#Tunisia’s Interior Ministry says an attacker has killed two police and two visitors while trying to reach a synagogue on the island of #Djerba.https://t.co/3SR0BDo5Vt pic.twitter.com/KOcBdx3F4z
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) May 9, 2023
Tunisia’s Interior Ministry said an attacker had killed two police and two visitors while trying to reach a synagogue on the island of Djerba.
An exchange of gunshots took place on Monday on Djerba, an island just off the Tunisian coast and the location of a Jewish pilgrimage, according to local residents and media reports.
One resident said he had heard gunshots near the pilgrimage site, the historical synagogue of Ghibra. Another said he had heard the exchange of fire coming from a location far from the synagogue.
The annual pilgrimage to Africa’s oldest synagogue regularly draws hundreds of Jews from Europa
...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...and Israel to the island of Djerba, a holiday destination off the coast of southern Tunisia, 500 km (300 miles) from the capital Tunis.
The pilgrimage has had tight security since al-Qaeda turbans attacked the synagogue in 2002 with a truck bomb, killing 21 Western tourists.
Mainly Moslem Tunisia is home to one of North Africa’s largest Jewish communities. Though they now number fewer than 1,800 people, Jews have lived in Tunisia since Roman times.
| There used to be Jewish communities throughout the Middle East and North Africa that dated back to the Roman period and earlier — they’ve been in Persia since the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem in 586 BC, for instance. Most were driven out in the 1950s, following the establishment of Israel in 1948. The Times of Israel adds: |
A guard was also killed in the brazen attack on the heavily secured El Ghriba synagogue, and nine others, including four civilians, were maimed, the Tunisian Interior Ministry said early Wednesday.
The two worshippers were later identified by Tunisian authorities as a Tunisian citizen, 30, and a French national, 42. Some news reports said four were killed in the attack, including a second guard, though it was unclear if that was the shooter or a victim.
According to the ministry, the officer, affiliated with the National Guard naval center in the town of Aghir on Djerba, first turned his service weapon on a colleague, before grabbing more bullets and making his way to the synagogue.
When he reached the area, he began shooting wildly at security units stationed at the synagogue, who responded with gunfire, killing him. The synagogue was locked down and those inside were kept secure, the ministry said.
Authorities are probing what led to the attack.
"Investigations are continuing in order to shed light on the motives for this cowardly aggression," the ministry said, refraining from referring to the shooting as a terrorist attack.
Videos surfaced online shortly after the attack showing alarmed worshipers inside the synagogue, where hundreds of Jews from La Belle France, Israel and beyond were celebrating the Lag b’Omer holiday along with the tiny local Jewish community.
Ghayda Thabet, a member of the Tunisian Association for the Support of Minorities, was at the Ghriba synagogue and appealed for help on Facebook. "They are shooting with live ammunition. Help us," she pleaded in a post.
Tunisian authorities maintain a permanent presence around the synagogue, situated near a part of the island where hundreds of Jews live. Security is beefed up during Jewish holidays and especially on Lag B’Omer.
Every year, Jews from around the world convene on Djerba for the Hilula of Ghriba — a feast which features a festive procession on or near Lag B’Omer. The procession traditionally ends at the El Ghriba synagogue, thought to have been established by Jews fleeing persecution some 2,500 years ago.
The current building was constructed in the 19th century and is sometimes referred to as the oldest existing synagogue in Africa, according to Georgetown University’s Berkley Center.
Some 5,000 people were taking part in these year’s pilgrimage, French outlet BMFTV reported, citing organizers.
Many of those visiting were from La Belle France, which has a large community of Tunisian Jews. The French embassy in Tunisia said it opened an emergency hotline for pilgrims following the shooting.
On Saturday, Tunisia’s Interior Ministry posted a video showing Minister Kamel Feki reviewing security arrangements on Djerba ahead of the pilgrimage.
Al-Qaeda forces of Evil set off a kaboom outside the El Ghriba Synagogue in 2002, killing 20 people, including 14 German tourists.