<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/archaeology" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Archeologists</a> have uncovered three previously unknown shipwrecks, including one dating as far back as the first century BC, in a stretch of the Mediterranean Sea known for wrecks, according to findings announced at a UNESCO press conference last week.
The <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/08/world/unesco-skerki-bank-shipwrecks-scn/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">discoveries</a> were made by an international team of 20 researchers in August and September of last year. While discussing their findings for the first time, they announced that one ship dates to between the first century AD and mid-second century AD, and two other previously-unknown wrecks date to the end of the 19th to the beginning of the 20th century. In addition to the new discoveries, archeologists revisited Roman wreck sites to further document the ships and surrounding artifacts.
“When we found the new ships it was a [feeling] of relief because of all the effort we have all put in and that there are still things to learn from such a heavily looted area and that there is still something to protect,” Alison Faynot, a UNESCO archeologist, <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/uk-news/2023/06/08/three-shipwrecks-discovered-off-tunisian-coast-in-operation-to-protect-underwater-heritage/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the U.K.’s The National News.
In August, the archeologists boarded the Alfred Merlin research vessel, which is equipped with underwater imaging and mapping equipment. With this technology, they cataloged numerous shipwrecks that date between a time frame of roughly 2,000 years. Using remotely operated vehicles, they collected images and video of both the wrecks and the artifacts with them, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/08/world/unesco-skerki-bank-shipwrecks-scn/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to CNN, with one of the ROVs reaching a depth of nearly 3,000 feet.
Researchers discovered the three previously unknown wrecks sitting on the floor of the Tunisian continental shelf using an ROV. The ships were discovered in the Keith Reef in the Skerki Bank — <a href="https://gizmodo.com/archaeologists-shipwrecks-mediterranean-keith-reef-1850519506" target="_blank" rel="noopener">between</a> Sicily, Italy, and Tunisia — which is known as a treacherous region.
According to a UNESCO <a href="https://articles.unesco.org/sites/default/files/medias/fichiers/2023/06/Fact%20sheet%20-%20UNESCO%20international%20underwater%20archaeological%20mission%20in%20the%20Mediterranean.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a>, the ship that dates between the end of the first century BC and the middle of the second century AD was a merchant vessel that sits roughly 213 feet deep. It measures 50 feet long and may have carried wine, based on what appears to be amphoras with the ship, which are large jars used by Romans and Greeks.
Another one of the previously-unknown shipwrecks was a wooden ship that may have been a fishing vessel. The third, identified by UNESCO as a “large motorized metal wreck,” has davits that are facing out, meaning the lifeboats could have allowed passengers to escape the sinking ship, according to the organization. Both of these vessels date from the end of the 19th to the beginning of the 20th century, and researchers hope they will eventually be able to identify the ships using archives.
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Three Historical Shipwrecks Discovered in the Mediterranean<a href="https://t.co/1SgR1mS5bs">https://t.co/1SgR1mS5bs</a> <a href="https://t.co/l8nND7t0Js">pic.twitter.com/l8nND7t0Js</a>
&mdash; Sarah (@Sarah404BC) <a href="https://twitter.com/Sarah404BC/status/1667814755547983872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2023</a></blockquote>
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“Underwater heritage is very important,&#8221; Faynot said. “People see underwater cultural heritage as a treasure and something to collect, but it is really significant. All its little details give us so many clues about where we come from.”
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The Roman shipwrecks that were revisited date between the first century BC and the first century AD, and were initially discovered between 1980 and 2000. Researchers further photographed and studied the wrecks, including the artifacts that surround the sites. Pots, lamps, amphoras, ceramics, and building materials were nearby the wrecks, and it&#8217;s likely the ships were once part of a trading system between different cultures, CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/08/world/unesco-skerki-bank-shipwrecks-scn/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">notes</a>.

Rough Seas

Archeologists Discover 3 Shipwrecks In Treacherous Mediterranean Reef

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With Tunisia’s presidential and parliamentary elections fast approaching, Ennahda, a dangerous Islamist political party in the North African republic, has been making quite a few campaign stops in the United States.
Two prominent Tunisian-American activists, in particular — Radwan Masmoudi and Mongi Dhaouadi — have long supported the Ennahda cause and now appear to serve as coordinators for Ennahda’s activities inside the United States.
Most recently, in September 2019, Masmoudi organized an event <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/meet-and-greet-rabeb-ben-letaief-tickets-73911514329">featuring</a> Rabeb Ben Letaief, Ennahda’s selected parliamentary candidate to represent the Tunisian diaspora in America. And earlier this year, In January, Dhaouadi <a href="https://imgur.com/a/tx6vfhL">organized</a> an event with Ennahda politician Mehrzia Labidi, inviting Tunisians of the area to join them for a “great conversation.” During her visit, Labidi <a href="https://imgur.com/a/s5JZJwZ">met</a> Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), with Dhaouadi enthusiastically <a href="https://imgur.com/a/s5JZJwZ">commenting</a> that they were both “two amazing political leaders.”
Dhaouadi, former executive director of the Connecticut branch of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), is a “<a href="https://imgur.com/a/kOcxwK8">proud</a>” Ennahda member. He <a href="https://imgur.com/a/kOcxwK8">attended</a> the party’s tenth congress in 2016 and <a href="https://www.investigativeproject.org/6412/richard-blumenthal-cair-ally-posts-al-qaida">escorted</a> Ennahda founder and international Islamist luminary Rachid Ghannouchi during his 2015 visit to Washington, D.C.
Meanwhile, Masmoudi, also a card-carrying Ennahda <a href="https://twitter.com/radwan_masmoudi?lang=en">member</a>, heads the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID) in Washington — for which Dhaouadi now also <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mongi-dhaouadi-814701ba/">works</a>. Masmoudi and Dhaouadi have spent years strengthening Ennahda’s image in the U.S. and <a href="https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/06TUNIS2155_a.html">introducing</a> Ennahda to American officials.
Through CSID, Masmoudi has organized many events that feature high-ranking Ennahda officials. In 2014, Ali Larayedh, Ennahda’s former prime minister, <a href="https://www.csidonline.org/post/csid-fifteenth-annual-conference-final-report">delivered </a>the keynote address at CSID’s 15th annual conference. Others <a href="https://www.csidonline.org/post/csid-fifteenth-annual-conference-final-report">present</a> included Phillip Gordon, then the Special Assistant to President Obama; as well as then-Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) (who has his <a href="https://www.meforum.org/6547/keith-ellison-questionable-ties">own Islamist ties</a>). During this same event, CSID <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/csid-awards-2014-muslim-democrat-prize-to-tunisias-nahdha-bloc-263990381.html">awarded</a> the 2014 Muslim Democrat of the Year Award to the Ennahda bloc of Tunisia’s National Constituent Assembly.
In 2015, CSID <a href="https://myemail.constantcontact.com/CSID-Report--Lessons-from-Tunisia-Dinner-with-Rached-Ghannouchi.html?soid=1102084408196&amp;aid=JAfkRjreSB0">held</a> a dinner in honor of Ghannouchi. This time, those in <a href="https://myemail.constantcontact.com/CSID-Report--Lessons-from-Tunisia-Dinner-with-Rached-Ghannouchi.html?soid=1102084408196&amp;aid=JAfkRjreSB0">attendance</a> included John Desrocher, then the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Egypt and Maghreb Affairs at the U.S. State Department, as well as the former U.S. ambassador to Tunisia, Gordon Gray.
Through his other <a href="https://imgur.com/a/1wvxP8e">group</a> “Friends of Ennahda, USA”, Masmoudi has also <a href="https://imgur.com/a/juZJA2e">organized</a> events up and down the East Coast wit Larayedh, high-ranking Ennahda member (and recent presidential candidate) Abdelfattah Mourou, and, most recently, Ennahda parliamentary candidate Rabeb Ben Letaief.
Masmoudi <a href="https://imgur.com/a/jg3y0WB">claims</a> that CSID is independent, is not part of Ennahda, and works only for the success of  Tunisian democracy. But this claim of nonpartisanship is far from convincing.
In 2014, Ennahda hired American public relations firm Burson-Marsteller. <a href="https://www.jeuneafrique.com/mag/250333/politique/limage-dennahdha-a-letranger-confiee-a-une-agence-americaine/?fbclid=IwAR1dAFmfxi5HjbfJdwiWa5peoa5oEfuByQy75h_rnlyQa7eSePsuxAF43Ds">According</a> to Jeune Afrique, Masmoudi personally arranged for Burson-Marsteller Paris to manage Ennahda’s public relations in Europe.
Masmoudi has been rewarded for his unwavering support for the party. In January 2019, Sayida Ounissi, an Ennahda minister in the coalition government who had previously <a href="https://myemail.constantcontact.com/CSID-Report--Lessons-from-Tunisia-Dinner-with-Rached-Ghannouchi.html?soid=1102084408196&amp;aid=JAfkRjreSB0">attended</a> CSID events, <a href="https://www.businessnews.com.tn/sayida-ounissi-nomme-la-fille-de-radwan-masmoudi-a-son-cabinet,520,85123,3">nominated</a> Masmoudi’s daughter for a high-ranking position in the Tunisian government, despite her scant qualifications.
Ennahda’s roots lies in international Islamism. Its founding members pledged allegiance to the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. Originally established as a student organization in the 1970s, over the years, Ennahda became increasingly involved in politics and national protest, eventually escalating to violence and a <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073WZ9TCF/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&amp;btkr=1">coup attempt</a> in 1987.
Many prominent party members and allies were imprisoned or exiled around that time. In the West, these exiled Tunisian Islamists became closely involved with leading Islamic community groups. In the United Kingdom, for example, Mohammed Ali Harrath set up the Islam Channel, one of the most watched Islamic television stations in the West. The Islam Channel has long promoted some of the world’s most extreme Islamist clerics, including deceased Al Qaeda operative Anwar Al-Awlaki. The channel has been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2010/nov/08/islam-channel-ofcom">censured</a> several times by British authorities for “advocating violence against women and supporting marital rape.”
Many Tunisians returned home after the 2010 revolution, which would later come to be seen as the precursor to the Arab Spring. Ennahda emerged victorious from subsequent elections. Prominent Islamist figures, such as Harrath, relied on the new Islamist regime to <a href="https://www.bailii.org/cgi-bin/format.cgi?doc=/ew/cases/EWHC/QB/2017/653.html&amp;query=(harrath">nullify</a> their previous terrorism convictions.  Ennahda proceeded to manage the country <a href="http://henryjacksonsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/HJS-Ennahda-Report.pdf">disastrously</a> for only two years before being forced out of power.
While Ennahda claims to be a moderate movement, its two years in power illustrated otherwise. In 2012, Ennahda founder Rachid Ghannouchi <a href="https://www.france24.com/fr/20121011-tunisie-rached-ghannouchi-islamisme-salafistes-video-laics-polemique-ennahda">asked</a> young Salafi activists to be patient, saying that “secularists” still controlled the media and the economy, and so Islamists had to proceed slowly and carefully in order to “consolidate” their hold on the government. Ghannouchi’s advice, which led to widespread outrage in Tunisia, came to be seen as proof the party’s double discourse.
Ennahda once promised that it would not impose Islamic law, but Ennahda Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali subsequently <a href="https://www.contrepoints.org/2011/11/14/55531-tunisie-la-democratie-selon-ennahdha">proclaimed</a> that Ennahda “w[ould] not allow the illicit, clearly enacted by God.” He <a href="https://www.contrepoints.org/2011/11/14/55531-tunisie-la-democratie-selon-ennahdha">added </a>that Ennahda would one day call for the introduction of corporal punishments according to Sharia.
Worse still, Ennahda permitted Ansar Al Sharia Tunisia (AST), an Al Qaeda offshoot, to operate freely in Tunisia for several years. Only when AST<a href="https://www.dni.gov/nctc/groups/ansar_al_sharia.html"> was shown to be involved</a> with the violent 2012 attack against the American embassy in Tunis did Ennahda finally distance itself from the group, which was consequently <a href="http://www.rfi.fr/afrique/20130828-tunisie-classe-jihadistes-ansar-al-charia-parmi-organisations-terroristes-aqmi-larayedh">put</a> on a Tunisian terror list. However, Larayedh nonetheless<a href="https://www.businessnews.com.tn/affaire-abou-iyadh--laarayedh-sort-de-ses-gonds-et-se-dit-victime-du-terrorisme,520,86185,3"> prevented</a> the police from arresting AST leader Abu Iyadh, who was able to give a live-streamed sermon in a mosque encircled by law enforcement before mysteriously evading capture.
Ennahda was forced to relinquish power in 2014. Along with widespread protest against its policies, it was also <a href="http://www.rfi.fr/afrique/20131003-tunisie-manifestation-opposants-assassinat-belaid-brahmi-irva-autorite-responsabilite">accused </a>by the opposition of bearing responsibility for the murders of two left-wing politicians, Chokri Belaid and Mohamed Brahmi.
In the wake of its ouster, Ennahda sought to improve its image. In 2016, Ennahda <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2016/05/21/la-tunisie-sceptique-sur-la-mue-du-parti-islamiste-ennahda_4923831_3212.html">declared</a> it was “<a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2016/05/19/rached-ghannouchi-il-n-y-a-plus-de-justification-a-l-islam-politique-en-tunisie_4921910_3212.html">leaving</a> political Islam” and would be separating its political and religious wings. This separation, however, was widely <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2016/05/21/la-tunisie-sceptique-sur-la-mue-du-parti-islamiste-ennahda_4923831_3212.html">regarded</a> as “purely technical and not ideological.”
Despite Ennahda’s incontrovertible links to violent Islamism, members of the party have been frequently welcomed as moderates in the United States. Ghannouchi visited the United States several times, <a href="https://www.leaders.com.tn/article/15145-ghannouchi-pourquoi-je-me-rends-aux-etats-unis">giving </a>lectures at Yale University and Columbia University and attending various <a href="https://myemail.constantcontact.com/CSID-Report--Lessons-from-Tunisia-Dinner-with-Rached-Ghannouchi.html?soid=1102084408196&amp;aid=JAfkRjreSB0">events</a> with leading U.S. government officials.
Tunisians are well aware of Ennahda’s duplicitous rhetoric: Claiming moderation while holding on to its extremist ideology. In the United States, however, Islamists such as Masmoudi and Dhaouadi work to portray the party only as peaceful, democratic and modern. Masmoudi’s events, at which high-ranking Ennahda officials mingle with U.S. diplomats and representatives, afford credibility to a party that enabled an Al Qaeda offshoot and worked towards a theocratic state.
Ennahda’s years in power were at least useful in the sense that they confirmed that party’s underlying extremism. Now, prominent American Islamists are doing all they can to ensure that Ennahda wields power once again.
&nbsp;
Martha Lee is a Research Fellow at <a href="http://islamist-watch.org/">Islamist Watch</a>, a project of the <a href="https://www.meforum.org">Middle East Forum</a>.

TUNISIA

LEE: Tunisia’s Islamists Seek American Support

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Tunisia is the latest country to ban the hit movie Wonder Woman because they don&#8217;t like that the star of the movie is an Israeli.
According to <a href="http://variety.com/2017/film/news/wonder-woman-suspended-tunisia-gal-gadot-1202456752/">Variety</a>, all viewings of the film in the country were blocked on Monday when Tunisia&#8217;s Young Lawyers Association filed a lawsuit against Wonder Woman. The association cited the star of the movie, Gal Gadot, as being Israeli, her vocal support for Israel during the 2014 conflict with Hamas, and her prior service in the Israeli military, as reasons to block the movie from being shown in the country. The lawsuit also refers to Gadot as a &#8220;champion Zionist.&#8221;
The Tunisian court suspended any future showings of Wonder Woman until the lawsuit is resolved, including a Wednesday premiere in 3D that 237 people were planning to attend, according to a Facebook event page.
Tunisia is not the only country to suspend viewings of Wonder Woman; Lebanon has banned the film altogether due to pressure from the Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel in Lebanon. Rana Masri, an organization for the group, told the Associated Press that the main reason for their opposition to the movie was the fact that Gadot is Israeli.
&#8220;We don&#8217;t distinguish between a good Israeli and a bad Israeli,&#8221; Masi said.
Additionally, an Algerian film festival decided not to show the film on Sunday. While there is a petition circulating in Algeria to prevent Wonder Woman from being shown, the organization that co-organized the festival claimed it was due to &#8220;administrative issues linked to exhibition rights.&#8221;
Emily Shire wrote in <a href="https://www.bustle.com/p/why-banning-wonder-woman-will-backfire-for-lebanon-61937">Bustle</a> that the bans on Wonder Woman could end up backfiring, citing the fact &#8220;that the Wonder Woman boycott has not been universally well-received in Lebanon,&#8221; which could mean that change could occur.
&#8220;I believe the ban will force a discussion about boycott tactics against Israel and Israelis and expose significant problems with this approach,&#8221; wrote Shire. &#8220;Conversations that should have occurred years ago may actually happen because one of the biggest movies of the summer is now the target &#8212; and that is, indeed, a wonder.&#8221;
<a href="http://dailycaller.com/2017/06/07/tunisia-blocks-wonder-woman-over-stars-heritage/">H/T:</a> Daily Caller
<a href="https://twitter.com/bandlersbanter">Follow Aaron Bandler on Twitter.</a>

Tunisian Court Suspends ‘Wonder Woman’ Viewings Due To Lawsuit Calling Gal Gadot A ‘Champion Zionist’

Gal Gadot

On Friday, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Buzz Bissinger excoriated plump partisan hack Michael Moore at the 24th annual Philadelphia Film Festival for the filmmaker&#8217;s egregious comparison between the treatment of homosexuals in the United States and Tunisia. 
During a Q&amp;A for Moore&#8217;s latest leftist indoctrination film,&#8220;Where to Invade Next,&#8221; Bissinger, from his seat as an audience member, ripped into Moore&#8217;s provocative claims, <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/entertainment/movies/Buzz-Bissinger-confronts-Michael-Moore-at-Philadelphia-Film-Festival.html">shouting</a>, &#8220;The problem for me as a journalist, if that fact is wrong, how much more are you manipulating?
&#8220;In the movie, Moore is trying to say Tunisia has a more enlightened policy towards gay people than we do,&#8221; <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/entertainment/movies/Buzz-Bissinger-confronts-Michael-Moore-at-Philadelphia-Film-Festival.html">said</a> Bissinger.
Bissinger&#8217;s edifying rant appeared to unhinge the famously thin-skinned Moore. &#8220;I&#8217;m not going to tell you all the bad things in these countries &#8211; that&#8217;s not the job of this film,&#8221; <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/entertainment/movies/Buzz-Bissinger-confronts-Michael-Moore-at-Philadelphia-Film-Festival.html">muttered</a> Moore, petulantly infantilizing the Pulitzer prize-winning 61-year-old Bissinger as a &#8220;young man&#8221; working for a &#8220;local paper.&#8221; 
Moore&#8217;s unfounded ad hominem attacks left Bissinger undeterred, further casting the filmmaker as a dim-witted school-yard bully out to steal the smart kid&#8217;s lunch. 
<blockquote>
 &#8220;[Moore is] very manipulative and as a result, his films are very biased.&#8221;
Buzz Bissinger
</blockquote>
Bissinger&#8217;s substantive, and understandably angry verbal confrontation underscored the sheer stupidity of Moore&#8217;s childish anti-American gluttony. <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/entertainment/movies/Buzz-Bissinger-confronts-Michael-Moore-at-Philadelphia-Film-Festival.html">Philly.com</a> reports: 
<blockquote>
During his outburst, Bissinger challenged Moore&#8217;s view of Tunisia, noting the country outlaws homosexuality, which is punishable by up to three years in prison. Bissinger also brought up the case of a 22-year-old student who admitted having a sexual relationship with a man who was murdered. According to AFP, the student was given an anal exam against his will and sentenced to a year in prison.
 
</blockquote>
In a <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/entertainment/movies/Buzz-Bissinger-confronts-Michael-Moore-at-Philadelphia-Film-Festival.html">phone interview</a> with Philly.com, Bissinger blasted what he saw as &#8220;increasingly sycophantic questions&#8221; from the leftist audience. As a result, he felt compelled to set the record straight. &#8220;[Moore is] very manipulative and as a result, his films are very biased,&#8221; concluded Bissinger.

Michael Moore Says Tunisia More Pro-Gay Than US.  Journalist Humiliates Him.

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Archeologists Discover 3 Shipwrecks In Treacherous Mediterranean Reef

LEE: Tunisia’s Islamists Seek American Support

Tunisian Court Suspends ‘Wonder Woman’ Viewings Due To Lawsuit Calling Gal Gadot A ‘Champion Zionist’

Michael Moore Says Tunisia More Pro-Gay Than US. Journalist Humiliates Him.