Tunisia: pro-Palestine activists assaulted by security guards
Pro-Palestine protesters were physically assaulted by security guards in a supermarket in Tunisia on August 30th, according to The New Arab.
The assault was carried out by the Carrefour supermarket’s security team. The assault was so brutal that several of the victims were seen bloodied, beaten, and being dragged across the floor by the store’s guards in videos.
There have consequently been calls to boycott Carrefour, a French retailer allegedly associated with Israel. Although it is operated locally by the UTIC Group, a Tunisian corporation, it remains closely connected to Carrefour’s international network. Activists cite this connection as complicity in the Israeli military campaign on Gaza.
The demonstrators seem to have entered the supermarket as part of a pro-Palestine protest. A spokesperson for the Carrefour boycott campaign, Jawaher Channa, said: “This was a peaceful, civic, anti-Zionist protest. We hold the authorities responsible for the consequences of this assault.” Channa also said that staff of the shop’s security team had been detained for questioning following police intervention.
Several of the protesters suffered from fractures, and were carried to hospitals.
Carrefour Tunisia employs over 5,000 people, and UTIC insisted the chain is “100% Tunisian” and pro-Palestine. However, Carrefour’s parent company in France says that within a political context, a “strict neutrality” is maintained. Tunisia’s pro-Palestine movement has questioned this claim. The movement has said: “You can’t wash your hands of the blood while sharing profits with the parent company.”
In March, the pro-Palestine activist, Mohamed Amin Touihri, was arrested after he stormed the pitch of a World Cup qualifier match and tore down a Carrefour banner. He was beaten severely for this, causing public outrage.
Boycott leaders aim not only to close down Carrefour, but “debrand” it, in which the supermarket would lose its name and proceed as a local alternative, following the closure of Carrefour.
Tunisian President Kais Saied blocked a draft legislation in 2023, which would have banned companies tied to Israel. This is just a small part of his wider political clampdown in Tunisia, where activists have become political prisoners.
Carrefour closures in Jordan and Oman are a symbol of hope for the demonstrators, who strive to achieve the same in Tunisia.
The New Arab, Maghrebi.org
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