Foreign visitors return to Jewish pilgrimage in Tunisia under tight security
DJERBA, Tunisia (AP) — The annual Jewish pilgrimage to Tunisia’s 26-century-old El-Ghriba Synagogue this year attracted a small but notable return of international visitors, praying together under tight security after a deadly attack in 2023 disrupted the festival.
Visitors came from France, China, the Ivory Coast and Italy, including the French ambassador to Tunisia, a symbolic gesture after two French citizens were among those killed in the 2023 attack. That year, a national guard gunned down five people at the El-Ghriba Synagogue shortly after the festival, spreading fear among the local Jewish population and international pilgrims.
Participants said about 500 people attended this year’s pilgrimage, held on the Mediterranean island of Djerba from April 30 to May 6 to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Lag B’Omer. Jews have lived in Tunisia since Roman times, and the pilgrimage remains central to the country’s small but ancient Jewish community.
Inside the synagogue, the atmosphere was calm and devotional, yet buzzing with conversation and social exchange. Worshipers lit candles, read sacred texts and wrote wishes on eggs that were then placed in a sacred cave within the complex, a tradition believed to bring blessings.
Among them was Redj Cahen, a Tunisian-Italian pilgrim who returned after missing last year’s gathering. “We are back and we are proud to be Tunisian Jews,” he said. “It’s a feeling you can’t explain. Only those who come here understand it.”
The gathering attracts both local worshipers and members of the diaspora returning to their ancestral roots and has long been seen as a symbol of coexistence, attracting Muslim visitors alongside Jewish pilgrims.
A visible but restrained security presence surrounded the synagogue, while heavier measures were deployed at access points to the island, where police checkpoints and barricades controlled entry. The vehicles were searched and the identification documents carefully inspected. In Djerba, security was particularly concentrated in Hara Seghira and Hara Kebira, the island’s main Jewish neighborhoods.
Despite security concerns, the traditional “Minara” procession took place for the first time since the 2023 attack, signaling a cautious easing of restrictions.
The Minara, a pyramidal tower of gold and silver, is placed in the center of the synagogue. Women drape it with colorful scarves in a gesture associated with good fortune, fertility and marriage. A symbolic auction of paintings and Jewish religious objects follows as part of a traditional fundraiser for the upkeep of the synagogue, after which Minara, laden with a headscarf, is placed on a cart and paraded outside to the sound of the traditional darbuka drum, singing and throwing sweets. He is then brought back into the synagogue, concluding one of the pillar traditions of the event.
This pilgrimage, one of the oldest in Africa, has always attracted thousands of people from all over the world. Attendance fell sharply after the 2023 shooting outside the synagogue that killed two pilgrims and three security guards. The synagogue was also the target of a truck bomb attack by Al-Qaeda in 2002, which killed around 20 people.
“This year, the Ghriba pilgrimage marks a gradual return,” declared former Minister of Tourism René Trabelsi. “We are coming back little by little.”
Trabelsi said Tunisian authorities had pushed to maintain the pilgrimage despite the challenges. The event plays an important role in supporting the local economy.
Khedir Hnaia, who has worked at the synagogue for more than three decades, welcomed the return of longtime visitors. “We would like to reflect a good image in the world, bring back the glory of Ghriba and make it even better than before,” he said.
“We must defend our country, we love Tunisia very much and in the same way that our country defended us, we will always defend it,” said Haïm Haddad, member of the organizing committee of the Zarzis pilgrimage.
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Ben Mbarek reported from Tunis, Tunisia.
