Tunisia: what is this synagogue of the Ghriba, attacked several times in its history?

New bloodbath at the Ghriba synagogue. On Tuesday evening, on the Tunisian island of Djerba, after killing one of his colleagues, a gendarme went to the vicinity of the religious site to open fire, killing another gendarme and two pilgrims. One of the victims is a Frenchman, the Tunisian Foreign Ministry said.

This synagogue is a place full of history and symbols. The Jewish religious site, located on the island of Djerba, is considered the oldest in Africa, so much so that it contains remains of the Temple of Solomon. The building would have been created in the sixth century BC.

It is one of the few Ghriba located in North Africa. The term Ghriba means "strange" in Arabic and refers to these few synagogues with special status, often located in rural villages in Tunisia, Algeria, and Libya.

It also represents a strong identity marker for the Jews of Djerba, one of the last Jewish communities in the Arab world. It hosts an annual pilgrimage, on the occasion of the Jewish holiday of Lag Ba'omer, which occurs after Passover. The attack occurred as hundreds of worshippers were taking part in the pilgrimage, which ended on Tuesday. Beyond Djerba, pilgrims usually also come from Europe, the United States or Israel.

A suicide bombing in 2002

But in recent years, their numbers have decreased. This is particularly due to a suicide attack on the synagogue more than twenty years ago. On April 11, 2002, a natural gas tanker truck filled with explosives blew itself up in front of the synagogue, killing 19 people and wounding about 25. The joint investigation by Tunisia, France and Germany will show that the attack was carried out by a <>-year-old French-Tunisian suicide bomber who is a member of al-Qaeda.

Before that, the place had been targeted by the charges of a Tunisian soldier, in 1985. While in charge of maintaining order, he opened fire and killed five people, including four Jews. The Jewish community numbers about 1,500 people in Djerba, compared to 100,000 before Tunisia's independence in 1956.