Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, December 2003, pages 46-49

Tunisia: The Light of Our Sight

 

Tunisian Jews Enjoy Religious Tolerance and Peace in Djerba

 

By Delinda C. Hanley

The Washington Report recently visited the Tunisian island of Djerba, home to one of the world’s oldest Jewish communities, looking for answers to a vital question: Can Jews, Muslims and Christians live together in peace? A common myth claims they can’t. Americans are told, falsely, that Israelis and Palestinians have been fighting each other “since time immemorial,” and that their conflict will never end; that they can’t agree on anything, so why bother? and that peace is impossible.

A trip to Djerba quickly dispels these myths. More than 1,000 Jews, a third of Tunisia’s total Jewish population, live on this tiny island, off the southeastern Tunisian coast, not far from the Libyan border. A 3.6-mile Roman causeway connects Djerbans with the Tunisian mainland.

Here Jews, Muslims and Christians live in harmony—just as they did throughout the Middle East and North Africa before the advent of Zionism in 20th century Europe. For nearly two millennia, adherents of the three Abrahamic faiths have enjoyed the same rights and opportunities, and suffered from the same invasions and occupations.

Djerba is known for its miles of glorious sandy beaches, groves of palm, olive, and fig trees, luxurious hotels, picturesque villages, 2,700 wells, 200 mosques, and the Ghriba synagogue, one of Judaism’s holiest sites.

The island also is known for the April 11, 2002 suicide attack on its synagogue, the oldest in North Africa. Although the present structure was built only in 1929, there has been a continuously used synagogue on the site for over 1,900 years. The synagogue’s name has many meanings in Arabic, including “the one who works wonders,” and for centuries pilgrims seeking miracles have visited the synagogue. Last year’s bombing caused no real damage to the synagogue and its holy books—yet another miracle to add to its colorful history.

When Tunisian-born French resident Nizar Nawar crashed a tanker truck carrying natural gas into the side of the Ghriba synagogue, killing 21 people, Tunisians first thought it was an accident. Nothing like this had ever happened before in their country. No Jews were killed and there was little physical damage to the synagogue, thanks to a fast-thinking security guard who stopped the vehicle, but died in the blast.

The bomber, Tunisian officials note, was an outsider, not part of the community, who received his training and orders in France.

Perez Trabelsi, head of Djerba’s large Jewish community, had left the synagogue for coffee just before the blast. “The bomber’s aim was to cast a blow against the Tunisian economy and reputation,” he said. “He could have attacked a hotel, but he was looking for a big symbol.”

Over the years Tunisian Jews have weathered some anxious moments, usually in times of strife between Israel and its neighbors. A mob burned the synagogue in Tunis during the 1967 Six-Day War. Despite then-President Habib Bourguiba’s apology to Tunisia’s chief rabbi, many Jews emigrated to France. Although Tunisia’s government stepped up protection for its Jewish citizens, Tunisian Jews worried when Israel bombed the PLO headquarters in Tunis on Oct. 1, 1985. There were no further anti-Jewish incidents, however, until the 2002 synagogue attack.

Last year, TV viewers in every nation outside the United States watched Israeli forces invade the West Bank and Gaza. Jews and Jewish cemeteries, synagogues and other organizations in France, the UK and other parts of Europe faced attacks. In Tunisia, however, the government and Jewish community leaders worked together to ensure safety and calm. After all, Tunisians point out time and again, Jews in Tunisia are Tunisians, not Israelis.

The 2002 attack, for which the al-Qaeda terrorist network claimed responsibility, shattered the calm enjoyed by the Jewish community, and sent Djerba’s tourism industry into a brief but devastating slump.

Today the only evidence of the tragedy is a new wall around the entrance to the whitewashed synagogue. While there is heightened security, tourists and pilgrims still can step through the doors of the synagogue, remove their shoes and don a headcovering (a yarmulke for men, and a scarf for women). The bright blue, green and white tiles, painted archways and stained glass windows add a splendid North African flavor to the synagogue.

The chief rabbi of Djerba, Haiem Maddar, who looks like he walked straight out of the pages of a holy book, tells pilgrims and journalists the complete history, beginning with the prophet Abraham, of the Jews in Djerba. Their ancestors, he explains, fled Palestine after Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the first temple in the sixth century BC. The rabbi’s predecessors sailed from Jaffa, along with a stone from the first temple. That stone is buried somewhere beneath the synagogue—no one quite remembers where. The synagogue also houses a unique collection of Torahs and other holy books. For Jews, only Jerusalem’s Western Wall is more revered.

Every May several thousand Sephardic Jews from around the world make a pilgrimage to Ghriba to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Lag B’Omer. The dormitories and dining halls on the grounds of the synagogue become filled with pilgrims, revelers and students drinking bokha, a local fig liquor, and eating barbecued meats. Led by Raoul Journou, a famous Tunisian Jewish musician whose songs are played at every wedding and circumcision celebration, regardless of the participants’ religion, an exuberant crowd walks to the nearby village of Hara Sghira. The processionthen returns to El Ghriba for more music, food and festivities.

In 2002, following the attack on the synagogue, Djerbans proudly point out that leaders of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities walked together in another, more somber, procession from the synagogue to a church and on to the Gaid Mosque, built in 1516. The immediate response of leaders and neighbors who offered condolences and assistance demonstrated the solidarity among Tunisians.

Jewish leader Trabelsi described the peaceful life his community enjoys. Jewish synagogues, schools and daycare centers receive government funding, as do Muslim and Christian facilities. Weighing his words carefully, Trabelsi compared life for Jews in Djerba before and after the creation of Israel: It definitely became harder to stay in Djerba after 1948, he acknowledged.

“Many Jews left Tunisia following the creation of Israel in 1948, or after the 1967 war,” he said. “Others tried their luck in Israel, but got homesick, and returned to Djerba. Why not? We have everything we need here.

“Why does coexistence work in Djerba?” Trabelsi waxed eloquent: “There is no reason why we shouldn’t coexist. Jews, Christians and Muslims—the only difference between us is where we pray. We’ve lived here from father to son. Djerba has always been stable. Our houses are surrounded by Muslim houses. We live together. We visit our friends on their religious holidays. We work together. Muslims buy meat from our butchers. When we are forbidden to work or cook on the Shabbat, we buy bread and kosher food cooked by Muslims. Our children play together.

“We have freedom to educate our children, teach them in Hebrew school after class, worship as we please,” he concluded.

Djerbans, all people of the book, live together and socialize together while keeping their own traditions at home.

Asked why there can’t be peace for Jews, Christians and Muslims living in Israel and Palestine, as there is in Tunisia, Trabelsi shook his head, and replied, “People must be ready to sit down and discuss peace. For their own purposes, Israelis and Palestinians want to destabilize things. People who don’t want peace make the situation ever more rotten in order to serve their own purposes. Tell Americans that everyone has to make some big concessions and sit down and talk,” he said. “Americans should encourage both sides to negotiate.

“Journalists ask us all the time, ‘How can you live together?’ When things are tense in Israel, Tunisians watch the strife on TV. It makes things more worrisome here,” Trabelsi admitted, “but our government looks after us and we are not disturbed.”

Although Trabelsi didn’t state the obvious, others did. Israel’s actions make things tense for Djerbans. Jews in Tunisia and elsewhere are exposed to criticism for policies over which they have no control.

Israel is not a safe haven for Tunisian Jews. Like their great-great-great grandparents, they consider Djerba their refuge.

The gnarled old chief rabbi Haiem Maddar, echoed Trabelsi’s words. “Jews and Muslims share the same belief in one God,” he explained. “We only have slight differences in customs, like how we slaughter animals. We share the same principles and traditions. When we celebrate an event, Muslim neighbors give us grain, lamps and gifts. In fact in the past there was no need for money, we just bartered our goods.”

While Djerbans may make pilgrimages to Jerusalem, “most people return to Djerba,” Rabbi Maddar said. “There’s good business here.”

According to the rabbi, Jews in Djerba have more in common with their fellow Tunisians than they do with the transplanted Europeans, Russians and Americans who hold political and religious power in Israel today. Those doctors, lawyers, professionals and industrialists may be helping to exacerbate the conflict, he said. Before 1948, Jews and Arabs coexisted together for centuries in Palestine, trading and working on the land. Now everyone in the world helps fuel the conflict so they can sell weapons to both sides, the rabbi complained.

“If we can make a living in Djerba,” he said, “why should we move to Israel or anywhere else? Tunisia is the light of our sight. We live in comfort and peace. Perhaps we could earn more money living in France or Israel, but there is no place better than Djerba. If I can make a living at home, why move?

“One day the crow will coexist with the fox,” Rabbi Maddar declared.

Seeing his audience’s puzzled faces, he explained that a powerful occupying country cannot flourish by taking advantage of a small, weak state. There was no excuse for the French to continue to colonize Tunisia, he said. “Once the French left, we could coexist in peace, learn from the French, and both countries could thrive,” the rabbi concluded. “The Torah says we should all live in peace.”

Business is thriving at the bustling Houmt-Souk, or market center. It is bursting with brilliant clothing, straw baskets (straw hats are a unique tradition for both men and women on this island), bright Berber and luxuriant silk carpets, leather, pottery, spices and food.

In an open square filled with tables, people—mostly men—gather to drink tea or coffee, smoke and talk. Many eyes are fixed on the soccer match playing on a huge TV screen atop the facing building.

Jeweler Yussif Gamoun points to windows laden with silver guaranteed to ward off the evil eye, remind worshipers to pray five times a day, or bearing fish designs that symbolize fertility or Christianity. Jewish, Christian and Muslim works of art complement each other. He lovingly shows silver engraved 50 years ago by Mushin Nemni, a long-dead jeweler whose style and craftsmanship, he says, are unparalleled today.

Another jeweler, Hai Hadad, has worked for 25 years in the souk creating works of art for clients of every religion. When Hadad, the son of a rabbi, was young, he worked in London teaching Hebrew. “Living in London was very nice,” he recalled. “We can make a living here or there. But there are other aspects of life—like one’s spiritual life—that you have to take into consideration.

“I feel at home here,” Hadad said. “There are interesting places to study outside Tunisia, but maybe not to live. From my childhood I’ve lived here. The Jewish community feels secure here in Djerba. We feel the government helps us live in a secure way.

“People in Djerba are a little bit different mentally,” Hadad admitted. “We have deep roots in Djerba. Some have moved to Israel, others to Paris. But we are the main center for Jews in North Africa, the oldest Jewish community. We can live in a free way here.

“Muslims and Jews have lived together for hundreds of years. There has never been a religious problem like there has been between Jews and Christians,” Hadad noted. “Religion makes problems and keeps people separate. Religion can be used in a way to harm others.

“Today there are political differences [between Arabs and Israelis] which, one day, we hope will be resolved. These are difficult problems, but they are not deep. Jews and Arabs have lived together for hundreds of years. Just for the last 50 there have been serious problems,” the jeweler concluded. “Political problems can end and be resolved. They don’t last forever.”

Delinda C. Hanley is news editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

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