Pro-Palestinian Arab organizations in Tunisia have launched a new campaign aimed at criminalizing normalization with Israel, JPost reported.
The initiative, titled “One Million Signatures to Criminalize Normalization”, was officially launched on October 7, 2025, marking what organizers called the “second anniversary of the glorious ‘Al-Aqsa Flood’ operation”, using the Hamas-coined term for the October 7, 2023 massacre.
According to JPost, the campaign is spearheaded by the Coordination Committee for Joint Action for Palestine in Tunisia (CJA), the Tunisian Boycott Campaign, and the Anti-Normalization Campaign. In their launch statement, the groups declared that the demand for legislation against normalization is “not merely a legal demand, but a struggle,” and part of a broader movement resisting “colonial ambitions and soft normalization.”
Organizers cited growing concern over what they described as an “accelerating Arab and international trend toward normalization,” warning that the “American-Zionist axis,” under banners such as “regional peace” and the Abraham Accords, seeks to integrate Israel into the region.
The campaign also condemned “official Arab regimes that legitimize the occupation,” and emphasized that “the Tunisian people’s stance has always been, and will remain, firm in rejecting normalization, considering it a national, pan-Arab, and human betrayal.”
Despite launching just days before the ceasefire and hostage deal was brokered, the organizers remain committed to their cause. On October 13, they clarified that signature collection “has not yet begun,” citing the need to follow the campaign’s activist roadmap and ensure compliance with personal data protection procedures.
Tunisia, like most Arab countries, does not have diplomatic relations with Israel. After several Arab countries normalized ties with Israel in 2020 as part of the Abraham Accords, Tunisia reiterated it is not interested in establishing diplomatic relations with Israel and its position will not be affected by any international changes.
In 2014, Tunisia's tourism minister faced criticism from parliamentarians over a trip to Israel she took in 2006 to take part in a UN training program for Palestinian Arab youths.
In 2018, a Tunisian legislator ripped up an Israeli flag during a parliament session to push his demands for a law criminalizing relations with Israel.
Tunisian President Kais Saied in early 2020 described then-US President Donald Trump’s proposed peace deal for Israel and the Palestinian Authority as the "injustice of the century".
In August of 2023, Saied said that the word “normalization” does not exist for him when it comes to Israel, even though he halted a debate on a bill against normalization with the Jewish state.