Reclaiming Walls and Imaginaries. Palestine Solidarity and Anti-Colonial Aesthetic Practices in Tunisia
Alessia Carnevale
Reclaiming Walls and Imaginaries. Palestine Solidarity and Anti-Colonial Aesthetic Practices in Tunisia
MECAM Papers English | 2025
Abstract
Israel’s devastating retaliation to the Hamas-led attack on 7 October 2023 has sparked the re-emergence of a global wave of solidarity with Palestine. In Tunisia, besides conventional demonstrations, support for Palestine and anti-colonial discourses are articulated through different aesthetic practices of resistance. Drawing from local, regional, and international symbolic repertoires, they reaffirm the necessity of self-representation and question Western cultural hegemony.
The support of the United States and most European governments for the current Israeli war on Gaza has renewed widespread outrage and disillusionment regarding Western countries’ purported liberal-democratic values. Moreover, it has powerfully repositioned the liberation of Palestine as a central cause in the movement for global justice and emancipation.
In Tunisia, in the midst of a severe economic crisis and the exacerbation of authoritarian rule and political repression, activists and artists have been mobilising in support of Palestine. They demand the end of the ongoing genocide and denounce Western complicity in it.
Current pro-Palestine activism confirms the relevance of culture in the articulation of political discourses, in the recomposition of political and (trans)national identities, as well as in raising awareness and mobilising people.
Anti-colonial aesthetics and discourses consistently inform Tunisian left-wing (especially youth) cultural activism for Palestine, as exemplified by the targeting of Western cultural institutions with graffiti, boycott campaigns against their events, or the revival of militant Third World cinema.
Context
Recent pro-Palestine mobilisations in Tunisia restate the relevance of symbolic repertoires in the articulation of political discourses and in the reactivation of social movements. Culture and representation are once again sites of contention. Through aesthetic action in the public space, activists and artists are denouncing cultural colonialism and subalternity.
A survey conducted in August 2025 found that the majority of people living in Germany support a foreign policy towards Gaza and Israel that is guided by international law and seeks to uphold universal human rights. Details on our findings and their implications are outlined and discussed.
Ghana and Tunisia have often been framed as beacons of democracy in their respective regions. However, as Ghana’s democracy matured over decades, Tunisia’s experiment ultimately collapsed. This paper examines diverse factors shaping their paths, offering lessons on the risks of democratic backsliding.
