圧力を避けつつ食べたい…都市封鎖と断食月が重なり悩む若者　チュニジア

【ニコシアＡＦＰ＝時事】ベッドの下や山積みの服の後ろがお菓子の隠し場所──保守的なイスラム教徒の親とロックダウン（都市封鎖）を過ごしているチュニジアの若者は、イスラム教の断食月「ラマダン」をさまざまな方法でやり過ごそうとしている。（写真はチュニジアの首都チュニスの中央市場の買い物客）
　信仰をめぐる世代間のずれは新しいものではない。しかし、新型コロナウイルスの感染拡大を阻止するための厳格な移動制限とラマダンが重なった今年は、いつもとは異なる様相を呈している。
　ラマダンに対する社会的圧力を避けつつ日中に飲食をしたいと考えるチュニジア人のためのフェイスブックグループ「ファター（断食破りの略）」には、約１万２０００人のメンバーがいる。
　例えば、「隠した食べ物を、どうやって両親に見つからないように食べればいいか？」と一人が聞くと回答が寄せられる。中には「シャワーを浴びながら」「若い女性なら、生理中だということにする」という想像力豊かなものもあった。イスラム教では、生理中の女性に対し、日の出から日没までの断食を免除している。
　チュニジアの首都チュニス在住の学生で、ファターのメンバーでもあるザハラさん（２３）は、以前は生理を言い訳にして隠れて食事をしていたが、母親はだまされなかった。
　「私はもうムスリムではないと母に伝えたが、母は今も知らんぷりで過ごしている」と話すザハラさんは、２年前に断食をやめた。
　革命後に制定された憲法は信教の自由を保証しており、ラマダン中に公の場で飲食することを禁じる明確な法律はない。
　しかしラマダンのたびに警察は「良識に反する」としたり、数十年前の指令を引き合いに出したりして、日中に飲食する人を逮捕している。

■近年は圧力の弱まりも
　イメンさん（２６）は、断食には「世代間のずれ」があると話す。普段チュニスで一人暮らしているが、ラマダン中は沿岸部の町ナブールで家族と過ごしている。
　イメンさんは断食をやめたことを「打ち明けたい」が、「ロックダウン中でみんなとてもストレスがたまっている」。「（断食をやめたことは）母を傷つけると思う。父は知っているけど、そのことは話さない」と話す。
　チュニジア人はおおむね寛容だが、「ラマダンは特別な期間で、人を断ずる権利を得たような気分になる」とイメンさんは付け加えた。「若者は従来とは違う考え方をしているけど、メディアはそれを反映していない」
　社会的圧力は近年、弱まっていると感じている人もいる。
　「父は私が食べていることを知っていたけど、柔軟なので笑ってくれた」とアゼルさん（３６）は話す。同僚の前でも普段通りに食べるが、ここ数年は「批判的な目」で見られることが少なくなったと感じるという。
　ファターの創設者、アブドゥルカリム・ベンアブダッラーさんもこれに同意する。
　ラマダン期間に日中食事を取ることは「以前よりも社会的タブーではなくなった」が、それでも断食をしない人の多くは「家族を尊重しており、家で食事をすることはできない」と指摘した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/05/22-11:26）

Hiding snacks under their beds or behind piles of clothes, young Tunisians are finding ways to subvert the Ramadan fast -- despite being locked down with their Muslim conservative parents.
The generation gap in religious observance is not new but it took on a new dimension this year as the fasting month coincides with strict movement restrictions to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus.
A Facebook group for Tunisians seeking to circumvent social pressures and eat during the day has attracted some 12,000 members.
How can you hide your food during the day and eat without being spotted by your parents? one asked.
Among the more imaginative suggestions: eat whilst showering, or if you are a young woman, pretend to be on your period: Islam allows menstruating women to forego the dawn-to-dusk fast.
Tunis resident Zahra, a 23-year-old student and member of the Fater (fast-breaker) group, said she had used that excuse or hid in order to eat but her mother was not fooled.
I told my mother I'm not a Muslim anymore, but she still acts like she doesn't know, said Zahra, adding that she had given up fasting two years ago.
A lot of people are afraid of being kicked out of home. I'm not, but if I tell my parents I'm not fasting, they'll imagine (I'm doing) worse things.
The North African country's post-revolution constitution guarantees freedom of conscience, but there are no clear laws against eating in public during the holy month.
But every Ramadan, the police arrest people caught eating or smoking during the daylight hours, citing vague public decency legislation or a decades-old directive.
Many young Tunisians face family pressure to fast -- something harder to avoid this year as the lockdown to battle the spread of coronavirus means they have to stay home.
Yasmine, a 19-year-old student who gave up fasting four years ago, said she drank water secretly during the day.
I'm afraid I'll be despised if I tell my family, she said.
- Generation gap -
Imen, 26, said there is a generation gap when it comes to fasting.
She normally lives alone in Tunis, but is spending Ramadan with her parents in the coastal town of Nabeul.
She said she wanted to admit that she had given up fasting but everyone's super stressed with the lockdown.
It would hurt my mother... My father knows, but we don't talk about it, she said.
She added that while Tunisians are largely tolerant, Ramadan is a special time when people feel they have a right to judge you.
Young people think differently and the media doesn't reflect that, she added.
In normal years, some cafes in Tunis often stay open during Ramadan, with newspaper obscuring the windows to give customers privacy.
For some people, the pressure has eased in recent years.
My father realised I was eating, but he's open-minded and laughed, said Azer, 36.
He added that he regularly eats in front of his colleagues and that in recent years he has felt less judged.
The Facebook group's founder, Abdelkarim Benadballah, agreed.
Eating during the daytime in Ramadan is less of a social taboo than before but many non-fasters can't eat at home out of respect for their families.
- 'Hypocrisy' -
I find it a bit hard being a hypocrite, said Walid, a 40-year-old living in confinement with his parents.
I hate hypocrisy in society; people who have sex (outside marriage), steal and drink alcohol then suddenly become really religious for 30 days.
While it is impossible to measure how many people break the fasting norms, all those contacted by AFP said they knew many people who weren't fasting.
Tunisia has had vigorous public debates on individual freedoms since its 2011 revolution, along with demonstrations for the right to eat in public.
Yet nine years on, police are still able to arrest non-fasters for attacking public morals, said Anoir Zayani of the Association for the Defence of Individual Freedoms (ADLI).
ADLI and the Tunisian League for Human Rights (LTDH) have warned of a rise in populist conservative rhetoric demonising campaigns for such freedoms -- particularly during Ramadan.
We are accused of wanting to disrupt the Tunisian way of life, Zayani said.
For him, exercising freedom would not affect the Tunisian way of life, but will create enriching diversity.