Tunisia beefing up security ahead of Jewish pilgrimage to Djerba

From Tunisie Numerique:

Security reinforcements arrived Monday in Djerba, in anticipation of the annual [Jewish Lag B'Omer] pilgrimage to the Djerba which runs from May 25 to 26.

Extensive security arrangements have been made to the main point of access to the island and on different roads leading to the tourist area and the Jewish quarter and synagogue. The same protections were extended to the city of Zarsis.

Furthermore, and for two weeks, several security campaigns were conducted resulting in several arrests and dismantling of cells suspected of terrorist activities.

It was decided this year to strengthen the security apparatus ensuring the smooth running of the annual pilgrimage to Djerba amid security tensions related to recent attacks.

About 2000 Jews, including 150 from Israel, are expected to attend.

Israel issued a travel warning about the pilgrimage last week:

Israelis should stay away from the annual Lag B’Omer pilgrimage to the Tunisian island of Djerba because of concrete terrorist threats, the PMO’s Counter-Terrorism Bureau warned on Monday.

In advance of the Lag B’Omer celebration on May 25-26, the bureau issued a travel advisory saying that terrorist elements, specifically global Jihadists, “continue to operate in Tunisia and carry out attacks.”

The concrete threat level against Jewish sites is high, the bureau said, reiterating its standing advisory to “refrain from visiting” the area.

A similar warning was issued last year.

The synagogue was the site of an attack in 1985, when three people were killed.

In 2002, al Qaida claimed responsibility for a truck full of explosives that exploded near the synagogue, killing 21 people.

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