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Ce livre est le produit d’une rencontre, tenue à la Sorbonne en avril 2003, entre chercheurs français, tunisiens et israéliens à l’initiative de la Société d’histoire des Juifs de Tunisie. Le colloque s’est tenu sous le quadruple patronage de l’UNESCO, du CNRS, des ministères des Affaires étrangères et de l’Éducation nationale, en impliquant bien d’autres acteurs institutionnels. Sans qu’il n’y soit jamais fait référence, l’ouvrage, paru quatre ans plus tard, porte la marque du contexte dans ...

Abstract The power of the Al Bu Sa'id Sultans of Oman was widely known as based on delicate balances of forces (and ethnic-social groups), deeply different among them. In fact, the elements that composed the nineteenth century Omani leadership were, and had always been, generally 'divided' amongst three different ethnic groups: the Baluch, the Asian merchant communities and the African regional leaders (Mwiny Mkuu). Within this framework, the role played by European Powers, particularly by the Treaties signed between the Sultans of Oman and the East India Company for abolishing slavery, and by the arms trade was crucial for the development of the Gulf and the Western Indian Ocean international networks They highly contributed to the gradual 'shifting' of the Omanis from the slave trade to clove and spice cultivation – the major economic source of Zanzibar Island – along the coastal area of Sub-Saharan East Africa. The role played by the Omani Sultans – the myth – within the western traditional historiography, which often described them as firmly controlling both the Arabian and African littorals and the major trading ports of the Western Indian Ocean during the nineteenth century, will be reexamined in this paper, taking into account recent research studies and international debates in the topic. The new hypothesis consists of a different perception of the concepts of power and control (political and territorial) of the Western Indian Ocean littorals by the most famous of the Sultans of Oman during the nineteenth century: Saiyid Sa'id bin Sultan Al Bu Sa'id.

Like elsewhere in Africa, local forms of Islam are being challenged by a number of new reformist and revivalist forms of Islam, influenced to some degree by a global Islamic revival but shaped by particular local histories and politics. This has caused some friction, especially as the regime in place seeks to manipulate these tensions for political benefit. Central to this struggle are the young men who have studied Islam abroad and who challenge the established truths of the traditional religious authorities; these authorities in turn accuse 'the youth' of bringing foreign, 'Arab' ideas and politics to Zanzibar. However, the kind of Islamic revival taking place in Zanzibar is far from radical or violent, and it is not appropriate to pose the present situation in terms of global Salafism versus local Sufism. In fact, Islamic revivalists often coin their critique of the state in terms of human rights and good governance and provide an alternative modernity that simultaneously challenges and articulates secular, liberal forms of modernity. Islamic revival critiques what is perceived as society's moral disorder and the state's inability to deal with new global challenges. Hence the present paper explores how global trends in Islam—but also global discourses on human rights and good governance—influence the current modes of Islamic revival in Zanzibar. With a heavily restricted political field, Islam can be a means of critiquing society without getting involved in politics. However, the government and the traditional religious authorities perceive this revivalism as a threat to the status quo and attempt therefore to politicise the struggle, accusing Islamic movements of fundamentalism and terrorism. It is within this political environment that Islamic revival must navigate.

Starting from the nineteenth century descriptive literatures on Zanzibar by authors such as Sir Richard Burton and Charles Guillain, and Salima bint Said-Ruete's autobiography, we can draw a rather detailed picture of the relationship between the different social layers, cultures and genders on Zanzibar. Describing and differentiating the complexity of Zanzibar society in the nineteenth century is the main aim of this paper. The focus is on clothing in order to sketch the social organization of the society and to highlight the cultural relations between the different groups in Zanzibar. The evidence obtained from the description of clothing is used as an eye-opener for the Zanzibar society and this evidence is supported by nineteenth century literature and photography on Zanzibar.

Si presenta un quadro degli aspetti ambientali del Gebel Nafusa libico ove sono presenti numerosi episodi di cavità artificiali scavate sia singolarmente sia in agglomerati come villaggi e città. Importanti sono i villaggi rupestri abbandonati perché

Activists claim that the authorities on December 25th launched a security campaign against the Berber town of Yafran,170km south-west of Tripoli, the Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily Al-Sharq al-Awsat reported. Fathi Bin-Khalifah, coordinatorof the Libyan Action Group and the Lib-yan Amazighs’ Grouping, said in a tele-phone contact from his base in Moroccothat the Libyan authorities were besiegingthe town, electronically jamming telephonecontacts between it and the outside world,and also banning anyone coming fromother areas from entering. He claimed thatthere was intensive security deploymentafter units from the anti-riot Central Sup-port Forces were brought in and that hehad received information that military air-craft had flown over the town which has apopulation of around 50,000.According to assertions by Bin-Khalifahand various Amazigh (Berber) internetwebsites, groups from the ‘‘Youth Lea-gues’’ ofSayf-al-Islam, the second son ofLibyan Leader ColonelMouammar Gad-dafy, and elements from the Revolution-ary Committees attacked the capital ofJabal Nafusah and encircled and raidedthe houses of some known Amazigh fig-ures. Local residents said they did notknow the specific reason for the securitycampaign, while some sources said theLibyan authorities were punishing all theAmazighs because some of their leadershad taken part in an expanded recentconference held to discuss their condi-tions in the Maghreb.But Bin-Khalifah said ‘‘there is no direct orimmediate cause for these events’’ andnoted that the ‘‘International AmazighCongress’’, which adopts the Amazighs’causes from its base in France, had a meet-ing recently with Colonel Gaddafy andadded: ‘‘There are no signs or indications.What happened was sudden and there wereabsolutely no moves beforehand other thanthe regime’s attempt to get rid of thenatives and create a new pit of tension.’’Amazigh activists claim that their influenceand presence in Libyan social, profes-sional, economic, scientific, administrative,and military circles could have aroused thefears of the authorities towards thembecause of their opposition to any attemptto bequeath leadership of the nation toCol. Gaddafy’s son.Yafran with its Amazigh majority is thesecond Libyan town to witness suddentroubles following the violence thatoccurred a few weeks earlier in Al-Kufrahtown in the south of Libya between theLibyan authorities and the local citizens.They were demonstrating against their dete-riorating living conditions and the central authorities’ neglect of their rights to have official identity cards in addition to depriving their sons of the right to government education and other basic services.(Al-Sharq al-Awsat website 27⁄12: BBC Mon.)