Tunisia: what is this Griba synagogue that has been attacked several times in its history?

New bloodbath in the synagogue of the Mushroom. This Tuesday evening on the Tunisian island of Djerba, a gendarme, after killing one of his colleagues, approached a religious site to open fire, killing another gendarme and two pilgrims. The Tunisian Foreign Ministry said that one of the victims was French.

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 the remains of Solomon’s temple. The building must have been created in the 6th century BC.

It is one of the few mushrooms located in North Africa. The term Ghriba means “strange” in Arabic and refers to these several 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. An annual pilgrimage is held here on the occasion of the Jewish holiday Lag Baomer, which comes after Pesach. The attack came as hundreds of worshipers were taking part in the pilgrimage, which ended on Tuesday. In addition to Djerba, pilgrims usually also come from Europe, the USA or Israel.

2002 suicide bombing

But in recent years their number has dwindled. And this, in part, because of the suicide attack that took place in the synagogue more than twenty years ago. On April 11, 2002, a fuel truck loaded with explosives exploded in front of the synagogue, killing 19 people and injuring about 30. An investigation jointly conducted by Tunisia, France and Germany will show that the attack was carried out by a 25-year-old French-Tunisian suicide bomber, a member of al-Qaeda.

Prior to that, in 1985, this place was attacked by a Tunisian soldier. While he was in charge of maintaining order, he opened fire and killed five people, including four Jews. The Jewish community of Djerba has about 1,500 members, compared to 100,000 before Tunisian independence in 1956.