Ancient Jewish Community Shaken by Police Harassment and Arrest

Life has turned upside down in recent years for these Jews. Everyone I spoke with expressed deep concerns and even disbelief.

By Edy Cohen | | Topics: Antisemitism, Tunisia
Life for Tunisian Jews has taken a turn for the worse under President Kais Said.
Life for Tunisian Jews has taken a turn for the worse under President Kais Said. Photo: EPA-EFE Mohamed Messara

Tunisian Jews are again in the eye of the storm. The arrest of a local Jewish merchant has shaken the peace of the island community of Djerba that dates back to the times of King David.

The Jews of Djerba living in a Muslim dominated region are one of the world’s most ancient Jewish communities. Since the antisemitic President Kais Said came to power, actions against the Jews in Tunisia have multiplied.

We have written more than once about the president’s exploits and the anti-Jewish atmosphere that has plagued Tunisia since his election in October 2019.

Today there are only about a thousand Jews left in Djerba, a quiet Mediterranean island just off the coast of Tunisia. There is almost no crime or politics on this idyllic refuge, where most of the Jewish residents observe the Sabbath.

Jews have lived on Djerba since the days of the First Temple and the times of King David. Their relations with the Muslim authorities have gone through many phases over the centuries, but there has never been such blatant antisemitic harassment as seen today.

The event that shocked the Jewish community in Djerba took place on Tuesday of last week, when the police, accompanied by large forces of undercover officers, arrested a 60-year-old Jewish merchant named Mishleh Bitan. According to the authorities, he was accused of smuggling gold. The Jews of Djerba have been dealing in gold for generations and many of them own gold shops on the island.

Police planned to apprehend the wife and son of the Jewish merchant, but dozens of Jews showed up to protect the family and physically prevented the arrest.

In a conversation I had with a number of Jews in Djerba, it appears that every two or three weeks the police come to the neighborhood and try to harass them under the pretext of hunting smugglers. Sometimes they conduct searches and force the Jews to report their sales and tax statements. Other times the police show up for random inventory and often steal gold during the count. No one dares say a word because of the fear of further harassment.

Life has turned upside down in recent years for these Jews. Everyone I spoke with expressed deep concerns and even disbelief at the harassment that has suddenly descended upon this ancient Jewish community.

Back to jail

The next day police came back and arrested Mishleh on charges of smuggling and took him in a police car to the capital of Tunis, a journey of about seven hours. Then unexpectedly, and following pressure exerted by various parties both in Israel and in other countries, Mishleh was released after less than a day in detention.

Another Jewish source told me: “We didn’t stay. We first of all prevented the arrest of the family’s mother and son. They wanted to arrest them to put pressure on Mishleh to make a confession. But we prevented that. For the whole day after the arrest, we sat and waited and closed the shops. In protest we put up signs saying ‘We will not be silent any longer.’”

These Jewish sources understandably do not want to reveal their identity to avoid more harassment.

This incident is an example of the dozens of other unpublished attacks against the Jews of Djerba. The only motive for these attacks is undisguised antisemitic hatred.

I hope and pray that somehow the conscience of the current president and officials under him will be shaken and move them to end these shameless attacks on the Jews of Djerba, who have lived quietly in this area for thousands of years.

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