As we said yesterday, the fear of cancellation of the “One Hundred percent Halal” show by Lotfi Abdelli finally materialized. The Salafists of Menzel Bourguiba, hostile to the representation of the One Man Show considered profane have prevented the Tunisian humorist from performing on stage.
One may not appreciate the humor and freedom of tone of the artist, and it is not a question of defending it, however prohibiting him from exercising his profession constitutes a serious act which undermines freedom of expression. What the revolution was made for. The most worrying in this story is the silence of the Minister of Culture and the absence of the security service. Is it not worrying that a group of fundamentalists can impose his law in defiance of the rules of “living together”? How not to believe in a manipulation under which a new form of censorship hides, sneaky that one.
In any event, the Abdelli Lotfi affair throws suspicion on other canceled shows and the reasons for which. This is the case of Soufia Sadok, including the closing show of the Medina Festival, scheduled for this evening, August 15, has just been canceled. In addition, the show of Osama Farhat on Bayrem Tounsi at the Hammamet Festival would also have been the subject of cancellation, probably faults of means. We don’t know more.
It does a lot to suggest a simple coincidence. In order to have precise explanations on these unfortunate cancellations, we have tried to join an official of the Ministry of Culture without success.
