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Tunisian Parliamentary VP Abdelfattah Mourou said that the Arab nation is backward, ignorant, and "oblivious to reality," comparing it to the West, which managed to overcome its hostilities after WWII and form the nucleus for the European community. This is driven by "the power of the peoples that realize that they can accomplish things through their frameworks and institutions," he said, whereas "our mentality... makes us look at the gates of the military base to see if any tank is coming." The interview with Mourou aired on Turkey's Channel 9 on July 2.
Abdelfattah Mourou: "A few young men grabbed me by the throat as I was leaving the mosque on Friday, and said: 'You infidel, you evildoer, you sinner, how can you be in the parliament and chair parliamentary sessions, while alcohol is being sold in our country? Why don't you ban it?' I said: 'My son, I cannot ban it. It's not my mission. My mission is to make you feel safe in your country. My mission is to make sure that you can express your opinions.'
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"The nation is corrupt not because people drink alcohol. The nation's corruption lies in the drunkenness of its mind. The nation is oblivious to reality. The problem of the nation is that it is backward and ignorant.
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"Dictatorship is the delusion that power can resolve problems. It cannot. Problems can be resolved only through the awareness of the peoples, and through their ability to overcome their problems. The West emerged from WWII with 100 million victims, but it never doubted its ability to succeed. Only nine years after the war, France and Germany, which had clashed three times over a single century – with Bismarck, in WWI, and in WWII... Within nine years, these two countries, along with Italy, had formed the nucleus for the European community. The war ended in 1945, and 1954 saw the beginning of the Common Market between three countries that had been fighting one another.
"What power drives this? The power of the peoples that realize they can accomplish things through their frameworks and institutions. Our mentality, on the other hand, makes us look at the gates of the military base to see if any tank is coming. This is a mistake. This is a mistake. We must never think of any change that comes through violence."
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