Tunisian Jews demand government inquiry into their ethnic cleansing

Representatives of the Jewish community in Tunisia are presenting a request to the Truth and Dignity Commission (Instance de Vérité et Dignité) to investigate institutional abuse of Jews in Tunisia from 1955 to 2013.

The filing demands an investigation into "abuses and violations and other illegal acts suffered by the Tunisian citizens, whose only fault is that they are affiliated with the Jewish religion, since independence."

The Commission was set up in 2013 to address these sorts of complaints from citizens.

The complaint lists various examples of abuse suffered by the community, such as losing their citizenship and losing their property.

There are about 1,500 Jews remaining in Tunisia. There were more than 100,000 Jews there in 1956 when Tunisia won independence from France.

Lyn Julius just wrote a biting Huffington Post article about Tunisian Jews in wake of the pilgrimage there a few weeks ago:

One of the modern-day pilgrims was a rabbi from England: Liberal Judaism’s senior rabbi, Rabbi Danny Rich.

As well as visiting Al-Ghriba — the oldest synagogue in Africa — Rabbi Rich met Tunisian government members.

“Jews have lived successfully in Tunisia for centuries and the authorities seem determined to ensure that the ancient Jewish communities in Djerba and Tunis are both safe and able to thrive,” Rabbi Rich told the Jewish Chronicle.

His words must have been music to the Tunisian government’s ears.

Yes, Jews had lived in Tunisia for centuries - indeed there were 105, 000 in 1948. But Tunisia had failed miserably to hang on to its Jewish community - just 1,000 still remain, most in the enclave known as Hara Kbira on Djerba. By anyone’s reckoning, Tunisia’s rapid cleansing of its Jews is a sign of catastrophic failure. Tunisian Jews have been departing in waves over the last 50 years.

The latest wave was in June 1967, following the Six-Day War between Israel and its Arab neighbours. About 100 Jewish-owned businesses in Tunis were attacked and looted. The Great Synagogue, on the Avenue de la Liberte, was ransacked and set on fire. Rioters called out to “throw the Jews into the sea” and to burn them. Some 13,000 Jews took the hint and fled - many with nothing but a suitcase.

Numbers continued to dwindle and families left Djerba in the wake of the Arab Spring, which broke out in Tunisia in 2011.

But well-meaning westerners such as Rabbi Rich perpetuate the delusion that all is, and always has been, well. Tunisia is desperate to boost its fragile economy and image as a tourist destination, its Number One industry - and Rabbi Rich is all too willing to play the game. The Al-Ghriba pilgrimage is the highlight of the tourist calendar, bringing much-needed tourist dollars to the island of Djerba and filling its hotels.

While in Tunisia Rabbi Rich attended a conference at which the Minister of Culture promised support for a museum of Tunisian Jewry.

Few can argue with that. Except that if numbers continue to decline, the Museum of Tunisian Jewry may end up as nothing more than a forlorn reminder of Hitler’s project to establish the Museum of an Extinct Race.

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