Al-Juhainawi: My Tasks in Tel Aviv were not Normalization, but in Support of the Palestinian Cause

Former Foreign Minister Khamis Al-Juhainawi said, in an interview he gave to “JDD”, that Tunisia today is experiencing an unprecedented crisis that has been exposed by recent disputes between state institutions due to the absence of governance, indicating that the political class, whether in power, represented by the government, the Assembly of the Representatives of the People and the Presidency, or the opposition, is far from the aspirations of the Tunisian people. “The elite is in one valley, and the rest of the people are in another valley.” Khamis Al-Juhainawi added that the Tunisian people revolted against the system of government in 2011 in order to demand employment, freedom and national dignity, but the political elites that are fighting against each other today for ideological reasons and in search of positioning themselves in power are the ones who reaped the fruits of this freedom, while the demands of the Tunisian people remained in employment and national dignity, far from the priorities of this elite, saying that “the elite is in a valley and the rest of the people are in a second valley.” And he indicated that although the struggle that we are witnessing today between state institutions in appears to be a legal and constitutional struggle, it is, in reality, a struggle over positioning in power, and that whoever perpetuates their presence in government will perpetuate their philosophy and the survival of their party in power, while the Tunisian people expect a comprehensive development program that will bring them work and prosperity like the rest of the world peoples, as he put it.

My exemption was promoted in a political framework

Chronologically, the resignation preceded the dismissal, according to what Al-Juhainawi confirmed, indicating that he had sent the text of his resignation to the Tunis Africa News Agency, before the Prime Minister announced the exemption decision, stressing that the dismissal came within a political framework due to the lack of reasons justifying it and the whole issue is that there is a new president took office and saw that the Minister of Foreign Affairs should be replaced.

The former minister criticized the way the Presidency of the Republic dealt with him, as it was supposed to speak with the minister, hand over the files, and then leave the minister, but unfortunately, for unknown reasons, the dismissal decision was promoted, according to him.

Regarding the possibility of prejudices from the President of the Republic, Qais Saeed, that possibly made him deal with Al-Juhainawi in this way, the latter emphasized that the President of the Republic has the legitimacy to change all his opponents, but this is done in ways that are in line with international norms and in a civilized manner consistent with the effort he has made in serving the country.

“My tasks in Tel Aviv were not normalization, but rather to support the right of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state on their lands.”

Regarding the relationship of his dismissal from his position as Minister of Foreign Affairs with normalization, as a result of a prejudice by the President of the Republic, since Al-Juhainawi assumed the position of head of the Tunis office in Tel Aviv, confirmed that this assumption is empty of meaning, a populist message that has nothing to do with the Palestinian cause. He emphasized that his mission was not normalization, but rather a participation within the framework of an international path in which Tunisia proudly contributed in order to consolidate the right of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state on their lands, noting that Tunisian diplomacy played a major role in enabling the Palestinian leadership to have its right to return to its territory.

Al-Juhainawi added that Tunisia opened relations with Israel at the request of the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, similar to other countries such as Morocco, Mauritania, Qatar, the Emirates and others, in order to support the peace process and enable the Palestinian people to establish their state within the 1967 borders. The establishment of the Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital, was supposed to be announced in July 1999. Al-Jahinawi emphasized that this relationship had no connection with normalization with Israel, and that Tunisia went on this path since the era of the late President Habib Bourguiba until today.

President Bourguiba had called for distancing the Palestinian cause from populist purposes, believing that with this method, we would not add any new point in the rights of the Palestinians.

We do not have normalization in Tunisia

Al-Jehainawi emphasized that Tunisia has not normalized relations with Israel, so there is no normalization in Tunisia, except for anomalies in the private sector, in the technical field and some citizens, but the Tunisian state represented in the successive governments since independence to this day has taken a clear line rejecting normalization since the era of the President Habib Bourguiba, in consequence of its awareness of the right of the Palestinian people to establish their state, and to achieve this with international parties.

With regard to Israel’s claim to the Tunisian authorities for compensation for the property of Jews fleeing Tunisia, Al-Juhainawi emphasized that the Tunisian state is not demanding compensation to Israel in the absence of a diplomatic relationship that brings together the two states, noting that whoever talks about compensation is not aware of international law, indicating that Tunisia did not expel the Jews, but rather They were attracted by Zionist organizations, according to his estimation.

“Tunisian diplomacy and its relations on the regional and international arena have receded sufficiently compared to four years ago.”

Al-Jehainawi noted that Tunisian diplomacy today, and Tunisia’s standing and its relations on the regional and international arena, has receded sufficiently after a year and a half of the elections, compared to four years ago.

And the former foreign minister stated that Tunisia’s relations with neighboring countries today reflect the status of Tunisian diplomacy, which was especially evident through Algeria’s recent decision to close its borders with Tunisia, which was not conducted in consultation with Tunisia, while the decision was supposed to be taken after consultation with the Tunisian state, which reflects the weakness of Tunisian diplomacy.

He also stated that if there had been intense diplomatic relations between Tunisia and Algeria, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would have known about the decision from the beginning.

“There is no evidence to prove the death of journalists Sufyan Chourabi and Nazir Al Qattari in Libya.”

Regarding the issue of the disappearance of Tunisian journalists, Nadir Al-Qattari and Sufyan Chourabi in Libya, Al-Juhainawi confirmed that until his departure from the ministry in 2019, there is no evidence to prove the death of the aforementioned journalists, indicating that many Libyan parties have promoted their knowledge of the whereabouts of the bodies of the disappeared journalists in order to recognize them and negotiate with them.

He continued, saying, “The state does not speak except in what is established in the presence of constant evidence,” noting that a delegation was sent to Libya to inspect the bodies that were found and were said to belong to the disappeared journalists, confirming that genetic samples were taken from these bodies to be found later that they do not match with the genes of the disappeared journalists, stressing that there is no firm evidence yet that indicates the death of journalists Sufyan Chourabi and Nazir Al-Qattari in Libya.

Khamis Al-Juhainawi stressed the need for the Tunisian state to move in order to communicate with the new leadership in Libya and to request as much information as possible about the issue of the disappearance of journalists in Libya.