Tunisia
A police officer killed two pilgrims and two security guards in front of the oldest synagogue in Africa on the Tunisian island of Djerba on Tuesday evening. Nine other people were injured in the attack in front of the Ghriba synagogue, according to the Tunisian Ministry of the Interior. The perpetrator was also killed.
According to the ministry, the police officer first killed a colleague and took ammunition from the dead man. He then went to the synagogue, where hundreds of pilgrims were staying and where the perpetrator shot “at random”, according to the Ministry of the Interior. Eventually he was killed by security forces.
According to the Foreign Ministry in Tunis, the two pilgrims killed were a 30-year-old from Tunisia and a 42-year-old from France. According to the information, four other visitors to the synagogue and five security guards were injured. The motive “for this cowardly act” is still unclear, according to the ministry.
Investigations are ongoing
Videos circulating on social media appeared to show panicked people running through a neighboring building to the synagogue as gunshots rang out. Decorated with Tunisian flags, the caravanserai – originally a hostel for travelers – is the scene of the celebrations, like the synagogue itself. The authorities did not want to speak of a terrorist act. The investigations were still ongoing.
The Jewish festival Lag baOmer is taking place in the synagogue these days, to which many local believers and pilgrims from Israel, France and other countries travel every year. According to the organizers, more than 5,000 people, mostly from abroad, took part in this year’s pilgrimage to the Ghriba Synagogue. According to the authorities, around a thousand people were in the synagogue during the attack. The pilgrimage to Ghriba is part of the Jewish tradition in Tunisia. During the festival, particularly strict safety precautions apply every year.
Many have emigrated since independence
Since the North African country gained independence from France in 1956, the number of Jews has fallen from around 100,000 to an estimated 1,500. Most of them live on Djerba today. Tunisia has no diplomatic ties to Israel, but exceptionally allows its citizens to enter the country as part of organized tours for the festival.
Lag baOmer is a Jewish festival of joy. It traditionally punctuates the period of mourning between Passover – which commemorates the liberation of the Jews from slavery by the Egyptian pharaohs – and the harvest festival of Shavuot.
The synagogue, which is also popular with tourists, with its magnificently designed interior dates from 1920. Its foundation stone is said to have come from the destroyed temple in Jerusalem. In 2002, 20 people died in an attack by the Islamist terrorist organization al-Qaeda on the synagogue.
