TEL AVIV (JTA) – One evening as a child in Petach Tikvah, I was in my room listening to the Iraqi Jewish singer Salima Mourad when a siren pierced the air. I rose from my bed and stood in silence. The siren marked the start of Yom Hashoah, Holocaust… Read more »
Tagged Tunisia
Amid security concerns in Tunisia, a smaller Hiloula celebration
DJERBA, Tunisia (JTA) — Two thousand years ago, a mysterious woman who was unable to talk arrived on this island. Every sick person she touched was healed. Although she died when her wooden house caught fire, her body remained intact and did not burn. That’s a local legend. Another… Read more »
Tunisia’s Jews keep wary eye on political developments
TUNIS (JTA) — Tucked on a quiet side street blocks from the Mediterranean Sea, the last kosher restaurant in the Tunisian capital is a thriving center of Jewish tradition in a country of 10 million with nearly an entirely Arab and Muslim population. Yet Jacob Lellouche, who has owned… Read more »
Islamists’ success in Tunisian elections fuels mix of optimism, anxiety
WASHINGTON (JTA) — It was an orderly, peaceful election — a rarity in the Arab world. And it was won by Islamists. How observers view the Tunisian elections and what they mean for the West, Israel and the North African country’s tiny Jewish community depends in part on which… Read more »
Amid crisis and violence, Tunisian Jews safe but guarded
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The violence roiling Tunisia hasn’t put the country’s 1,500 or so Jews in serious jeopardy, but Jewish organizations are increasingly concerned about their fate as massive anti-government protests continue. No Jews have been targeted by the protesters, according to Roger Bismuth, a Jewish businessman and member… Read more »