TUNIS: Tunisia has abolished a decades-old ban on Muslim women marrying non-Muslims, the presidency said Thursday.
“Congratulations to the women of Tunisia for the enshrinement of the right to the freedom to choose one’s spouse,” presidency spokeswoman Saida Garrach wrote on Facebook.
The announcement comes a month after President Beji Caid Essebsi called for the government to scrap the ban dating back to 1973.
Until now a non-Muslim man who wished to marry a Tunisian woman had to convert to Islam and submit a certificate of his conversion as proof.
Human rights groups in the North African country had campaigned for the ban’s abolition, saying it undermined the fundamental human right to choose a spouse.
Tunisia is viewed as being ahead of most Arab countries on women’s rights, but there is still discrimination particularly in matters of inheritance.
Tunisia scraps ban on Muslim women marrying non-Muslims
Tunisia scraps ban on Muslim women marrying non-Muslims
Israel prevents Palestinian vice president from attending Christmas Eve Mass in Bethlehem
- It is uncertain who from the Palestinian Authority will attend the midnight Mass in Bethlehem, which will be held for the first time in two years
LONDON: Israeli authorities prevented Hussein Al-Sheikh, the vice president of the Palestinian Authority, from attending the Christmas Eve Mass at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem on Wednesday.
Forces prevented Al-Sheikh’s convoy from entering the city, believed to be the birthplace of Christ, located south of the occupied West Bank.
President Mahmoud Abbas assigned Al-Shiekh to represent him at the event and attend the Mass, according to Wafa news agency.
Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem were canceled for the past two years due to the alleged genocide in Gaza by Israel in October 2023. Manger Square instead featured a nativity scene of the infant Jesus surrounded by rubble and barbed wire, symbolizing the crisis in Gaza.
It is uncertain who from the PA will attend the midnight Mass in Bethlehem, which will be held for the first time in two years. The PA has limited autonomy in parts of the West Bank, including Bethlehem. Christians make up less than 2 percent of the territory’s approximately 3 million Palestinian residents.
