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Tunisia's Shiites Hunker Down Against Rising Discrimination

Shiites in Tunisia say they’ve seen a rise in discrimination against them, particularly from Salafists or fundamentalist Sunni Muslims. “They threaten us online and in the street every day,” said one. “They are narrow-minded.” Mischa Benoit-Lavelle reports for Al-Monitor.
A Shi'ite Muslim walks over burning coal during a religious procession as they mark Arbain, in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad January 15, 2012. Shi'ite Muslims commemorate Arbain to mark the end of a 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussein, Prophet Mohammad's grandson, who died in AD 680. Picture taken January 15, 2012. REUTERS/Amit Dave (INDIA - Tags: RELIGION SOCIETY)

GABES, Tunisia — If you walk by Mubarak Baadache’s home in this palm-filled seaside oasis town near Tunisia’s border with Libya during the Muslim month of Muharram, you will hear a sound blasting from an old cassette that is heard almost nowhere else in Tunisia: Shiite prayers.

Baadache is the self-proclaimed leader of the Shiite population in Tunisia and one of the only Tunisian Shiites to proudly and publicly confess his faith to the media.

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