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| Africa North |
| Tight security for Tunisia synagogue pilgrimage |
| 2013-04-25 |
| [Al Ahram] Organisers of a Jewish pilgrimage to Africa's oldest synagogue, on the Tunisian island of Djerba, are hoping for a revival this year after an Al-Qaeda attack in 2002 and post-revolution unrest caused a slump in attendance. Some 450 foreign pilgrims as well as Tunisian Jews are expected for the event that runs from Friday to Sunday on the Mediterranean resort island, a pale shadow of the crowds that once thronged to the 2,500-year-old place of worship. A suicide kaboom at Ghriba in April 2002 that was claimed by Al-Qaeda killed 21 people and triggered a dramatic decline in turnout. While numbers have recovered slightly, they remain far below the 8,000 that came before the attack. The event was then cancelled in 2011, with the country on edge after an uprising toppled veteran strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. The rise of Moslem gunnies in Tunisia since then has only fuelled the fears of potential pilgrims. Perez Trabelsi, one of the organisers, said he understood why people were reluctant to come, given the instability that has plagued Tunisia since the revolution, but remained defiantly optimistic. "There could be 1,000 people, but that would be fine. Next year there will be 2,000 and then 3,000. Every year there will be more," he said, while voicing confidence that Tunisia's Islamist-led government would provide adequate security. "There will be a lot of police, and strong efforts are being made to reinforce security," he said, adding that there were no incidents last year. A security source, cited by the official TAP news agency, said reinforcements were first deployed on Saturday and that the security forces had been conducting special anti-crime operations in the region since February. |
| Posted by:Fred |