Within the domestic political and cultural climate full of errors and lies, some historians feel a lot of pressure to endeavour rewriting our history with objectivity and without falsehood.
We are convinced that it is hard to rebuild realities of history and correct the historical data without fuss or interference from some especially the unprofessionals who meddle in history. I feel hope as Khaled Abid, Academic Professor of contemporary history, warns of dealing with history as victim and executioner and of there being in history, no two narrations.
Abid succeeded to make sense of the historical truth regarding the Bourguiba-Ben youssef conflict, after his two TV interviews on Alhiwar Ettounssi, in which he was brave, calm and self-confident.
He argued this thorny issue through historical documents obtained from colonial France archives.
Historian and scholar Khaled Abid gave the impression that he is one of his generation who knows that our National history is full of bumps and dips and only historians can “embrace the bumps in the road” of history.
When Abid spoke in these TV interviews, he was aiming as a historian to present facts without falsification or political calculations, and to present the topic of the Bourguiba-Ben Youssef conflict, as well as to clarify the role of Ben Youssef with new facts, even shocking for sympathisers of the national leaders.
This great job does not mean trying to divide Tunisian society in these crucial circumstances as one current Pro Ben Youssef minister said.
Khaled Abid looked carefully to enforce history with its facts and enlightening public opinion of all facts as academic historian with his counterparts aiming to build bridges to the future.
Besides, he succeeds to avoid getting into any other controversy which would not serve historical truth nor the reconciliation of different generations with their history which still needs much more analysis of its secrets, by historians only.
Ben Rhouma Chedly
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