Tunisian Jews Disquieted by Government’s Response to Synagogue Killings

[duluxe]

https://www.algemeiner.com/2023/05/10/jewish-cousins-among-victims-of-tunisia-shooting/

Despite an outward show of unity with the Tunisian authorities, there is significant disquiet within the North African country’s Jewish community over the government’s response to Tuesday’s deadly gun attack upon worshipers at a historic synagogue on the island of Djerba, The Algemeiner has learned.
A member of the Tunisian Jewish community expressed serious concern regarding the remarks delivered by President Kais Saied to Tunisia’s National Security Council on Wednesday, pointing to the absence of any condemnation of antisemitism or condolences specifically directed to the Jewish community.
“I heard his entire speech, and I realized that it is probably very difficult for him to mention the word ‘Jews’,” the Jewish community member — who spoke on condition of strict anonymity for fear of reprisals — told The Algemeiner during a telephone interview on Thursday.
“Without a doubt, [Saied] is not only a hater of Israel but also antisemitic,” the person added emphatically.

Saied managed to discuss the attack in which a gunman killed two Jews just outside a historic synagogue without mentioning the word “Jews.” The Tunisian Jew who spoke to The Algemeiner noted that Saied “is not only a hater of Israel but also antisemitic.” This conclusion was based not just on Saied’s present remarks, which left out any mention of the Jewish identity of the victims at Djerba, but on other remarks the Tunisian president has made in the past. In 2021, for example, he was denounced by the Conference of European Rabbis for accusing Jews of being responsible “for the instability of the country,” during a discussion with residents of Mnihla, a suburb of the capital Tunis, over protests concerning the economic situation in the country. In a video uploaded to the Facebook page of the Presidency of Tunisia, Saied is heard denouncing in Arabic the protests, which he said were the work of divisive forces. Then he appeared to be blaming “the Jews” for “the instability in the country,” when he added a phrase that sounded like “the Jews,” or “al yahood.”After the Conference of European Rabbis. denounced him, Saied denied making any antisemitic remarks. He insisted that he must have been misheard. You can believe that if you want to, but Saied is among the most pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel of Tunisian politicians. And it is often hard to distinguish extreme anti-Israel views from antisemitism.

Not to identify the murder victims – the Haddad cousins — as Jews can only be explained by antisemitism. Saied did not want to state what is obvious: their killing was prompted by antisemitic animus, an animus he shares. He should have forthrightly said that “the two Haddad boys were killed for no other reason than that they were Jews. Their killer’s antisemitic hate has to be examined, so that we can find out what changes need to be made in our educational system, our textbooks, and our media, to weaken the appeal of this terrible pathological condition. The Jews of Tunisia are our brothers, and deserve the full protection of the government. And I promise that they will get it.”

In his comments to the National Security Council, Saeid stressed that Tunisia remained safe as a destination, “no matter how much these criminals try to destabilize it.”
Adding that “Tunisia will always remain a land of tolerance and coexistence,” he claimed that the purpose of the attack was to “sow the seeds of discord, damage the tourist season and damage the state.”…

If Tunisia has always been “a land of tolerance and coexistence” why did tens of thousands of Tunisian Jews flee Tunisia for Israel and France? And has Saied forgotten the three days of anti-Jewish riots in the Tunisian city of Gabèe in 1941? Has he forgotten the natural gas truck filled with explosives that a “tolerant” Tunisian exploded in front of the Ghriba synagogue in 2002, killing 20 tourists?

And no, the Tunisian officer who killed the Haddad cousins and two security guards was not trying to “damage the state” or harm “the tourist season.” He was trying to kill Jews, any Jews, period. If fewer Jews now visit Tunisia, out of fear, that will “harm the tourist season,” but tourist revenues never crossed the naval officer’s antisemitic mind.

Jason Guberman — the executive director of the American Sephardi Federation (ASF), which works extensively with Jewish communities in North Africa — told The Algemeiner that Saied’s speech to the National Security Council amounted to a strategic error for the president.
While the investigation is ongoing, one would expect, especially given Al Qaeda’s prior terrorist attack on the El Ghriba Synagogue, that the Tunisian government would do everything in its power to reassure the community and the world by condemning antisemitism, expressing condolences and committing additional security forces,” Guberman said.

But Saied has done none of that. He didn’t condemn, or even bother to mention, antisemitism. He didn’t extend his sympathy to the families of the Haddad cousins, nor try to reassure the Jews of Tunisia, or the Jews from abroad who visit the Ghriba synagogue, about his commitment to ensuring their safety.

The community member noted that Saied had described the victims of the attack on the El Ghriba Synagogue as “martyrs,” and that “he didn’t mention either Jews or the police officers [who were killed].” The president’s decision to avoid calling the attack a terrorist incident was “a problem, because if you don’t give an accurate description [of what happened], you don’t know what you are fighting against. But if you say that it’s a terrorist, antisemitic attack, then you have to take action.”

Saied’s use of the term “martyrs” must refer to the police officers who were killed: they were “martyrs” who sacrificed their lives for the good of the state. He would never have applied the word “martyr” (in Arabic, shahid) to Jews.

Saied’s comments were echoed by other Tunisian political leaders. A statement from the heads of the Tunisian Labor Union (UGGT) condemned the “vile terrorist operation” in Djerba before denouncing “the instrumentalization by the media and foreign circles, by wrongly identifying this heinous terrorist crime with what is called ‘antisemitism,’ with a view to smearing Tunisia….

No, It would never do, according to these labor leaders, to describe the killing of two Jews as having anything to do with antisemitism. Only those trying to “smear Tunisia” would make such a preposterous connection.

The only thing Saied cares about is the effect this antisemitic attack will have on tourism. He may not like Jews, but he has no objection to the money they spend when they visit the country, whether to make the Lag B’Omer pilgrimage or simply to visit the oldest synagogue in Africa, and the rest of Tunisia, at any time of the year. But by not mentioning “antisemitism” as what prompted the attack, by not identifying the victims as Jews, he is not reassuring anyone. The best way for him to keep that tourism from cratering is to make a public address, as he has not yet done, to express his sympathy to the families of the Haddad cousins, to denounce the antisemitism that prompted their killer, and to reassure Jews that they have a friend, and protector, in the Presidential Palace. Saied can promise to take still greater security measures on the island of Djerba, and especially in and around the Ghriba synagogue, and declare that “antisemitism has no place” in Tunisia, that Jews from all over are welcome to visit the oldest synagogue in Africa, and to make their religious pilgrimage of Lag B’Omer. Such words won’t convince everyone, but over time, if there are no further attacks on Djerba, many of those Jewish tourists may return.