Minority Jews and Christians are putting their faith in Tunisia’s nascent democracy to ensure its new Islamist-led leadership respects their rights in this traditionally secular state.
Religious minorities in the Arab world have mostly lost out when dictators are toppled and radical Islamists exploit the power vacuum to attack non-Muslims. The targeting of Christians in Iraq and Egypt constitutes a frightening example.
Strict Muslim teachings and the attitudes they engender are hostile to democracy. I fear that the Christians and Jews in lands of the “Arab Spring” will suffer greatly.