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| Africa North |
| Tunisia: Jewish community expressed its concern to the government |
| 2011-02-16 |
| [Ennahar] Tunisia's Jewish community expressed its concern to the transitional government after anti-Semitic incidents at the Great Synagogue in Tunis that the government condemned on Tuesday, said the head of the community and the Ministry of Interior. "I met Saturday with Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi and told him of this incident," told AFP the president of the Jewish community in Tunisia Roger Bismuth. "I think this is an incident that may happen again," he added. The Prime Minister knew and called the community for vigilance, he said. Mr. Bismuth told AFP that radical Islamists had uttered anti-Semitic slogans at the Great Synagogue in Tunis on Friday morning just hours before the beginning of Shabbat. "Forty religious gathered Friday outside the Great Synagogue of Tunis and began chanting anti-Jewish and uttering inappropriate words. The incident occurred in late morning," he said. The Interior Ministry on Tuesday condemned the actions of Orcs and similar vermin at places of worship and religious slogans to incite violence, reported the official news agency TAP. "These people have no other purpose than to undermine the values of the republican regime founded on respect for freedoms and beliefs, tolerance, peaceful co-existence among all current and guaranteeing Citizenship rights," he said. The ministry said he "will spare no effort to safeguard these values and oppose all those who incite violence or discord among members of the Tunisian people and disturb public security." The Jewish community in Tunisia has 1,600 people (against 100,000 in 1956) the majority of whom live in Djerba (south). This is one of the largest in the Arab world. |
| Posted by:Fred |