Beja Goubellat Festival Canceled Following “Salafist Threat” |
06 August 2012
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 Afifa Ltifi - Tunisia Live - The organizing committee of the summer festival of Goubellat in Tunisia’s northern governorate of Beja decided to cancel the twelfth edition of the event, which was scheduled to kick off last Thursday, August 2.
The decision was made due to pressure put on the organizing committee by a group of individuals allegedly affiliated with the Salafist stream of Islam.
The group opposes celebrating any festival during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. According to those against the event, the festival was resisted due to its potential to propagate mixing of sexes and to spread fitna (Arabic for “discord”), a word which connotes upheaval and chaos in Islamic thinking.
According to Tunisian radio station Shems FM, the first night of the festival was expected to commence with the performance of Tunisian artist Walid Tounsi. However, Tounsi faced threats from those protesting the event and was forced to leave the city.
Shems FM also reported that the police headquarters in the city of Goubellat is essentially out of service, and that the governor of Goubellat has not been working since June 11.
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