Member LoginMember Login - User registration - Setup as front page - Add to favorites - Sitemap Tunisian Jews scale back annual pilgrimage to ancient synagogue because of security concerns !

Tunisian Jews scale back annual pilgrimage to ancient synagogue because of security concerns

Time:2024-05-21 12:01:53 source:Stellar Stories news portal

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Jewish Tunisians who organize an annual pilgrimage to one of the world’s oldest synagogues are planning a scaled-down event next month, citing concerns about security less than a year after a deadly shooting there shook their community.

Thousands regularly make the journey to Djerba — the North African island where many of Tunisia’s remaining 1,500 Jews reside — to celebrate the Jewish holiday Lag B’Omer. But this year, the community has decided to limit them to the 26-century-old El-Ghriba synagogue instead of the island-wide events traditionally held.

“Those who come to visit are welcome and they can hold religious rituals, light a candle, inside the synagogue,” Perez Trabelsi, the head of the island’s Jewish community, told The Associated Press.

The decision comes more than six months into the Israel-Hamas war, which has reverberated throughout the Middle East and North Africa, inciting mass street protests from Morocco to Iraq. In Tunisia, most of the protests have been peaceful but in October, demonstrators desecrated a synagogue in Al-Hammah on the mainland.

Related information
  • The Latest
  • Lonesome Kane fighting Bayern's path back to success
  • Entrepreneur Uses New Technology to Boost Development of Yao
  • Kyrgyz Woman Finds Love, Career in Xi'an
  • Insider Q&A: CIA's chief technologist's cautious embrace of generative AI
  • Entrepreneur Uses New Technology to Boost Development of Yao
  • Sharing the Power of Knowledge
  • Entrepreneur Helps Rural Women Shake off Poverty in Northwest China
Recommended content
  • The unstoppable duo of Emma Stone and Yorgos Lanthimos
  • Niu Shuli Explores Nature with Love and Passion
  • Antiques Roadshow guest breaks down in tears over HUGE valuation of Edwardian cufflinks
  • National Day holiday boom drives up ticket, hotel bookings across country
  • Inquiry slams UK authorities for failures that killed thousands in infected blood scandal
  • Classical Guitar, Chinese Style