to install and activate the HubSpot plugin on your website. For detailed instructions, see our beginner’s guide on how to install a WordPress plugin. Next, click on the ‘Create Pinecone Index’ button to automatically create a new Pinecone index. From there, you need to place a checkmark next to the Enable Help Assistant, Show Help Assistant on this Site, and AI Help Assistant options.
Whether you want a full-page bot, a live chat bot on all pages, or just a simple pop-up, this video has got you covered. Follow along with the instructions, and you’ll have your bot up and running in no time. Our favorite is Botsonic, which provides many features, including live chat workflows and GPT 4. Tidio is our next top pick because of its cutting-edge conversational AI for engaging new customers and landing more sales. It also has a fallback to connect with live agents and integrates with popular messaging apps. Botsify’s integrations set it apart from other similarly priced options on the market.
If you are interested in the progress and development of this WordPress ChatBot plugin and have any feedback to make it better, please leave a comment in the support forum. Understand how variables can be created, what are the different types, and the importance of giving each variable a unique name. Our top choice, Botsonic, and a couple of others have free options for you to try out, while the other two also have free trials. Please keep in mind that all comments are moderated according to our comment policy, and your email address will NOT be published. Once you have done that, simply click the ‘Save’ button to store your changes.
You can foun additiona information about ai customer service and artificial intelligence and NLP. Zendesk provides agents with AI-powered suggestions during conversations to optimize customer support. Your Chatling chatbot is trained on your business’ data, so it can reliably answer customer questions and direct them to resources. You can train your bot with a variety of different data sources, including documents, URLs, sitemaps, and more — simply enter the resources and watch your bot train itself in minutes. Finally, your chatbot should integrate with your other tools and systems for a more unified workflow.
Some chatbot platforms offer multi-channel support, allowing customers to reach out through various channels like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger.
Integrating a chatbot with WordPress is a straightforward and hassle-free process and can provide many benefits for website owners looking to enhance their customer engagement and support.
Chatbots can also be used to automate other customer support tasks like answering frequently asked questions, providing product support, and fixing smaller issues.
IBM Watson Assistant even offers VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) calls for users to reach out to a real person if needed.
However, with the Tidio+ package, individuals can harness sophisticated AI to create chatbots designed to minimize customer attrition and solve issues.
The Webhook block in Landbot enables users to exchange data with external apps and servers, making it a valuable feature for advanced users. Once you’re satisfied with how your chatbot is functioning, https://chat.openai.com/ you can use the Integrations menu or the Watson Assistant WordPress plugin to add the chatbot to your website. Once that’s complete, you’ll begin customizing your bot on the chatbot setup page.
You can easily add this feature to your website using LiveChat, which is the best live chat support software for WordPress. Live chat is a communication tool that allows visitors to chat with a member of your customer support team through a chat window on your website. From here, you have to select the action the chatbot will take if the customer replies with one of the quick responses that you just added. HubSpot is an amazing customer relationship management (CRM) system that comes with a suite of tools for sales, customer service, marketing, and content management.
For paid accounts, you can use any GCP Region supported by Pinecone like eu-west4-gcp or us-central1-gcp. Add new functionality and integrations to your site with thousands of plugins. Botsify doesn’t offer a free version, but it does have a very clear pricing structure. So depending on your level of expertise, you can “Do It Yourself” for $49 per month, or have it “Done For You” for $149 per month. Ideal for small and medium-sized businesses, Tidio easily integrates with WordPress in a matter of seconds.
AI scheduling assistants can help by streamlining the process, considering your availability, time zones, and preferences, and… The main goal of this site is to provide high quality WordPress tutorials and other training resources to help people learn WordPress and improve their websites. This reduces the bounce rate, increases sales, and even gives you a chance to collect feedback from users. It is a super popular way to connect with customers and has a satisfaction level of 73%, which is much higher than email, phone, and SMS support. For example, if you want the bot’s welcome message to appear immediately once someone visits your website, then you can choose the ‘Pop open the welcome message as a prompt’ option. Next, expand the ‘Chat display behavior’ section and choose the chatbot’s default state when the triggers are met.
From the very clean interface, you can create drip campaigns, offer human assistance, add chat widgets to your website, group contacts, and send flow-based or template-based broadcasts. The Customers.ai platform is used by some huge brands including Ford, Toyota, Anytime Fitness and Holiday Inn. Designed to consolidate messages from various channels into a single inbox, this creates a system which enables easy monitoring and improved responses. Customers.ai (which was previously MobileMonkey) allows you to create bots using OmniChat™ technology, which is compatible with web chat, Messenger, and SMS text messages. The platform also enables integrations with third-party CRM systems, email marketing services and webinar platforms. Used by brands such as Unilever, UNICEF, and World Health Organisation, Botsify is a good, well priced platform.
Honourable Faiez Jacobs – South Africa
A South African Member of Parliament of Greater Athlone for the ruling African National Congress (ANC). Born and bred Capetonian serving communities on the Cape Flats, he previously served as the Secretary of the ANC in the Western Cape until 2019. He has been a long-standing advocate for the freedom of Palestine and is currently involved in passing a bill in Parliament in support of Palestine.
Shaykh Dr Yasir Qadhi – USA
A resident Scholar of the East Plano Islamic Center in Dallas, the Dean of The Islamic Seminary of America, and the Chair of the Fiqh Council of North Africa. Shaykh Al-Qadhi is one of the few people who has combined a traditional Eastern Islamic seminary education with a Western academic training of the study of Islam.
Tayab Ali
Director of the International Centre for Justice for Palestinians and an internationally recognised Solicitor Advocate. His practice encompasses criminal and civil/public law in both the UK and international jurisdictions. He is a Partner at leading London Law firm Bindmans LLP.
Antony Lerman
An Honorary Fellow at the Parkes Institute for the Study of Jewish-Non-Jewish Relations at Southampton University, he is the former director of the Institute for Jewish Policy Research; and author of Whatever Happened to Antisemitism?: Redefinition and the Myth of the ‘Collective Jew’. Lerman specialises in the study of antisemitism, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, multiculturalism, and the place of religion in society.
Dr Daud Abdullah
Director of the Middle East Monitor and author of several books, including, Engaging the World: The Making of Hamas’s Foreign Policy (2021). From 2003-2011, he was a part-time lecturer at Birkbeck College, University of London and from 1990-1993, he lectured at the University of Maiduguri, Nigeria. He has been a guest lecturer on Islamic and Palestinian affairs at many universities in the UK including Queen’s University in Belfast.
Baroness Jenny Tonge
Former Lord’s health spokesperson; was a Member of Parliament for Richmond Park in 1997. She was the Liberal Democrat spokesman for international development for 7 years, and has been a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Population, Development and Reproductive Health since 1997. In 2008, she took part in the Gaza Flotilla which broke through the blockage to deliver humanitarian aid. She has received several awards for her support for the Palestinians.
Dr Ghada Karmi
A Palestinian academic, physician and author. Currently, she is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter. Born in Jerusalem, Karmi was forced to leave her home with her family as a result of Israel’s creation in 1948.
Mysara Ibrahim
A British Palestinian, originally from Gaza City whose family members have been killed recently in the barbaric Israeli bombardment. He is a specialist in education diplomacy.
Dr Anas Altikriti (moderator)
Founder and CEO of The Cordoba Foundation. He is the former President of the Muslim Association of Britain and a leading figure in the international Anti-War movement and an Anti-Racism campaigner. He currently hosts a podcast, The London Circle, on Al Hiwar TV addressing issues relating to British takes on local, continental and global affairs.
In the shadow of the Holocaust (1933-1945) and the solemn promise of ‘Never Again,’ Raphael Lemkin, a Jewish Polish legal scholar, introduced a haunting term to encapsulate the horrors of mass murder: genocide. Lemkin described it as a deliberate scheme to obliterate the very essence of national groups, causing them to wither away like plants afflicted by an unremitting blight.
Since the coining of this term, the world has regrettably borne witness to genocide on multiple occasions over the past seven decades. In our recent history, during the Bosnian War (1992-1995), the Srebrenica massacre in July 1995 left a scar on humanity’s conscience, with the systematic brutality and organized annihilation of 8,000 Bosniak Muslim men and boys by Bosnian Serbs and the Bosnian Serb Army of Republika (VRS).
The civilian death toll in Gaza has reached a staggering 8,100, surpassing even the horrors of Srebrenica. Yet despite the mounting casualties, Israel continues its relentless bombardment, rejecting even a UN call for a ceasefire. This merciless assault against the Palestinian people shows a callous disregard for human life and international law. It echoes the very definition of genocide coined by Raphael Lemkin: the destruction of a people. We cannot remain silent witnesses to this unfolding tragedy. The time is now to speak out against these atrocities and demand an end to the violence.
It is painfully evident that the world has failed to internalize the lessons of the Holocaust. ‘Never Again’ remains trapped in the annals of history, forgotten and neglected, while the Palestinian genocide rages on, a grim testament to the world’s inaction.
The promise of “never again” rings hollow as the Palestinian genocide continues unabated. The lessons of the Holocaust remain trapped in history books, reduced to platitudes rather than calls to action. While the world stood idly by, “never again” became “again and again.” Gaza burns, the civilian death toll climbs, and Israel rejects ceasefires. If “never again” still means anything, the time for action is now.
Tunisia at a Crossroads: Has the birthplace of the Arab Spring finally succumbed to tyranny?
by John L. Esposito Distinguished Professor, Georgetown University
In this issue
Rachid Ghannouchi on Islam & Democracy US Policy: The Biden Administration Conclusion Notes
Rachid Ghannouchi is one of the world’s leading Islamic thinkers and has been one of the most influential Tunisian politicians during country’s post-revolution transition period.
Since the late 1970s, I have written about the emergence of Islamic movements in Muslim politics and society in the Muslim world from North Africa to Southeast Asia. I have followed the history and development of Rachid Ghannouchi’s life and thinking for close to 40 years. I have also tried to track the remarkable development and transformation of Ennahda Party, from its opposition to and suppression by autocratic governments, to its totally unanticipated, overwhelming election, and Ghannouchi’s role as Speaker of the Parliament (and leader in parliament).
This history was initially captured in my books with John Voll, from Makers of Contemporary Islam and Islam and Democracy to Islam and Democracy after the Arab Spring. Recently, we have all seen the extent to which Ennahda’s role has contributed to establishing democracy in Tunisia, and more recently, the return to dictatorship and authoritarian rule under Kais Saied.
Rached Ghannouchi is the co-founder and president of the Muslim Democratic Ennahda Party and the Speaker of the democratically elected parliament of Tunisia.
Rachid Ghannouchi on Islam & Democracy
Ghannouchi spent most of the 1980s in prison for his opposition to Tunisia’s dictatorship, and then another two decades in exile. During Ghannouchi’s years in exile in the UK, during which he had time to read widely, reflect, interact with activists and scholars like John Keane, his ideas evolved significantly regarding the nature of democracy, relationship of Islam to democracy, and the nature and possibilities for modern democracies in Muslim countries. Ghannouchi developed a belief, theory and agenda regarding how Islam and democracy were, and could be, compatible in modern Muslim states.
The opportunity and challenge of implementing his ideas occurred when the Arab Spring inaugurated a new era and he returned to Tunisia in in 2011. Ghannouchi helped draft the country’s democratic constitution and played a significant part in Tunisia’s government.
When Ennahda began to participate in Tunisian politics after the Arab Spring, its opponents predicted that, if elected and in power, it would put an end to democracy and impose Islam. In fact, the opposite occurred. Under Ghannouchi’s leadership, Ennahda was a participant in the drafting of Tunisia’s constitution. The constitution that emerged, and that Ghannouchi and Ennahda endorsed, neither imposed Islamic law nor mentioned it. Ghannouchi proved willing to negotiate and form coalitions with parties representing the full range of political opinions in Tunisia. All this represented a kind of experiment, testing whether Islamic democracy was possible. The answer was, and remains, yes.
International recognition of Ghannouchi’s role and significance were reflected in a series of awards. He was named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2012 and Foreign Policy’s Top 100 Global Thinkers. He was also awarded the Chatham House Prize in 2012 alongside Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki.
In January 2014, after the new Tunisian Constitution of 2014 was adopted by 93% of the members of the National Constituent Assembly, Ennahda peacefully handed power to a technocratic government led by Mehdi Jomaa. In recognition, in 2015, Ghannouchi, along with Tunisian President Béji Caïd Essebsi, received the International Crisis Group (ICG) Founders Award for Pioneers in Peacebuilding.
In 2018, Ghannouchi was selected as one of the 100Most Influential Arabs in the World in Global Influence. Ghannouchi’s consensus-building approach and consistent calls for dialogue and unity across political, intellectual, religious and ideological lines are needed in Tunisia, as well as many countries in the Middle East.
Amnesty International has described Ghannouchi’s arrest as being part of a wide-ranging “politically motivated witch hunt”. The Tunisian authorities have arbitrarily arrested, detained, and prosecuted democratic political party leaders, civil society representatives, union members, judges and journalists, many of whom are facing the same charges of “conspiring against state security” for their defense of Tunisian democracy.
U.S. Congress members have raised the plight of Ghannouchi and others, and the UK should do more because Ghannouchi spent 20 years living and advocating for democracy, freedom and civic engagement. He was in the forefront challenging narrow and extremist voices within the Muslim community who promoted disengagement, such as declaring voting in the UK to be Haram (forbidden). His books and lectures have benefitted many Muslims in the UK and globally.
US Policy: The Biden Administration
After the Arab Spring more than a decade ago, the US funded civil society in Tunisia but also sought to draw the military closer, designating it a major non-NATO ally in 2015 despite the fact that the US Leahy Law bars American aid to foreign security forces that violate human rights. That policy has come under sharp criticism today. Ranking members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Middle East Subcommittee condemned ‘blatant attacks’ by the Tunisian government on free speech and association. On April 19, 2023, the State Department commented on the arrests of political opponents in Tunisia:
“The arrests by the Tunisian government of political opponents and critics are fundamentally at odds with the principles Tunisians adopted in a constitution that explicitly guarantees freedom of opinion, thought, and expression. The arrest on Monday of former Speaker of Parliament Rached Ghannouchi, the closure of the Nahda party headquarters, and the banning of meetings held by certain opposition groups – and the Tunisian government’s implication that these actions are based on public statements – represent a troubling escalation by the Tunisian government against perceived opponents. The Tunisian government’s obligation to respect freedom of expression and other human rights is larger than any individual or political party, and is essential to a vibrant democracy and to the U.S.-Tunisia relationship.”[1]
The statement demonstrated concern, but given the history of US foreign policy in the MENA, it may be all talk and little action.
Congressman Gregory Meeks, ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Dean Phillips, ranking member of the Subcommittee on the Middle East, condemned “Tunisia’s recent arrests of political figures, forcible closures of political party offices, and bans on free assembly of certain political groups [as] blatant attacks on free speech and association.”[2]
President Biden has faced calls from members of the Democratic party to rein in the US-Tunisia military relationship. Senator Chris Murphy, who leads the Senate subcommittee on relations with the Middle East said that the US approach to Tunisia suggests that the ‘democracy toolkit’ is fundamentally broken. Murphy noted, “The Biden administration has, I think, made a bet on the Tunisian military … I would argue that we should make a bet on civil society instead.” He has commented that the Biden administration needed to urgently shift course and end its support for “brutal dictators”.
U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), ranking member and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, introduced the Safeguarding Tunisian Democracy Act (June 15, 2023), legislation to foster Tunisia’s democratic institutions, limit funds until Tunisia restores checks and balances, and authorise the creation of a fund to support democratic reforms.[3]
On June 15, US Senators Durbin, Murphy, Welch, and Coons Introduced a Resolution Recognising Tunisia’s Leadership in The Arab Spring and calling out recent democratic backsliding.[4]
Finally, more than 150 academics in Europe and North America, including a number from the universities of Oxford, Harvard, Columbia and Georgetown have called for the release of Rached Ghannouchi and all political prisoners in Tunisia, amid what they described as a “fierce onslaught” against the sole democracy to emerge from the 2011 Arab Spring.
Conclusion
Under Ghannouchi’s leadership, Ennahda has become a democratic political party in its orientation following the model of Christian Democratic parties in Europe. In contrast, Kais Saied, with the help of the military, has brought back and imposed the one-party authoritarian state that existed prior to the Arab Spring.
Declaring a state of emergency, Saied has suppressed the democratically elected parliament, written and imposed a new constitution in which presidential power is at the expense of other branches of government, a constitution approved in a referendum, but boycotted by most of the opposition. Only 30% of Tunisians participated.
In contrast, Ghannouchi, responding to the growing threat to democracy in the country, has maintained that “imagining Tunisia without this or that side… Tunisia without Ennahda, Tunisia without political Islam, without the left, or any other component, is a project for civil war.” Ironically, the mention of the words “civil war” is the apparent ground for his arrest.
Remarkably, despite his arrest, Ghannouchi has refused to be discouraged about Tunisia’s democratic future. “I am optimistic about the future,” he said after a judge ordered him to be held pending trial, “Tunisia is free.”
The international community, democratic nations in particular, and all who believe in democracy, are challenged today to respond to the imprisonment of Ghannouchi, Tunisian MP Saied Ferjani who was unlawfully imprisoned, and other Tunisians, and to condemn Saied’s authoritarian government.
*Presentation by Professor John Esposito at a London conference, titled “Tunisia at a Crossroads: Has the birthplace of the Arab Spring finally succumbed to tyranny?” Conference held on 23 June 2023 at the Royal College of Pathologists, organised by The Cordoba Foundation. Full recording available below:
John L. Esposito is a distinguished University Professor, a Professor of Religion and International Affairs and of Islamic Studies at Georgetown University. He is a Founding Director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding in the Walsh School of Foreign Service.
Esposito has served as consultant to the U.S. Department of State and other agencies, European and Asian governments and corporations, universities, and the media worldwide. He is a former President of the American Academy of Religion, the Middle East Studies Association of North America and of the American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies, Vice Chair of the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy, and member of the World Economic Forum’s Council of 100 Leaders, and member of the E. C. European Network of Experts on De-Radicalisation and Board of Directors of the C-1 World Dialogue.
Esposito is recipient of the American Academy of Religion’s Martin E. Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion and of Pakistan’s Quaid-i-Azzam Award for Outstanding Contributions in Islamic Studies and the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University Award for Outstanding Teaching. Editor-in-Chief of Oxford Islamic Studies Online and Series Editor of The Oxford Library of Islamic Studies, Esposito has served as Editor-in-Chief of The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World (6 vols.); The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World (4 vols.), The Oxford History of Islam, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam, and The Islamic World: Past and Present (3 vols.).
Esposito’s books and articles have been translated into 35 languages. His more than 45 books and monographs include: Islamophobia and the Challenge of Pluralism in the 21st Century; What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam; Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think (with Dalia Mogahed); Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam; The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?; Islam and Politics; World Religions Today and Religion and Globalization (with D. Fasching & T. Lewis); Asian Islam in the 21st Century; Geography of Religion: Where God Lives, Where Pilgrims Walk (with S. Hitchcock); Islam: The Straight Path; Islam and Democracy; and Makers of Contemporary Islam (with J. Voll); Modernizing Islam (with F. Burgat); Political Islam: Revolution, Radicalism or Reform?; Religion and Global Order (with M. Watson); Islam and Secularism in the Middle East (with A. Tamimi); Iran at the Crossroads (with R.K. Ramazani); Islam, Gender, and Social Change; Muslims on the Americanization Path?; Daughters of Abraham (with Y. Haddad); and Women in Muslim Family Law.
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Editors Dr Anas Altikriti – Chief Executive Dr Abdullah Faliq – Editor-in-Chief & Managing Director H.D. Forman Sandra Tusin Basma Elshayyal
