by AP and Israel Hayom Staff
While violent protests over economic hardships spare the island, home to an ancient Jewish community, assailants apparently take advantage of police absence to target Jewish locations
|
President of the
Committee of the El Ghriba synagogue, Perez Trabelsi,
walks outside of
the synagogue, on the southern Tunisian Island of
Djerba in 2007
Photo: EPA
A
Jewish school on the southern Tunisian island of Djerba, home to an
ancient Jewish community, was firebombed on Tuesday, amid country-wide
violent protests fueled by economic hardship.
Local media reported that Molotov cocktails
had also been hurled at the entrances of a number of other Jewish
locations, including a synagogue, causing no damage to the interiors.
There were no protests in Djerba itself,
but locals said unknown assailants apparently exploited the diminished
security, as police forces were busy elsewhere, to launch attacks.
"Unknown people took the opportunity of the
protests and threw Molotov cocktails into the lobby of [the] … school,"
the head of the local Jewish community, Perez Trabelsi, told Reuters.
"The perpetrators want to sow dissension
between Jewish and Muslim communities living in harmony on the island
for many years," Trabelsi said.
A reporter at the scene said the synagogue
that was targeted had been empty and the fire was quickly extinguished.
The reporter couldn't be identified in accordance with her company's
policy.
Djerba is home to Tunisia's main Jewish
community, which numbers in the hundreds. The 2,500-year-old Ghriba
synagogue, the oldest synagogue in Africa, was targeted in a 2002
terrorist attack that killed 21 people, including Western tourists.
Tuesday's fire was at a smaller prayer site.
In recent days, violent protests over price
hikes have left one person dead and raised fears of broader unrest in
the country that was the birthplace of the Arab Spring.
AP and Israel Hayom Staff
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/2018/01/11/jewish-sites-firebombed-in-tunisian-island-of-djerba-amid-unrest/
Follow Middle East and Terrorism on Twitter
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
1 comment:
I had hopes for Tunisia as heirs of Carthage. Looks like they are going to follow established patterns of the rest of the Magreb. Instead of charting their own courses.
Post a Comment